“Tom, you’re no longer strange to me.”
What in the world did Ivan, my close friend of two years, mean by that? My wife, our two middle-schoolers, and I had moved into a country that every national who had the chance was fleeing. Food was scarce. Utilities were sporadic. Unemployment was skyrocketing. Corruption was rampant. New criminal gangs were terrorizing the populace as they were fighting each other and carving out their territories. Our move from the suburbs of America to this collapsing country didn’t seem odd to me. It seemed more like an adventure to make a difference in the world by distributing humanitarian aid and leading bible studies with young adults who had never seen a Bible. I met Ivan and his wife on our first day in his country. They were both college graduates and were unemployed. I hired them as our language tutors, our interpreters, and our first employees. We shared life with them for hours on end for 5-6 days a week for two years. The bible studies seemed to be going well. Ivan was translating the materials from English into his native language. Using his artistic ability he also illustrated them with pen and ink drawings. Ivan was a new believer himself so our times in the Word were rich and special for him. I thought I was really connecting with Ivan, so what was that comment about me, “no longer being strange?” After our first 18 months in the country, I changed my focus from humanitarian aid to missional enterprise (BAM). As the enterprise grew we were able to employ more and more people. Job creation took the place of humanitarian handouts. Gainful employment restored dignity and removed the stigma of inferiority. The needs of our enterprise began to create auxiliary enterprises that provided employment for more people. This ripple effect of wealth creation made more sense to Ivan than our previous attempts of propping people up with bailouts. So why did Ivan think I was strange? When I asked him he gave me two reasons:
He also gave me two reasons why I was no longer strange to him:
It makes me wonder how many others have thought of me as strange when I thought I was just trying to help. - Missional Entrepreneur, GEN Desk Contributing Writer
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Why does God’s presence in the workplace matter? The Great Commission challenges all of us, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV). The average adult is awake 16 hours a day: one hour to prepare for work, 30 minutes each driving to and from work, eight hours at work. That’s already 10 out of 16 hours. Let’s contrast that with the time we invest at church. For some people, it’s just an hour a week. The point? The majority of our life is invested in preparation for work and in doing it. That’s why God’s presence in the workplace matters. God knew the struggle we were going to face in the workplace, so throughout Scripture He gave us clear instruction, warning and encouragement about our work. Instruction: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24, NIV). Warning: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24, NIV). Encouragement: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25, NIV). The workplace offers great opportunities to encourage those who know Christ and to witness to those who don’t. I have heard many arguments about why God does not belong in the workplace. There is the legal argument. The “it might offend someone” argument. The “what gives you the right?” argument. I have even heard the “it might scare off customers or employees” argument. But Jesus said, “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8-9, NIV). If I claim Christ, if I accept His offer of grace, I cannot leave Him in the car and spend the bulk of the day pretending I don’t know Him. Think of how Peter denied Jesus–is that any different from our daily failure to claim Him in the workplace? The marketplace matters because God offered us His Son, the greatest Gift in history. And our acceptance of that Gift came with instructions: Every one of us is called to participate in the Great Commission. Every day in the workplace we have the opportunity to share that Gift with others. Be bold. Live your Christian faith every day. If we do that, we will affect the lives of many in the great harvest field that exists in the workplace. God's Presence in the Workplace
Originally published by Pat Flood, September 24, 2004, at www.billygraham.org. Impacting communities by bringing jobs and dignity! What other businesses do you think could provide TBL transformation?
Recent notes from Jerry White's presentation on, "A Minimalists Guide to Life at Work."
