Tag Archive for: biblical teaching

Business and Church Do Mix! 3 Reasons for a Paradigm Shift

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by Renita Reed-Thomson

 

The Business as Mission (BAM) movement has grown exponentially over the past 25 years—to the glory of God! It has been exciting to watch. When I first became involved in 2005, there were only a handful of books on the subject. Today, thousands of faith-and-work titles have been published, with new ones released almost daily. In the U.S. alone, more than 1,200 NGOs are working to integrate faith and work. What an incredible time to be part of this movement!

Yet, one key institution has remained largely disengaged—and without it, the BAM movement risks losing momentum over time. That missing institution is the Church.

Many faith-and-work organizations have developed a parallel path alongside the Church, discipling believers to glorify God through their work. However, pastors, church leaders, and denominations have often not been formally engaged. Common reasons include perceptions that “the Church is too inward-focused,” that “church and business don’t mix,” or fears of promoting a “prosperity gospel.” As a result, the Church often avoids conversations about work, business, or money—except when it comes to tithing.

Let’s clarify: we all agree that the Church—the ekklesia—is the body of Christ, the people of God. We know that where two or three gather in His name, Christ is present among them. But over time, since Constantine institutionalized Christianity as a state religion, the Church has become increasingly defined by buildings, programs, and professionally paid leaders, rather than by the people of God living out their faith in daily life.

I believe God is reclaiming the marketplace and calling His Church—His bride—to join Him. This requires a significant paradigm shift in how we view both the Church and its mission field.

1. From a Church Vision to a Kingdom Vision

A church vision is often centered on numbers, converts, programs, and buildings. A Kingdom vision, however, seeks the flourishing of all creation—people, communities, and the natural world. It focuses on holistic discipleship and life-on-life evangelism.

A Kingdom-focused Church teaches that every believer is in full-time ministry. It understands that worship is not limited to Sunday mornings but expressed through every act done for God’s glory. The Church with a Kingdom vision helps believers see that “the purpose of Sunday is Monday.”

Sunday gatherings are like a team meeting—where the light of Christ gathers to be recharged. But the Church truly “opens for business” when its members leave the building to live out their faith in their homes, workplaces, and communities.

2. Redefining the Church’s Mission Field

A Kingdom-focused Church doesn’t limit its mission field to the neighborhood around its building. Instead, it recognizes that it has multiple parishes—each corresponding to where its members live and work.

Church leaders are called to equip the saints for ministry (Ephesians 4:12–13). Most of that ministry happens outside the building. As believers grow in maturity and unity, they reflect the “full and complete standard of Christ.”

The five-fold ministries—apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher—are not offices reserved for a few but gifts that all believers are to develop and express in their spheres of influence. Every follower of Christ is called to live these out daily, becoming mature disciples who bring His presence into every place and space.

3. Recovering Three-Dimensional Discipleship

The Great Commission is often understood too narrowly. True discipleship is three-dimensional:

1. Vertical (1-D): Focusing solely on our personal relationship with God. This is good but incomplete—it remains private and static.

2. Vertical + Horizontal (2-D): Adding the Great Commandment—loving others and integrating faith into relationships. This widens our faith but can still remain “flat.”

3. Vertical + Horizontal + Creation (3-D): Adding the Great Commitment of Genesis 1–2—to steward creation and bring about the flourishing of all things. This makes our faith fully alive and transformational.

Too often, Christianity has remained flat—lacking impact on communities and nations. Like Israel, we have become a nation with priests rather than a nation of priests.

But when we equip every believer to be the Church in every place and space, we begin to experience the fullness God intended from the beginning.

We serve a three-dimensional God—Father, Son, and Spirit—who invites all creation to worship Him. Let’s join Him in helping every part of creation glorify God!

If you’d like to learn more about this topic, read the BAM Global Report on BAM and the Church.

To explore how your church can start a workplace discipleship ministry, contact Renita Reed-Thomson at renita@dmleaders.org or visit www.dmleaders.org to learn more.

 

 

Dr. Renita Reed-Thomson is the President and founder of Discipling Marketplace Leaders. Renita has her MBA and a PhD in Sustainable Development.  Discipling Marketplace Leaders (DML) is a product of her experiences in Africa where she has lived and worked since 2005. 

 

Download the BAM and the Church Report

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Leveraging the God-given Power of Business [Video]

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by João Mordomo


João Mordomo introduces the concept of business as mission at the Fourth Lausanne Congress Workplace Track in September 2024.

 

 

Transcript:

Good afternoon to everybody or good morning or good evening depending on what your body clock is telling you. I’m glad to be here with you this afternoon. That’s what my body clock is almost telling me now.

I’m João Mordomo and I’m the [Lausanne] Catalyst for Business as Mission together with my colleague Jo Plummer who’s around here somewhere. And I’ve been asked to talk to you about business as mission.

Dallas Willard once said that, “Business is a primary moving force for the love of God in human history.” Business when it’s done well is glorifying to God and has enormous potential to do good in society.

Business has an innate God-given power to create dignified jobs, to multiply resources, to provide for families and communities, to spur innovation and development, and to solve pressing human problems. In the global marketplace today, we have a huge opportunity to leverage this God-given power of business to address some of the world’s most pressing spiritual and social and economic and environmental issues.

We call this BAM. It’s business as mission.

It’s a movement of business professionals called to use their gifts, their expertise in entrepreneurship and good management to bring creative long-term sustainable solutions to challenges such as the evils of human trafficking or the task of reaching the world’s remaining unreached people groups with the gospel or the problems of societal injustice, environmental degradation, dire poverty, just to name a few.

When we’re thinking about the mission of the church, we need to remember what Michael Oh said on the opening night [of this Congress] that even if we equip every believer in the workplace to be an effective witness for Christ, we still won’t reach the world with the holistic gospel. Because 86% of the world’s Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus, not to mention atheists, do not have access to the gospel—they don’t know a Christian.

And, we still won’t have the solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Business provides these solutions.

Business as mission is a distinct category different from tent making, different from workplace ministry. Business as mission is the strategic use of authentic business activities that create authentic ministry opportunities that bring spiritual and social and economic and environmental transformation to marginalized people and unreached peoples.

In other words, BAM simultaneously fulfills the great mandate to steward creation well, the great commandment to love God and love our neighbors, and the great commission to make disciples of all nations.

Enter the Lausanne Business as Mission Issue Network. Together with an organization called BAM Global, we exist to invigorate the global BAM movement by building intellectual and social capital for the global BAM ecosystem. We produce global BAM reports. We facilitate global BAM consultations and events. And we nurture regional, activity-based, and industry-based partner networks. There are over 45 networks all around the world and growing.

Business as mission is the strategic use of authentic business activities that create authentic ministry opportunities that bring spiritual and social and economic and environmental transformation to marginalized people and unreached peoples.

