The purpose of the International School of The Bible is to raise-up fruit bearing disciples through discipleship training. Many are called to bear fruit for the kingdom of God within the church structure, i.e., planting a new church or serving in an existing one, or perhaps through a para-church organization, or evangelism. We have observed a great of amount of success since 1997, way beyond what we could have ever imagined. Of course, all the glory goes to God!
However, many are called by the Lord to take the Gospel into the world through their vocations, employment, or businesses. We want to make sure that you do not confuse BAM, Business as Mission with "tentmaking." Tentmaking is what church based Gospel workers sometimes do to support themselves. The apostle Paul was a tentmaker. That is something that we feel is very good and carries a high degree of integrity. Paul refused to accept money for himself from the churches he served. However that is not Business As Mission. Many Christians go into business to earn a living. That is also very good. However that is not Business As Mission.
Business As Mission is engaging in business for the primary purpose of spreading the Gospel, reaching the unreached, improving the culture and economy, extending the kingdom of God, and glorifying God. The purpose of BAM is to focus on missions for the kingdom of God. It is to take God's influence into the marketplace.
The by-product of Business As Mission is to make a good income for the business owner so that he/she may be self-sufficient, be able to support the church and ministries, and make an impact on the culture and society.
Personal testimony.
When the Lord saved me in 1979 I was operating a grocery story connected with gasoline pumps and an adjoining pizza restaurant. God came into my life in such a radical way that I immediately proclaimed to all in my realm of influence what had taken place in my life. That included making that proclamation in my businesses. I cleared off an entire grocery shelf and gave away free Bibles and Gospel tracts. I ran Bible contests and gave away prime cuts of beef as a prize. I spoke to all my employees and customers about Jesus unashamedly.
One employee asked me, "Larry, don't you think it would be more beneficial to leave religion out of your business?" I answered, "Jesus kept me from going to Hell! I cannot keep my mouth shut!" The employee answered, "Well maybe He will save me from Hell also." This person did get saved and is now in Heaven with Jesus.
A pastor came in and asked, "Are you not afraid that all of your Gospel publications and Bible studies will drive away business?" I answered, "Well, if it does then I will find a job. If I cannot find a job, then I will not be able to eat. If I cannot eat I will die. But then I will end up in Heaven with Jesus, so either way I win." He just scratched his head and left.
I converted the pizza restaurant to a Jewish deli in order to serve the neighboring synagogue. It was quite successful and the Jews did not seem to mind my strong Christian witness (surprisingly). I know several Jews who found the Lord through this business, including two survivors of the Holocaust and one of their sons. Those two are in Heaven now.
I did not know it then, but my business was Business As Mission. It was a BAM! Eventually God took me out of that business into another type of business.
The other business required a professional management company licensed for certain type of health care by the government and other authorities. I had no day-to-day contact. However, the Lord gave me a Word, a rhema, a promise that has made this business a BAM by remote control. He spoke to me that if I ruled righteously, that His presence and influence would prevail, and it most certainly has. Not only did the Lord bless the health care patients, He also blessed the financial part of the business abundantly!
The rhema He gave me was 2 Samuel 23:1-4 which says, “Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel: The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, Like the tender grass springing out of the earth, By clear shining after rain.’”
The following is a wonderful example and some BAM principles and testimonies quoted from an article written by Mats Tunehag [1]. Bringing the world, the unreached, into the church is a wonderful thing, and it works quite well. However, many of the lost and unreached will not go near a church. This example compares the church to a saltshaker and the world to meat. Often we try to " put the meat into the salt shaker" and it works. More often however, we need to take the saltshaker to the world.
There is supposedly another way of cooking, not often used. One could try to squeeze the meat through the small holes into the saltshaker and thus make the meat salty.
We as Christians are called to be salt – and light. But let’s focus on the salt bit. Let the saltshaker represent the church and the meat represent the world – which Christ sends us to.
BAN or BAM?
BAM is real business, not Christian charity in a business disguise. But it is more than just business. One may use BAN and BAM as two acronyms to highlight a difference:
* BUSINESS AS NORMAL (BAN)
The business of business is business
* BUSINESS AS MISSION (BAM)
The business of Business as Mission is also business, BUT with a kingdom of God purpose and perspective.
Business as a calling with transformational impact.
God calls and equips people to do business. Business is a ministry in its own right. So if God has called you to business don’t lower yourself to become a pastor – or vice versa. BAM is to do business with excellence, professionalism and integrity. BAM is manifesting the Kingdom of God in the Market Place. BAM is people being transformed spiritually, economically and socially. The business of Business as Mission is to reveal Christ through business. When this is done effectively, the outcome is transformational.
