Tag Archive for: biblical teaching

Greed Isn’t a Business Problem (Here’s What Is)

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by Erik Cooper

 

I heard (another) infuriating story about a corrupt businessman this morning. A friend shared how his brother might lose a ton of money because someone completely misrepresented himself in a massive business deal.

“It’s the dark side of business for sure,” my friend said over coffee.

That made my blood boil—not just for my friend’s brother, but because these kinds of stories are what so many people associate with business: greed, corruption, deception, selfishness, taking from others, and hoarding for yourself.

These broken counterfeits have become synonymous with business in the minds of many. So when we start talking about business as mission (BAM), business as a sacred calling, or leveraging the marketplace for God-honoring Kingdom purposes, it’s no wonder some people can’t break through the dissonance.

But it’s worth wrestling with…

Is business inherently selfish? Is it just some sinful, cutthroat institution man invented to survive in a fallen world? Is business synonymous with greed? Or worse—does business make people greedy?

I’d like to pose a different take. Check this out:

“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.” – Colossians 3:5

Greed isn’t a business problem. Greed is a worship problem.

At its core, good business is about adding value to others and the world around us. It’s about seeing a need and meeting it, recognizing a problem and solving it, or creating something the world is missing.

When business is redeemed by the gospel, it actually becomes the antidote to greed—not the cause of it. This paints a beautiful, redemptive picture of what business and the marketplace can be.

Don’t buy into the sin-broken caricature. Business isn’t synonymous with greed; it’s an opportunity to create, serve, and bless. This makes it a perfect tool to make Jesus known to the world.

The real question is, what are you worshipping?

 

First published in The Stone Table weekly newsletter and published on The BAM Review with kind permission from the author.

 

Erik Cooper is the President of The Stone Table. After starting his career in the business world, Erik spent 12 years in full-time ministry, both on staff at a large suburban church and as a church planter in a downtown urban context. In addition to his role at The Stone Table, he also serves in executive leadership of Community Reinvestment Foundation, a nonprofit real estate company that provides high-quality affordable housing all over Indiana while investing its profits into missions through The Stone Table.

 

 

Helping BAM Practitioners Start Well and Endure for the Long-Term

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To celebrate the launch of a new BAM Global Consultation on BAM Practitioner Care and Well-being, we are reposting a resource blog from two years ago that first helped us identify the gap in this area. Read more on BAM Endurance here.

by Jo Plummer

Recently I received a question about training resources and spiritual courses from a BAM practitioner who reads our blog. There already are lots of great resources on this site and elsewhere for helping BAMers start well and endure for the long-term. This post is designed to introduce some resources that BAM practitioners may find helpful for both preparing to launch into BAM and enduring long.

However, having asked advice from a few other business as mission leaders, we identified that there are relatively few dedicated, BAM-related resources for what the mission community calls ‘member care – that is helping ensure the personal, physical, relational and spiritual well-being of BAM practitioners. There are, however, many general member care and spiritual life resources that we can glean from in the wider Christian community, and a selection of these are also listed below.

Training & Preparation: Launching Well

How do people get from BAM vision to BAM reality? What training resources are there out there for BAM practitioners? What factors help launch BAMers out into stable, successful business as mission enterprises? What are the skills and characteristics that BAM companies are looking for as they recruit? How do potential BAMers best develop themselves and prepare for doing business as mission?

Here are some places to start:

  • Courses & Training Page – BAM Resource Library
    Looking for some BAM-related training? Start with the Courses & Training page in the Resource Library here on the BAM website for a list of training organisations and course providers related to BAM. Follow that up by browsing the Video & Audio Page which links to many Podcasts and Video Series which have great content and are all totally free to access. (And of course we have great Books and Papers listed too, as well as over 550 Blogs to read – see Blog Categories listed on this page!)

Read more

What is Business as Mission? A Brand New Explainer [Video]

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We’re excited to share with you our brand new 3 minute explainer video for business as mission!

 

Business as Mission is the creation and growth of for-profit, sustainable companies that are intentional about Kingdom of God purposes. Business as mission (BAM) addresses the economic, social, environmental, and spiritual needs of unreached peoples and vulnerable communities.

 

Concept and script by BAM Global Communications Team, animation by Alana Schreiber. An initiative of BAM Global.

Read more

Entrepreneurs on Mission: Two Barriers to Break Through

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by Mark Russell

There comes a day when we sit back and ask ourselves what we are going to do with our lives. In a sense, I am still asking myself that question. But many years ago I felt a nudge, a call if you will, to spend time in cross-cultural contexts advancing the gospel. At the time, I had no idea what that entailed. The only role models I had to look to were the missionaries I had met in Paraguay. They were either medical doctors or preachers. As a business student, it seemed I would have to leave behind my business interests and develop a new set of skills.

A few years into my overseas ministry, I began to ask myself some new questions about why couldn’t one be a businessperson and a kingdom builder at the same time.   At the time I was working in a traditional missionary setting, but quickly found that a lot of people resonated with my search to integrate business and mission. Later, I realized that people all over the world were working independently to the same end. It seems God is up to something.

Over the years, as I have worked in various business as mission activities and talked to many others who have been likewise engaged, two points have emerged as worthy of examination.

Breaking Categorizations

First, Westerners tend to live according to categories that are not always beneficial. This tendency is not limited to Westerners but is expressed more strongly there. This is the sort of categorization that leads us to designate one person a “missionary” and another person as not.

Paul was a tentmaker because that is who he was, who he was designed by the Designer to be.

For example, ask most people if the Apostle Paul was a missionary or an entrepreneurial businessman. They will tend to reply that he was a church planting apostolic missionary or something to that effect. Nevertheless, a close study of his life and work reveals that he was both. For many of us, it’s difficult to accept that, so some in the church have taught over the years that Paul worked as a tentmaker solely for financial purposes i.e. to pay the bills so he could preach the gospel.

However, a closer look reveals that Paul lived and breathed the gospel everywhere he went and generally he went and worked as a tentmaker. Paul was a tentmaker because that is who he was, who he was designed by the Designer to be. Read more

What Kind of Entrepreneur was Paul the Apostle?

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by Min-Dong Paul Lee and Dave Pederson, Wheaton College

Read Part 1  |  Read Part 2

On the road to Damascus, Paul’s life was transformed from a self-promoter to a steward of the gospel to the gentiles. A curious fact is that Paul never quit his job as a tentmaker. Why did Paul remain a leather-worker artisan throughout his missionary career? Could it be that this daily business was an integral part of his ministry? We use the lens of a modern entrepreneurship theory called entrepreneurial effectuation theory to unlock Paul’s combining of business and ministry.

Effectuation theory offers a unique perspective explaining the entrepreneurial process. Most entrepreneurship theory assumes that entrepreneurs start with a goal (i.e., creating products or enterprise) in mind and mobilize resources to achieve the end. Effectuation theory offers a very different perspective. It argues that entrepreneurs begin with assessing their available resources and determining the next best step given the resources, allowing them to adapt their goals and strategies as circumstances change. This approach emphasizes flexibility and improvisation over rigid planning, creating a more dynamic model for understanding the entrepreneurial process.

While some may distill effectuation theory into ‘going with the flow,’ there is a clear strategic emphasis that entrepreneurs exercise, especially when following a goal that is impressed upon them rather than manufactured by themselves. As a steward of God’s mission, Paul had a specific goal that was given to him. Yet, he seems to adapt his methods at nearly every turn to find the best approach to launching and building churches. Paul combined his tentmaking work with ministry to find and create opportunities and solve problems. Let us use the lens of four principles of effectuation theory to examine Paul’s unique ministry.