We got our start—Joseph mentioned this earlier and I will say something about it—we got our start in the lead up to the 2004 Lausanne Forum that took place in Thailand exactly 20 years ago to this week. Over 70 of us from all around the world worked together for over a year addressing issues related to God’s purposes for work and business and the role of business people in church and missions and the needs of the world and the potential response from business. Most of us came from business backgrounds but there were also people from church and mission. There were educators, theologians, economists, lawyers, researchers. The collaboration process included 60 papers, 25 case studies, several national and regional BAM consultations and email-based discussions culminating in a week of face-to-face dialogue and a whole lot of work. Somebody asked me when I got back, “What was Thailand like?” I said, “I have no idea. I never left the hotel. We worked non-stop for a week.” The result was the groundbreaking 85 page Lausanne Occasional paper on Business as Mission and the accompanying one-page BAM Manifesto.

That Manifesto includes affirmations and recommendations and here are several of them:

  • We believe that God has created all men and women in his image with the ability to create good things for themselves and others and that includes business.
  • We believe in emulating Jesus who constantly met the needs of people he encountered daily, including in their workplaces.
  • We believe that the Holy Spirit empowers all members of the body of Christ to meet the spiritual and physical needs of others, including through business.
  • We believe that God has called and equipped business people and entrepreneurs to cause holistic gospel transformation of individuals and communities and societies and nations and peoples in and through their businesses.
  • We recognize the fact that poverty and unemployment are often rampant in areas where the name of Jesus is rarely or never heard or understood.
  • We recognize that there is a need for job creation and for multiplication of businesses all over the world focused on the four-fold bottom line of spiritual, economic, social, and environmental transformation.
  • We recognize the fact that the church has a huge and largely untapped resource in the Christian business community to bring global glory to God by way of business.

Therefore, number one:

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

And number two:

We call upon business people globally to receive this affirmation and to prayerfully consider how their gifts and expertise and experience might be used to help create solutions for the world’s most pressing spiritual and physical needs through business as mission.

Is God calling you to join us? Is God calling you to join in this movement of business people and entrepreneurs who are serving God in and through the workplace and intentionally shaping their business for God’s glory, the work of the gospel, and the global common good?

I hope so. And if so, check out lausanne.org, bamglobal.org, and businessmission.com to start the journey with us.

Thank you.

 

Access more videos, transcripts and study materials from the Lausanne Congress Workplace Track here.

 

Dr. João Mordomo loves to help start and lead anything — mission agencies, churches, businesses, networks — that helps fulfill the Great Commission. He is a founding board member and Executive Director of BAM Global, and Catalyst for Business as Mission at the Lausanne Movement. João serves variously as owner, managing director and board member of several BAM companies, and designs and teaches BAM and other courses at several universities.

 

 

Photo by Josh Olalde on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

7 Points of Controversy and Clarity for Business as Mission

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by Larry Sharp

 

According to Mats Tunehag, perhaps the premier worldwide BAM spokesperson, “By God’s grace we have seen an exponential growth of the global business as mission movement in the last 25 years” (The BAM Review, April 2025). It has been my privilege to have been a part of the movement for almost twenty years and it is abundantly clear—God is definitely at work accomplishing His mission in the world through marketplace servants.

However, I continue to be perplexed with one question, “Why is there still so much controversy and lack of understanding in North America (where I am from) surrounding the theology, missiology, and praxis of “business as mission”?

The Meaning of Terms

The phrase combines two familiar yet distinct words: “business” and “mission.”

Business drives the economy, encompassing activities that meet needs or solve problems through value exchange. Christian author Albert Erisman asserts that business is the only institution that creates economic growth and funds all others. Tunehag adds that business should serve people, align with God’s purposes, steward creation well, and make a profit. He emphasizes that business can be a platform for expressing Christ’s love.

“Missions,” as defined in Wikipedia, is “an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith,” often involving missionaries seeking conversions. However, contemporary theology emphasizes missio Dei—God’s mission in the world as an extension of His nature and love. This broader view sees God acting to glorify Himself through redeeming people across all nations (I Kings 8:60, I Tim. 1:17). According to the Westminster Catechism, our purpose is to glorify God, and John Piper reminds us, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is.” (Let the Nations Be Glad).

Missiology has evolved, now framing mission not merely as an activity of the church but something initiated by God. The Trinity sends the church to embody God’s saving love through both word and deed—more than just conversions or church planting, it includes bringing God’s peace (shalom) into every area of life. Jesus modeled this by connecting evangelism with social needs.

Business as mission (BAM) gained traction in the late 1990s alongside the “Faith and Work” movement. Yet, its roots trace back to the early church. BAM involves believers in the marketplace living with kingdom purpose and impact—transforming individuals and societies spiritually, economically, and socially for God’s glory (Tunehag, 2008).

Controversy and Misunderstanding

Among North American clergy, BAM is often dismissed as a trend or distraction from priorities like church planting. Many pastors and mission leaders show limited interest in understanding how BAM aligns with God’s mission and the church.

Although change theorists advocate a “trickle-down” model—where seminaries adopt new strategies first—experience suggests that BAM is not a curricular priority in most Christian colleges.

Mission agencies have also shown reluctance, with some resisting BAM-related theology. Though a few initiatives do exist, most are micro-enterprise in nature and most leadership prefers traditional approaches.

Meanwhile, Christian professionals often experience a divide between faith and work. Few pastors preach messages that help believers live out their faith in the marketplace.

Despite progress over the past 25 years, misunderstandings persist. For those who dismiss BAM, several key points deserve consideration.

Controversy #1: The Theology of Work

What is the controversy? Until recently, most seminaries and theologians gave little attention to a Theology of Work. The prevailing belief held that spiritually significant work was confined to roles like pastors, missionaries, and Bible teachers. In contrast, the BAM movement challenges this notion, affirming the sacredness of all vocations.

In the past two decades, scholars such as Os Guinness, David Miller, Tom Nelson, Mark Russell, Jeff Van Duzer, and Tim Keller have critiqued historical misconceptions about work. These include the ideas that work is a necessary evil, a path to wealth and power, or a vehicle for self-actualization. Such assumptions limit believers’ ability to view their work as ministry or mission.

The heart of the controversy is summarized in Martin Luther’s reminder that all Christians are primarily called to holiness through Christ. He rejected the idea of a “higher” religious vocation, asserting, “There is no special religious vocation since the call of God comes to each at the common tasks.” This foundational idea supports BAM’s emphasis on the dignity and spiritual value of everyday work.

Gene Veith argues that the priesthood of all believers turns all work—not just church work—into a sacred calling. Similarly, R. Paul Stevens notes that the Hebrew words abad (work) and shamar (care) in Genesis also mean worship and obedience. He emphasizes “vocational holiness,” where the profession itself matters less than faithfulness within it.

