I have a friend who consults with business as mission projects across the globe. Earlier this year, he was overseas with a missionary friend who is running a coffee shop. He inherited the shop when the founder, a fellow global worker, was reassigned to a new region, and he was struggling with how to integrate the business into his Great Commission calling.
The business gave him a much needed visa to be around those he was called to reach, but the day to day activity seemed to be getting in the way of the real missionary work he was there to do. I get that feeling, I really do.
This isn’t an unusual emotion for any Christian working in the marketplace, whether they’re in a global missions context or here in the United States. Most of us have a sacred/secular divide baked into our spiritual DNA. We see ministry work as sacred and marketplace work as secular. But if you’ve hung around The Stone Table for any length of time, you know we see massive missions opportunity in our everyday work, too.
While I understand the practical distractions a business can create on the mission field if it’s not designed and managed properly, the right kind of business can actually put us in regular relational contact with the people we are called to reach. That “real missionary work” may have just ordered a latte and be sitting with some friends on a sofa across from the dessert display.
The marketplace is a mission field. This is true in Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Arab Peninsula, and the United States of America.
Instead of seeing our marketplace work as a distraction from our calling to make disciples of all nations, what if we see our work as a God-created mechanism for serving others and fostering relationships that make Great Commission impact possible?
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Join us for our first-ever missional business breakfast! Connect with other Christian business people as well as hear from both of our amazing speakers. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to Project Rescue, a Christian anti-sex trafficking organization. Click the graphic above or right here for all the details!
THIS WEEK ON THE WEBSITE:
ARTICLE: Workism, Grace, and Beholding His Glory
Workism casts us as the main star of the show, but the truth is that we were only ever meant to be supporting actors of what God has been doing since the beginning of time.
VIDEO: Am I in God’s Will?
Wherever you are – honor God, love your neighbor, proclaim Jesus, and you will be in God’s will.
PODCAST: The Complete First Season is Now Available!
Please rate, comment, and share. It goes a long way to helping us establish Missional Marketplace on podcasting platforms.
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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