The Marketplace Anointing

There is only one anointing, the marketplace, like the pulpit are simply platforms for witnessing.

The Lord, after his resurrection and as He prepared to ascend to heaven told His disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the father. “You shall receive power” He said, “and become witnesses for me, all through the world” (Acts 1:8). The power (or anointing), which He spoke about, refers to the indwelling presence and ability that the Holy Spirit gives the believer to bear witness for Christ.

He makes clear then that one primary reason God gives us the Holy Spirit is in recognition of our inherent lack of ability. Indeed we are lacking in ability to pray and so the “Holy Spirit helps our infirmity for we do not know how we should pray” (1 Cor 8:26). We are lacking in ability to say the right words in defense of our faith and ourselves and so we are told not to worry about how to defend ourselves because “the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say” (Luke 12:12). Again we are lacking in ability even to do work that requires a high level of skill, and so God says concerning Bezaleel “I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, understanding and ability in all kinds of craftsmanship, to design artistic works in gold, silver and bronze.” (Exo 31:3-4). And were we to just seek vocation in entrepreneurship, with no pressing necessity for complex skills, God still points out to us our lack of acumen, and reminds us that “It is He that gives us the ability to get wealth” (Deut 8:18).

The picture that starts to emerge is one of dependency. Just as Jesus said to the disciples, do not leave Jerusalem: do not in essence enter into the work of your life until you have received the enablement to do it. He says to us also the same, because whether our work is done on the pulpit or in the marketplace of goods and services, the ultimate mission is to bear witness to Jesus and His resurrection.

Now the minister whose mission field is in the marketplace depends on the enablement (anointing) of the Holy Spirit to do all his work – not just to share Christ with those he encounters in the course of doing his business, but also to do his business as an “example of the believers” (1 Tim 4:12).

For many people, the first encounter with Christ and Christianity will be in the marketplace. The marketplace minister is therefore stationed in the first row of heaven’s cavalry as it enters into enemy territory.

Now, it is extremely important for anyone who will enter into this sphere of warfare to note that mammon has staked out a claim to the marketplace, and his sole aim is to win the worship of those who enter therein. Everyday of work is thus a day of war – as Satan by cunning tries to trick the believer to trade his soul.

Now, it is extremely important for anyone who will enter into this sphere of warfare to note that mammon has staked out a claim to the marketplace, and his sole aim is to win the worship of those who enter therein. Everyday of work is thus a day of war – as Satan by cunning tries to trick the believer to trade his soul.

The believer in the marketplace must therefore crave the more, the anointing – that enablement to remain unspotted by the world, and to shine as light even in the dark domain of mammon.