Episode 60 -Kingdom Entrepreneurs Don’t Monetize— They Steward

In this episode, I address the prevalent focus on monetizing passion and purpose in today's business world. I argue that as Kingdom entrepreneurs, our approach should be significantly different. Instead of extracting value from people, we are called to deposit value into them. The true aim is not monetization but stewardship—multiplying the gifts and messages God has entrusted to us. I compare the focus, ownership, language, and accountability differences between monetizers and stewards. By prioritizing service, solving problems, and staying true to God's purpose, we build legacies and make a meaningful, eternal impact.

00:00 Introduction: The Misconception of Monetization
00:41 Kingdom Business vs. Worldly Business
04:30 The True Meaning of Stewardship
08:01 Monetization vs. Stewardship: A Detailed Comparison
19:24 The Kingdom Sales Framework
22:17 Conclusion: Embrace Your Kingdom Assignment

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Transcript

Dr Uche Okere: 0:01

If you are Jesus follower with a desire to profit from your purpose. I need you to hear this today. You do not need another course on how to monetize your purpose or your passion, because let's be real. Monetization is the buzzword in business today. Everybody's talking about it. Monetize your passion, monetize your purpose. Make money from what you have. But for kingdom business, people like US Kingdom entrepreneurs like us, that word I believe deserves a little bit of scrutiny. Perhaps we should think about it a little bit and see whether it's appropriate for us as Jesus follow us. And that's what I want to do today. Because in the business world today, monetization often focuses on how much value you can extract from people, how much of people's attention you can extract, how much of their data you can extract, or how much time is packaged and sold, especially in ad-based models like YouTube and Facebook, and you've probably heard about people talking about monetizing their content on social media. Funnels are built in marketing to squeeze every penny from say An email list with minimal concern for the actual transformation that the people on that list get. You've probably heard common marketing languages like milk, the list, hook them early, or extract every dollar from your list. The mindset becomes profit over people and revenue over relationship, so. Here's the thing. The world extracts value from people, but the kingdom of God deposits purpose into people. Because in the kingdom. We have a different practice. We are called to deposit value and not to extract value from people. We are called to build legacies and not just to build sales pages. So in the world, your message is a marketing asset, but in the kingdom, it's a ministry assignment. We are here to open destinies and not just to close deals. So should we be talking about monetization or should we be talking about stewardship instead? Because stewardship is about multiplication. It's about alignment with purpose. With original design, it's about alignment with God's original intent. It's about accountability to our king to the God who's given us that assignment and that purpose in the first place. So as we dive into today's episode, I wanna ask you, Are you chasing the back or are you managing the blessing? Because if you're just trying to monetize, you might be marketing a message that heaven didn't assign. But if you are stewarding, you are managing a mission. God is obligated to fund because in the kingdom of God when you steward well, provision always follows. Purpose. That's the design we see. That's what we see in the garden. Adam's provision was already in existence before he started working. We see from Jesus's instruction in Matthew chapter six, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added. Unto you personally, I've always struggled with this idea of monetization or perhaps the word monetize. I've always struggled and I've found myself even unintentionally apologizing for using the word when I couldn't think of a different way to communicate what was on my heart. It sounded strategic because I knew that value had to be exchanged in monetary form, but it still felt off for me. It felt like it wasn't really capturing the heart and the spirit of the message that I was trying to communicate. I couldn't name it at the time, but the more I studied God's word, the more I sought to refine the language I was using to communicate the purpose-driven profit message that I believe God has put on my heart, it became clearer to me and I today. I believe that in the kingdom of God, it should not be about monetizing your message rather I. It should be about stewarding your assignment. Kingdom entrepreneurs like you and I, or Jesus followers who want to profit from their purpose, do not monetize their message. They steward their assignment, And that difference changes everything, and that's what we're talking about today. So what really does stewardship mean? What does it mean to steward what God has given to us? Stewardship by definition is the reasonable overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving, especially something