Original Course Overview

On JULY 30, WE UPDATEd THE COURSE TO INCLUDE TWO BRAND-NEW TALKS AND AN IMPROVED ORDER OF SESSIONS.

TO CONTINUE WITH THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE COURSE, PLEASE access the sessions via each banner heading below.

The Praxis Course is a six-part video-and-discussion series exploring the mindset of Redemptive Entrepreneurship for aspiring or current founders, innovators, and creators. 

We designed the Course as an exploration of the necessary mindset for any person seeking to do work that is restorative, redemptive, innovative, and faithful.

No matter what stage of life you're in, what vocation or sector you work in today, or how long you have been a Christian, we hope the Course renews your imagination for your work and connects you into a broader network of leaders who seek to love God and love their neighbor through what they create.

Throughout the Course, you will be introduced to leaders who marry entrepreneurial ambition, discipline, and market insight with deep spiritual formation, uncommon cultural insight, and sacrificial service. It is designed as an in-person experience with a group of 8-12 people or more, gathered and facilitated by a Praxis Course leader using this simple, turnkey website that contains all the content for free.

Interested in leading a course? SIGN UP to get access to the sessions as a group leader.

COURSE DETAILS

SESSION ONE

Partner for Theology & Culture at Praxis, author, and strategist, Andy Crouch, kicks off the Course with "How (Not) to Change the World." He observes that more than any other generation in history, we want to change the world—and provides both an affirmation and a warning to this ambition. On one hand, our natural desire to make something of the world comes from our creative calling as God's image bearers—and as entrepreneurs, we have extra measures of this desire. Yet we also must confront our limitations in creating change: how can we change the world if we can hardly change ourselves? Andy points the way to live faithfully in that tension, which is not to abandon our ambition but to surrender the burden of it. 

Session Two

Dave Blanchard, the co-founder and CEO of Praxis, steps back to present a vision, a framework, and stories of how we can cultivate and live out a redemptive imagination. The core idea of redemptive entrepreneurship is that the biblical pattern of restoration through sacrifice is lived out in every aspect of the venture: from the Founder's Script, when our motives and imaginations are reshaped from selfish ambition to stewardship and service; into the Strategic Intent, where the venture seeks to renew the world through its products, services, and brands; and through the Operating System, when our organizational culture, processes, and practices honor people rather than use them. In these ways, redemptive leaders live out their faith in action—their praxis.

Session THREE

In this talk Jessica Kim, a serial entrepreneur and Praxis Venture Partner, redefines the goal of the redemptive entrepreneur in terms of the two great commandments: to love God and love others. Her thesis is that whether your venture succeeds or fails, people will remember how you treated them more than the outcomes of what happens in any process or transaction. She offers examples from her own startup experiences of how she has sought to design businesses, serve customers, lead teams, raise money, and define success through the lens of love. In this way she shows us that love is the "Alpha & Omega" of entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership.

Session FOUR

Jena Lee Nardella, the Partner leading the Praxis Nonprofit portfolio, recounts her experiences as an idealistic young CEO of a highly visible, fast-growing nonprofit who encountered crushing setbacks and failure in her organization's programs, culture, and impact. These experiences, which her optimism, drive, and skill could not overcome, drove her to wrestle in a new way with the hard questions of mission and purpose. Perhaps the hardest was, "Knowing what I know of the world, with all its brokenness, can I still love the world?" She reveals what she learned about sustaining her vocation for the long haul.

SESSION FIVE

After Jena Lee Nardella reframes organizational setbacks in terms of faithfulness, Jon Tyson, Praxis spiritual director, reframes organizational results in a similar way. He contrasts our typical definition of success with Jesus' definition. Specifically, he looks at the story of "the seventy-two" who were sent out by Jesus in Luke 10. When they exulted in the fact that the demons submitted to them, he rebuked them and showed them what it meant to "rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Jon goes further to examine our need to compare ourselves and our accomplishments with others. He argues that this is possibly even more problematic for entrepreneurs; and he shows us the power of contentment independent of results.

Session six

In the last talk of the Praxis Course, author, professor, and entrepreneur Dave Evans draws together the key themes of the Course so far. He shows that grace is a generative force in the world. It's more than just forgiveness, or being “saved from” punishment. In fact, grace is also freedom—we are “saved for” the work God has for us to do, even if it means making mistakes. We are invited into a life of action (Dave calls it a life of “doing stuff”), in order that we may glorify God and enjoy Him forever. This is truly good news, especially for the entrepreneur, innovator, or creator.