The bottom line for those who like to know the conclusion first! Our work needs: Calling, Excellence, Competence, Faithfulness (work hard), and Attitude. The Theology of Work: From the beginning: "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15 (NIV) Commands and Limits: "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest, you must rest.” Exodus 34:21 (NIV) New Testament View: "Make it your ambition to lead a quite life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NIV) No work is secular: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23 (NIV) Some specifics: "For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked day and night, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’ We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy, they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 (NIV) Key Concepts:
Pinpricks for Our Thinking:
Dig in for yourself! What does God reveal to you about himself, you, and work? – Gen Desk Director Adam, University of Wyoming Navigator Campus Director, wanted to help his students get rid of the “cookie-cutter” thinking of what it takes to reach the nations. “Students want an adventure and we all want our lives to matter.” Adam’s thinking on why he wanted the University of Wyoming to host the missional enterprise Entrepreneurial Readiness Workshop: We believed it would bolster the idea among our students that they are uniquely gifted to reach any context where God places them. We hope our students leave campus feeling confident they can see God use their lives in the workplace and neighborhood just as much as He did on campus. NavMissions designed the ERW around the integrated life—where God’s design and calling for each of us meets. We believe there needs to be a destruction of the sacred-secular divide and fresh building of the integrated laborer, especially in the unreached "9-5 Window" (the workplace). The ERW promotes a vision for new mission frontiers for those who don't feel led into a pure gift-income role. One goal of the ERW is to see if anyone fits the mold of an international cross-cultural laborer. But the vision is much broader than international service and we hope to see many people starting or influencing businesses here in our NavCities with a focus beyond a financial bottom line. Kingdom values expressed through the triple bottom line will create a missional enterprise context for our calling in the U.S. and around the world. My hope is that any campus that is seeing a noticeable growth in God's heart for the nations would consider hosting an ERW. I believe it is my job as a Campus Director to introduce our graduating students to more networks and passionate people then myself. If all they know after four years is what "Adam" thinks about ministry, missions and the Lord, then I have failed. The ERW is adaptable for campuses, military bases, churches, mission organizations, and NavCities. If you would like to partner in hosting an ERW, please email NavMissions at gen@navigators.org.
The next ERW is September 30, 2016 in Colorado Springs. Get info and register at gendesk.org/erw. – GEN Desk Director Missional Enterprise: a Vehicle for Reconciliation “Throughout history, business has brought people together and pulled them apart. It has helped humankind progress while also revealing our darkest impulses.” It’s no secret that we live in a broken world … poverty, injustice, oppression, violence and corruption are all realities of the day and age we live in. Many businesses have been used as instruments of evil and exploitation, contributing to much of the brokenness in the world. However, “business can be an instrument in providing for humanity, an avenue to serve others, a place to exercise one’s gifts and skills, and a vehicle of reconciliation.” Which is why we need to understand God’s purpose for business and not let it remain in it’s broken state. In The Missional Entrepreneur, Russell presents four spheres of life that are broken and that God is on mission to reconcile:
Missional enterprise is an incredible opportunity to partner with God in bringing healing and renewal to each of these areas of brokenness. We easily understand how business can effect the economy in great ways and in more recent years, people are realizing the positive impact that businesses can have socially and environmentally; but the spiritual aspect of business bringing healing seems to be more allusive, yet crucial. The uniqueness of business is that it is an open door to everywhere and not just into physical places but also into the hearts of people. Everyday around the world people engage in business in a plethora of ways from the rich to the poor from the consumer to employee to owner. “Being missional is about living in a state of being that is at the center of God’s mission wherever you are … and the spiritual mission of business is not to establish a kingdom of wealth and power but to bring the Kingdom of God to tangible reality.” As businesses help build communities, provide for humanity, serve people according to their needs, and more; they become a physical expression of spiritual realities. This is what we strive for within the Global Enterprise Network; using the Triple Bottom Line to see Kingdom Values permeate all dimensions of enterprise unleashing the gospel. We do realize that God doesn’t need business and doesn’t need us to bring healing and reconciliation to the world but what a privilege that He invites us to join with Him to carry out His mission. What are some specific, small ways businesses can bring renewal and restoration to your corner of the world? And where do you see yourself called to join God in His mission of renewing the world? – GEN Desk Coordinator
Every person in the world spends the majority of time at their place of work. Utilizing business as a method to effectively love and express the redemption of Christ through fair labor treatment and positive management correlates to increased personal contact with individuals out-of-touch with God’s calling for their life. Additionally, business is applicable in virtually every part of the world. Many missional correspondents are realizing that impactful change is best initiated at a level that affects an individual’s bottom line. One leader from Croatia explained that, “Sending us missionaries is good, but we'd prefer that you send us godly businessmen, who can teach us and help us to start businesses and create jobs in a Christ-like way." An individual will know they are truly cared for when the evidence of love is displayed through how they are treated, and how their lives are changed. Impacting someone’s lifestyle and improving their quality of life is fundamental in tangibly illustrating genuine compassion. The Lausanne Conference articulated the truth behind the difference that economical advancement can have in an individual’s life by outlining the following statistic, “… the richest 20% of the world’s