Work in the Biblical Narrative

Genesis 1–2 presents God as a worker and humans as His image-bearers, entrusted with the Creation Mandate. Work was declared good (Gen. 1:31) and dignifying. Keller asserts that through work, humans reflect God’s creative nature. Van Duzer states, “When humans engage in creative, meaningful work that grows out of relationships and gives back to the community, they become more deeply human.” (Van Duzer, 2010)

Deuteronomy 8:18 affirms that God gives the ability to produce wealth. This idea is championed by missional entrepreneurs like Bill Job and business leaders such as Bonnie Wurzbacher, former VP at Coca-Cola. Wurzbacher noted that “as the sole source of wealth creation in the world, business enables every other social, civic and even spiritual situation to exist.” For BAM practitioners, business is a tool for glorifying God, cultivating relationships, and contributing to human flourishing.

Work as Worship

Wong and Rae assert that when Christians go to work, they offer themselves to God in service. This “work as worship” theology has emerged strongly in recent years. Work is not a result of the fall; Adam and Eve were given purposeful tasks before sin entered the world (Gen. 1:27–28; 2:15). Scripture affirms work’s divine design over 850 times. A frequently cited verse is Colossians 3:23: “Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord…”

Mats Tunehag puts it boldly: “If God has called you to be a businessperson, do not stoop to be a preacher.” Likewise, businessman Michael Cardone remarked, “God did not call me to be a minister or a missionary; He called me to be a businessman—and I see no difference.” Michael Greene affirms, “Work is significant to God; our work is just as valuable as that of a pastor or missionary.” Though widely doubted, this conviction is both biblical and foundational to the BAM movement.

Controversy #2: The Role of Money

What is the misunderstanding? Although Scripture makes clear that money itself is not evil (1 Tim. 6:10), many evangelicals view businesspeople with suspicion—assuming they are greedy or useful only for their financial contributions to the church.

Yet Jesus spoke more about money than about heaven or hell. As Wayne Grudem notes, “Money is fundamentally good and provides opportunities for glorifying God, but also many temptations to sin.” Jesus affirmed the importance of money, while warning against trusting it, loving it, or misusing it (Luke 16).

The real issue arises when Christians fail to distinguish between the abuse of money and its rightful, God-honoring use. Jesus’ command to “engage in business until I come” (Luke 19:13) implies responsibility, not exploitation. Faithful Christian businesspeople pursue ethical wealth creation while avoiding greed, poor stewardship, and unrestrained capitalism.

Controversy comes when believers forget that wealth, when rightly stewarded, is a gift from God as Deuteronomy 8:18 affirms.

Controversy #3: The Disruptive Nature of Missio Dei

What is the controversy? “Missions” is often seen as a narrow church activity, budget item, or sermon theme. In contrast, “mission” begins with God—missio Dei—His purpose to glorify Himself by redeeming the world. This broader understanding opens the door for all believers, in any profession, to participate in God’s kingdom work.

When I started using “mission” instead of “missions,” some saw it as semantics. But the terms “mission,” “missions,” and “missionary” are extrabiblical and shaped by personal or cultural biases—mine included. Stetzer describes missio Dei as God-focused: a movement from God to the world, with the church as His instrument. This view invites all believers to join in gospel proclamation and demonstration, while “missions” tends to mean a specific calling to cross-cultural evangelism.

Looking ahead, if missio Dei is our theological foundation, then the future belongs to God’s ongoing work in the world. As some theologians put it, the church does not initiate mission; rather, the mission of God gives birth to the church. Christopher Wright echoes this, calling the people of God the “primary agent of the mission of God.”

God is a sending God. He sent Adam and Eve to fill the earth, Israel to bless the nations, Jesus as Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit to continue the work. Mission flows from the Triune nature of God. The church today exists because of this divine mission and is a continuation of it.

This reframes our thinking. Mission is not what we do for God, but what we do with God, because of who He is. “Missions” implies fragmented church programs; “mission” reflects a unified purpose. As Stephen Neill wrote, “The age of missions ended. The age of mission began.”

So what difference does it make?

In Genesis 1–2, missio Dei begins with imago Dei—we are made in God’s image. Recent theology has emphasized the connection between these concepts. There’s unity between sacred and secular, faith and work.

Every believer bears God’s image and shares in His mission. Not all are “missionaries,” but all are called to live missionally through their work. As J.D. Greear says, “Whatever you are good at: a) do it well for the glory of God; b) do it somewhere strategic for the mission of God.”

Controversy #4: The Sacred–Secular Divide

What is the misunderstanding? Michael Greene defines the sacred–secular divide as the belief that some activities matter deeply to God while others don’t. Business as mission rejects this, affirming that all of life matters to God.

This divide is often more a misunderstanding than a theological debate. Many believers, like a former graduate student of mine, Michelle—a successful business owner—feel sidelined from “real” ministry. She once said, “It never occurred to me that my business was my ministry,” despite her evangelical upbringing. This mindset persists because missions is often seen as the exclusive domain of professionals.

In contrast, BAM practitioners in restricted nations often respond to questions about ministry time by saying, “My work is my ministry.” They understand that the early church spread the gospel through everyday life, without a divide between sacred and secular.

The historical roots of this dualism trace back to Greek philosophy, reinforced by Augustine and others who prioritized “higher” sacred work over “lower” secular work. This separation still influences modern Christians and undermines a holistic life of integrity. It also divorces the Great Commission from the Great Commandment—discipleship from love of neighbor.

It wasn’t until the Reformation that Luther, Calvin and others challenged this divide, promoting the priesthood of all believers. This provided the basis for the biblical unity of mission, vocation, and daily life.

Eldred notes that this dualism marginalizes most Christians from missio Dei, robbing them of joy and purpose in their daily work. A.W. Tozer echoes this: “It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred, it is why he does it.” Dallas Willard similarly writes, “There truly is no division between sacred and secular except what we have created.”

Church roles like apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers are vital for equipping the saints (Eph. 4:12). But perhaps, like in Acts 8, the model for the 21st century church is ordinary believers living out their trades while preaching Jesus. As Paul reminds us: “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

Controversy #5 – The Kingdom of God

What is the controversy? The Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven) is central to Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels. While interpretations have varied, many evangelical scholars now affirm the Kingdom is both “already here” and “not yet.”

In the 20th century, much of the church emphasized the “not yet” aspect, focusing on salvation from hell and avoiding social issues, which were seen as liberal. When I studied theology in the 1960s, the Kingdom of God was taught strictly as eternal. But by century’s end, voices like John Stott, R. Paul Stevens, Os Guinness, Dale Losch, and Tim Keller re-emphasized its relevance to daily life—highlighting the Kingdom as present and active today.