entrusted to your care. Something that doesn't belong to you, but you have the responsibility to care for it and to look after it in biblical and kingdom terms. Still what it means faithfully managing what ultimately belongs to God. You are just a caretaker. Even if you have responsibility for this thing today, it's in your hands. It looks like you own it, but you know that you are not the owner. Of this thing, so of the message or of the gifts that you currently carry. You know that I am just a steward. I'm just a, you are only the manager of heaven's investment. Think about the parable of the talent. In Matthew chapter 25, which Jesus gave in that parable. The master was going on a journey and he gives talents to different servants. He gives five to one. He gives. Three to another and it gives one to the last one. They did different things with what was given to them. Some of them, two of them multiplied what was given to them, but the one who was given one talent buried that talent, and we see that the master had a response to every one of them, depending on what they did with the talent. When he came back. The ones who multiplied were priests. They were called faithful. Servants, the one who buried his gift was called a wicked servant, and that has always caught my attention. So the response from the master was not indifference. The response from the master was not neutral. It was an active definition of his act, and the master defined that act of not multiplying that which was given to him in potential form. Wickedness, not because he stole. So, because sometimes we think of faithfulness as maintenance. We think that faithfulness is just being present. Yes, that's a starting point. It's good to turn up. It's good to show up. It's good to be. Present, but we see that this servant who did not lose what he was given, he presented it at the same level of value. After so much time had passed, he did not increase the value of what was given to him. He did not multiply what was given to him. The master called him wicked. He was not praised for his maintenance of what was originally given to him. So that tells me that in the kingdom. Obedience is defined by multiplication. Multiplication is obedience. Faithfulness is defined by multiplication and not maintenance. So heaven doesn't reward hidden gifts. It rewards multiplied. Grace Heaven doesn't reward gifts in potential form. It rewards gifts that has been deployed that is making a difference in the world. So for us, monetization therefore is optional, but steward what? Ship true faithfulness and multiplication of that which has been given to us is not. Optional. So you may be asking what therefore is the difference between monetization and stewardship? Because if you've listened to some of my content in the past, you say Uche, you talk about profiting from your purpose, you talk about making money from your purpose, and now you're saying it's not about monetization. So let's try. And differentiate monetization from stewardship. So if you're wondering what the difference between monetization and stewardship is, let's do a quick comparison because one of them builds a platform, the other builds. The kingdom building. The kingdom means using the gift or the message that God has given you to extend the influence of heaven on earth. One client, one conversation, one solution at a time. Because many Jesus followers think of the kingdom of God only in terms of religious activity, but we can bring the kingdom of God into the marketplace when we multiply the gifts that God has given us in the form of the fruits that is bear, that reflects the nature of the kingdom of God, the righteousness, the peace, the joy that are only found in the kingdom of God when we multiply those fruits. In the form of changed lives. In the form of wisdom that is delivered Kingdom Pure Kingdom wisdom that is delivered in the form of transformed mindsets, in the form of resources that are redirected towards righteous purposes. When we do this, I believe that we are bringing the kingdom of God down and this is multiplying the kingdom. So let's break this down, and for each point I want to highlight a quick difference between. Monetization and stewardship. I'm gonna talk about a few characteristics that are common to all of them and attempt to differentiate how monetization, defers from stewardship and how a monetizer would have a different definition of approach. What a steward, which is what you and I have been called to be, would have. So first of all, what is the focus of the monetizer? And how does he differ from the focus of the steward? I believe that the focus of the monetizer is money and skill. That is what he's focused on. That is his objective. That is what he wants to achieve. But for the steward of the gift that God has given him, he's. Focus is obedience and multiplication. So the worldly entrepreneur or business person who is trying to monetize will chase money, but the kingdom entrepreneur will chase the multiplication of God's purpose in their life. That's where the focus of the monetizer and the kingdom steward differs. What about ownership for the Monetizer? It's about my idea, my product, my course, my coaching