Deeply Rooted: Business as Mission Looking Back
by Mats Tunehag
Part 1 of a 3 part series on Business as Mission: Roots, Scope & Future
She was amazed and perplexed at the same time. She was treated with respect and dignity. She was a woman challenged with disabilities. But her life had changed. With little or no prospect of ever getting a job, she was now working in a manufacturing company. She was creative, she had made friends, and she made money.
Women in this country and religious context were treated as second-class citizens. If they had mental or physical handicaps they were often further down.
But the company she worked for employed and offered jobs with dignity to women with disabilities. It was unheard of, and it made a huge difference not only in her life, but also for the other women who worked there. It even had a transformational impact on families and the community.
This woman asked herself: why is this workplace so different? It changes lives on many levels. She knew that the founder and CEO was a follower of Jesus. So she told herself: If that’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus, I will also follow him. It was a huge and risky step for a handicapped woman in a conservative Muslim environment.
What brought her to Christ? A gospel tract? A Jesus film? A bible study? No, it was human resource management informed by biblical values, underpinned with prayer. Ultimately, it was, of course, God’s doing.
BAM: Concept, Practice, Movement
This true story from the Middle East points towards three aspects of Business as Mission, BAM, which is about serving God and people in and through business, with a Great Commission perspective. BAM is a biblical concept, which is practiced and applied by people around the world with a wide variety of backgrounds, which together form a global movement.
BAM Global has since 2002 engaged around 500 significant leaders in business, church, missions & NGOs and academia, from about 50 countries, in global conversations about the concept and the practice. This has resulted in about 30 peer produced and peer reviewed think tank reports, and two manifestos which summarize our findings [1]. The global and participatory nature of the think tank processes have created an unprecedented spread and ownership of the BAM concept.[2]
Global Trends
But the BAM concept did not emerge in a vacuum. The backdrop to the global BAM movement can be found in the business world in general, but also in our Jewish roots, as well as in church councils and consultations in recent generations.[3]
In business and economics there has been an ongoing shift in recent decades from maximizing profit for shareholders to creating value on multiple bottom-lines for multiple stakeholders. Terms like social enterprises, creative capitalism, corporate social responsibility, and impact investment indicate a trend towards a more holistic and sustainable approach to business.
The 2nd Vatican Council (1962 – 65) renewed the call to a holistic engagement in society,[4] and the Lausanne Congress (1974) articulated our responsibility to take the whole gospel to the whole world.
In BAM we talk about the quadruple bottom line: financial, social, environmental and spiritual. BAM is not doing business with a touch of ‘churchianity’. BAM is not Christians just doing social enterprise. BAM recognizes God as the ultimate stakeholder who has a vested interest in the multiple bottom lines and multiple stakeholders. BAM is about serving people, aligning with God’s purposes, being good stewards of the planet and making a profit.
Jo Plummer writes: “BAM is a response to at least three God-given biblical mandates:
- The cultural mandate given in Genesis 1 and 2 to develop flourishing human society and care for creation
- The great commandment given in Matthew 22 to love God above all else and love our neighbour as ourselves, and
- The great commission given in Matthew 28 to share the gospel and make disciples of Jesus in all corners of the earth
Thus we have a definition of BAM that is ‘intentional about Kingdom of God purpose and impact on people and nations’ and ‘concerned about the world’s poorest and least evangelized peoples’.”[5]
Our Roots
The BAM concept is deeply rooted in Judeo-Christian tradition.[6] The late Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, an intellectual giant, wrote an essay which helps us understand our Jewish roots when it comes to a worldview conducive for problem solving and innovation, the sanctity of work, and the role of business for human flourishing.[7]
The BAM movement aims at transforming the world. It is related to what the Jews call tikkun olam: repairing the world. Tikkun olam means co-creating with God and bridging the gap between the world which is and a world as it ought to be. The Lord’s Prayer is in a sense a tikkun olam prayer: may your Kingdom come on earth, may your will be done among us.