Acknowledging the present dimension of the Kingdom prompts the question: what does it look like now? Luke 17:21 says the Kingdom is within Jesus’ disciples, and Matthew 10:7 says it is “at hand.” Heidebrecht argues this view integrates social action into the gospel, alongside proclamation—reflecting Jesus’ concern for holistic human welfare. Thus, the gospel addresses both present needs and eternal hope.

Paul Hiebert similarly taught that mission includes preaching, teaching (Matthew 28:19), and addressing injustice, poverty, and suffering. Raynor, in The Sacredness of Secular Work (2024), and Nancy Pearcey stress that salvation is not only from sin but for purpose—partnering with God to reflect heaven on earth. Raynor writes, “the good news… is not just that I get to go to heaven… but that I get to partner with God in revealing heaven on earth until I die.” This reflects God’s reign of goodness and shalom in the world.

Controversy #6: The Whole Gospel

What is the controversy? The Lausanne Congress of 1974, heavily influenced by John Stott, affirmed a holistic gospel that addressed not only spiritual needs but also the social and physical conditions of people. This challenged the dominant 20th-century missions model, which often focused narrowly on spiritual salvation. Business as mission embraces this “whole man” perspective by addressing both joblessness and spiritual poverty.

Chris Wright summarizes the holistic gospel as requiring “the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world.” The redemptive work of Christ completes—not negates—God’s commitment to human wholeness and creation care. The gospel addresses the spiritually lost and the socially and economically marginalized, recognizing that people are whole beings.

BAM integrates the theology of work (Creation Mandate), the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission. Jesus taught that we are to love God fully and our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27; Matt. 22:37–39). Kingdom businesspeople understand this means using their God-given capacity to create wealth, employment (jobs), dignity, relationships, and beauty. They are moved by the global realities of poverty and unemployment and inspired by Martin Luther’s conviction that the gospel must engage the issues of the day.

BAM workers see themselves as stewards of both natural and human resources—“vice-regents” over God’s creation (Stevens, 2012). Their work serves others and reflects God’s care.

John Stott put it simply: “We love. We go. We serve.” Loving our neighbor means caring for the whole person—soul, body, and community. Social responsibility flows from love, not as a strategy for gospel credibility but as an expression of compassion.

The Great Commission emphasizes making disciples and teaching all that Jesus commanded (Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 1:8). For Stott, this includes both evangelistic and social responsibility, since Jesus taught and served. His ministry was holistic—feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and comforting the grieving.

Discipleship, as Losch points out, often begins before conversion (John 6:66). Pre-faith followers may be drawn to Christ through acts of love and service. The marketplace, where life and work intersect, is a powerful setting for this kind of pre-cross discipleship and holistic mission.

While we are not divine like Jesus, our mission reflects His—to bring good news and serve. A biblical understanding of mission integrates creation care, love of neighbor, and disciple-making. Business, done faithfully, can demonstrate the gospel in action.

Controversy #7: How Christianity Spread

What is the misunderstanding? Many Christians in the 20th century were taught that the Apostle Paul was the primary model of mission. While Paul and the apostles played a vital role, historical and biblical evidence suggests the gospel mainly spread through everyday believers in the marketplace.

Tim Keller notes that evangelism in the early church often happened in the oikos—households—through friendships. Michael Green supports this in Evangelism in the Early Church, describing early Christian growth as driven by informal missionaries—ordinary believers sharing Christ in daily life settings like shops and homes.

Acts 8 confirms this: after Stephen’s death, “all except the apostles were scattered” (v.1), and they “preached the word wherever they went.” Despite lacking formal training, support, or Scripture, lay believers advanced the gospel significantly. The apostles stayed central, underscoring the continued need for pastors and theologians—but the frontlines were in homes and workplaces.

Acts 11 shows that these scattered believers reached Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, where “a great number… turned to the Lord” (v.21). Billy Graham once said, “One of the next great moves of God is going to be through believers in the workplace.” Perhaps the 21st century will resemble the 1st more than the 20th.

Conclusion

Ecclesiastes reminds us, “There is nothing better… than to enjoy [our] work” (3:22), and to “do it with all [our] might” (9:10). A faithful Jesus follower today should see people as whole beings—spiritual, social, and physical—and follow Christ’s example of holistic ministry. Jesus healed, fed, taught, and loved not just for a future kingdom, but for transformation now.

Business as mission (BAM) reflects this, emphasizing creation care, meeting human needs, job creation, and disciple-making. BAM invites everyday believers into missio Dei, affirming that our work itself is a sacred expression of worship and calling.

We aren’t called to be professional missionaries with programs and systems. We’re called to be witnesses. As Roberts says, “Start with Christology… if you focus on mission, churches will follow. But if you focus on churches, mission often gets lost.”

We don’t go to proselytize or plant “Christianity”; we go to live and love like Jesus in our work and relationships. If we bless others in His name, the gospel is planted and the Church will follow. Each believer should do what they’re good at, with excellence, in strategic places for God’s mission—planting the whole gospel wherever they go.

 

This article was first published on Missio Nexus and is reposted here by kind permission of the author and original editor.

Larry Sharp is the Founder and current BAM Support Specialist of a Business for Transformation (BAM, B4t) consulting firm, International Business and Education Consultants (www.ibecventures.com). Larry served 21 years in Brazil and then 20 years as Crossworld VP of Operations and as Vice President of Business Partnerships. He is currently a VP Emeritus and consultant with Crossworld. Since 2007 he has devoted energies toward Business as Mission (BAM) and currently is a consultant on BAM and education themes. Larry travels within North America speaking and teaching in conferences, colleges and churches on themes related to Business As Mission (BAM, B4t) and missions.  His travels abroad relate to BAM, crisis preparation and management, and team building. 

 

 

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Get Involved in Doing Business as Mission: BAM Pathways

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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!

This article is based on an earlier post on the idea of different routes into business as mission and has been updated to coincide with the launch of the new ‘BAM Pathways‘ initiative. Read about it here.

Some of you reading this are still in early stages of BAM exploration, or maybe you are intrigued by the idea of business as mission and simply want to learn more. Or perhaps you are someone in a related area of work and just want to stay in touch and see how what is happening in the BAM community connects with you. If that is you, we’d love to stay in touch! Please see ways to keep connected with us in the footer below.

 

Actively Engaging in BAM?

Others of you will be look for more active engagement! Perhaps you are looking for tangible ways to get involved in BAM? Or perhaps you are already engaged and are looking for more resources pertinent to you? If so, this post is for you.

Two broad pathways for engagement in BAM are:
1) Doing – getting involved by doing business as mission yourself, in a BAM company context, or
2) Helping – enabling, resourcing or connecting others to do BAM — through activities such as mentoring, investing, praying, building networks, incubating, training, mobilising, and so on!

