1. The opportunity for extensive culture-making in the U.S.
2. The rise of Islam.
3. The new non-western Global Christianity.
4. The growing cultural remoteness of the gospel.
5. The end of prosperity?

I recommend you head over to the Redeemer City to City website and read what Keller has to say about these issues. It helps to focus on these shifts in the evangelistic landscape of the West. Doing so will help us to anticipate new opportunities and threats to our efforts to achieving our goals as Kingdom strategists.

One thing I am encouraged by as I read these is that in many ways the Western Church has already begun to address these issues. In particular, the Business as Mission movement exists primarily either in response to these changes or as a means of addressing them.

For example, Keller addresses “The opportunity for extensive culture-making in the U.S.” by referring to an interview with sociologist Peter Berger. In the interview Berger notes that the make-up of U.S. evangelicals is shifting from mainly blue-collar and is more represented by people who have a college education.

Berger anticipates that these evangelicals, as they engage in professional careers (like the arts or medicine), will do one of three things:

His question is–will Christians going into the arts, business, government, the media, and film a) assimilate to the existing baseline cultural narratives so they become in their views and values the same as other secular professionals and elites, or b) will they seal off and privatize their faith from their work so that, effectively, they do not do their work in any distinctive way, or c) will they do enough new Christian ‘culture-making’ in their fields to change things?

My Business as Mission research has shown that the leaders of the Business as Mission movement have resoundingly chosen the third option and are intentionally seeking to change the culture of global business through their entrepreneurial efforts. Not only that, but Business as Mission represents a worldview where the first two responses (assimilation and isolation) aren’t even options.

I am encouraged that the men and women who engage in Business as Mission have been so transformed by the Gospel and so inspired by the call of Jesus in their life that they are aggressively seeking to be on mission in the cross-cultural context of global and local business, facilitated by the authenticity that their knowledge, training, and experience creates.

The Church needs creative strategies (like Business as Mission) as it seeks to be agents and servants of the kingdom of God.

Read Keller’s full post here.

The following is an excerpt from the BAM Survey 2007 Report, an in-depth assessment of the state of the Business as Mission movement that I wrote while developing the consulting services division of EC Group International. The report is based on survey responses from 497 people in 38 countries.

Though based on data collected in 2007, many of the insights contained in this report are valuable in understanding the state of the Business as Mission movement at the beginning of 2010. That is why over the course of the next several weeks I will be posting excerpts from the report on this blog. Additionally, you can purchase an electronic copy of the BAM Survey 2007 Report for $14.99.

Whether you are a BAM practitioner, a church or missions organization that supports Business as Mission, or an individual who is curious what Business as Mission is… this report will provide you with a comprehensive view of the global Business as Mission movement as well as an in depth analysis of many of the issues and trends that are shaping the future of BAM.

Introduction: Defining the Business as Mission Movement

In recent years the Business as Mission (BAM) movement has been mired by debate over the central principles of this special expression of ministry and missions that is occurring in the global marketplace. As individuals with traditional business or missions/ministry backgrounds approached Business as Mission, points of contention arose from the efforts to integrate the alternate worldview. Primary among these were issues with the implied/intrinsic inferiority of secular (or “lay”) vocations and with the sanctity of profit. Efforts to resolve these conflicts have been hindered by immature language and misconceptions among each group about the other. Feeling rejected for believing in the transformative power of business and facing difficulty in gaining acceptance, those who embraced Business as Mission disengaged from the church and proceeded in building their businesses.

During this period, the concept of Business as Mission was shaped by the relatively few kingdom companies in operation and was subject to much debate. Due to the broad scope of what it means to be a business and to be a mission, even within the growing BAM movement it was difficult to identify generally accepted interpretations of key issues and elements. This has been complicated by the tendency within the movement to personalize the definition of Business as Mission, manipulating it to encompass the particulars of one’s situation, to account for personal worldviews and goals, and to support personal agendas. Efforts to organize and address the subtle nuances and layered complexities created by the integrating business and missions have had limited success.

As a result, BAM practitioners have been operating without a generally accepted framework for describing what many feel is their calling in life, further isolating them from their communities and limiting their ability to get support on many of the challenges they faced. In 2004, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization hosted the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization: Business as Mission Issue Group, which produced the Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 59 (PDF). This paper for the first time defined the Business as Mission movement’s identity by clarifying many of its terms and addressing what Ken Eldred refers to as “significant barriers to the idea of Kingdom business being a viable missions tool.”^[1] One of the outcomes of the Lausanne conference was that Business as Mission was affirmed as a major effort of the evangelical church.