program, my business. But for the steward, the thinking about ownership is that this is God's gift. I am only here to carry it. The steward knows that what they carry is in theirs. It's on loan from heaven, and one day they will have to give an account to the owner of this gift, the owner of this message, who gave it to them to steward on his behalf. How does the Monetizer measure success? Very simply, it is the bottom line revenue, how much was made. That's how the monetizer measures success. But for the steward. Success is measured in the form of results, in the form of fruit, in the form of obedience. So faithfulness is proven by fruits, not finances alone. Faithfulness is proven by fruits and not finances alone. How many lives were changed? How many mindsets were changed from thinking in a worldly way to thinking in a kingdom? Pattern, how many people came to light by reason of the message or the gift that I have? One of the things that give me joy in my coaching business is when people report, even people who just deal with me at the marketing level. And who I never end up making a sale to people who never pay me money to join my coaching business, but who still have a testimony, who still have a praise report, who are still glad that they had an interaction, that they listened to a teaching, they listened to a message I. Or they attended, a webinar. They booked a call and from that call there was some more clarity. There was light and something changed in their lives. That is one of the things that give me so much joy because for us as kingdom stewards of gifts and the callings of God on our life, it is more than the revenue. It's about faithfulness. It's about the fruits that we bear for the kingdom of God. It's about how much light we shine. This dark world because we are the lights of the world. We are the light of the world. So what about the kind of language that the Monetizer uses? The Monetizer talks in terms of leads, it talks in terms of sales, it talks in terms of cash flow, but the kingdom steward talks in terms of people. So that email list of 2000 people is not just 2000 names that you are striving and hoping to extract as much value as possible from. But they become each person, an individual with a purpose, each person with a need that my gift or my message can help solve the kingdom steward. What thinks in terms of problems that their gift has been developed to solve the kingdom steward thinks in terms. Of purpose. To what extent am I fulfilling the purpose for which God give me this gift? So as a kingdom steward, you're not hunting transactions, you are healing lives. Every person that comes into your life comes into your room. If you're a coach, if you are, hosting a webinar. If you are running a course, every person that signs on becomes a project that God can do something in their lives becomes an opportunity for heaven to invade that life and make a difference. And finally, accountability. Who is the monetizer accountable to? They're accountable. To the audience, they're accountable to themselves, but the kingdom steward is accountable primarily to God, accountable, primarily to God because this is kingdom business. We have a king, his word, his law in our lives, in our businesses, in everything that we do. So we are primarily accountable to God, but then we are also accountable to the people that we are responsible for. As kingdom steward, we understand that we answer with higher authority, the one who assigned us the mission. So one day he's gonna come and we would have to give an account of how we use the gifts, the potentials, the callings, the messages that he puts in us. But even before that, we take cognizance of the fact that he's our Lord. He owns everything and his word is law over our lives, So in practice, this means for us that as kingdom stewards, we build offers, not just based on what sells, but we think in terms of what serves people and what solves the problems that God. Has called us to serve. Well, here's the good news, here's the good news. Here's the good news. If it serves people, if it solves the problem, eat. Will sell. I believe that this is the goodness of God, that he doesn't call us to pursue the things that He's called us to pursue and then be in lack. But sadly, many Kingdom people despise or rather forget this verse, Matthew 6 33, I believe is so central when Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will. We added to you When we make the kingdom of God, the center of our business, vos, then all these things, the wealth, the money, the fame, perhaps the audience, all these things will follow when we are loving God, serving people and solving the problems that people have. So when your offer serves and solves, it doesn't just convert. It convicts. It makes a difference in people's lives, so there is no longer any need to cut corners. You no longer need to copy all the marketing gimmicks, all the objection handling that we get taught in marketing and sales schools. No, we no longer need to use all of those manipulative ways of trying to convince people to buy, even if we know that they may not need what we have or it's not the right time for them. Rather, we persuade people. All