When the NFL announced Puerto Rican megastar Bad Bunny as the headliner for the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show, the internet exploded. Some folks praised it as cultural progress. Others, including several Christian commentators and public figures, called it flat-out demonic.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene condemned it as “perverse and satanic” (The Daily Beast, Oct 2025). Sports analyst Jason Whitlock labeled the NFL’s choice “anti-Christian.” Even former racecar driver Danica Patrick argued that English-only songs should be mandatory at America’s largest event (New York Post, Oct 2025).
The world’s biggest sports event has become a spiritual battleground once again.
But before we sharpen our pitchforks and take to social media, let me tell you something I’ve learned after building, scaling, and exiting seven companies: you don’t win territory by abandoning it. You win it by reclaiming it.
The early Church understood this better than most modern business owners do. They didn’t retreat from pagan festivals. They redeemed them. And they achieved this with a strategy that remains effective today, both in business and in culture.
When the Church Took Back the Night
Long before candy and costumes, the ancient Celts of Britain and Ireland celebrated a festival called Samhain. It was a night they believed the barrier between the living and the dead was as thin as tissue paper. Fires were lit, masks worn, and offerings made to appease wandering spirits who might wander through.
According to historian Ronald Hutton in The Stations of the Sun (Oxford University Press), Samhain marked the end of harvest and the start of winter. It was a season of death, darkness, and dread. This wasn’t a party. It was a vigil against forces they didn’t understand and couldn’t control.
For centuries, fear owned that night.
Then Christian missionaries arrived, and they faced a strategic decision: condemn the season outright and lose the people, or meet them where they were and offer something infinitely better.
The Church chose redemption.
During the reign of Pope Gregory III (731-741), a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica was dedicated on November 1 to honor all the saints (Britannica, “All Saints’ Day”). A century later, Pope Gregory IV and Emperor Louis the Pious made the feast universal across Christendom in 835 AD (Roger Pearse Archives, Chronographia Sigeberti Gemblacensis).
The night before became All Hallows’ Eve. What we now call Halloween. What began as a festival of fear became a celebration of faith. The Church looked at the devil’s day and said, “This belongs to Jesus now.”
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
— John 1:5
Here’s what matters for you as a business owner: the Church didn’t complain about the darkness. They built an altar in the middle of it.
They didn’t boycott. They didn’t retreat. They didn’t wait for someone else to fix it. They took territory that belonged to the enemy and claimed it for the Kingdom. That’s not just a spiritual principle. That’s a marketplace strategy.
Why This Ancient Story Matters to Your Business Today
So why does a thousand-year-old festival matter when you’re trying to grow your HVAC company, dental practice, or professional services firm?
Because the playbook for taking territory hasn’t changed.
Whether it’s a pagan festival or a competitive marketplace, the enemy’s strategy is the same: intimidate you into retreat, distract you with lesser priorities, and convince you that the ground you’re standing on doesn’t belong to you.
Most Christian business owners fall for it.
When culture goes sideways, we boycott. When competitors undercut us, we complain. When the marketplace celebrates values we oppose, we shake our heads and scroll past it.
Meanwhile, the enemy occupies territory unchallenged. In our culture. In our communities. And yes, in our industries.
The early Church would’ve never tolerated that. They looked at pagan ground and said, “Not on our watch.” They didn’t abandon territory. They took it back.
And that’s exactly what marketplace warriors are called to do.
Your business isn’t just a business. It’s a platform. It’s a ministry opportunity. It’s territory in the Kingdom of God.
The question is: are you treating it that way?
The Wasted Platform and the Lesson for Business Owners
Bad Bunny once sang in a church choir as a child (The FADER, Aug 2018; Remezcla, Aug 2018). Now he’s one of the most streamed artists on planet Earth, using his massive platform to lead people toward everything except Jesus.
Here’s the business lesson: talent without truth is wasted territory.
Bad Bunny will stand on the biggest stage in America in front of 100 million people. Most of them are young. Most of them are searching.
And here’s where it hits home: you’ve got a platform too.
Maybe it’s not 100 million people. Maybe it’s 100 customers a year, 10 employees, or 1,000 followers on LinkedIn.
But it’s a platform. And the same question applies: what are you building on it?
I learned this the hard way in my third company. We were growing rapidly, earning a good income, but I was compartmentalizing my faith. Church on Sunday, business the rest of the week. I told myself I was being “professional” and “respectful of others’ beliefs.”
The truth? I was afraid. Afraid of losing clients. Afraid of being labeled. Afraid of standing out.
Then one of my employees asked me a direct question: “You’re a Christian, right? So why don’t you ever talk about it?”
That moment changed everything. I realized I’d been given a platform and I was wasting it by playing it safe.
The marketplace doesn’t need more silent believers. It needs marketplace warriors who aren’t afraid to plant a flag.
The NFL and the Altar Your Customers Are Bowing To
In America, we’ve turned the Super Bowl into a national sacrament. The halftime show functions like an ancient ritual. Grand spectacle, sensual dance, fire, light, and chant. Sponsors pour billions into ads that glorify greed, lust, and pride.
For three hours, the world bows at an altar we pretend isn’t religious.
But here’s what most business owners miss: your customers are doing the same thing every single day.
Not with football. With success. With status. With the latest business guru promising a shortcut to seven figures. They’re worshiping at the wrong altars. And if you’re not offering them a better one, somebody else will.
Scripture is clear:
“For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, comes not from the Father but from the world.”
— 1 John 2:16
Your customers are hungry for something more than another sales pitch. They’re looking for meaning, for purpose, for a business owner who actually cares about more than their wallet.