Since that time, Business as Mission has increased in popularity, particularly among traditional missionaries who recognize its potential for achieving their various goals. These events have helped to raise the level of awareness of BAM, especially within the church. As more and more people join the growing Business as Mission movement a number of things are beginning to occur:

Business as Mission operators are having their calling validated – affirming their beliefs and recognizing the challenges they still face in overcoming barriers.

Missions organizations are integrating Business as Mission into their strategies and operations – testing the compatibility of key elements of the business and missions worldviews and (in some cases) developing alternate approaches for BAM operation and support.

The roles the church will play in the BAM movement are being established - beginning to address the church’s own barriers and determining how it can identify and offer what the movement needs.

Support networks are forming – Business as Mission courses is being offered; capital is being raised for BAM investment; BAM “industry groups” are forming; the number of BAM publications is increasing.

The Business as Mission movement is entering a growth stage that, like any maturing industry, is marked by economies of scale, increased awareness, and new participants emerging. Given that the history of conflict that has shaped Business as Mission, it is important to study these changing dynamics in order to identify new challenges facing the movement.

For this reason, we set out to develop the first ever Business as Mission Survey with the goal of identifying how the BAM movement has addressed a number of its historic challenges as well as uncovering new ones that merit further research. The survey was sent to over 10,000 individuals in over 40 countries and received responses from 497 people in 38 countries (Table A). The survey was designed to be preliminary research across Business as Mission broadly and was not intended to be representative of all issues, components, geographies, or interest groups. We believe that survey data are suggestive of developments and trends in the Business as Mission movement and will serve as the basis for further research.

The practitioners, educators, and supporters of Business as Mission, as reflected in this survey, are coalescing in their understanding/views of what Business as Mission is. Light is being shed on previously divisive issues and the movement faces a tremendous opportunity to overcome many of the challenges and limitations of the past. But in order to capitalize on this potential, BAM practitioners and the church must put aside their differences, seek to understand each other, and work together leveraging the strengths and experience of each.

Jesus Christ is on Facebook

I personally am a huge proponent of Christians leveraging the power of the Internet to advance the Kingdom and to give glory to God. I recognize that the web is changing the way people live their lives, I see it in my own family. My nigh-two year old is already comfortable with video calls and would rather look at pictures of her mother and brother on the computer than look at them in person. It is apparent to me that Internet will be a integral aspect of the lives of future generations of Christians.

As Christians around the world are exploring new expressions of faith within the virtual context of the web, people are forming strong opinions on what it means to be a church online. Though there has been some discourse on these issues, most of people’s attention is focused on making online church a reality. As a result, foundations are being laid for future generations without truly understanding what it is that is being built.

People argue that subjecting online church to examination and measurement will stifle progress and even discourage people from coming to the faith by online churches. While those are both valid concerns, I believe our generation has an obligation to study online church, subjecting our theories and practices to critical analysis and testing, and debating the issues. Here’s why:

15 reasons why “online church” should be debated:

1. We have a limited capacity to discern God’s will

Scripture tells us that we can not achieve the fullness of knowledge of God and his will. So if our desire is to build God’s church, then we must acknowledge that no individual or no group of people will be able to fully understand what or why or how we are supposed to be the church online. If we recognize this to be true then the natural response is to humble ourselves and say, “If what I know and believe is incomplete and may not be right. Then I should supplement it with counsel from diverse backgrounds and beliefs.”

2. God has revealed a lot as to what church should be

Scripture is chocked full of guidance and examples that shape our ecclesiology. The broad range of church formats and traditions that exist offline demonstrate how complex the topic is and how varied different interpretations are. Moving church online adds additional complexity and will most likely compound any errors in our thinking.

3. The stakes are high

It’s easy, especially when dealing with the context of the Internet, to dehumanize the effort of building the church. We conclude that the point is to bring people in; the point is to get God’s message to as many people as possible. We see this dehumanizing in traditional churches who focus on attendance numbers or conversions or other metrics.

At the end of the day, everything that we do around church online is about you, the person sitting at your computer reading these words right now. It is about you and about how much God loves you and what he has done and is doing so that you might be restored to him. It isn’t about making you feel better or just giving you hope when you are facing tough times. It is about saving your soul from an eternity of separation from God, your maker, your Father, your source of life and love. We must never forget that it is you that we are here to serve.