Bird-in-Hand Principle (Start with What You Have)

The Bird-in-Hand principle asserts that successful entrepreneurs create solutions with immediately available resources, such as their skills, knowledge, and networks.

When Christ confronted Paul on the Damascus road, he sent him on a mission to the gentiles. Paul immediately had to make a resourcing decision. According to a Roman Stoic philosopher, Musonius Rufus, an itinerant teacher like Paul could provide for themselves in four ways: (1) Paul could find a wealthy gentile patron; (2) he could collect tuition from his students; (3) he could beg for a living; (4) he could work with his hands. Paul learned leather-working skills from his youth. So, he chose to apply his skills in supplying for his needs and worked in the trade throughout his life. In fact, even when he was under house arrest in Rome at the end of his life, he worked to pay for the rent (Acts 28:30). Read more

The Mindset of a BAMer: Lessons from Paul the Apostle

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by Min-Dong Paul Lee and Dave Pederson, Wheaton College

Read Part 1

 

BAMers have two integrated identities: Missional and entrepreneurial identities. We know that our missional identity is grounded in our conviction as stewards of God’s mission. Then, what is part of our entrepreneurial identity? What distinguishes entrepreneurs from everyone else?

In their influential study, The Entrepreneurial Mindset, McGrath and MacMillan define five critical characteristics of entrepreneurs as (1) opportunity-seeking, (2) disciplined, (3) focused, (4) adaptive, and (5) collaborative. Are these characteristics relevant for BAM entrepreneurs? Through examples from the work and life of Apostle Paul, we show Paul’s entrepreneurial mindset, firmly anchored in stewardship identity, was an essential driving force for his mission.

Opportunity-Seeking

The first characteristic of an entrepreneurial mindset is opportunity-seeking. Like good chess players, entrepreneurs are not just focused on what is happening on the board. Instead, their mind is racing ahead to predict the moves ahead. Entrepreneurs stay alert and constantly scan the environment to look for new opportunities.

The Book of Acts paints a fascinating portrait of the Apostle Paul, a man whose defining characteristic was his relentless pursuit of opportunity. While he sought opportunities to advance his career and crush the nascent Christian movement before the Damascus experience, after conversion, his opportunity-seeking mindset was redirected towards spreading the Gospel in Damascus and Jerusalem. Yet, Paul’s initial zeal did not always yield positive results. His attempt to preach to the Hellenistic Jews in Jerusalem backfired, forcing him to retreat to his hometown of Tarsus (Acts 9:28-30).

This experience may have been another critical turning point for Paul. What he thought was an opportunity was only a distraction when it was not God’s timing. Nonetheless, Paul had the humility to listen to others and went back home to Tarsus and the surrounding regions.

When God’s timing arrived, in contrast to his earlier self-directed pursuit of opportunity, Paul sought opportunities in God’s will and timing. This shift led him to unexpected and fruitful places. For instance, in the Philippi prison, Paul shared the gospel with the jailer’s family. His commitment to spreading the gospel extended even to encounters with powerful rulers. When engaging with King Agrippa, Paul’s passionate proclamation left a lasting impression. Agrippa, taken aback, remarked, “In a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian?” (Acts 26:28). Paul’s reliance on divine guidance allowed him to discover opportunities he did not anticipate.

The Spirit-guided insight for spotting fruitful opportunities is an essential quality of a BAMer.

Discipline and Focus

Discipline and focus are intricately connected like the two sides of the same coin. Once entrepreneurs spot opportunities, they pursue them with enormous discipline and focus. They have a bias toward action and are disciplined to turn ideas into products and services that meet real needs. Focus demands an unrelenting prioritization of the best opportunity. The entrepreneurs first select the most fertile battleground – the industry or arena with the most promise. Then, within this chosen domain, they focus on the most attractive opportunity. This inevitably necessitates trade-offs. Other potentially alluring opportunities are cast aside. They understand they must give up something to focus on the best possible opportunity. Read more

The Apostle Paul: An Entrepreneurial Steward

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by Min-Dong Paul Lee and Dave Pederson, Wheaton College

The Apostle Paul is one of the most extensively studied biblical characters. However, much of the research focused on his theology, leaving Paul’s human side – his behaviors and motivations – underexplored. With the advancement of modern behavioral sciences, new conceptual tools are available to analyze his ministry from fresh perspectives. For example, what would we learn if we examined Paul’s ministry through the lens of modern entrepreneurial research?

Paul: The Accidental Theologian and Natural Entrepreneur

Paul was a theologian by accident. He didn’t see himself as a writer of long treatises. Rather, he saw himself as God’s servant and practitioner carrying out the pastoral and missionary work of the emerging movement of Jesus’ followers. If we focus on his actions and decisions, we see a unique figure that was highly proactive and entrepreneurial. He planted over a dozen churches, coached many leaders, wrote almost half of the New Testament books, and engaged in trades in multiple cities.

Paul’s life is an apt example of what modern organizational scholars describe as an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs have the uncanny ability to see the unmet needs in the market. They are willing to take the risk to create something that exploits the opportunity to add value to society. Modern entrepreneurship research suggests that entrepreneurs possess a distinct mindset characterized by five key features:

1. Opportunity-Seeking: They stay alert and actively scan the environment for new opportunities

2. Disciplined: They are determined and persistent in pursuing their goals

3. Focused: They prioritize specific goals and are willing to make strategic tradeoffs

4. Adaptable: They adjust their strategies to the changing environment

5. Collaborative: They recognize the power of working together with others

Interestingly, Paul had all the marks of an entrepreneur even before his conversion. Paul was a Hellenistic Jew from Tarsus in the province of Cilicia. Yet, he moved to Jerusalem to become a student of Gamaliel, a leading figure among the Pharisees in Jerusalem, eager to climb the religious ladder. When the Jesus sect emerged, Paul saw it as a heretical threat and began to persecute them with discipline and focus. He often adapted his strategies of persecution, growing ever more violent. He was willing to collaborate with even the Sadducees to achieve his objective. Paul was an ambitious entrepreneur driven by his religious zeal and personal success.

Transformation as an Entrepreneurial Steward

Everything changes on the road to Damascus. The encounter with the risen Christ shook Paul to the core and fundamentally transformed his identity, purpose, and practice. It is not that he lost his entrepreneurial edge. Instead, God redirected his natural disposition toward a whole new mission (Acts 9:15). Paul continued applying an entrepreneurial mindset in his missionary work. However, instead of being self-driven and opportunistic, he submitted himself entirely to the leading of his master and committed to the new mission. To describe this unique blend of entrepreneurial mindset with a servant’s heart, we introduce the term entrepreneurial steward. Entrepreneurial stewards are people whose identity is firmly anchored in the stewardship commitment to serve their master’s interest while leveraging their entrepreneurial talents. Read more

Four Contexts to Integrate the Four Bottom Lines of BAM

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In the month of June we are highlighting excerpts from the recently published BAM Global Report on BAM and Mission Agencies. Mission Agencies are a major constituency in the BAM community, alongside our main business constituency and also the church and academia. We believe these resources will be of value whether you are agency affiliated or part of another BAM constituency.