If option 2 is you, look out for the new ‘Helpers‘ segment of the BAM Pathways initiative coming next month, and meanwhile read this mini blog series on the topic.

Get Involved Doing BAM

If you are interested in option 1, 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…

 


A: Starting Up a BAM Company

Business Planning Blogs

If you are in the business planning and start-up stage, then we have loads of free resources on The BAM Review Blog for you, whether you already have an idea and are testing it, or are trying to identify a product-market fit. Start with Business Planning for BAM Part 1: Overview & Getting Started, then read through blogs on Business Planning for BAM Part 2: Product and Market and Business Planning for BAM Part 3: Financial Planning. You might find blogs on Launching and Landing and Integration are also good for foundation building. More Blog Topics here.

 

Praxis Course

Praxis offer a free course that will help you develop your mindset as a BAM starter. As they describe it, ‘Through a free six-session video and discussion series, the Praxis Course aims to help innovative leaders and builders to develop an imagination for what we call “Redemptive Entrepreneurship,” which means to leverage personal and organizational power for the sake of others, and to create products, services, and organizations that join God in the renewal of all things.’ Watch the Redemptive Frame intro video and find out more here.

 

Lean Canvas Frameworks

Lean Startup concepts have taken the business world by storm over the past decade and more. Kingdom-minded business incubators and BAM trainers have taken these concepts and adapted ‘Lean Canvas’ frameworks  specifically for missional business models. You can find resources at BAM Connect Business as Mission Model Canvas, ThirdPath Lean Canvas Course, and CO.STARTERS. For more in-depth training see the School of Business and Entrepreneurship and other training resources here.

 

Triventure Process

If you are looking for a bit more support to launch your BAM company, then Triventure has the resources for you. Triventure describes itself as ‘the Business as Mission Launchpad’ and offers a comprehensive package of Courses (by ThirdPath Initiative), Coaching, and Capital to help you get your BAM company off the ground. Discover more here.

 

B: Joining a BAM Company

Launching into BAM Blogs

If you are going to help build a BAM company that someone else has started, then we have tons of blog content for you too. Get a strong BAM foundations with some of the resources above, plus BAM 101 blogs and articles on the Integration of Business and Mission. Our Launching and Landing series covers topics on successfully deploying into business as mission. More Blog Topics here.

 

Explore BAM Stories

We recommend reading a variety of BAM stories to get an idea of what kind of BAM company you’d like to join. You’ll find recommended Blogs and Books containing stories on our Stories page. The BAM Stories Podcast is another great source, and do come along to a BAM Global Event where BAM case studies are shared every year and connections to BAM companies will be made!

 

Sending Organisations with a Business Focus

If you are looking to be equipped and sent out to join a BAM company, then training and deployment with a mission sending agency or ‘tentmaking’ training entity might be for you. Check out Antioch Partners, Interserve, World Venture, Navigators, Tent International, FaithTech and many more—see the ‘Recruiting & Mobilising’ section of the BAM Ecosystem Map. Most mission agencies have a BAM strategy integrated in some way, so find an organisation that resonates with you or works in the region you want to go to and enquire about their business initiatives.

 

Discover Internships & Jobs

If you are starting out in your career then we really recommend getting an internship or two under your belt. Any kind of experience is good, but learning about general business disciplines in a small to medium sized company context can be particularly useful. Ready to search for a BAM job or internship? Check out the Jobs boards at: Transformational SME and the BGlobal Community, the Apprenticeship program at OPEN Network, and the ‘Head Hunting & Jobs Board’ section of the BAM Ecosystem Map

 

C: Integrating BAM Principles into an Existing Company

 

Integrating Faith & Business Foundations

If you’re looking to integrate business as mission into your company, but don’t know where to get started, we highly recommend reading Business for the Glory of God, a short book that sets out a biblical way of thinking about business. Other great resources to help you integrate faith and business and find your tribe, include: Faith Driven Entrepreneur, Theology of Work Project, Faith & Co., Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, LICC, and the Biblical Business Resource Center.

 

Integration Blogs

And yes, we have a whole series of Blogs for that too! Read foundational topics like BAM 101 and Biblical Foundations for BAM. Explore ideas and practical tips for integrating BAM into business with articles on Integrating Business and Mission. More Blog Topics here.

 

Wealth Creation Manifesto & Global Classroom

BAM Global and Lausanne partnered to produce a series of video resources and papers on the critical need for wealth creators, i.e. business people, to partner with God in mission. Watch the Video series here, read the Wealth Creation Manifesto here, and download the Report series here.

 

Rēp – Repurposing Business Training

Rēp specialises in training and resources to equip business leaders for marketplace impact. Rēp’s goal is introduced as follows, ‘God has long used work and business as vehicles for his plans on earth. In centuries past a fictitious divide between work & worship, business & ministry crept into our thinking. Our goal is not to get God into business, but to get businesses into God’s business.’ Check out their training courses here, including a free foundation course for ‘repurposing your business’.

Foundation Resources for Everyone

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

 

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.

 

Start Here Page

Our Start page on this very website is designed to give you a brief introduction to business as mission and is ground zero for the BAM Pathways. Go there now.

 

BAM A-Z Booklet

If you would like to learn your BAM ABCs, look no further than the BAM A-Z booklet that communicates the concepts of BAM with graphics, single words and short texts. Using the 26 letters of the English alphabet, Mats Tunehag has identified 26 key words and concepts related to BAM. They are accompanied by a brief explanation and a graphic. Download your copy here. Watch the BAM Global leadership team share about each letter in 1-2 minute videos here.

 

BAM Global Movement Book

Get an introduction to BAM with one book purchase, this introductory book on business as mission by Gea Gort & Mats Tunehag is for you. It interweaves foundation-laying chapters on the concept of BAM with case study chapters, sharing the stories of real companies. Find out more.

 

Introduction to BAM Courses

Looking for a bit more BAM to study? Two of our partners offer great introduction to BAM courses:

ThirdPath Initiative offer a free 7 part course that will start you on your BAM path – check it out here!

YWAM Colorado Springs offer a more intensive 10 part Introduction to BAM Seminar that can be taken online or in-person in a cohort – discover more here.

 

There are many more ideas on the BAM Ecosystem Map and you can discover more great BAM resources right here at the Business as Mission Resource Centre, in the Business as Mission Resource Library and The BAM Review Blog.

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.

Check out the new resources for ‘Do-ers’ on the BAM Pathways here.

 Jo Plummer is the Creative Director & Co-Founder of BAM Global and the co-editor of the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission. She directs BAM Global initiatives such as BAM Global Events, BAM Global Think Tank consultations, and the BGlobal Community. Jo has been developing resources for BAM since 2001 and serves as Editor of the Business as Mission website and The BAM Review Blog. 