Because if God loves you so much that he would send his own Son to be tortured and killed… and if God asks me to help him in bringing you home… you better believe that I am going to take my responsibility seriously and do everything I can to make sure I am not messing up. That means engaging in critical thinking about what it is that I’m doing.

4. Satan wants us to fail

Ultimately the point of any church, online or not, is to glorify God. Satan HATES that. He hates it when God is glorified and he is working very hard in this world to do whatever he can to steal God’s glory. As we strive to build a church online that gives greater glory to God, you can bet that Satan will be against it. If the forces of this world are set against our efforts, is it not wise for us to draw together, unified as the body of Christ, as we work to build the church?

5. Opportunity to show off Christ in how we engage the process

Engaging in debate with other Christians is a tremendous opportunity to show off the beauty of Jesus Christ to the rest of the world. A willingness to listen to others (especially others that we disagree with) is so contrary to what the world’s culture expects that the world will take notice when actively and civilly engage in this manner. More importantly, through this process we have an opportunity to model what Christ called us to when he said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) We can not walk away from engaging other Christians just because they disagree with us and what we’re doing. We must actively love them and the best way to do that is showing up.

6. The world IS watching

How Christians engage in this time is especially important because the rest of the world is watching. In the last four months, CNN.com has published three different articles reporting on how faith is expressed online. The most recent one from November 13th addresses this very debate. The world is watching what we do.

7. To encourage accountability

Not only is how we approach online church being observed by the secular world, but other Christians are watching too. We can preach and teach and challenge and train and disciple others all we want. But the best way for us to encourage Christians to be Christ-like is through the integrity of our own actions. Being willing to critically analyze what we’re doing as we build churches online demonstrates a willingness to be accountable to the greater church. Accountability to other Christians who are committed to building the church (whether or not they agree with the different points of online church) minimizes the risk of our motives becoming about anything other than Jesus Christ.

8. Traditional churches don’t get it “right”

While the context of the Internet does change a number of things and it definitely creates opportunities for the church that have never existed before. Much of the appeal of online church is the opportunity to start new, to do things differently than what traditional churches have done. We talk a lot about the “churched” and in many ways, the success of some modern churches comes from ministering to those who have been hurt by a church in the past. Righting the wrongs of the past, so to speak.

In the history of all churches, regardless of denomination, modern, post-modern, post-post modern… no one church has ever gotten it “right“. As we embark into uncharted territory, we do have a unique opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past and, in doing so, create a solid foundation for the churches of the future. Not only that but it would be arrogant to assume that online churches will get it right. Refusing to engage in debate or to study what online church is, robs us of that opportunity. You know what they say: “Those who do not learn from history…”

9. The Peter Principle

The Peter principle states that people rise within organizations to the level of their own incompetence but no further. I bring this up because, despite the fact that the development of online churches is being driven by some amazing and talented leaders, men who I respect a lot, what they are able to build is limited by their own incompetence or inability or whatever limitations that may exist.

I don’t say this to be mean, I say this to be realistic. On their own, based on their own vision, the online churches they lead can only go so far. We must all seek to grow in our understanding of what we are called to be as the church. One of the best ways to ensure our vision does not become stagnant is to engage different perspectives in debate.

Doing so creates additional benefits to the process as well:

10. To eliminate confirmation bias

Online church is a relatively new concept and there isn’t a lot of history or experience to draw from. Much of the vision for what an online church should be is based on individuals’ own beliefs. Human beings are subject to a quirky cognitive phenomenon known as “confirmation bias” which is “a tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions and to irrationally avoid information and interpretations which contradict prior beliefs.” (Wikipedia)

Basically we see things how we want to see them, whether we are right or not. In order to ensure that I’m not recklessly pursuing an idea just because it is mine, I need to seek the contribution of others.

11. To avoid group-think

Seeking the contribution of others is not enough. Research has identified a tendency of groups to make decisions and reach consensus on issues without critically testing the merit of that consensus. They do so in order to avoid conflict. Group-think, as it is called, results in individuals conforming to the will of the group and thus negating the benefits that the diversity of a group can create. Engaging in a greater debate on online church will bring together alternative viewpoints that allow us to test the validity of what we believe.

