This is the third in the 5-part Business as Mission A-Z. Last week we shared section F-J; today K-O.
Larry W. Sharp, BAM Support Specialist, IBEC Ventures
Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com
K – Kingdom
Christ is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all. The early Church confessed Christos Kyrios – Christ is Lord. [1] It was revolutionary when the greeting was supposed to be Kaiser Kyrios – the Emperor is Lord. [2]
May God’s Kingdom come – may Christ the King be the ruler of our lives, business and the marketplace. BAM is recognizing the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and connecting Sunday with Monday. BAM is following Christ into the marketplace, among all peoples and to the ends of the world.
As the BAM Manifesto states: “We believe that God has called and equipped business people to make a Kingdom difference in and through their businesses.”
Here’s a practical way to be Kingdom oriented in your daily life, and King Jesus-centered in your business: Pray St. Patrick’s BAM prayer. [3]
L – Lifestyle
BAM is not merely a superficial lifestyle choice, like the “flavor of the month”. BAM is rather a worldview and concept you internalize; it is like food you eat and water you drink – it becomes to some extent an integral part of you.
Ad fontes! Thus, we need to go back to the ancient sources, and drink from the deep wells of Judeo-Christian thought. We must internalize values and concepts found in the Holy Scriptures. We must recognize our roots and understand our history, and acknowledge that we are standing on shoulders of giants who have gone before us.
Then – and only then – can BAM become a lifestyle, a natural expression of a Bible infused worldview. BAM will have a lasting impact if we are deeply rooted for the future. [4]
M – Mission
God so loved the world that he sent his Son. Christ sends us to the world, to all spheres of society – including the business world.
We are to make Christ known among all peoples on all continents, also through business. BAM means doing business in this global thrust: to all peoples!
Thus, we can never be satisfied with just local marketplace ministries, even though they are needed. We must venture beyond our default mode – which for most of us is to stay local, in our Jerusalem – as it were. But BAM is doing business with God and for people in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. BAM is a global mission – from everywhere to everywhere!
N – Needs
There is no shortage of needs around the world: physical, emotional, social, economic, spiritual, and environmental. There are needs related to poverty, slavery, corruption, environmental degradation and reaching the unreached peoples with the gospel.
Solving global issues – the world’s most pressing issues – with innovative BAM solutions is one of the Big Hairy Audacious Goals for business as mission championed by BAM Global. [5] The good news is that God cares for all of us in our totality.
Bishop Barron wrote: “When God came among us in Christ, he affected the work of repairing his broken and hurting creation. He is not interested simply in souls but in bodies as well.” [6] [7]
Business can and should be an integral part of addressing various needs. The BAM Manifesto states:
“We believe that the Holy Spirit empowers all members of the Body of Christ to serve, to meet the real spiritual and physical needs of others, demonstrating the kingdom of God. …. Christians in business should therefore be a part of this holistic transformation through business. … We recognise that there is a need for job creation and for multiplication of businesses all over the world, aiming at the quadruple bottom line: spiritual, economical, social and environmental transformation.”
O – Opportunity
Some see needs, and others see opportunities. Some see businesses as problems, others see them as problem solvers. Yes, business can be bad – just think mafia and human trafficking, for example. But God’s intention is for businesses to create opportunities to develop products and services, opportunities to solve environmental challenges and opportunities to create flourishing communities. BAM is about seizing this God given opportunity.
It is an opportunity to serve people: customers, staff, suppliers, families, investors, competitors, the industry and nations. Business is a strategic opportunity to create different kinds of wealth for many stakeholders. This is a godly mission. And our mindset should be abundance, diversity and flourishing.
The Wealth Creation Manifesto, which is available in 17 languages, says: “Wealth creation is rooted in God the Creator, who created a world that flourishes with abundance and diversity.” [8]
Business is also an opportunity to glorify God! Both the BAM Manifesto and the Wealth Creation Manifesto conclude with: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam – For the greater glory of God.
Footnotes:
[1] “…the claim of the first Christians was Iesous Kyrios—Jesus is Lord. This was bound to annoy both Jews and Gentiles. The Jews would be massively put off by the use of the term Kyrios in describing an ordinary human being. … And for the Greeks, this claim was subversive, for a watchword of the time was Kaiser Kyrios—the emperor is lord. A new system of allegiance was being proposed, a new type of ordering and lordship—and this was indeed a threat to the regnant system. We Christians are not announcing a private or personal spirituality, but rather declaring a new King. Every aspect of life—business, family life, the arts, sexuality, and entertainment—must come properly under his headship.” Daily Gospel Reflections, by Bishop Robert Barron, 19 Jan 2021
[2] To learn more how this relates to BAM, see “BAM 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 & Beyond”: http://matstunehag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BAM-TALK-2.pdf
[3] It is also available in Bahasa, Korean, Portuguese and Russian: http://matstunehag.com/2017/03/17/st-patricks-bam-prayer/
[4] In the article Deeply Rooted for the Future I elaborate on these deep wells; the wealth of Judeo-Christian heritage which we need to draw from so BAM can become a lifestyle. See http://matstunehag.com/2020/12/23/deeply-rooted-for-the-future/ It is also available in Russian: https://businessasmission.ru/ukorenyatsya-radi-budushhego/ and Portuguese: https://bamglobal.com.br/blog/profundamente-enraizado-para-alcancar-o-futuro
[5] Learn more about BGlobal and the global needs and challenges that BAM Global has identified as BHAG’s: Big Hairy Audacious Goals at: https://bamglobal.org/about
[6] Advent Gospel Reflection, by Bishop Robert Barron, 16 Dec 2020.
[7] See short vignette in the Wealth Creation video series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJajgVcPyzo&list=PLYGxDL2dvuo5k-Uk8FGxZj1QYcBe70_Vx&index=2
[8] See another short video in the Wealth Creation series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJajgVcPyzo&list=PLYGxDL2dvuo5k-Uk8FGxZj1QYcBe70_Vx&index=2