Future BAM Challenges: Keeping Momentum in the Right Direction
In this new blog series on the BAM Manifesto we are taking the different parts of the Manifesto as inspiration and exploring them in the context of current BAM practice and the still-growing movement, twenty years on.
We asked a group of BAM leaders:
Looking back on the development of the BAM movement globally over the last one to two decades, do you think that a shared understanding created by the BAM Manifesto – and similar materials or opportunities for dialogue – have created growth/momentum in your region, network or sphere?
If yes, please share a little of the ‘how, why and what’ of that development. If no, please share what you feel has helped or what is still needed.
From the responses we’ve ‘charted’ the impact of the Manifesto on the BAM movement over the last few decades – read Part 1 ‘Pioneering Practitioners’ for a fuller introduction.
GRAPPLING WITH FUTURE CHALLENGES 2020s Onwards
At various times in the past twenty or so years, groups of BAM leaders have asked, ‘Where are the gaps, where are the pitfalls, what are we still wrestling with?’ These have been recurring questions in the past few years in particular, as we have contemplated ‘BAM 2.0’ two decades into intentional BAM collaboration – and especially as we prepared to come together at the BAM Global Congress in 2020 (though eventually disrupted by Covid).
The journey continues! We are still a relatively young movement and there is still much work to do and dangers to avoid for the future. One of the things we asked the twenty BAM leaders for this series was, ‘What are our current and future challenges? What is still needed to maximise future BAM growth and acceleration?’
The challenges ahead that they identified include maintaining the distinctives of BAM, avoiding mission drift, and passing the baton effectively to the next generation. Relating to mission drift, leaders are asking how can we possibly see the full spiritual fruit we long to see as a component of our holistic impact if we are not ourselves remaining close to the Lord, keeping in step with His Spirit? Likewise, how do we continue to innovate and become industry leaders, doing business with excellence? These challenges in turn require greater mobilisation of Christ-followers in the marketplace and the resources necessary to support robust BAM companies.
Here’s what some of our responders said about how we can continue to see the healthy growth business as mission globally. Perhaps their responses could be summed up as the need to ‘keep BAM momentum in the right direction’ – to continue to mobilise people and resources for BAM, whilst crucially not drifting away from our core mission.
Firsthand Views:
I believe the current challenge is similar to the early church’s challenge. How do we protect the Trinity’s role in this activity? Looking back historically we can see the danger, the Lord is likely to be gradually minimized in our institutions and organizations. When that happens, the Kingdom’s impact gets smaller and smaller. Some people I talk to seem interested in the good that is done but not how it is done. Let’s look to see who gets to be the hero in the BAM stories. If it is the practitioner, then it is really their story. If it is the Lord, then it is His story. I prefer the latter. – BJ, USA & East Asia
How can we create an intergenerational collaboration that allows the younger generation to both be heard and also receive from older people? – DT, East Africa
We need to be people of prayer and the Word. The movement could grind to a halt as quickly and thoroughly as it’s made progress if we forget the spiritual battle surrounding God’s enterprise for His whole creation, with the human family as far as we’ve been told, playing a central, enduring role. We need to be praying for and proclaiming boldly to the end that labourers will be raised up for the harvest – His harvest. Without women and men dedicated to this task with all their lives, everything else will be secondary. Recruitment from and through new channels where the people we need are gathering and can be exposed to the message, as well as in other more traditional means, will be a critical momentum-related issue.
We need to find fresh, creative ways to conference together; as Isaiah said: ‘Come now, let us reason together.’ How do we do this in genuine, incarnational ways, leveraging technology, allowing for the ‘touch, taste and feel’ of direct personal encounter, without marginalising or excluding those in farther flung or economically less accessible regions? How do we gather globally, regionally and locally in a thriving cellular kind of way, with healthy, unifying yet diverse approaches, methodologies, and outcomes? How do we build downward and upward, in generational terms, leveraging the so-called ‘decade dividend’ for continuity and leadership succession? How do we ensure inclusivity across the whole body, the whole family, to optimise exposure and learning from one another? How can we incubate and accelerate new ventures? How can we add critical personnel to help build existing ventures that are at risk for want of a few good men and women at the core of the BAM vision?