we want to do is to help them to get out of their way and receive the gift, receive the message that God has given us to serve. Then that's all our marketing and serious efforts are now driven towards. As a kingdom steward, you show up as a minister, not just as a marketer. That means you're not just trying to sell something. You are on assignment to serve because a minister is a servant. You are on assignment to lead and to bring kingdom transformation into people's lives through your offers. And through the things that you sell as a kingdom steward of the gifts and message that God has given you, you track the fruit that is a result of your efforts and not just the funds or the balance in the business bank account. That means you measure impact by lives. Changed. You measure the impact of your business and your entrepreneurial activities by the breakthroughs achieved and the obedience fulfilled, to what extent did I respond to the promptings of God in this direction in my life? Not just the income generated, not just the sales. Closed. So because of this, therefore you are able to sell boldly. You are able to sell confidently. There's no more timidity, there's no more fear of being caught out of for doing the wrong thing because you're not chasing profit, but you are there to fulfill the responsibility that you know that God has given you. This is it. Therefore. Sales ceases to be a hustle. It becomes a holy handoff of transformation. That means you recognize sales as a sacred trust, a response to the call to deliver your God-given solution to the people who are paying you for it. As a kingdom entrepreneur, as a kingdom steward of the things that God. Has put inside of you, you don't sell because you want money. You sell because you are accountable. To your king, you're accountable for impact. This is why the sales framework I introduced to you in the last episode is very important because through the sales framework, you sell with purpose. You are rooted in assignment. And just as a reminder, this is what the sales framework look like. S means you serve first. You start by serving people. You start with serving people. Your efforts to sell to people begins by serving them right from the word good. You begin to solve problems for them, and there will be people who you solve those problems for who you may never make a financial profit from. Means you engage authentically, you build trust over transactions. have you ever been involved in sales or marketing efforts that as soon as they took the money off you, the level of engagement seized the lines of communication that were previously open to you just closed because you are no longer a potential. Customer, they've got all they want to get from you. But no, when we sell through the sales framework, which I believe is a kingdom framework, we engage authentically, we build trust. Over transactions. L is that we lead boldly, so we help people make destiny decisions and for some people, these decisions might be something like this. Hey my friend, thank you for coming on this sales call. Thank you for your interest in this product. But from the conversations we've had, I do not believe this is the right. Thing for you. Yes, I can take your money, but no, I am not gonna do that because I'm a kingdom steward and from what I know, I will not be able to serve you as I am supposed to serve you. That will be us leading people. To make destiny decisions, but it can also mean going the extra mile to persuade people to make those decisions that we know that they need to make, to help them to buy that product, to sign up for that service because we know that it is the next right step for them. To move into the thing that God is calling them into. The second L is lead deeply, so we care more about the breakthrough that people can have than the bottom line of our business. And finally, the last S there is that we steward faithfully. So our purpose is to multiply that which God has given us. All for his glory. When we do these five things, when we serve first, when we engage authentically, when we lead boldly, when we love deeply, and when we steward faithfully, selling becomes a sacred activity. Stewardship becomes a strategy for kingdom. Impact. So as I wrap up today, let me ask you, are you building a business around your skill or are you stewarding your kingdom assignments? Are you monetizing your message or are you multiplying your mission because You've been called to multiply. Answers. You are not just a content creator chasing likes. You are a kingdom steward, managing legacy. You're not just an author selling books. You are a messenger releasing revelation. You're not just a course creator launching offers. You are a teacher equipping saint. You're not just a coach building a brand. You are a guide unlocking kingdom's purpose in people's lives. Don't sell out your assignment for short term. Gain. Don't bury what heaven has entrusted to you. Multiply it. Steward what it sell with purpose. Because kingdom entrepreneurs don't just monetize. They steal what their message and their gifts. So go steal what their gifts with boldness, with bravery, and with a burdened obedience to your king. God bless you.