 

Integration of the four bottom lines

Business as mission involves the intentional integration of business and holistic mission. It is in response to mandates God has given to us, His people, including:

  • The Creation Mandate given in Genesis 1 to ‘tend the garden’ and enable human society and creation to flourish
  • The Great Commandment to love God above all else, to obey His commands and to love our neighbour as ourselves
  • The Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all Jesus’ teachings

Our response in business as mission is to seek sustainable, holistic transformation for people and communities through for-profit business models.

As we have seen above, we want to plan for, implement, measure, and grow sustainability and impact in four main areas: spiritual, economic, social and environmental. Although we should examine each one in turn in order to be intentional about each, in the context of the daily business operations these four areas of impact cannot be compartmentalised, they are meshed together in BAM companies.

However, many of us have inherited dichotomised ways of thinking about what is sacred and what is secular. We may be used to compartmentalising our lives; between faith and work, between gospel witness and environmental stewardship, between ‘ministry activities’ and ‘making payroll’ (i.e. paying our employees), for instance. We may come from a church or mission tradition that prioritises personal evangelism over socio-economic justice (or vice versa). As a result, we might have to work hard to be intentional about integrating business and mission together—both individually and in the agency as a whole—and we should consider how to do this in four main ways:

1. Personal integration and preparation

As we (BAM practitioners) are integrated, so our businesses will be integrated. As we live integrated lives as disciples of Jesus, the rule of God’s Kingdom will extend to every part of our lives. Preparation for fruitful business as mission thus begins by being rooted in Christ, abiding in Him (John 15:1-5, Col 2:7) and by developing patterns of thinking that are transformed by that relationship (Rom 12:2). Integration flows from our theology and is expressed through our walk with Jesus in daily life.

It may be helpful to prepare for BAM by examining our own thinking in light of the sacred-secular divide and make a study of the Bible on topics such as economics, business, human flourishing, justice, mission and restoration, for example. Does our worldview align with God’s view of us as integrated people and communities?

As we commune with Jesus and seek the will of God, we allow ourselves to be integrated into his plan and He is able to use us in big, small, obvious, and surprising ways to advance his Kingdom. Being yoked with Him, allowing Him to carry our heavy burdens, we are able to rely on His direction and not on our own striving or direction. As we listen to His voice and obey it, we can follow the miraculous life that Jesus modelled for us as his disciples—in business.

2. Integration in business planning

To fulfil its potential to create integrated impact, a BAM business needs to have a clear plan for reaching profitability, alongside creating spiritual, social, and environmental impact. The first step in the process is to identify a business model that could be viable and profitable in the target location, among the community the business team hopes to reach and enable to flourish. This step may take extensive research and reconnaissance. Good community development practices, alongside business planning practices, should be engaged to research and discover the felt-needs of the community, rather than imposing solutions to social, economic or environmental problems from an external perspective. Read more

4 BAM Bottom Lines: Doing Spiritual, Economic, Social and Environmental Good

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In the month of June we are highlighting excerpts from the recently published BAM Global Report on BAM and Mission Agencies. Mission Agencies are a major constituency in the BAM community, alongside our main business constituency and also the church and academia. We believe these resources will be of value whether you are agency affiliated or part of another BAM constituency.

 

The BAM and Mission Agencies Consultation considered the full and effective integration of business and mission and how we keep a positive tension between the multiple bottom lines of BAM. Working subgroups focused on each of the four bottom lines of spiritual, financial, social and environmental outcomes for BAM and these discussions were framed by dialogue on integrating ‘multiple bottom line impact’ in a BAM company.

Introduction to the ‘Quadruple Bottom Lines’ (QBL) of BAM

Business as mission, as we have read in the BAM Global definition, is intentional Kingdom of God purpose and impact on people and nations; focused on holistic transformation and the four bottom lines of economic, social, environmental and spiritual outcomes.

The idea of having multiple bottom lines for a business comes from the original ‘financial bottom line’—the number that indicates net profit (or loss) typically found at the bottom of a company’s income statement. A company that is solely focused on making money for its shareholders will only be concerned about this one ‘bottom line’, its financial earnings. The social enterprise movement introduced the idea of ‘triple bottom line’ impact that is also concerned with social and environmental outcomes. Business as mission extends this idea to ‘quadruple bottom line’ (or four bottom line) impact, including spiritual impact as well.

If intentional impact along these multiple bottom lines is a hallmark of BAM, agencies will do well to build a solid understanding of each. As has been previously stated, while these four areas of impact are integrated together in terms of the business model, strategy and daily operations—all things working together for missional impact—there are times when the focus should be on each one separately. This is especially true when planning for positive outcomes in each. Then careful consideration is needed as to how success is defined in each area and, therefore, how progress is measured so that there can be accountability and ongoing evaluation.

For business as mission, the four bottom lines are:

1. Doing spiritual good

Acting on the belief that faith in Jesus and a reconciled relationship with God addresses sin and brokenness at an individual and societal level that are the root cause of all other social, environmental and economic problems. Lasting change (God’s Kingdom coming on earth) and salvation from death and sin can only occur when our relationship with God, self, each other, and creation are reconciled. It involves sharing the gospel in word and deed, living as a disciple of Christ as a witness to others, and making disciples. Read more

Why BAM? It’s Biblical, Strategic and Time for New Wineskins!

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In the month of June we are highlighting excerpts from the recently published BAM Global Report on BAM and Mission Agencies. Mission Agencies are a major constituency in the BAM community, alongside our main business constituency and also the church and academia. We believe these resources will be of value whether you are agency affiliated or part of another BAM constituency.

Why Mission Agencies do Business as Mission

Business as mission (BAM) is the strategic use of authentic business activities that create authentic ministry opportunities that bring spiritual, economic, social and environmental transformation to unreached peoples and marginalised people. In other words, it is taking the instrument of business, with its innate, God-given ability and power to do good in the world, and intentionally harnessing that power towards the work of mission.

There has been much discussion around the value of and justification for doing business as mission, not least among mission agency leaders. We would like to suggest that there are at least three strong bases for taking a positive approach: It is biblical, it is strategic, and it is time for new wineskins.

It is biblical

There are numerous themes in the scriptures that provide strong support for running businesses that give expression to Kingdom of God values and purposes.

In Genesis 1 and 2, we see God’s great enterprise of creation by which He reveals Himself as the original Great Entrepreneur. God created human beings ‘in his own image’ (Gen 1:2), as creative beings who are to co-labour with him to steward creation through innovation and work. They are to use the fruit of their labours to sustain families and communities, and to care for others.

In Deuteronomy 8, God reminds his people Israel not to forget him as they prepare to enter the promised land—to settle down and start agricultural and mining businesses (Deut 8:8-9)—because ‘it is [God] who gives you the ability to produce wealth’. In the desert, the Lord had provided manna daily, but when the people entered this new land the manna stopped immediately because God designed human society to be provided for through enterprise and work. Business is a God-designed and ordained institution that can bring glory to Him. Business done well involves innovating with natural resources, good stewardship of these resources, the opportunity for dignified work, the creation of life-enhancing products and services, and the multiplication of resources and wealth that enable people and societies to flourish and advance.