BAM is not “’tent making
The term tent making is linked to the apostle Paul who made tents – had a “secular” job and thus supported himself and at the same time worked in “the ministry”. (The terms, their use and implications, often reinforce the sacred – secular divide that is contrary to the Biblical holistic concept). In mission circles tent making often means someone taking up a job with a company in a foreign country, and that gives opportunities to share Christ with colleagues and others. It is a good and valid concept but is not to be confused with BAM, albeit some overlap exists and they may be complimentary.
BAM focuses on:
Job makers
Entrepreneurs; owners & operators of businesses
Business development
Personal & societal transformation through business
Tent making focuses on:
Job takers
All kinds of workers & professionals
Work in general
To witness and be a testimony at work and through work
Business as Mission is not Business for Mission.
We mustn’t look at business people as cash cows. BAM is not a fundraising strategy. It is not an alternative and new way to financially support traditional Christian ministries. We are all called to give and be generous, regardless of profession or level of income. But we are not teachers, surgeons, housewives, CEOs or farmers, just in order to be able to give money to a charitable cause. None of us would like to be operated on by a surgeon whose only ambition is to make money to give to the church! Instead we expect he has the right skills and drive to operate with excellence, doing his job with full professional integrity. We have all been given gifts and talents, we are all to be good stewards of these gifts, acting responsibly and care for others, whether family members, friends, employees, customers, poor and needy in other countries.
Business as Mission pursues...PROFIT.
Business must be financially sustainable, producing goods or services that people are willing to pay for. Sustainability implies that the activity is profitable. Profits are an essential element of all businesses, in all cultures. Without profit the business cannot survive and fulfill its purpose. Accordingly, Business as Mission businesses are real business that genuinely exist to generate wealth and profits. Business as mission does not view profits as inherently evil, bad or unbiblical. Quite the contrary, profits are good, desired and beneficial to God and His purposes, as long as they are not oppressive, or derived from gouging customers or selling products and service that do no honour Christ and His gospel.
A Definition of Business as Mission.
Business as Mission is about real, viable, sustainable and profitable businesses; with a Kingdom of God purpose, perspective and impact; leading to transformation of people and societies spiritually, economically and socially – to the greater glory of God.
Bottom line. The ultimate bottom line of Business as Mission is for the greater glory of God.
The Biblical mandate is clear: The whole Gospel to all peoples and nations, preaching and demonstrating God’s Kingdom; believing, praying and working towards spiritual, social and economical transformation of people and societies – to God’s glory. The whole world; all peoples and nations: what are some of the major needs? If we are to make a needs assessment, a market analysis – what do we find?
Four things correlate and stand out:
Most unreached peoples are found in the Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist world. Most of them live in the so called 10/40-Window. These are areas and people groups where the name of Jesus is rarely heard, or if heard – seldom understood.
Here you will also find a large majority of the world’s poorest of poor.
These countries – where you’ll find most unreached people and many poor – also often have unemployment rates ranging from 30, 50 to 70 percent.
Often 50 percent or so of the population is young, under 15 – 20 years of age.
So several variables converge: Jesus not known, poverty, unemployment and hundreds of million of young people coming into the market place looking for jobs. How can the Gospel be relevant to these peoples? How can the Kingdom of God be both preached and manifested among them? One thing is certain: Jesus consistently and constantly met the needs of the people he encountered, was it physical, social or spiritual needs. If we want to be followers of Jesus we cannot – and must not – overlook the dire need for jobs among the poor and unreached. This challenge is huge and increasing: some estimates indicate that up to 2000 million (two billion) young people will start looking for jobs in the next 20 years. Most of them live in areas where the name of Jesus is rarely heard, poverty is common, and unemployment rates are very high even now.
Let’s look at two major Muslim countries. Iran has at least ten million unemployed and 20 + million young people are coming into the market place looking for jobs in the next 15 years. How can the Kingdom of God be demonstrated among these Iranian job seekers? Turkey also has about ten million unemployed today and another 20 – 30 million young people are getting ready to join the labor force soon. Or will they just become another percentage figure in the unemployment statistics?
It is not sufficient to thing just in terms of job creation. Nor is it sufficient to just think in terms of church planting. If church planting and growth is our sole definition of success, Rwanda was the ultimate success story in the 20th century. It went from 0 to 90 percent of population being members in various churches in 100 years. But in 1994 we witnessed genocide in this small central African country – one million people killed in a few weeks. Rwanda obviously had people in church, but not church in people; i.e. the Gospel had not truly transformed ethnic relations.