12. To be adaptable

The rate of growth and change of the Internet is astounding. Here are some statistics on the growth of Internet usage. And if you haven’t yet, you should watch the “Did You Know? videos.

Keeping up with all the changes in technology, content, resources and trends is taxing. It’s impossible for a single person to stay ahead of all of the change. Plus as the scale of the Internet grows, the amount of (for lack of a better word) crap that is out there grows as well, making it easy to get distracted.

In the environment of the ever changing, ever-shifting Internet, our ability to stay on task and to focus on what is truly important is diminished. By committing to critically evaluating what exactly it is that we’re trying to do through church online, we create focus for our efforts and guard ourselves against our purpose becoming overwhelmed.

13. To sustain innovation

Innovation requires continual investment in and commitment to learning. Focusing our efforts is one component for sustaining the innovation that is one of the hallmarks of online church. Additionally, we need to periodically stop and try to understand what it is that the Holy Spirit has done and is doing through our efforts at building the church online. Doing so builds a foundation of knowledge and learning that will support future efforts.

14. To facilitate learning

If we want our efforts to build church online to have a lasting impact then we must also make it easy for other churches, those who aren’t pioneering online church, to understand what we’ve done and to integrate it into their own vision for their church. If you are a proponent of online church and you believe that this is the future of Christianity, then wouldn’t you want for other churches to get your vision, to become as passionate about this as you are.

If we desire for other churches to leverage the Internet to benefit their mission and we are motivated by love for them, then we need to make it as easy as possible for them to understand what it is that we are doing. It is our responsibility to lovingly and patiently come alongside other churches and help them to move past whatever objections to online church are holding them back.

15. Ultimately none of this will matter

But at the end of it all, the most important reason to engage in debate and study of online church is because ultimately none of this will matter.

Christ will return and complete his work of redemption in this world. At that time all of the sin, challenges, context and culture of this world that defines how we are doing church online will be wiped away. All of our work to create meaningful worship online, to facilitate evangelism and mission through the web, all of it will be gone. It won’t matter how robust our infrastructure was or how cool our website was. It won’t matter how well we understood SEO or social media marketing. Our ability to create compelling and visually stunning videos that reduce thousands of people to tears  simply. won’t. matter. anymore.

I have a friend who started a company in China that makes many products, one of which are these beautiful replica Tiffany lampshades. They’re amazing.

The beauty lies not just in the end product, but in the whole story. The vision for bring Christ to the people of China, the opportunities to create a business and employ hundreds of people. Not only the way that the employees are developed to be excellent craftsmen, but also how they are lead to see themselves the way that God sees them, as beautiful and worthy. All of this is the Truth in the glass that they make.

But in the end, my friend would argue that everything that he has built is not important, despite the tremendous Kingdom impact he has had. He explains it this way:

I believe that when I die, I’ll go to heaven and I’ll sit down at a table with Peter and with Jesus and they’ll conduct what can best be described as a job interview. The point of all of which will be to determine what I should do in heaven.

I imagine Jesus starting off by saying, “Bill, it is so great to see you! I am so happy that you are here. I’ve really enjoyed what you’ve done while on earth. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you can do?”

So I think to myself and say, “Well, I can make these really amazing lampshades.”

And I look at Jesus, who never stops smiling, and he says, “That’s great! But… there’s just one thing… there isn’t any darkness here… So, what else can you do?“

In the end what we do as we strive to build churches online, to use the power of the Internet to reach the unreached, to love the unloved, to care for the widows and the orphans, to spread the beautiful name of Jesus Christ to all the nations, simply won’t matter.

I believe that Jesus cares less about the what and more about the why and the how. So let’s commit ourselves, in love, to work together to figure this out. Let’s engage in civil but critical discussion. Let’s let go of our own pride and our own beliefs and assumptions that we hold tightly in our clenched fists. Let’s come together, with open hands, and approach the throne of God and say “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done.”

The topic for this year (climate change) is not something I’m passionate about – BUT – that does not mean it is not an important issue. In fact, environmentalism is part of our Christian calling and every Kingdom strategist needs to consider how their work as part of redeeming creation, impacts creation.

Environmentalism is part of our Christian calling

Like everything else, this fact can been taken to an extreme which loses sight of God’s intention for us. Environmentalism, or put another way, Stewardship of Creation is part of our calling. Most Evangelicals ignore this by focusing solely on the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commands his disciples, “¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

In Genesis, when God created man He said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26). Man’s first commission from God was to have dominion over the earth, what is known as the Cultural Mandate. Christ’s coming did not negate this call, thus caring for the earth is part of our service to God.