That’s your opportunity.
When you build your business on Kingdom principles, when you lead with integrity, when you treat people the way Jesus would, you’re not just growing revenue. You’re offering a better altar.
And people notice.
What Scripture Actually Calls You to Do
The apostle Paul was direct:
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
— Ephesians 5:11
He didn’t say complain online. He didn’t say keep your head down and hope nobody notices you’re a Christian. He said expose them by offering something better.
Paul also said:
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”
— Philippians 4:8
Here’s the pattern for marketplace warriors: you are not called to flee darkness in your industry. You’re called to walk as light.
That means more than posting Bible verses on your website. It means building a business that reflects Kingdom values in every decision, every interaction, every transaction.
It means showing up with solutions instead of complaints. With excellence instead of excuses. With integrity instead of shortcuts.
The marketplace doesn’t need more critics. It needs more builders.
The Redemption Model That Still Works
Pope Gregory the Great’s missionary strategy in the 7th century is the blueprint every business owner needs.
In his letter to Abbot Mellitus (601 AD, preserved in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History), he instructed his monks not to destroy pagan temples, but to purify and repurpose them. Cleanse the space. Build an altar. Dedicate it to Christ.
Redeem, don’t retreat.
That’s the FREEDOM Framework in action.
When I work with business owners, I’m not teaching them to abandon their industry because it’s “too worldly.” I’m teaching them to redeem it. To take what’s broken, what’s corrupt, what’s been built on the wrong foundation, and rebuild it with Kingdom principles.
Your HVAC company? That’s serving families, creating jobs, and building a platform for ministry.
Your dental practice? That’s caring for people, restoring health, and demonstrating Christ’s love through excellence.
Your professional services firm? That’s solving problems, creating value, and proving that integrity wins.
You don’t win by abandoning your industry. You win by redeeming it.
Inch by inch. Day by day. Client by client.
What This Looks Like in Your Business
A business is nothing more than a group of people committed to a specific calling. When you understand that, everything changes. You’re not just running an operation. You’re building an altar.
Think about Hobby Lobby. They could’ve stayed open on Sundays and made millions more. They could’ve dropped their healthcare lawsuit and avoided the headlines. They could’ve kept their faith quiet and just focused on profits like everyone told them to. But the Green family understood something most business owners miss: their company wasn’t just about craft supplies. It was about a community of people unified around Kingdom values, serving customers who were hungry for something different.
That’s what redemption looks like in the marketplace. It’s not a marketing strategy. It’s not a branding tactic. It’s a decision to build your business on a foundation that doesn’t shift, regardless of what the culture celebrates or what your competitors are doing.
When you gather a team around Kingdom purpose, when you make decisions based on what honors God rather than what maximizes short-term profit, when you create a culture where people feel valued because they’re made in the image of God, you’re not just running a business. You’re planting a flag. You’re building something that testifies to a different way of doing things. You’re creating a space where the gospel is lived out in real time, in real decisions, with real people who are watching to see if what you say on Sunday matches what you do on Tuesday.
Your customers notice when a business operates with integrity. Your employees notice when they’re treated with dignity, rather than being viewed as replaceable resources. Your community notices when you show up to serve, rather than just showing up to sell. And over time, that reputation becomes something no marketing campaign can manufacture and no competitor can replicate.
That’s not weakness. That’s warfare.
The One Big Truth Every Business Owner Needs to Hear
The marketplace belongs to Jesus. Every client. Every contract. Every deal. Every dollar. Every platform. Every opportunity.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
— Psalm 24:1
The question isn’t whether He’s King. The question is whether you’ll act like it in your business.
When you understand your history, you remember that redemption is your heritage.
When you understand Scripture, you realize retreat was never your calling.
And when you understand Christ, you know that no industry is too dark for His light.
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”
— Matthew 5:14
Your response to any cultural moment or marketplace challenge shouldn’t be fear. It should be faithful action.
You can engage your industry without being corrupted.
You can speak truth without arrogance.
You can compete without compromising.
And you can build a business that stands as an altar where the enemy once dominated.
The Army Advances Together
An army of the cross is not floundering. It’s not every man for himself. It’s a unified body carrying out one mission: the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
For you, that mission happens in the marketplace.
I’ve watched this play out with the business owners in our DecaMillionaire community. When Christian entrepreneurs stop competing with each other and start collaborating for the Kingdom, when they share resources, refer clients, and genuinely celebrate each other’s wins, something powerful happens. Their businesses grow faster. Their teams get stronger. And their influence expands beyond anything they could’ve built alone.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
— John 13:35
Lead with integrity. Build with excellence. And stop waiting for someone else to take the ground you’re called to claim.
Your Move
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance will come and go. Another artist will take the stage next year. Another controversy will light up social media.
But your business, your platform, your opportunity to make an impact? That’s happening right now.
Don’t waste it.
Redeem your industry. Stop playing defense. Stop apologizing for being a Christian in business. Plant your flag. Build something that reflects Kingdom values from the ground up. Let your competitors wonder why your customers are so loyal, why your team is so committed, why your reputation is so solid.
Redeem your platform. Whether you’ve got 10 employees or 10,000 followers, use your influence for something that matters. Host events. Serve your community. Speak up when it counts. Show people that following Jesus doesn’t mean hiding. It means leading.
Redeem the conversation. When people ask why you do business differently, tell them. When they wonder why you didn’t take the shortcut, explain it. When they notice there’s something different about you, point them to Jesus.
Because that’s what marketplace warriors do.
We don’t retreat. We don’t compromise. We don’t blend in.
We build altars where the enemy used to stand.
*”For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