The Apostle Paul exhorted Christ’s followers to work hard and not be idle (2 Thes 3:10-12), and modelled the value of work and enterprise by his own example. Paul seemingly engaged in the business of making tents (or perhaps leather working or saddle making) to provide for financial needs (1 Cor 9:6), to ensure his message was credible by being free of the complications of patronage (Cor 9: 18, 2 Cor 12:14), to enable mobility and open up opportunities to meet and spend significant time with others (Acts 18:1-3), and to model the Christian lifestyle (1 Thes 4:11-12, 2 Thes 3: 6-9).

Justice and concern for the poor and marginalised is a theme pervading the scriptures and one in which all business as mission practitioners can actively participate and make a significant contribution. Starting business as mission enterprises enables us to ‘open our arms to the poor’; just as the entrepreneurial woman in Proverbs 31 did as she worked hard, produced good products, and traded well.

Read more

Business as Mission Foundations: 4 Things You Should Know About BAM

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by Jo Plummer

 

1. We can’t talk about ‘business as mission’ until we talk about ‘business’

Business is part of God’s good plan for human flourishing and has a God-designed power and role in human society. Business as mission takes this intrinsic God-given power and role of business and intentionally uses it as an instrument for mission. Just as water or wind power can be intentionally harnessed to do more good (or harm), business as mission is harnessing the power of business for God’s glory, the gospel, and the common good.

It is therefore vitally important that we have a good grasp of what the Bible says about business – and indeed, economics, human flourishing and God’s mission to the world – before we then apply those fundamental truths about God’s purposes to doing business as mission. Let us build on solid biblical foundations!

What we don’t want to do is create a new ‘sacred-secular divide’ while trying to break down the old one. Business does not need to be sanctified by being engaged as an instrument for mission, it is already part of God’s good design. Just as one vocation is not more spiritual or sacred than another, the same goes for different kinds of business. We can glorify God through work and our vocations, wherever we are.

For more on this idea read here and for a biblical foundation for BAM read here.

 

2. Business as mission is part of a broader movement, but also has a unique and distinctive response to the world’s most pressing issues

For example, business as mission is part of the wider shift in the global church towards more integral (or holistic) models of mission that break down the dichotomy between evangelism and social responsibility. But it is also distinctive in that it emphasises for-profit solutions to mission challenges, rather than charitable or donor-driven mission models.

Business as mission is also part of a broader re-evaluation in society concerning the purpose of business beyond financial returns for shareholders. This movement towards ‘social enterprise’, ‘impact investment’, ‘conscious capitalism, etc. focuses instead on creating ‘shared value’ for many stakeholders, with positive social and environmental impact included alongside economic impact. Although these expressions of social enterprise sometimes encompass spiritual impact as well, BAM always includes spiritual impact. Business as mission makes central a restored relationship with God, through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross – plus all the implications for restored relationship with our neighbours and creation that will also bring.

Business as mission is part of a growing movement to integrate faith and work and to encourage entrepreneurs and business professionals everywhere to be ‘faith-driven’ – and such integration must be foundational in every BAM company. However, business as mission is also distinctive in that the ‘ministry’ happens both within the business context AND also through the business model, through every part of the business strategy and operations. Business as mission sees business both as the medium and the message.

By calling out the distinctives of BAM, we are not implying that it is superior to any other model or emphasis. However, it does require a particular set of methodologies, tools and resources, that benefit from a common language, a community of practice, and a connected, supportive ecosystem.

We are also not saying that the term ‘business as mission’ itself is unique, as there are many other terms in English and of course other languages that are used for the same idea. Rather it is the concept of business as mission (whatever you want to call it) – the idea behind it – that is distinctive.

To read more on the distinctives of BAM and its relationship to ideas like workplace ministries, tentmaking and other mission models, read Chapter 1 of the Lausanne Occasional Paper on BAM: ‘What is Business as Mission?’

Read more

3 Key Questions: How We Define and Evaluate Kingdom Impact

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By Will Thomas

Co-Founder & Managing Director, Ambassadors Impact Network

Ambassadors Impact Network (AIN) is an angel investment network based in Dallas, Texas, connecting Christian accredited investors with gospel-advancing entrepreneurs. Since inception in 2018, our members have deployed over USD $20 million across more than 50 companies and funds. In addition to targeting competitive financial returns, we are equally committed to seeking intentional and measurable spiritual impact.

One of the most common inquiries we receive from prospective members and applicant entrepreneurs relates to how we define, evaluate, and measure these kingdom returns. At the heart of our approach is a recognition that entrepreneurs come from diverse spiritual backgrounds, each with unique giftings, passions, and contexts. Therefore, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to gospel advancement. Instead, we encourage entrepreneurs to articulate how they intend to make Jesus known through three key aspects of their businesses: codified values, business activities, and products and/or services. Below are the questions we ask in our application and some background on each.

1. Incorporating biblical truth into company values

Does your company include biblical principles in the corporate documents (such as mission statement, manuals, etc.)?

Context and examples: Scripture tells us repeatedly of the immense power of words. “A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook” (Proverbs 18:4). Indeed, it is through speech that our God brings things into existence. Similarly, we believe that the values of a company, when explicitly stated, play an enormous role in shaping organizational culture, guiding decision-making, and providing a stable foundation for God-glorifying growth. In our diligence process, we ask applicants to share about their corporate values, their alignment with biblical principles, and the extent to which these are formally codified in corporate documents, such as in mission statements, operating manuals, external communications, employee policies, etc. Read more

There’s a Role for You in the BAM Ecosystem! Four People Share [Video]

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Listen to four people share firsthand how they are contributing their unique gifts and experiences to build the BAM ecosystem.

 


 
The BAM ecosystem is bigger than you think! As well as BAM practitioners – those who actually run the business as mission companies – there are countless others supporting those practitioners and companies.

From mobilisers, to investors… from intercessors, to mentors… from communicators, to business incubators… from recruiters, to trainers… and many more. As well as businesses and business services, the BAM movement also includes academics, mission leaders, church leaders and others.

There is a role for you!
 

>> Read Part 1 of this series for ways to get involved!

 

Discover more on Launching and Landing for BAM and Incubation and Ecosystem.

More great BAM resources at our online Business as Mission Resource Library and The BAM Review Blog.

Are we missing any resources that should be listed? Contact us to share them.

 

 

BAM Ecosystem Builders: How You Can Support the Business as Mission Movement

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by Jo Plummer

 

As we began exploring last month, there are many different ways to get involved in business as mission and the BAM movement needs many types of people, skills, experiences and passions. If you are interested in engaging with BAM, there is a path and role for you!

To recap, the two broad pathways are:
1) Getting involved by doing business as mission yourself, in a BAM company context, or
2) Enabling, resourcing or connecting others involved in BAM — through activities such as mentoring, investing, praying, building networks, incubating, training, mobilising, and so on!

God has equipped each of us with various skill sets and backgrounds and He is leading each of us on unique paths.

 

Last month, we started with the topic of getting involved in doing BAM yourself. This month, we’ll continue with ways to support and resource others to do BAM – in other words, how to help build the business as mission ecosystem!

Business as mission companies and practitioners need many different kinds of support and resources to thrive. From obvious roles such as business incubators, investors, mentors, and trainers…

To perhaps less obvious ones, like network builders, recruiters and mobilisers, that enable the pipeline of people getting involved in BAM to flow…

Or communicators and content creators to keep the ideas and stories flowing…

Or perhaps prayer partners to help us all keep in step with the Holy Spirit…

There are many different and necessary roles in the BAM ecosystem!