population own approximately 80% of the world’s wealth; whilst the poorest 20% own approximately 1%. There is a tragic correlation between poverty, disease and unemployment.” It is difficult to explain to a financially disadvantaged fellow how important their life is, when they are faced with the belief that their current station in life determines their future. Employment and empowerment through financially profitable work reinvigorates those whose perspective of life is defined by scarcity. In the western world and other developed nations, it is easy to focus on, “...personal holiness and individual transformation rather than social holiness and societal transformation.” Missional Enterprise however attempts to shift this concentration to envelop a broader perspective of improvement and growth. Business is, “especially good news for the materially and financially poor of this present world.” Those who look outward and see the breadth of impact business can make and who, “…live by biblical principles of work, stewardship, faithfulness and justice will alleviate most causes of human suffering and poverty.” More and more missional enterprises are experiencing pushback from secular nations against the immersion of foreign ministries. This is largely based on the inability of a traditional missionary to effectively improve the economic climate of a country. Most missionaries are considered “unemployed” persons who fail to contribute to society at large. Business on the other hand, “is a recognized institution in society that brings credibility to relationships with the community as a whole. Thus business brings opportunities to influence and disciple the wider society through the relationships it brings.” This means that the missional entrepreneur, “becomes ‘salt and light’ to the community (or nation) in the marketplace.” Business practices impact not only the financial climate of nations, but also the physical environment. Environmental stewardship (social impact bottom line) is practiced by BAM operations through, “the types and locations of products fabricated and services rendered, of production methods, of types of resources used, and of the disposal of waste.” In a time when scarce resources are being depleted faster than ever, it is critical to ensure long-term sustainability through cognitively sensitive environmental decisions.
At the core, human beings are relational creatures. This is true in any culture and in every part of the world. The fantastic mystery of the redeeming love of our Lord and Savior is His willingness to die for our sins, and take our burdens upon himself. As Christians, we know that we are fully loved, and ardently accepted. Many who are lost, and in need of The Good News, do not know these truths and fail to see how their lives could ever be worth the sacrifice of another. BAM offers a unique avenue to demonstrating the importance of each individual. “Business restores dignity through creating employment, through righteous and equal treatment in relationships and through empowerment.” The truth is, the Lord’s Will is done according to His purpose. He does not need us, but He wants us. His burning desire for us transforms life and produces fruit of the heart. There are many ways to show His mercy, and to spread The Gospel. It is important to realize that changing times require changed tactics and revolutionized perspectives. Business was once seen as purely secular. No longer however, is business defined by this restrictive stereotype. In truth, “Business as mission looks beyond a financial bottom line to a ‘multiple bottom line’; taking into account financial, social, spiritual and environmental returns.” As defined by the Lausanne Conference, and the practical application of BAM operations thriving throughout the world today, “The real bottom line of business as mission is AMDG - ad maiorem Dei gloriam – for the greater glory of God.” - GEN Desk Intern For more information on the Lausanne Movement and BAM visit: http://businessasmission.com/library/articles-papers/ Tunehag, Mats, Wayne McGee, and Josie Plummer, eds. "Business Goals And Mission Analysis." Business As Mission (2008): 1-88. Lausane Occasional Paper No. 59. Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. Web. 24 July 2015. "What We Do." Transformational Ventures. Tranformational Ventures, n.d. Web. 24 July 2015. Every mission agency wants to start up a new BAM program. Why and what is Business As Mission (BAM)? What purpose can it serve in advancing the Gospel? Can transformational discipleship be espoused through practices commonly associated with a secular lifestyle? These questions and more are ruminated in the Church and Christian ministries. What is now being introduced as utilizing business to promote missional evangelization is scrutinized by many and only fully understood by a few. The Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 59 is the organized effort of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization to effectively explain, and endorse, the worldwide adoption of BAM practices. The paper identifies the misconceptions of BAM implementation, and the foundational principles necessary for effective discipleship through business practices. At a meeting last summer, a question was raised, “Is it easier to turn a businessman into a Navigator, or a Navigator into a businessman?” The coordinators at the Lausanne Conference encountered the same question, and deduced the following response: “It is easier to teach ministry to a businessperson than business to a mission person. They focus on good business practice and integrating ministry into the business rather than starting a mission and trying to posture it as a business. If the business thrives, so does ministry to its employees and community, all without foreign funding or donations.” Business practices receive a bad rap due to their focus on monetary gain. Yet the focus of BAM is not to raise money purely for the dispersal of financial profits to existing Christian organizations. It is true that this is one of the goals, and is often a practice highly prioritized in BAM operations. However, the pursuit of BAM is to utilize the context of business as a powerful tool for evangelizing to the lost. In the Navigators, the Global Enterprise Network (GEN) has a wide variety of BAM works and describe them as missional enterprises. A missional enterprise (also known as Business for Transformation – B4T) is a small subset of the BAM space but is distinguished by the triple bottom line. Read more from Larry Sharp about the BAM Movement. - GEN Desk Intern For more information on the Lausanne Movement and BAM visit: http://businessasmission.com/library/articles-papers/ Tunehag, Mats, Wayne McGee, and Josie Plummer, eds. "Business Goals And Mission Analysis." Business As Mission (2008): 1-88. Lausane Occasional Paper No. 59. Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. Web. 24 July 2015.