 

 

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash

 

 

What’s Your Role in BAM? Introducing the BAM Pathways

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by Jo Plummer

 

We need all kinds of gifts and skills in the BAM movement, people from all kinds of background, in all kinds of roles. Indeed, it is quite likely that whatever God has called you to, and whatever he’s given you a passion for, there is a need for it in the business as mission community!

We think of this as the ‘BAM ecosystem’, and it is an ecosystem that is broad and diverse—consisting of many individuals, companies, networks, constituencies, and organisations.

Having been working to build this ecosystem over more than two decades, we at BAM Global have observed that most people fall into one of three main categories: Do-ers, Helpers, and Explorers. We are calling these the ‘BAM Pathways‘ and each pathway includes particular roles. Here is a helpful overview of each one:

 

Click to Open PDF & Download

 

These BAM Pathways are not exhaustive, but our hope is that they will provide a handle for people that are exploring the BAM Resource Centre to quickly identify where they might fit into the BAM community and discover the best resources and ideas for them.

We’ll be launching new toolboxes for each role in the coming months, as follows:

 

Here is a quick introduction to each main Pathway:

Do-ers

Do-ers are the heart and soul of the Business as Mission (BAM) movement. Whether you’re a seasoned owner of a BAM company, part of the business team, or someone preparing to launch a new enterprise, you’re a do-er. Do-ers turn ideas into action, creating a ripple effect of positive change. Explore Do-ers Pathway

Helpers

Helpers are the architects and scaffolding of the BAM ecosystem. Whether you’re a passionate intercessor, a supportive church or mission leader, a dedicated academic, or a seasoned professional, your unique skills build the foundation for success. By connecting, sharing knowledge, and offering guidance, you empower do-ers to make an even greater impact. Discover Helpers Pathway

Explorers

Explorers are those fairly early on in their BAM journey who are learning more and discovering their next steps to get involved. Whether you are a student or young professional, have years of business experience, or years of mission experience, there is a place for you in the business as mission ecosystem. Begin Explorers Pathway

Just want to stay in touch?

Perhaps you are not looking for an active role in the BAM community, but are interested in the concept or are in a related area of work and you just want to stay connected with business as mission? If that’s the case, welcome—we invite you to keep in touch via our social media and by subscribing to BAM Global News and Resources.

 

Ready to discover your path? More BAM Pathways toolboxes will be available soon! Get started here.

 

 Jo Plummer is the Creative Director & Co-Founder of BAM Global and the co-editor of the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission. She directs BAM Global initiatives such as BAM Global Events, BAM Global Think Tank consultations, and the BGlobal Community. Jo has been developing resources for BAM since 2001 and serves as Editor of the Business as Mission website and The BAM Review Blog. 

 

With many thanks to Shay and Alana, BAM Global Communications, for visual design for the BAM Pathways.

 

Photo by Craig Melville on Unsplash

 

The Unique Ability of Business to Create Value and Speak Hope to Nations [Video]

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by Hakan

 

To continue our series on business as mission through the lens of the Bible and God’s mandates to us, here is a keynote address from the BAM Global Congress 2021.

 

 

This month we are looking at business as mission through the lens of the Bible and God’s mandates to us.

Read introduction post here.  All posts this month.


Keynote Video Transcript

Thank you for the introduction. Many of us have eagerly been waiting for this [BAM Global] Congress for many years now.

We are gathering because we are excited to take part in what God is doing. You know, we can’t bring Him anywhere! He’s already there waiting for us to join him in all spheres of society and among all people—to the peripherals, to the marginalized and the forcibly displaced and to the worlds of media, government, economy, family, academia, religion, and the artists, He’s already there.

Most of our role models in the Bible have a secular profession. It’s easy to become preoccupied with the kings and prophets and priests and apostles when we’re reading from the Bible. But if we allow ourselves to see it from a different perspective, we find that many of our real role models were actually professionals. Isaac developed real estate. Jacob was a rancher. Joseph, a government official in charge of agriculture, economy, and immigration policy. He served a Pharaoh in a foreign land and he did not choose to leave his well-paid job to start a charity work in order to be able to serve God. Read more

Why Business is the Biblically Prescribed Solution to Poverty

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by Mark Ingram

 

The Bible, often regarded simply as a spiritual guide, also provides comprehensive instructions on economic practices and wealth creation, positioning business as a key tool in solving poverty. This approach, rooted in the Old Testament and reaffirmed by Jesus in the New Testament, suggests that business, when conducted according to biblical principles, is not just a means to personal wealth but a divine strategy for human flourishing and poverty eradication. This aligns closely with business as mission (BAM), which integrates excellent business practices with intentional mission, aiming to glorify God, spread the gospel, and promote the common good.

Understanding Biblical Poverty

The Bible’s concept of poverty primarily refers to material lack—those without basic necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter. This definition aligns closely with modern understandings of extreme poverty, such as the World Bank’s threshold of living on less than $1.90 a day. In the Scriptures, poverty is depicted as a state of vulnerability, where the poor are exposed to oppression and exploitation due to their lack of resources and connections (Deuteronomy 15:7; Psalm 109:16). Therefore, addressing poverty involves more than charity; it requires empowering individuals to generate and sustain wealth.

Wealth Creation as a Divine Mandate

From the beginning, wealth creation is depicted in the Bible as a divine mandate. In Genesis, God commands humanity to “fill the earth and govern it,” entrusting humans with the responsibility to manage and cultivate the resources of the world (Genesis 1:28). This stewardship involves productive work and creative enterprise, which are essential to generating wealth and ensuring human flourishing. The Israelites’ journey from slavery in Egypt to prosperity in the Promised Land illustrates this principle. God promised to bless them with wealth, not for individual indulgence but to build a flourishing community that glorifies Him (Deuteronomy 8:18). Read more

The World is Open for Business and the Bible is Too!

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by Jo Plummer

 

Business is a powerful response to mandates that God gives His people in the Bible.

God calls His people to join His ‘missio dei’—His mission to the world—to respond to the pressing spiritual, physical, economic and social needs of people and communities. We can do that effectively through business.

When we intentionally respond to God’s missional mandates through business, this is ‘business as mission’! We emphasise that business as mission (BAM) is a response to three particular biblical mandates:

The Culture Mandate – the power of business to ‘tend the garden’ and ‘steward creation’ (Genesis 1 and 2)

The Great Commandment – the power of business to ‘love God’ and ‘love our neighbour’ (Matthew 22)

The Great Commission – the power of business to ‘make disciples’ and ‘proclaim the gospel in all the world’ (Mark 16, Matthew 28, Luke 24, Acts 1:8)

These are the foundational mandates for BAM, although there are many other commands and precepts we can apply in the context of business. For example, we are called to be justice-bringers, light-bearers, peacemakers, honest-dealers, servant leaders, enemy-lovers, mercy-showers—and many more. All of these can be lived out in the context of business, as Jesus-followers in the marketplace.