Business as Mission aims at transformation of people and societies – that is our mission given by God. Jesus said: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” This implies to the whole world and with a holistic Kingdom of God mission. It is thus necessary to understand the world that Christ sends us to. This world is full of people who have not heard about Jesus, are suffering physically and economically because of rampant and increasing unemployment. Traditional mission responses will not suffice. We need to be church and do missions in a renewed way; recognizing the gifts and callings of entrepreneurs and business people, seek to affirm and deploy them to do Business as Mission.
Examples.
Business as Mission, often abbreviated BAM, is a relatively new term but based on Biblical concepts. Its applications vary from country to country, from business to business. Here are two brief contemporary BAM stories:
1) A Christian in Central Asia tried to witness to his people, a Muslim community with very few believers. But he was seen as a “professional Christian”, not real to them and probably paid by Westerners to proselytize. He experienced open hostility and alienation. Later he started a small cattle business. His lifestyle became understandable and natural to them. Even though they knew he was still a follower of Isa/Jesus, he was now acceptable. He was one of them, perceived as dealing with real life issues and meeting real needs. He has since been invited to sit on the council of elders for his community.
2) An IT-company exists in India among a major unreached people with the intention to make Christ known among these people. Through the many natural opportunities that business provides, the founder can share his faith in word and deed. The company’s strategic plan reads: “Our purpose is to serve:
Our Customers with creative, innovative, reliable, top-quality solutions;
Our Employees with meaningful and challenging work, stability, good salaries, development and a pleasant work-environment;
Our other Stakeholders by providing attractive returns on their investments;
The Country by creating knowledge and wealth and contributing to local concerns;
Society by showing that success and high moral standards can co-exist; and
Ultimately God by being faithful and good stewards.”
BAM & societal transformation.
Let’s briefly mention one example, from Norway 200 years ago. Hans Nielsen Hauge was born in the late 1700’s in a poor, underdeveloped agricultural society. There was no democracy and limited religious freedom. When Hauge was 25 years old he had an encounter with God. Hauge’s life motto became: Love God and fellow men. He travelled extensively throughout Norway and did - what we in modern day terminology would call - church planting and business as mission.
He started 30 businesses, including fishing industries, brickyard, spinning mills, shipping yards, salt & mineral mines, paper mills, and printing plants. He was an entrepreneur and a catalyst. Many others were inspired to read the Bible, to meet with other believers for prayer and fellowship, and various businesses were started and developed.
Even secular historians today acknowledge Hauge’s legacy and contribution to the development of modern Norway. He is sometimes called “the Father of democracy in Norway”. He facilitated equality between men & women, his work lead to a spiritual awakening and an entrepreneurship movement Hauge’s legacy is thus one of spiritual, economical and social transformation. He did not use the term business as mission, but his life and work illustrates some of the BAM goals, principles and outcomes.
Accountability - spiritual authority - preventing backsliding.
The BAM business person must always be on the alert to keep from backsliding. People normally do not backslide on purpose, and it is usually a slow and gradual process that goes unrecognized until it is too late. The BAM business person must have pastoral and church accountability. He must recognize his pastor or some other designated group of advisors as his spiritual authority. He must have an accountability group of people who will speak into his life and watch for his spiritual health.
Fellowship.
The BAM business person must stay in church fellowship. Business can become addictive and demanding, however time for fellowship and worship must come first.
Word study and prayer and quiet time to continue to hear from God.
As a reminder, chapter 1 in this book says,
Each business owner must sustain his/her business according to Mark 4:1-20, and Psalms One. Mark Chapter 4:1-20 contains the Parable of the Sower. Mark 4:11 states that this Parable is the secret of the Kingdom of God. We submit that Jesus is affirming here that His Word is the seed and your heart is the soil. If your soil is good, you will bear fruit. Your business will only succeed if you maintain your living relationship with Jesus and allow Him to bear His fruit through you.
Each business owner must continue to hear God speak, receiving new Words of Wisdom in his/her heart and continuing to bear fruit from the "new capital" that God invests in him/her. At the same time, he/she must resist Satan's attempts to steal the Word
Certification and disclosure.
Prior to the engagement for training in this book, the LTM should certify which type of business is being proposed, tentmaking, normal business, or Business As Mission.
[1] Business As Mission: http://www.businessasmission.com/pages/papers_articles.