 

Get Involved Building the BAM Ecosystem

If you are interested in getting more involved in supporting business as mission, chances are you are thinking about one or more of the following:

Providing support and services to individual BAM companies/practitioners, such as consulting, recruiting, investing, prayer, etc.
Building a network or entrepreneurial ecosystem that focuses on a particular region, industry or issue, for example a regional BAM network, a city-focused business incubator, or an alliance or community of practice for a particular speciality.
Contributing skills or services to the global BAM ecosystem as a whole, such as training, mobilisation, communications, prayer, and so on.

And these often overlap. For instance, we pray both for individual BAM companies and the BAM movement every month in BAM Global prayer calls. A city-wide business incubator will also provide services to individual companies. And so on.

So bearing that in mind, here are some different roles in the BAM ecosystem and some ideas for how to get involved in them: Read more

Pathways into BAM: Resources for Your Journey

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by Jo Plummer

 

There are many different ways to get involved in business as mission and the BAM movement needs many types of people, skills, experiences and passions. If you are interested in engaging with BAM, there is a path and role for you!

The two broad pathways are:
1) Getting involved by doing business as mission yourself, in a BAM company context, or
2) Enabling, resourcing or connecting others involved in BAM — through activities such as mentoring, investing, praying, building networks, incubating, training, mobilising, and so on!

 

God has equipped each of us with various skill sets and backgrounds, leading each of us on unique paths. No matter how you’ve been equipped, what role you have in business as mission, or where you are on your journey, we hope you will find the resources on this website useful and encouraging.

This month we are starting a blog series that will explore different pathways into BAM and different ways to be involved. We begin this month with the topic of getting involved in doing BAM yourself. In the coming months, we’ll explore more ideas for enabling, resourcing and connecting others to do BAM. If option 2 is you, get ready… we’ll have blogs on resourcing others in BAM and building the BAM ecosystem coming soon.

Get Involved Doing BAM

If you are interested in getting involved in doing business as mission yourself, chances are you are thinking about one of the following options:

A: Starting up a BAM company
B: Joining a BAM company that someone else has started
C: Repurposing an existing company to integrate BAM principles into it

 

There is no right or wrong way to get involved in BAM, but here are some helpful ideas and a roundup of resources for whichever option you are exploring…

General Resources for Everyone

Whatever your approach or path, here are a few resources that will help you get a good foundation in BAM:

BAM Global Summit

Join us at our online BAM Global Summit on Thursday 9th May. With the tagline Accelerate… your journey, your business, the movement, together – the whole goal is to inspire, equip and connect you for your unique journey in BAM. Get a glimpse of what God is doing around the world in business as mission and discover how to be a part of it. Find out more here.

 

BAM Manifesto

The BAM Manifesto is our foundational document to frame business as mission; it shares in one page what BAM is all about. Read it here.

 

Read more

12 Ways that Business as Mission is Bigger Than You Think 

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As we start the new year, we are revisiting some foundational material on what business as mission means. Here’s a classic article from Mats to expand our thinking about BAM.

By Mats Tunehag

 

Business as Mission is a growing global movement of Christians in the marketplace asking: How can we shape business to serve people, align with God’s purposes, be good stewards of the planet and make a profit?

We are on a mission in and through business. It is for example a mission of justice. One could even say ‘Business as Justice’. This and other terms may help us understand the holistic and transformational nature of Business as Mission.

Let me give 12 brief examples. The list could be made longer, but these 12 will hopefully show that Business as Mission is not just doing business with a touch of “churchianity”.

1. Business as Justice

God loves justice and hates injustice. God sent prophets again and again who spoke out against injustice, and they demanded change and correction. Injustice often manifested itself in the marketplace: it was corruption, labor exploitation and abuse of vulnerable people like immigrants. To pursue honest business and care for staff is Business as Justice. To treat customers and suppliers well is also a part of this God honoring pursuit. Business as Justice includes fighting corruption and bribery.

2. Business as True Religion

True worship is to take care of widows and orphans (James 1:27). These are two vulnerable groups, who often are exploited in the marketplace today. Human traffickers often target lonely children. Circumstances and cunning people may force widows into prostitution. These are realities in many parts of the world. Who will offer orphans and widows a future; give them jobs with dignity, so they can support themselves and others? That would be Business as True Religion.

 3. Business as Shalom

Shalom is a Biblical concept of good and harmonious relationships. But relationships were damaged and broken through the fall in Genesis chapter 3. Through Christ there is a way to restored relationship with God, with one another, and with creation. Business is so much about relationships, with staff, colleagues, peers, customers, clients, suppliers, family, community, tax authorities, and so forth. How can we as Christians in business strive towards Shalom; Business as Shalom?

4. Business as Stewardship

Every human being has been entrusted with gifts and talents. In business we also talk about assets. Stewardship is another important Biblical concept. How can we use what we have to serve? What does stewardship mean when we own and / or run a business? God has given some people strong entrepreneurial gifts. They can be used for God and for the common good through business. It is the same with managerial gifts or gifts of bookkeeping or sales. We should encourage people with business skills to be good stewards of their gifts – Business as Stewardship.

5. Business as Servant Leadership

Jesus came to serve. He was an example of good and godly leadership. Many books are written on this topic and it indicates the importance of the very concept of servant leadership. Doing business as unto the Lord means that we also explore what servant leadership means in the business context. It is not a simple formula or a cookie cutter approach. It may look differently in different industries and cultures. But the key underlying principle is to serve people, communities, nations, and God. We are too often reminded about the lack of good leadership in the business world. Business as Servant Leadership is more than needed. Read more

What is Business as Mission? A Short Introduction

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As we start the new year, we are revisiting some foundational material on what business as mission means. Here’s the introduction to business as mission from our Start Here page.

What is Business as Mission?

Business as mission, simply put, is the seamless integration of excellent business with intentional mission. It is doing business for God’s glory, the gospel, and the common good.

Business is a God-given vocation and institution in society, with the potential to bring multiple benefits to people, communities and nations. Business as mission intentionally leverages this intrinsic power of business to address spiritual needs, hand in hand with social, economic and environmental needs. Business as mission is strategic today because it is often best placed to meet a wide range of needs in communities around the world.

Let’s start with business

Dallas Willard once said, “Business is a primary moving force of the love of God in human history.” Business, done well, is glorifying to God. Period. We see in the Bible and throughout history that business is able to create dignified jobs,  multiply resources, provide for families and communities, push forward innovation, and, in short, do good in society. A company does not need a business as mission strategy to justify its purpose or to somehow make it more ‘holy’. Business professionals following Jesus in the marketplace already have a sacred vocation. Business is a good idea that comes from God.

Yet, God has called us, His Church, to partner with him in the work of mission. To love our neighbour as ourselves, to care for the poor and vulnerable, and to share the gospel and make disciples in every part of the world. And business people, along with their skills and experiences, are some of the most needed in the work of global mission today. Alongside more traditional forms of mission, the world is crying out for for-profit, business solutions to some of its most pressing issues. These issues include job scarcity, human trafficking, economic exploitation, corruption, environmental degradation, dire poverty, and the challenge of sharing the love of God and His good news with those who haven’t yet heard it.

