The Greater Accra Region in Ghana, West Africa is known for its faith-based business names and slogans. In my recent trip to Ghana I was amazed at how often you saw the name of God proclaimed on business signs, buses, taxis and the like. These types of signs and slogans were literally everywhere.
Here’s a funny recap of many slogans found: https://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Greater-Accra/blog-432386.html
On first trip to Ghana 5 years ago our team came across a rice and beans shop aptly named “Jesus Loves You Rice and Beans”. We all got a good laugh at that one. But it makes me wonder how we can live out our faith more in the marketplace. I’ve been on a journey for a number of years to figure that out. There is definitely a place for commerce and business and faith to collide, interact and actually be friends. The issue: double-mindedness, greed, hypocrisy.
When I started Thirty Five, I wanted a business name that meant something to me. I wanted a name that was creative and allowed people to ask me what the meaning of it was. Was I 35 years old when I started the company? Was my street address 35? Was my first deal worth $35? Stuff like that. To many people’s surprise, I tell them Thirty Five was taken from a bible verse “Proverbs 3:5”. I took the 3 and the 5 and mashed them together to name the business Thirty Five. At the heart of 3:5 is Trust. I’ve had a few people tell me I was crazy and that this approach would cost me business. So far it hasn’t.
I think the bigger focus here is to actually take a stand for something. But if you’re going to take a stand for something be quite sure that you actually have some integrity to follow up on that stance. Do what you say you’re going to do, treat people the way they and you would want to be treated and serve others.
I’m going to go deeper on this in future posts, but I just had to share that Jesus Loves You Rice and Beans!
