Silvoso, E. (2002).  Anointed for business:  How Christians can use their influence in the marketplace to change the world.  Regal Books.

Anointed for Business was written to expose four “unbiblical misbeliefs”:

1. There is a God-ordained division between clergy and laity.
2. The Church is called to operate primarily inside a building often referred to as the temple.
3. People involved in business cannot be as spiritual as those serving in traditional Church ministry.
4. The primary role of marketplace Christians is to make money to support the vision of those “in the ministry.” (Silvoso, 2002, p. 23).

The author (the founder of Harvest Evangelism) suggests that Jesus was a marketplace Christian: born in a place of business, successful as a small businessman, and the performer of business miracles. He presents Jesus as someone familiar with the marketplace, as shown by the content of Jesus' parables. In addition, he submits that Jesus was a friend of rich and poor alike, and was adept at breaking down the walls between socioeconomic levels in society.

Likewise, Silvoso presents the leaders of the early church as being marketplace Christians, not just tentmakers. These were people capable of both ministry and business. They were not full-time ministry who supported themselves as tentmakers, nor businesspeople who were part-time in ministry.  hey were businesspeople who ministered continually.

Silvoso shows that the devil fears those who are successful in marketplace ministry, since he is afraid that they will fulfill their destiny in the marketplace and bring the kingdom of God to it. To prevent this, he tries to debase their occupations and paint them as unspiritual and materialistic.

Silvoso connects the growth of the early church with the bridging of six social gaps: ethnic, denominational, ministerial, gender, generational, and marketplace. When these gaps are bridged, the devil's hold on these social groups is ended.

Furthermore, Silvoso suggests that the book of Acts is built around marketplace ministry. He shows that, of the 40 major supernatural events recorded in Acts, 39 took place in the “marketplace”-outside of a “religious” setting.

There are four levels of marketplace Christianity, according to Silvoso (p. 123):

1. to be a Christian in the marketplace
2. to be a Christian who applies biblical principles in the marketplace
3. to be a Christian who does business in the fullness and in the power of the Holy Spirit
4. to be a Christian committed to the total transformation of the marketplace.

While I had some difficulty with some of Ed Silvoso's assertions, this book reinforced my belief that God has called each Christian to full-time Christian service, though not necessarily to the “professional” ministry. Furthermore, I found myself thinking seriously about the need for Christians to take God's power to the marketplace, rather than hoarding it inside church buildings. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be more effective in ministering within his or her place of employment.

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