Business as Mission

In the global marketplace today, we have an opportunity to harness the God-given power of business to address these pressing spiritual, social, environmental, and economic issues. Business as mission is a movement of business professionals – alongside mission leaders, church leaders and academics – who are doing just that. They are taking the instrument of business, with its innate, God-given ability and power, and intentionally using that power in the work of mission. They are using their professional know-how and the gifts of entrepreneurship and good management to bring creative and long-term, sustainable solutions to local and global challenges. They are making a positive impact through for-profit business, along the ‘four bottom lines’: social, environmental, financial and spiritual. We sometimes refer to these as the 4Ps: people, planet, profit, and eternal purpose. Read more

4 Things to Know about How Business Fights Poverty

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In our series this month “Exploring BAM as Justice: Choosing Hope in the Face of Challenge” we’re taking a deep dive into the intersection of faith, business, and complex global realities. We’ll be looking at business as mission’s impact on poverty and justice issues across the globe. Here’s the first post with some essential points on how business fights poverty.

1. Poverty means more than just material poverty

Poverty in the biblical sense goes beyond lack of money and all its implications, although that’s part of it.

Christian development thinker Bryant Myers, in his seminal book Walking with the Poor, describes the nature of poverty as follows:

Poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, they are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meanings. [1]

He took the biblical idea of shalom as the fullness of life that God intended before the Fall, where humans are in right relationship with God, self, others, and the rest of Creation.

Poverty, therefore, is the outcome of sin and brokenness in these four relationships.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert built on Myer’s framework for their book When Helping Hurts and their work at the Chalmers Center. They put it this way:

The question of ‘What does it mean to be poor?’ requires more than a simple answer. We are all poor in our own way, as we grapple with the brokenness in the four key relationships in this world. Poverty is not solely about a lack of money; it encompasses a lack of intimacy with God, a lack of sensing one’s own worth, a lack of community, and a lack of stewardship over creation. – Chalmers Center

We all suffer from different types of poverty; you can be financially rich but socially poor, or financially poor but spiritually rich because you know Jesus.

To fight different kinds of poverty, we need to create different kinds of wealth.

Business has a special capacity to create financial wealth, but also has the potential to create different kinds of wealth for many stakeholders, including social, intellectual, physical, and spiritual wealth. – Wealth Creation Manifesto, Affirmation #8

Business as mission enterprises have the opportunity to bring positive impact in all four areas of our broken relationships: relationship with self, relationship with God, relationship with others, and relationship with the rest of creation. Business as mission is a holistic mission model with the potential to create wealth and address poverty in multiple different ways.

2. Business is part of God’s design and is uniquely positioned to respond to poverty

Business is not evil, it’s not even neutral; it is part of God’s good design. [2] Of course, since the Fall when all things were corrupted by sin, business has the potential to do harm or be used for evil (intentionally or unintentionally). But, it can also glorify God and do good. That is part of God’s original purpose for business; He designed the enterprise of business to enable individuals, families, and human society to flourish. Read more

How the Church Can Engage in Discipling Marketplace Leaders

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by Dr. Phil Walker and Renita Reed-Thomson

There is a story told about a frog in a kettle. The frog is placed in a kettle of cold water. The frog does not notice that the water temperature is being turned up gradually until it is too late. He dies from the heat of the water, not realizing the danger he was in.

The Global Church is suffering from the “frog in the kettle” syndrome. As people increase in financial security, they tend to decrease their dependence on God. It is time to get the frog out of the kettle! In many parts of the world the local church has moved from an evangelical, spiritual force in the community to a closed off social activity in the corner. This move away from the vitality of government, education and business is slowly making the local church irrelevant to the community it is called to serve as a light. Like the frog in the pot, we are slowly reaching a boiling point from which we will not recover our critical role and calling. The dropping statistics of church attendance in both Europe and North America is alarming. Failure to make Jesus relevant in the marketplace will lead to a failure of mission. While business as mission has found a niche in the Christian community, it is not fulfilling its potential.

In 2004 the Occasional Paper on Business as Mission from The Lausanne Movement called on the church to disciple and release its members to be lights in the community.

We call upon the church worldwide to identify, affirm, pray for, commission, and release business people and entrepreneurs to exercise their gifts and calling as business people in the world—among all peoples and to the ends of the earth.

In the same proclamation it called on the business people to live out their calling as Ambassadors, moving out of the four walls of the church into the four corners of the marketplace. Read more

BAM and the Church: A Case Study from Ethiopia

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This case study from the new BAM and the Church Report published by BAM Global showcases the process that one denomination in Ethiopia took to implement a workplace ministry throughout the denomination, following key leaders embracing the need to overcome theological challenges inherent in the church’s understanding of work.

Background

The Ethiopia Kale Heywet Church (EKHC), with 10,000 churches and 10 million members is Ethiopia’s largest evangelical denomination. In 2017, Pastor Yoseph Bekele was appointed to be the ‘Business as Mission Director’ for the Kale Heywet Church. Yoseph had previously worked in youth ministries across the country, even while running several businesses of his own.

When he started, Yoseph shared that businesspeople were considered ‘sinful people’ in his setting. There was no understanding of the purpose of business from a godly or biblical perspective. He also shared that while Ethiopia has a rich heritage and culture, it is poor economically. Therefore, sharing about work as worship and business as mission would be critical for Ethiopian Christians to understand the biblical call to work and how to do business that honours God, which can allow them to grow economically and to flourish in God’s way.

Outcomes to date

In the first three years of the program, from 2018 to 2021, Yoseph and his team of BAM trainers reached nine of the eleven regions of Ethiopia with the message of church-based business as mission. There are teams of trainers who help pastors understand the call of the local church to equip their members for the work of the ministry from Monday to Saturday. The leadership of the headquarters church of the Kale Heywet denomination has agreed that every local church should have a workplace ministry, just as they have a youth and women’s ministry.

In addition to working through the local church leaders, BAM trainers are also bringing this message to youth leaders, women ministry leaders, children’s ministries, prison ministries, mission departments, and the many Kale Heywet Bible schools, while also passing on the teaching and training to other denominations. As part of the training, everyone learns that there are one or more critical outcomes from the three Great Directives—the Great Commitment, the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission.

The Great Commandment outcome is social. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is about loving God whole-heartedly and loving our neighbour as ourselves. The Great Commission outcome is missional. Jesus tells us to go and make disciples, beginning in Jerusalem and reaching the whole world. But the outcomes of the Great Commitment, a universal call, is economic and ecological. For many Ethiopian Christians, this often comes as a surprise. Read more

BAM and the Church: Unleashing the Power of the Congregation in the Global Marketplace

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We believe the local church can effectively disciple and equip their members to have a positive influence on the marketplace – and especially the spheres of business and economics – with the complete understanding that God said it is ‘very good’.

While the modern business as mission movement has been growing and expanding globally for several decades, much of this growth has been outside of local church contexts. Yet the BAM Manifesto, published twenty years ago, thoroughly grounded this movement in the global Church when it ended with these recommendations:

We call upon the Church worldwide to identify, affirm, pray for, commission and release businesspeople and entrepreneurs to exercise their gifts and calling as businesspeople in the world – among all peoples and to the ends of the earth.

We call upon businesspeople globally to receive this affirmation and to consider how their gifts and experience might be used to help meet the world’s most pressing spiritual and physical needs through Business as Mission.

In 2014, BAM Global further identified three major goals for the BAM movement, our ‘BAM BHAGs‘. The third of these goals is ‘Transform views of business in the Church worldwide’. To this end, we are committed:

…to change the thinking of the global church on business. BAM Global will positively engage with leaders in business, church, missions, and academia to influence attitudes about business, wealth creation, work, and economics and affirm business as a God-given gift and calling. Business as mission is about realizing this new paradigm in the marketplace.