However, the three mandates above give us a clear framework to build BAM on solid biblical foundations.

Tending the Garden: The Cultural Mandate

In the creation story in Genesis, God gives humans the task to steward the world’s resources and care for creation. We often call this the cultural mandate or creation mandate. Business is a powerful way to ‘tend the garden’ in this way because it takes natural resources, along with creativity and work, and combines them to multiply resources and drive innovation. Business is a God-ordained institution, with a God-given role in society, that stretches right back to Genesis. By God’s design, business should bring dignity to people and flourishing to communities.

Deuteronomy 8 confirms that it is God who gives us the ability to produce wealth. God told his people that the manna would stop as they entered the promised land because he had provided abundant natural resources. God can provide supernaturally for us in extraordinary circumstances, but the God-given way His provision comes in most ordinary circumstances is through work and business. So in Deuteronomy 8, God told His people to take those abundant resources and start agricultural and mining businesses (v 8-9). We see that business, done well—and not forgetting the Lord our God (v 11)—is glorifying to Him.

If the natural role of business in God’s design for humankind is to create livelihoods, multiply wealth and resources, drive creativity and innovation, and sustainably provide for families, communities and nations, then we can already clearly see the potential of business for God’s kingdom work on earth. Businesswomen and men may then intentionally harness this power of business and focus it to sustainably address some of the world’s most pressing problems: lack of gospel access, environmental crises, joblessness, poverty, slavery, sanitation problems, food security, and so on. When we intentionally weave in such missional responses into our company strategy, we are doing business as mission. We are leveraging the innate power of business to respond to two further interwoven mandates: the great commandment and the great commission.

Loving Our Neighbour: The Great Commandment

Jesus said, love God and love your neighbour. Dallas Willard once said that ‘Business is a primary moving force of the love of God in human history.’

Bringing those two ideas together, business has an innate God-given power to do good in the world. As we have seen, business creates dignified work, multiplies resources, provides for families and communities, and pushes forward innovation and development. It can be a moving force of God’s love by creating decent livelihoods and economic stability, enabling peace, provision, and generosity.

Aid and relief for the poor is necessary in times of crisis and disaster—and for the likes of the ‘widow and orphan’ who cannot provide for themselves. But, like the people in Deuteronomy 8, the usual way families provide for themselves is not through aid, but, through trade, through business and a thriving economy. Business shows the love of God by creating meaningful ways to work in the world.

For-profit enterprises are the primary way that good jobs are created. On the other hand, a lack of jobs leaves families vulnerable to extreme poverty, corruption, human trafficking, and exploitation of all kinds. Business is a powerful way to love God and love our neighbours because in many parts of the world, what our ‘neighbour’ needs most is a good job.

Proclaiming the Gospel: The Great Commission

In every village, town and city in the world, businesses are at the heart of the community; that is true in Kenya, Canada and Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cambodia and Iraq! Business people have an influential role in a community, meeting real needs, and building a strong network of relationships.

People spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else. Deep relationships can be formed and biblical principles modelled in the crucible of daily business life, creating a company culture that reflects Jesus as well as opportunities to share His Good News. Business is a powerful way to make disciples, and to share the gospel in word and deed in the context of everyday life—to the ends of the earth.

Many of the places that the gospel has still to reach are hostile to traditional missionaries and difficult to access, yet business people are welcome nearly everywhere. The world is open for business!

In Conclusion

God has mandated His people to be good stewards of creation, to create resources for the good of society, to love God first and then love our neighbour, and to take the gospel to all nations. 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, marginalised and unreached peoples.

The definition of 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 evangelised peoples.

Let’s keep our Bibles open and keep our eyes open for opportunities to solve pressing global issues through business as mission, in response to God’s mandates and for His glory!

For more reading on ‘the three mandates’ read this post by Mats Tunehag.

 

This month we are looking at business as mission through the lens of the Bible and God’s mandates to us. All posts this month.

Parts of this post were adapted from the paper ‘Business as Mission and the Global Workplace’ read it in full here. Mats Tunehag also contributed to this post through our many conversations and the ideas he has shared in past articles and talks.

 

 Jo Plummer is the Creative Director & Co-Founder of BAM Global and the co-editor of the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission. She directs BAM Global initiatives such as BAM Global Events, BAM Global Think Tank consultations, and the BGlobal Community. Jo has been developing resources for BAM since 2001 and serves as Editor of the Business as Mission website and The BAM Review Blog. 

 

 

Photo by Rachel Strong on Unsplash

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.

 

 

Biblical Foundations for Business as Mission

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by Jo Plummer

What does God say about business in the Bible? What were His intentions when he made enterprise part of His design for human society? For those pursuing business as mission it is essential to build on solid Biblical foundations.

Three reasons to build a Biblical foundation for business, work and economics

1. Broadening our horizons

Most start with a particular motivation when they launch into BAM and there is nothing wrong with that. However, embracing all the ways that business might positively impact a community will give us greater potential to intentionally create that impact. Let us understand and embrace the fullness of God’s design for business. Let us celebrate His intentions. As we do that, we will have to say, “Wow!” God is so creative and He has given us the ability to be creative, to add value, to make money, to create wealth and come up with new innovations, that provide livelihoods, that help a community develop, that help us live in peace, that close the door on exploitation, that give lives meaning and transform people’s values, that communicates the Gospel… These are all God’s gifts to us in business!

2. We will multiply what we sow

Whatever we believe about business in our own worldview we will multiply as we go out and do business as mission. If we only emphasize that business is a means to a particular end and not something to celebrate it in its own right, then that is what we will multiply. We will perpetuate the split thinking about what is sacred and valuable, and what is not, in the minds of the people we will influence and disciple. If we are to see a multiplication of business people bringing Kingdom transformation, we must multiply a Biblical view of business.

In our society we become what we celebrate. In order to release business people to get engaged, we need to celebrate their role in the Kingdom of God. Business is a high calling, we need to celebrate it so that our children and their children know that if they are called to business then that’s what they should be doing to God’s glory.  Steve Saint

3. It is good for business

Thinking broadly about the transformational power of business is also good for business. This is something the world at large is waking up to. Terms like ‘social entrepreneurship’, ‘shared value’ and ‘conscious capitalism’ are becoming common currency as society re-evaluates the role of business. There is a growing understanding that as we create products that are good for society and meet human needs, then that will also be good for business in the purely economic sense. This cutting-edge thinking is rediscovering God’s original design for business! As Christians we need to have a firm grasp on what God says about the purpose of business.