Work is Worship
Professor Angelo Nicolaides expresses an Orthodox Church perspective on work, worship and mission: “In Old Testament times work was the way in which one worshipped God.” He goes on to say: “Christians should thus view work as a mission.”[8]
Work, creativity, and human dignity are related because we are created in God’s image. Rabbi Sacks contrasts animals and human beings: “Work, in other words, has spiritual value, because earning our food is part of the essential dignity of the human condition. Animals find sustenance; only mankind creates it.”[9]
This relates to the Hebrew word avodah which means to work, worship, and serve. Thus, BAM pursues a seamless integration of work, worship, and service. The thirteenth-century commentator Rabbenu Bachya said: “The active participation of man in the creation of his own wealth is a sign of his spiritual greatness.”[10]
Wealth Creation
The value of creating different kinds of wealth through business is endorsed in both rabbinic and Christian traditions. As Pope Francis says: “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the area in which it operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good.”[11]
BAM Global, together with the Lausanne movement, organised a global consultation in 2017 around the issue of wealth creation for holistic transformation. Our findings were documented in seven papers, a summarising manifesto, and an educational video series.
The Wealth Creation Manifesto is deeply rooted in Judeo-Christian thought but also adds to a firm foundation for our day and age. Excerpts:
1. Wealth creation is rooted in God the Creator, who created a world that flourishes with abundance and diversity.
2. We are created in God’s image, to co-create with Him and for Him, to create products and services for the common good.
3. Wealth creation is a holy calling, and a God-given gift, which is commended in the Bible.
This is also mentioned within the Orthodox Church tradition. God is giving “wealth to serve His purposes.”[12]
>> Read Part 2
>> Read Part 3
Mats Tunehag is a senior global ambassador for BAM and has worked in over half the countries of the world. He is the chairman of BAM Global and contributes to TransformationalSME.org. Visit MatsTunehag.com for BAM resources in 23 languages.
Endnotes
[1] https://bamglobal.org/reports/ See especially the BAM Manifesto and the Wealth Creation Manifesto.
[2] See article from 2012 where the think tank is briefly described and put into a wider church context: http://matstunehag.com/2012/11/16/the-global-bam-think-tank-and-the-2nd-vatican-council/
[3] This article briefly describes four major Lausanne related consultations (2004, 2009, 2014, 2017) dealing with Business as Mission: http://matstunehag.com/2017/05/10/wealth-creation-manifesto/
[4] It would be a costly mistake to neglect the intellectual wealth generated over the centuries in both Jewish and Christian traditions. Please allow me to recommend one of the better books I’ve read: Papal Economics, by Maciej Zieba. He does an insightful overview and critical analysis of a dozen Papal encyclicals published over 100 plus years. They deal with issues like work, business, wealth, property rights, democracy, market economy, socialism, and human dignity and freedom.
[5] Excerpts from https://businessasmission.com/4-things-you-need-to-know-about-business-as-mission/. See also http://matstunehag.com/2020/01/15/bam-1-2-3-4-beyond/ for infographics and short texts regarding the three mandates and the four bottom-lines.
[6] I elaborate on the Judeo-Christian roots of BAM in the article “Deeply Rooted for the Future”: http://matstunehag.com/2020/12/23/deeply-rooted-for-the-future/
[7] Market and Morals, by Jonathan Sacks. Aug 2020. I am indebted to Sacks’ books, articles, and lectures. https://www.firstthings.com/article/2000/08/markets-and-morals
[8] Ethics and the dignity of work: An Orthodox Christian perspective, by Angelo Nicolaides. Pharos Journal of Theology ISSN 2414-3324 online Volume 101 – (2020)
[9] Market and Morals, by Jonathan Sacks. Aug 2020
[10] Ibid
[11] Laudato Si, #129, by Pope Francis. 2015
[12] Ethics and the dignity of work: An Orthodox Christian perspective, by Angelo Nicolaides. Pharos Journal of Theology ISSN 2414-3324 online Volume 101 – (2020)