The Church Gathered Empowering the Church Scattered

These recommendations and goals are powerful reminders of the vital role played by both the church gathered and the church scattered in business as mission.

The ‘church gathered’ is the gathering of the saints in specific geographical areas, that is believers joined together in their local institutional church congregation or assembly, be it part of a denomination or an independent assembly. The ‘church scattered’ is Christ’s disciples spread throughout society, living out their faith within the home, neighbourhood, community or workplace.

The newly published BAM Global Report on BAM and the Church aims to rediscover the power, potential and synergy that flows out of a strong relationship between the local church gathered and the church scattered in the marketplace.

Read more

1 Thing You Can Do to Get Better Equipped and Connected for BAM

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The answer, of course, is the join us at a BAM Global Online Event!

Admittedly, this one is a bit of a cheat because we didn’t have a post with the number 1 in the title that we could share with you for our Summer Series 2022 Countdown series!

However, we do genuinely believe the best way to be better equipped and connected in the business as mission community is by literally connecting… at an online or in-person event.

So we wanted to use this opportunity to remind you about the wonderful program of BAM Global Online Events coming up this Autumn in September, October and November. These events are designed to equip you wherever you are on your BAM journey – whether you are totally new, or a seasoned veteran.

Our BAM Connect event in October is even free to attend, we just want you to be able to connect and learn from others. October will have a focus on connecting, but September and November will be about both equipping and connecting:

The September BAM Global Conference Online will be our flagship BAM event this year, an online global gathering for the business as mission community. Discover more about how God is using companies around the world to bring His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Learn how BAM enterprises are addressing issues such as: the challenge of reaching the remaining unreached peoples with the gospel, environmental degradation and lack of creation care, slavery and exploitation, rising unemployment due to the pandemic and wars, economic injustice and poverty.

The November BAM Booster Webinar is designed to deepen and sustain BAM impact through practical equipping for BAM practitioners with workshops focused on preparing and doing business as mission. JOIN US!

Read more

4 Things You Need to Know About Business as Mission

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by Jo Plummer

Read this classic blog from our Archives, first published on The BAM Review blog in February 2022 and republished for the Summer Series 2022.

1. We can’t talk about ‘business as mission’ until we talk about ‘business’

Business is part of God’s good plan for human flourishing and has a God-designed power and role in human society. Business as mission takes this intrinsic God-given power and role of business and intentionally uses it as an instrument for mission. Just as water or wind power can be intentionally harnessed to do more good (or harm), business as mission is harnessing the power of business for God’s glory, the gospel, and the common good.

It is therefore vitally important that we have a good grasp of what the Bible says about business – and indeed, economics, human flourishing and God’s mission to the world – before we then apply those fundamental truths about God’s purposes to doing business as mission. Let us build on solid biblical foundations!

What we don’t want to do is create a new ‘sacred-secular divide’ while trying to break down the old one. Business does not need to be sanctified by being engaged as an instrument for mission, it is already part of God’s good design. Just as one vocation is not more spiritual or sacred than another, the same goes for different kinds of business. We can glorify God through work and our vocations, wherever we are.

For more on this idea read here and for a biblical foundation for BAM read here.

 

2. Business as mission is part of a broader movement, but also has a unique and distinctive response to the world’s most pressing issues

For example, business as mission is part of the wider shift in the global church towards more integral (or holistic) models of mission that break down the dichotomy between evangelism and social responsibility. But it is also distinctive in that it emphasises for-profit solutions to mission challenges, rather than charitable or donor-driven mission models.

Read more

Prayer is Central to BAM: We are the Branches!

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I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. – John 15: 5-8

It doesn’t get much straightforward than John 15 does it?

Abiding = fruitfulness / Not abiding = withering

It’s hard to admit it sometimes, but we are the branches. Jesus is the vine. We are not going to be fruitful without that connection, that relationship, that remaining in Him.

Prayer is both a place of abiding, and also a promised fruit of that relationship. We connect with the true vine in the place of prayer, but Jesus also says that answered prayer is an outcome of abiding:

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” – John 15: 7 (emphasis mine)

BAM CEO and mentor Peter Shaukat writes, “In establishing an authentic, impactful BAM enterprise, we are establishing a point of light – a city on a hill, if you like – in a spiritually darkened place. We are working with BAM companies that are both viable commercial entities, and intentionally missional and transformational. Where transformation is needed or is a goal of the company, that cannot be achieved without the gifts of the Spirit. We can do nothing apart from Him.”

A BAM practitioner of 16 years shares the following truth, “Sometimes we have tough business decisions to make or difficult situations – and that is where having clear purpose and values, along with specific goals is helpful. Plus it’s good to have things like operational policies and contracts and so on. All of these things are good and essential practice, sort of ‘Business 101’. However, lives being transformed is what we want people to see. This is ‘Fruits of the Spirit 101’, without which the Kingdom culture will never shine through. Can we show the Kingdom in the tough times every day in business? What shows up when the heat is on? I do want to be known as a good business man, however I want to be known more as a businessman who has been transformed by God from the inside.”

Transformation is what we long to see in the people and nations around us. But transformation must surely begin with us, and from a place of prayer. For God first reconciled us to himself through Christ, and then entrusted to us the message of reconciliation as His ambassadors (2 Cor. 5: 18-20). He is transforming us, making us His new creation, and that comes from His Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18, 5:17) 

Read more

Colonising Earth with the Life of Heaven: Creation Care & Mission

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by Caroline Pomeroy

Last month I visited a lively Anglican church in my local town. It was ‘Mission Sunday’ and to illustrate this to the children, the leader stuck post-it notes onto a giant inflatable globe, each yellow note signifying one of the church’s mission partners. He then asked people to remind him what Mark 16:15 says. ‘Go and evangelise all the people in the world’ was the first response…

These few minutes highlighted two things for me – first, a popular misconception about what the Good News means; and secondly the challenges of doing global mission in a climate crisis.

Good News to All Creation

At the end of Mark’s gospel, Jesus calls the first disciples to ‘… go and preach the good news to all creation.’ Although opinions differ on the exact interpretation of this phrase, a reading of other versions of the Great Commission – and indeed the whole of the bible – implies that there is more to the Good News than just saving human souls. In Matthew 28:19 the disciples are told to ‘… go and make disciples…’. A disciple is someone who loves God and loves their neighbour. So the process of disciple-making must include the practical outworking of loving God and neighbour. But how can we say we love our neighbours if, as a result of the way we live and do business, our global neighbours’ crops are failing due to climate change; our future neighbours’ homes will be under water by the end of the century; and our non-human neighbours’ habitat is disappearing due our demand for palm oil or coffee?

In Genesis chapters 1 and 2, Adam and Eve, made in God’s likeness, are given authority to ‘rule over’ creation on God’s behalf.  But just as Jesus, the Servant King, exercises loving dominion over His kingdom, this first Great Commission in Genesis 1-2 is about dominion, not domination. Humankind is called to serve and preserve the earth and all its creatures, not to dominate and exploit them.  Read more

Why Should We Care About Creation Care?

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by Mats Tunehag

We know we are to be good stewards of creation. Those are God’s instructions to humans in Genesis 1 & 2 – especially Gen.1:28, often known as the ‘creation mandate’ (also ‘cultural mandate).

