I am in Springfield, Missouri this week to meet with our friends and partners in the AGWM BAM Office. As a missions organization rooted in the marketplace, The Stone Table is so passionate about BAM – or business as mission. But if you ask twenty people to define BAM you’ll likely get twenty different answers. So at The Stone Table, we have adopted the same definition they crafted here:
“Business as mission is the intentional integration of business and ministry to create a sustainable, missional presence of the kingdom of God in a particular community.”
This is so cool. Across the globe, all kinds of marketplace work is being embraced as a Great Commission opportunity to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Missionary-entrepreneurs are starting sustainable farms, travel and tourism companies, Crossfit gyms, coffee shops and restaurants.
Gig-economy workers like graphic designers and book editors are moving their base of location to strategic missions outposts.
Take-a-job missionaries are partnering with local church planting teams and embedding in global corporations that move them into unreached parts of the world.
Business owners are franchising their models to missionary teams that can take the Gospel into places traditional missionaries cannot go.
And missionary-investors are underwriting the risky startup costs of these strategic BAM projects with grant and investment dollars that carry a multiple bottom line understanding that BAM businesses are ultimately focused on Great Commission returns.
This is the beauty of Business as Mission. By meeting a real market need and hiring locals to work in the business, these missionary entrepreneurs become a true value-add to the local community. The marketplace is a perfect avenue for this kind of Kingdom demonstration and proclamation.
What does that mean for you and me?
I’m just crazy enough to believe we could see the Great Commission fulfilled in our generation. If we mobilize every believer – in the church, on the mission field, and in the marketplace to see the Great Commission as their commission. The call to global missions doesn’t belong to some professional subset of the Christian faith. The Great Commission belong to all of us.
Marketplace skills are Great Commission skills.
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EAT BREAKFAST, BE ENCOURAGED
Join us November 18th for our next Stone Table Christian Business Breakfast. We will hear from Matthew Rohrs, CEO of Sinapis, and Chuck Rapp, a marketplace leader whose career spanned over 40 years in IT and Quality Management. Both Matthew and Chuck have powerful insights into the intersection of faith and the marketplace and will be a great encouragement to you in your everyday work.
Grab breakfast and coffee, network with other marketplace believers, and learn from these amazing speakers as they share their experiences. This event is for any business person who wants to learn more about how their faith can integrate more into their everyday work.
Join us on Friday November 18, 2022 from 7:00 – 8:15am at Level Two Co-Working in Plainfield. Please register in advance so we know how many people to expect. We look forward to seeing you there!
NOTE: All proceeds from ticket sales will go to Project Rescue, a Christian anti-sex trafficking organization.
THIS WEEK ON THE WEBSITE:
ARTICLE: The Great Commandment at Work – Literally
Work is not just work. A job is not just a job. Our vocation is a missions field, and an opportunity to worship God.
VIDEO: Who is the Hero of Your Story?
Be the hero of your own story is the mantra of our day. It’s also terrible advice for followers of Jesus.
Accelerating the Great Commission through the Marketplace,
Erik Cooper | The Stone Table
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The Missional Marketplace PodcastNow available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Anchor, and most other podcast platforms!
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Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Missional Marketplace: Finding Your Everyday Work in God’s Eternal Plan in your choice of print, e-book, or audiobook by clicking here!
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