Environmentalism is glorifying to God

What? I know, right? But consider this: inherent in all creation is a reflection of God’s glory. It is especially evident in the beauty found in nature. Man’s reaction to the beauty of nature (and art, music, etc), (regardless of that man’s cognitive acknowledgment of the existence of God) is a sub-conscious reaction to nature glorifying God. Tim Keller describes this this way:

“Why does nature move everybody?” Why may even the most hardened atheist find that a forest dawn prompts tears, laughter, or joy? Keller dismisses explanations offered by evolutionary psychology and suggests that we are moved as we sense creation’s song of praise to its Creator, a glorious fulfillment of its God-given nature. We are moved, Keller says, because we wish to join that chorus and cannot. He points to the Cross as the way by which we can regain that song.” — “How Tim Keller Found Manhattan”, Christianity Today

Thus, if our ultimate aim is to bring glory to God, then (whether intentionally or not) it is sinful not to protect the environment. Dismissing environmentalism or climate change is equivalent to dismissing the derivative glory of God int he natural world.

Environmentalism honors and serves other human beings

Sure global warming may seem like a fad. But I challenge you to look at the quality of life of people around the world who live in areas with rampant pollution. Pay extra attention to the fact that it is often the poor and marginalized who are living in these areas, lacking nutrition, exposed to dangers and health hazards, breathing dirty air, drinking unclean water. As a Christian, if you are called to love, serve, care for, and protect the causes of the poor, the sick, the needy and the marginalized, how then can you ignore the environmental issues that have such a tremendous impact on their lives?

Dismissing climate change is sinful

With respect to climate change in particular, maybe there isn’t enough evidence to convince you that climate change is a threat. Or to draw the conclusion that the industrial practices of the developed nations are having significant impact on the global climate. Say you find it hard to believe that driving to work is going to cause the oceans to rise. Let’s assume that you’re unable to say that climate change is anything more than a hypothesis. … that is okay. I’m in the same boat as you.

Even so, if we start at the end, focusing on the potential outcomes of climate change and the effects it may have on the people of this world (which is what it means to love others as your self – to PUT THEIR NEEDS FIRST). There is a relationship between climate and the availability of food and water in all regions of the world. Currently, many people around the world do not have access to food or clean water. This is a world problem that we do not have a handle on. And it is not likely that changes to the global climate will improve the situation.

So as a Christian, called by your God to love and serve others, to be Jesus in this world, we can not be passive when it comes to any threat to God’s creation. And I believe that treating the issue with disdain, as many of us do, is arrogant and disrespectful to God.

Kingdom Strategists need to take the lead on Environmentalism

In spite of all of these points, the world is corrupted by sin and to some extent environmental destruction and climate change are inevitable. As Kingdom Strategists our duty is not to throw our hands up and say “Oh well.” But rather to show the world that there is hope and that hope is rooted in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Our approach to environmental issues should demonstrate Kingdom Excellence, presenting the world (Christian or not) with the first-fruits of Christ’s redemption. Our goal with respect to environmental issues needs to be: How can we give people a taste of Heaven here and now? We need to open people’s eyes to the truth that God cares about this world because it is His creation. We have been place in dominion over the whole earth and all the creatures that inhabit it.

If you truly desire to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, then environmentalism and climate change must be something you care about.

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• Response to global trends
• Challenges facing the organization
• Perceived benefits of Business as Mission

In Part 1 of this series I discussed the first driver, identifying key trends facing missions organizations. In Part 2 I discussed how organizational challenges makes BAM an attractive solution for missions organizations. Finally, in this post I will identify some of the perceived benefits of Business as Mission and discuss some misconceptions that are common among missions organizations.

3. Perceived benefits of Business as Mission

Missions organization generally cite the following benefits that they believe Business as Mission will create for their organization (ranked by frequency of identification):

1. Creative Access
2. Job Creation
3. Influence/Witness
4. Funding/Revenue Generation
5. Developing Organizational Capabilities
6. Enhanced Recruiting

I will dive deeper into each of those in future posts. Generally, the perceived benefits created by Business as Mission fall in one of two categories: those that create advantage for furthering strategic objectives (job creation, influence/witness, developing organizational capabilities) or those that specifically address challenges facing the organization (creative access, funding/revenue generation, enhanced recruiting).