In the Business as Mission (BAM) movement we typically talk about the quadruple bottom line of social, spiritual, environmental and economic impact:

In and through business we want to:

  • serve people,
  • align with God’s purposes,
  • be good stewards of the planet,
  • and make a profit.

But how are we doing in the BAM community with stewardship of the planet? How are BAM companies leading the way in positive environmental change?

We know from our work in the BAM Global Network that creation care and environmental stewardship is a relatively weak area for BAM companies, and and that BAM practitioners feel under-resourced and overwhelmed by this challenge. Creation care is a topic in much need of further exploration in the BAM movement, which is why we are focusing on BAM and Creation Care again on The BAM Review this month. Read more

Helping BAM Practitioners Start Well and Endure for the Long-Term

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by Jo Plummer

Recently I received a question about training resources and spiritual courses from a BAM practitioner who reads our blog. There already are lots of great resources on this site and elsewhere for helping BAMers start well and endure for the long-term. This post is designed to introduce some resources that BAM practitioners may find helpful for both preparing to launch into BAM and enduring long.

However, having asked advice from a few other business as mission leaders, we identified that there are relatively few dedicated, BAM-related resources for what the mission community calls ‘member care – that is helping ensure the personal, physical, relational and spiritual well-being of BAM practitioners. There are, however, many general member care and spiritual life resources that we can glean from in the wider Christian community, and a selection of these are also listed below.

Please get in touch if you would be interested in being part of a future task force on the specific topic of ‘Member Care for BAM Practitioners’.

Training & Preparation: Launching Well

How do people get from BAM vision to BAM reality? What training resources are there out there for BAM practitioners? What factors help launch BAMers out into stable, successful business as mission enterprises? What are the skills and characteristics that BAM companies are looking for as they recruit? How do potential BAMers best develop themselves and prepare for doing business as mission?

Here are some places to start:

  • Courses & Training Page – BAM Resource Library
    Looking for some BAM-related training? Start with the Courses & Training page in the Resource Library here on the BAM website for a list of training organisations and course providers related to BAM. Follow that up by browsing the Video & Audio Page which links to many Podcasts and Video Series which have great content and are all totally free to access. (And of course we have great Books and Papers listed too, as well as over 550 Blogs to read – see Blog Categories listed on this page!)

Read more

4 Things You Need to Know About Business as Mission

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by Jo Plummer

 

1. We can’t talk about ‘business as mission’ until we talk about ‘business’

Business is part of God’s good plan for human flourishing and has a God-designed power and role in human society. Business as mission takes this intrinsic God-given power and role of business and intentionally uses it as an instrument for mission. Just as water or wind power can be intentionally harnessed to do more good (or harm), business as mission is harnessing the power of business for God’s glory, the gospel, and the common good.

It is therefore vitally important that we have a good grasp of what the Bible says about business – and indeed, economics, human flourishing and God’s mission to the world – before we then apply those fundamental truths about God’s purposes to doing business as mission. Let us build on solid biblical foundations!

What we don’t want to do is create a new ‘sacred-secular divide’ while trying to break down the old one. Business does not need to be sanctified by being engaged as an instrument for mission, it is already part of God’s good design. Just as one vocation is not more spiritual or sacred than another, the same goes for different kinds of business. We can glorify God through work and our vocations, wherever we are.

For more on this idea read here and for a biblical foundation for BAM read here.

 

2. Business as mission is part of a broader movement, but also has a unique and distinctive response to the world’s most pressing issues

For example, business as mission is part of the wider shift in the global church towards more integral (or holistic) models of mission that break down the dichotomy between evangelism and social responsibility. But it is also distinctive in that it emphasises for-profit solutions to mission challenges, rather than charitable or donor-driven mission models.

Read more

The World is Open for Business

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by Jo Plummer

 

Bottom-line thinking

It is becoming more common for companies to plan for positive impact on ‘multiple bottom lines’. Rather than only measuring success as a positive number on the profit and loss statement—ie, the ‘financial bottom line’—businesses around the world are beginning to look for positive impact on social, environmental, and financial bottom lines. Social enterprises now aim to have a positive impact on multiple stakeholders—their employees, suppliers, the community, their customers, etc.—rather than focusing solely on returning financial rewards to shareholders. This ‘cutting-edge thinking’ is rediscovering God’s original design for business.

A business as mission (BAM) company is simply one that embraces all of this thinking about multiple bottom lines and multiple stakeholders. Crucially, it holds that God is the most important Stakeholder in the business, and that the purposes of the company should align with his purposes. Thus, a BAM company is one that thinks about how the whole strategy for the business—and the business model itself—can intentionally integrate mission.

BAM company owners start their businesses for a wide variety of reasons, including: to fight the evils of human trafficking, accelerate the task of reaching the remaining unreached peoples with the gospel, and tackle the problems of social injustice, environmental degradation, and dire poverty, to name a few. Annie started her business in Asia to provide alternative employment for exploited women, Anne started hers in Northern Europe to create jobs and connect with disaffected youth, and Mary started hers in the Middle East to more effectively share the gospel in one of the least-reached nations on earth.

The world is open for business

God has mandated humankind to be good stewards of Creation, to create resources for the good of society, to love God first and then love our neighbor, and to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Thus, a business as mission company includes spiritual transformation as a measure of business success, alongside social, environmental, and economic concerns—and has a special concern for the poor, marginalized, and unreached peoples. Business as Mission is:

  • Profitable and sustainable businesses;
  • Intentional about kingdom of God purpose and impact on people and nations;
  • Focused on holistic transformation and the multiple bottom lines of economic, social, environmental, and spiritual outcomes;
  • Concerned about the world’s poorest and least-evangelized peoples. 

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Business as Mission and the Global Workplace

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by Jo Plummer

 

Introduction

Dallas Willard once said that, ‘Business is a primary moving force of the love of God in human history.’[1] Business, done well, is glorifying to God and has enormous potential to do good. Business has an innate God-given power to create dignified jobs, to multiply resources, to provide for families and communities and to push forward innovation and development in human society.

In the global marketplace today, we have an enormous opportunity to leverage this God-given potential of business to address some of the world’s most pressing spiritual, social, environmental, and economic issues. This is ‘business as mission’—a movement of business professionals using the gifts of entrepreneurship and good management to bring creative and long-term, sustainable solutions to global challenges. This movement of business people is growing worldwide; they are serving God in the marketplace and intentionally shaping their businesses for God’s glory, the gospel, and the common good. Business professionals are using their skills to serve people, make a profit, be good stewards of the planet, and align with God’s purposes; they are taking the whole gospel to the ends of the earth.

This paper aims to encourage businesswomen and men—whether entrepreneurs, managers, business professionals, or technical experts—that their gifts, experience, and capacity is a much-needed resource in global mission. In addition, it will exhort church and mission leaders to affirm and equip the business people in their networks and congregations so that they can effectively respond to the challenges in the global workplace today.

God gives us the ability to produce wealth

In Deuteronomy 8 we read that it is God who gives us the ability to produce wealth. He provides abundant natural resources so that we can use our creativity, talents, and hard work to provide for ourselves and innovate for society. Business processes naturally generate wealth and resources; companies are able to create good products and services for the benefit of communities. Business pushes forward innovation, helping societies develop; enterprises bring in new technologies, skills, and training to communities. Business, done well—not forgetting the Lord our God (Deut 8:11)—is glorifying to him.  Read more

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