And, perhaps unexpectedly, how do we see the BAM movement not as the solution to everything, but in humility see it as one of the Lord’s many strategies, along with and in collaboration with other ministry approaches? This outlook and approach will further serve to ‘win friends and influence people’; in contrast, a narrower, superior approach will turn people away, and at best only address some of the issues we face together. These are some of the key questions, I think, which, if answered well, by His grace, will position the movement for powerful impact for decades to come. – PS, Canada, MENA & Asia
We have found it hard to recruit into our context. It’s a backwater, and yet a place of chronic need. I’m not sure if we have done a poor job of recruitment, or whether there is a need to strategize and mobilise people into the more ‘forgotten’ locations in the world. I’d love to see an effort to mobilise skilled managers and leaders into contexts like ours with regional and international strategies and mobilisation. I’ve not been as well plugged in recent years, so perhaps this is already happening. We need mentors who are successful entrepreneurs, in addition to people with general business experience. – DH, South Asia
We need to go beyond just putting on a BAM program or building awareness of BAM. We need true community-building, mentoring and marketplace discipleship. Balancing between the spiritual context and the practical context in marketplace ministry is a key to build relevancy. As we believe here in the Kingdom Business Community ministry, we need to ‘Grow in Truth – Grow in Competence – and Grow in Care’. – JF, Southeast Asia
There are hundreds of potential people in the younger generation who are good in their business but do not have the opportunity to scale up because of lack of training opportunities and capital for growth. A need is short courses for startups, with periodic practical involvement in the business and small capital investments. If we can introduce BAM in all the local churches and Bible schools as a crash course it will maximise future BAM acceleration. Organizing events, training and conferences is also another way to maximise BAM growth in regions where people are not familiar with the movement or even where the people of God are not encouraging Christians engagements in business ventures. – MT, South Asia
I think there remains a lot of confusion about the definition of BAM. I have started saying, ‘Business is mission’ although that is probably not going to clear up the confusion. I tend to argue that business may be thought of as a power, created by God to bring order in the marketplace where there would otherwise be chaos, to produce goods and services that contribute positively to human flourishing, to create wealth (profit), to provide opportunities for us to exercise our imago dei, and to engage in the Great Commission
There is also a danger of losing our distinctive focus. There has been a significant shift in the concept of BAM over time. In the early days ‘the poorest and least evangelised’ countries of the world were the geographical focus. Although there are many BAM businesses in these countries, BAM is now conceived of more broadly. ‘BAM in your own backyard’ or ‘BAM without leaving home’ has become more common. In fact, there is a degree of merging of BAM into ‘Kingdom business’ and social enterprise generally. I think that the leaders of the movement have a good and earnest desire to build an inclusive movement, but we can’t go too far and blur any distinction between BAM and other approaches to doing business Christianly. I am not opposed to Kingdom business development as long as the poorest and least evangelised countries are not neglected. There are opportunities for BAM in my own country. The local government area next door to mine has a high population of migrants and refugees. They are poor, many are unemployed, many have English as a second or third language and most are not eligible for social welfare payments. They need paid employment and opportunities to access vocational and higher education. BAM is good for a community like this. I am far more concerned about BAM merging into social enterprise because this undermines the ‘for profit’ aspect of BAM. It is not possible to break the poverty cycle without profit-making businesses.
I also think that many mission organisations still struggle to accept business as mission and continue to see business as a source of finance for mission or as a cover for mission. Finally, although there is some weakening of the sacred-secular divide, the church generally still has too narrow a view of business. Business is seen as a source of funding for the local church and the churches’ community outreach and mission work. The broader role of business in God’s purposes on earth is not well recognised. For the future I think it will be important to continue efforts to work on ways to better integrate BAM and the local church. – RSH, Australia
BAM companies need to demonstrate excellence as a brand in the marketplace, both to reflect God’s standards as well as exceed customer expectations and be successful financially. If they do so, they will thrive as companies, and sustain their employees and (church) communities. Customers, investors, lenders, suppliers and employees will celebrate such companies. Financial success is key to sustainability. Are we building a coffee shop to support a family for a three year stay in a location, or to support a larger community for twenty years or longer? While there is excitement and a willingness to come behind BAM companies, they have to be willing to deliver product and financial results the same as any other company. They have to engage with investors to deliver good news as well as bad, for large investors as well as small. Companies that do not do this should not expect continued support if they do not obey these marketplace fundamentals. My exposure to some recent BAM startups is that they raise capital more easily than in the past, and spend more than they can afford. The ‘runway’ for launching BAM companies should more often be ‘VTOL’ (vertical takeoff or landing) or ‘STOL’ (short takeoff or landing) with quick revenue streams that can be grown to demonstrate the viability of the company. More early sales should be generated rather than more capital raised. With this, there needs to be more support from the local churches, recognizing the business as a ministry to many. The early years can be harsh on the founders and their families in finances, faith, and friendships. The support of the churches is critical in prayer, friendship and being ready to support financially. – MN, USA, Europe & South Asia
The Last Word of the Series
We hope you have been encouraged hearing from BAM leaders around the world on the impact of the BAM Manifesto and the challenges still ahead. I will leave the last word of this four part series of blogs to an emerging BAM network in South Asia. Let us be encouraged by the journey so far and spurred on to continue to bring glory to God through business!
Yes, a shared understanding created by the BAM Manifesto and similar materials or opportunities for dialogue has created some kind of life and understanding about the global BAM movement. It has given us a language that we all can talk about and a vision and mission that we all can easily embrace and take it as our own and as a corporate body of Christ. The BAM network in our region here is new and the terms and meanings and the language used in the Manifesto and other materials has meant we can catch up easily. People are excited about it and they want to know more about what the BAM movement is and how they can be part of it. Some churches, institutions, regions, organizations and groups are requesting for training and partnerships. Some are signing an MoU with us so that we can come alongside them and join hands in a closer collaboration. There are testimonies of great transformation after we conducted the BAM conference here. We distributed some BAM materials which speak into their hearts and the way they look at business will never be the same again. It also brings us together and motivates us to walk together for a common purpose and vision-mission. It keeps us on course and helps us not to get side-tracked, to keep talk of the BAM movement growing here as the main priority of our conversation and focus. In this way it brings greater glory to God in our business ventures and gives us oneness of heart, with a shared focus on business as mission priorities. – MT, Northeast India
What came before? Read Part 1: Pioneering Practitioners, Part 2: Creed or Conversation Starter? and Part 3: Global BAM Ecosystem Growth and Multiplication
>> Read the BAM Manifesto in full
>> Read the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission.
>> Download the BAM Manifesto in 17 languages here
Jo Plummer is the co-chair of BAM Global and the author and editor of many business as mission papers and articles, including the BAM Global Think Tank Report series. She is a Lausanne Catalyst for Business as Mission and the co-editor of the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission. She has been developing resources for BAM since 2001 and currently serves as Editor of this Business as Mission website and blog.