"Business as Mission Research." Eden's Bridge. Eden's Bridge, 27 May 2012. Web. 24 July 2015. A violent civil war breaks into your city. You are fortunate enough to connect with relatives in America, and you flee to their city to begin a new life. However, your troubles are far from over.
Generous social services, a stream of low skill jobs, and growing family networks have made my neighborhood a place of refuge for such refugees. Still, they face significant hardship. Mothers are most vulnerable to the trials of refugee life. Many are the sole providers for their families. Their husbands either divorced them or were killed in the civil war back home. Most jobs here are suited for men, and those suited for women often require English language proficiency—a significant hurdle for refugee mothers, who struggle to attend classes because they are already stretched thin by a houseful of children and a shoestring budget. Cultural tensions plague the homes of these women as well. It has been a significant challenge for their families to retain cultural identity and religious devotion under the clouds of economic hardship, social stigma, and extremist and gang recruiting. Our family moved into this predominantly immigrant neighborhood in 2011. We were overwhelmed with our first children, and our hearts went out to the single mothers who were facing the hardships of parenting alone in a foreign country. To my dismay, this community was not nearly as interested in receiving our help as we were in giving it. My attempts at coffee shop conversations were met with blunt rejection. People would leave the room the minute I walked in the door. After three years of gradual progress, I discovered the entrepreneurial spirit of my new neighbors. This became my key to Kingdom-oriented community development and my inroad to Gospel-centered relationships. I began consulting ethnic restaurant owners about Western foodservice standards. The people that once avoided me began to warmly welcome me for hours of conversation about their business practices and family lives. They even honored me with a seat in their Chamber of Commerce. Having built up this momentum, I began taking action on my vision of providing stable, dignified employment for single mothers of the community. My business partner and I, a mother of this group, are beginning a food distribution company that will soon employ nearly a dozen single refugee mothers. Our prayer is to see these single mothers find strength and purpose in this dignified work and in the Gospel so that their homes and communities may be uplifted in the light of Christ. – GEN Desk Contributing Writer, Nations Within Staff, and ERW Alumni “We were called here to serve.” Many overseas missionaries and domestic missionaries have used this phrase to explain where and why they are serving in a specific region or vocation. As powerful as this phrase is, it can also be a hidden challenge for missional entrepreneurs to confront. Missional entrepreneurs face the hard test of serving as both business owners and missionaries. So what service comes first, their call to witness or their call to operate as business leaders? The question of these priorities is a tough, but necessary, topic to address. A fine balance exists in the BAM world as missional entrepreneurs. A business may fail because it is not given proper time and attention. On the other hand, personal relationships may suffer at the expense pursuing a prosperous business. So what is the answer? Missional entrepreneurs are blessed with the unique opportunity to influence fellow co-workers and employees. With the guidance of Christ, the workplace is the missions field. Intentionally focusing on business operations, and seeking to serve employees as an involved leader, allows the real Mission to manifest itself into the daily lives of the lost. A story in Mark L. Russell’s “The Missional Entrepreneur," is told about two small businesses that were both located in the same cultural context, supported by Christian missions, and run by faithful believers. One business excelled, the other failed. What was the difference between the two businesses? One owner became overwhelmed by the need to spread the gospel and run a full-time business, the other intertwined the gospel with daily business operations and devoted his missional efforts to reaching the lost and hurting who came to work at the company. Discovering the balance between serving in the missions field and running a business is not an easy path to traverse. Have faith in where your heart is being led, and rest in the peace that the One who sent you has gifted you specifically with the desire to meet the needs of His children through the capacity of business. (Romans 8:28) As you are called to serve as a missional entrepreneur, so His will and glory will be done. “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 - GEN Desk Intern |
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