 

Read all Blogs on Biblical Foundations for Business as Mission

 

Thoughts on the fundamental Biblical purpose of business

Excerpts from the BAM Think Tank Biblical Foundations for Business as Mission paper:

God calls His people to do good… Whenever business is carried out justly, it does good and is God-ordained because we are assured that all good things ‘come from above’ (James 1:17). God created the marketplace to serve positive ends. Human provision, facilitated by the beneficial exchanges of the marketplace, is a fundamental function of creation. Commerce can also be, at least informally, a means of revelatory grace, specifically as immanent charis, the kindness, mercy, and goodwill of God in the world, as business generates wealth that can be used to pay wages, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for widows and orphans. Business can be evangelizing witness to the glory of God… Christ is present in the marketplace when the devout carry out their business in accordance with God’s will, purposes, and character (Doty, 2011, pp. 93–4).

Understanding God’s purposes for business comes through understanding God’s purpose for humans outlined in Genesis and understanding God’s purposes for institutions (principalities and powers outlined in the New Testament writings). Broadly, the purpose of business lies within the context of the purpose of life―that is, the ‘chief end of humankind is to glorify God and enjoy God forever’ (Westminster Confession). God is in the people-developing ‘business’ to make a people to live in harmonious relationship with God and with one another (Daniels, 2012, p. 60).

First, business appears to be uniquely well situated to work the fields, to cause the land to be fruitful, and to fill the earth—what we might in modern parlance characterize as “to create wealth”. Second, business is the dominant institution (although obviously not the only one) equipped to provide organized opportunities for meaningful and creative work (Van Duzer, 2010, pp. 41–2).

Business, from a Christian viewpoint… is a calling to transformational service for the common good. It is a calling on personal, institutional and structural levels to serve God and participate in his ministry of bettering the lives of others in multiple dimensions (Wong & Rae, 2011, p. 284).

Christ talks about invasion: may God’s Kingdom come on earth, may God’s will be done in our lives and societies today. The incarnational mystery is one of engagement, living among us, sharing our lives and circumstances. Business as Mission recognizes our calling to be salt and light in the marketplace. It is not about evacuating Christians from a sinful and corrupt sphere, but rather becoming an answer to the Lord’s Prayer: May your Kingdom come in the business world (Tunehag, 2013b).

Read the full paper to unpack these and other ideas. See also Further Resources list below.

What does the Bible say about business, work and the economic sphere?

Selected scriptures for further study:

We are to be stewards of God’s creation: Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:15, 19-20, Leviticus 25:2-7, Psalm 8:6.

Provision for human society and multiplication of resources is designed by God to come primarily through dignified work. God is creative and pleased with his work and we are made to be creative in His image: Genesis 2:1-3, Deuteronomy 28:1-13, Joshua 5: 11-12, Psalm 128:1‒2.

Material provisions are good and important for our daily life and the healthy functioning of communities, however they are not sufficient to fully satisfy us as humans: Deuteronomy 8, 1 Kings 4:25, Psalms 62:10, Proverbs 23:4-5, Ecclesiastes 5:10-20, Zechariah 3:10, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 6:33, Mark 8:36.

Business creates opportunities for meaningful work and creativity that is essential for human dignity and a peaceful society: Genesis 2:2-3, Ephesians 6:5-9, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, 2 Thessalonians 3:10–12.

Entrepreneurship, wealth creation and wise management of resources is commendable: Genesis 41:46-49, Proverbs 31:10-31, Matthew 25:14-30.

We should care for the poor and needy and support the work of the Church out of the abundance of economic activity. We are to be generous: Deuteronomy 15:4-10, Proverbs 31:18-20, Leviticus 19:9–10,  Acts 20:33-35, Ephesians 4:28, 1 Corinthians 9:10-14, James 2:14‒17

God hates oppression, injustice, and those who exploit the economically and socially vulnerable: Exodus 22: 22-27, Deuteronomy 24:14–15, Deuteronomy 25: 13-16, Proverbs 22:16, Amos 8:4-10, Micah 2:1‒2, Micah 6:8, Malachi 3:5, Colossians 4:1, James 5:4.

Biblical values and precepts can be modeled in the context of daily business life; this makes our message and witness more credible. Life in business can be a training ground for moral development and spiritual maturity: Deuteronomy 22:8, Proverbs 11:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-9.

We are to be intentional about our response the needs of the world and the task of making disciples of all nations: Matthew 22:36–40, Matthew 25:34–36, Matthew 28:19–20.

We are God’s image bearers in the world and our chief end is to Glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We are to be salt and light in the world, called on to be witnesses for the Gospel in any daily situation: Genesis 1:26-27, Psalm 86:8-13, Matthew 5:1-16, Colossians 4:5-6, 1 Peter 3:15.

God’s Kingdom coming encompasses all of creation, the physical, social and spiritual: Isaiah 9:1-7, Luke 4:18-19, Romans 8:19-22.

Further Resources

Recommended Books:

Wayne Grudem – Business for the Glory of God: The Bible’s Teaching on the Moral Goodness of Business (2003)

Timothy Keller – Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work (2012)

Jeff Van Duzer – Why Business Matters to God: (And What Still Needs to Be Fixed) (2010)

Kenman Wong and Scott Rae – Business for the Common Good: A Christian Vision for the Marketplace (2011)

Articles and Web Resources:

BAM Global Think Tank Report – Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done… in Business: Biblical Foundations for Business as Mission 

Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 59. – Business as Mission. See Chapter 2, The Word and the Mission: Biblical Foundations for BAM  

Theology of Work Project – A Biblical Perspective on Faith and Work

Additional References:

Daniels, D. (2012). Toward a theology of business. In Okonkwo, B. (ed.). Finding Meaning in Business: Theology, Ethics and Vocation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Doty, D. (2011). Eden’s Bridge: The Marketplace in Creation and Mission. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock.

Saint, S (2010). Unpublished conference speech, Call2Business, Long Beach, USA

Tunehag, M. (2013). Business as Mission can be smelly. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from www.matstunehag.com.

Van Duzer, J. (2010). Why Business Matters to God: And What Still Needs to be Fixed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

Wong, K. & Rae, S. (2011). Business for the Common Good: A Christian Vision for the Marketplace. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

Read all Blogs on Biblical Foundations for Business as Mission

 Jo Plummer is the Creative Director & Co-Founder of BAM Global and the co-editor of the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission. She directs BAM Global initiatives such as BAM Global Events, BAM Global Think Tank consultations, and the BGlobal Community. Jo has been developing resources for BAM since 2001 and serves as Editor of the Business as Mission website and The BAM Review Blog. 

 

 

Photo by Marjhon Obsioma on Unsplash

 

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!

Others of you on the BAM journey are still exploring where they fit, or maybe are intrigued by the idea of BAM and just want to stay in touch (see ways to do that in the footer below).

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 originally published on 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

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