Here’s what field-level leadership from around the world has to say about the benefits of BAM:

“It takes us into arenas where our traditional missionaries would not venture. Business leaders have increasing clout here, and they are also aggressively pursuing opportunities in the opening markets all across the 10-40 Window. Probably Business and Education give the best opening for what we would like to see in terms of placing people in Creative Access countries.”

“I see several benefits. First, it provides a natural platform from which to interact with people. As a missionary in France I frequently was viewed as clergy and ‘I had to say those spiritual things’. But as people got to know me as an engineer, they were much more open to dialogue on spiritual things. Secondly, I do see that funding missions will be a growing issue worldwide and in the US as well. So BAM provides a natural partial solution to that as well. Also, I see BAM as addressing one of the spiritual qualifications listed by Paul to Timothy – that of having experience that is recognized by the world. In today’s information-overload world, people are no longer validated by a title (like missionary or pastor) but by their contribution to the local society. I see BAM as a validating tool for the Gospel.”

Recommendation:

As your organization thinks about what makes BAM an attractive Kingdom strategy, you need to be able to differentiate between:

• BAM as a complement to existing strategy, furthering the impact of current efforts;
• BAM as a series of steps for fixing existing problems.

This distinction is important because integrating business into a traditional missions environment is complex and requires new skills, knowledge, and capabilities to execute. When individuals or organizations are driven by the belief that business will alleviate many of the current challenges inhibiting missions efforts it is possible to underestimate the effort required. This will create additional risk to your organization or to your field personnel which can ultimately lead to failure of the business effort and/or cause unnecessary damage.

Conclusion:

Though some would argue that adopting Business as Mission requires too great of a paradigm shift for traditional missions effort, I believe that in light of these factors I’ve discussed here Business as Mission is a good strategy for missions organizations to pursue. This is why Unconventional Method is committed to helping missions and ministry organizations understand and embrace BAM strategies.

Many of the factors that are eroding the effectiveness of traditional missionary activities are creating greater opportunities for businesses. Taking advantage of these opportunities and integrating business into your organization will also create side benefits that may address many of the other challenges facing your organization.

However, my experience has shown that organizational motivations that lead to a desire to integrate Business as Mission as a strategy contribute more to the success of a BAM initiative than almost any other factor. It is critical for any missions organization considering Business as Mission that key leadership, especially the executive sponsor and champion of your BAM efforts, make sure that it will contribute to your organization’s larger ministry goals first, before focusing on BAM’s unique benefits (job creation, increase influence, development of capabilities) or how it can mitigate some of the challenges facing the organization (access to closed countries, funding, recruiting).

Below are some key questions that will help you to understand the motivations that are leading your organization to consider Business as Mission as a strategy:

Response to trends

• What major trends are affecting your organization? How is your organization being affected?
• How do these trends affect the business environment in the areas that you operate?
• Do you monitor changes in global trends? How would changes to the current trends impact a Business as Mission strategy?
• What additional trends will you need to be aware of if you integrate business into your organization?

Challenges facing the organization

• Does your leadership team agree on what are the top challenges facing the organization?
• What are the root causes of these challenges?
• How are you monitoring/measuring the impact of these challenges?
• In what other ways are you addressing these issues?
• Do you understand how Business as Mission can address these challenges?

Unique benefits of BAM

• Which benefits of BAM are most important to your organization? At the leadership level? At the field level?
• What could limit the potential of BAM?
• What needs to be in place in order for your organization to capture the BAM benefits?

My research shows that interest in Business as Mission is typically in response to three (3) drivers:

• Response to global trends
• Challenges facing the organization
• Perceived benefits of Business as Mission

In this article, I will discuss the first driver, identifying key factors facing missions organizations and making recommendations on how much weight these issues should be given when considering BAM. In Part 2 I will discuss how organizational challenges can make BAM an attractive solution and how to maintain objectivity in your evaluation. Finally, in Part 3 I will discuss some of the perceived benefits that BAM creates and hopefully point out some limitations in this type of thinking that, if ignored, could harm your BAM efforts.

1. Business as Mission in response to global trends

The following sets of global trends are contributing to the increasing popularity of Business as Mission as a missional strategy. This list is limited in scope focusing on what are the most prevalent trends that are currently affecting missions organizations. Additionally, this list primarily focuses on North American sending organizations. We do not discuss generational challenges here because the implications of the trend in the business context are not understood well enough by organizations that they are looking to BAM as a potential response.

The six main trends we’ve identified are:

Impediments to traditional missions:

• Governmental opposition to Christian work within world’s most populous countries (the 10/40 Window).
• Declining financial and prayer support for North American based missionaries.

Changes to the international landscape:

• Increased integration of international markets and trade (globalization).
• Increased importance of the differences between nations (internationalization).
• Devaluation of the United States dollar against world currencies.
• Widespread poverty and under-employment throughout the world.

I believe that Business as Mission has the potential to satisfy the needs that are being created in the global missions environment by these macro-trends. However, BAM’s contributions to each of these areas are secondary benefits. What I mean by that is the primary benefit of BAM is it creates a context, an audience of employees, customers, and community, for the business leaders to love, serve, minister to and evangelize.

Secondary benefits like job-creation, creative access, profit generation can not be the primary focus of BAM efforts. Using BAM solely as a means for addressing these could undermine the effort required to start and run the business. You face the risk of underestimating the importance of the building blocks of the business model and thus jeopardizing the sustainability of the business. Missions organizations must be cautious not to over-prioritize any of these objectives.

As an organization that is thinking that Business as Mission can address these trends/issues, you are not mistaken. BAM does touch these areas; however, you cannot neglect the following considerations for each trend that, if ignored or misunderstood, could hurt your BAM efforts.

Impediments to traditional missions:

Closed access countries

How BAM helps:
Countries that are closed and/or hostile toward Christian missionary activities are generally welcoming to foreign business investment. Economic contribution is desired by the host government and thus the condition for them giving permission to enter.

Considerations:
Entry into closed access countries is a singular event. Economic contribution requires significant and continuous investment in business activities and thus is an on-going process. A disconnect in thinking about access can lead to misalignment of intentions for missional Christians who view business as an entry strategy.

Declining financial/prayer support

How BAM helps:
Leveraging business as a means for advancing the Kingdom engages western business men and women in a sphere of their life that has historically been a point of contention among the church. As a result, Business as Mission can create an effective means for accessing the resources (prayer, finances, skills, experience, networks) of these individuals.

Considerations:
Donor requests presented as Business as Mission opportunities can reduce the credibility of an missions organization among Christian business men and women. The Business as Mission concept will attract Christian business men and women who desire to use their skills, experience, and networks. Using Business as Mission to solicit donor requests can elicit negative reactions associated with how the church has limited Christian businesspeople in the past.

Changes to the international landscape:

Globalization

How BAM helps:
As global marketplaces are integrating, the opportunity is created to reach individuals within their business/work sphere.

Considerations:
Globalization is a controversial topic and integrating Business as Mission can be interpreted as an endorsement for globalization.

Internationalization

How BAM helps:
Business as Mission is enhanced by internationalization as local workers typically have language skills and cultural knowledge that improves the chances for business success.

Considerations:
There is a predominant assumption (particularly among western Christians) that Business as Mission requires a western resource to go abroad to start/operate a business. Having a western presence in the business is not always appropriate nor does it necessarily create an advantage.

USD devaluation

How BAM helps:
Changes in currency values can be leveraged to maximize the profitability of business activities.

Considerations:
Competitive advantages created by differences in currency valuation can be eroded by shifts in currency markets (e.g. the challenges facing outsourcing companies in India in mid-2008). It is important to take this risk into consideration when evaluating business models.

Poverty/under employment

How BAM helps:
Profitable businesses can contribute to both to job creation and wealth creation within their communities.

Considerations:
Job/wealth considerations are secondary benefits and can not be the primary focus of the business. Job creation without market justification creates a tax on the performance of the company that can threaten sustainability. Additionally, transferring wealth created by the business limits the resources available to reinvest in the business.

Recommendations

Responding to trends is a legitimate rationale for considering Business as Mission, but it can not be the only consideration. To ensure success of any Business as Mission strategy, you must determine whether or not it fits within the main objectives of the organization as defined by your Values, Vision/Mission and Strategic Objectives.

Additionally, global trends are constantly changing. This creates the potential risk that the underlying factors that currently support investment in Business as Mission may not be sustained. As you move forward in integrating Business as Mission, you need to be intentional about reviewing the global environment in order to anticipate shifts in these trends. Additionally, you need to be flexible and responsive so that your efforts are not vulnerable to potential shifts.