Brad was a growing Christian, good husband, father, and church member. He was also a busy company owner, but finally found time to take the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course his friends had been bugging him about. He thought He knew a lot about God, the Kingdom, and missions…until Perspectives.
Feeling humbled, but now incredibly motivated, he made some radical changes in his life and business. Even though he’d been paying himself much much more, he decided he was going to start living on 100K or less, and ask each of his executives to do the same. If they were willing to do so, they would have the privilege of joining his “strategy team,” choosing ministries around the world to partner with and invest millions of dollars of company profits in their Great Commission efforts. They’re having amazing impact and, even in the midst of a struggling economy, have seen their business double each of the last five years. I guess you really can’t out-give God!
Don’t be surprised by Brad’s story; the Lord is raising up lay men and women all over who have had their eyes opened to a more eternal purpose for their life and company. There’s a powerful work of the Spirit sweeping our nation and beyond commonly known as “Business as Mission”…or BAM. The world has become flat as it relates to working professionals who want to directly touch the world for Christ. They have become “revolutionaries,” according to George Barna’s book Revolution, whereby they’re no longer satisfied in just sitting in the pews, giving to the building program, or being a greeter at the door. No, they want to do more and recognize they (personally!) have resources, ideas, and experience they can offer to a lost world that is busting at the seams with overwhelming opportunities and unmet needs. They are tired of being overlooked and underutilized in this grand adventure and will settle for nothing less than their own finger prints to be all over this task of finishing the Great Commission!
A lot of them are company owners who have finally grasped the “make disciples of all nations” mandate and developed a burden to be a good steward of their expertise and profits to open doors for the Gospel. Today, there are tens of thousands of business people on a mission from God to either partner with an existing ministry or missionary or craft their own plan to meet the spiritual and physical needs they so clearly see. How can you link up with this influential network of next-generation world changers?
Here are five ideas:
1. Go to www.businessasmissionnetwork.com and study the various BAM models, and lay people, companies, pastors, etc…discussing BAM.
2. Buy one of the excellent books about BAM and give it to business owners you know to help them understand how they could become a “great commission company.”
3. Think through all the business-related people in your contacts who already have a BAM type vision/goals (or open to the concept) and craft a proposal how they could practically and financially adopt you and your organization as their ministry partner.
4. Recruit small groups of business owners to come with you to your field of service to see the work and brainstorm with you how they could use their resources to partner with you.
5. Core4Research’s national survey revealed alumni of the Perspectives course increased their giving to missions by 32%! If I were you, I would try to recruit every one of your current/potential supporters to take Perspectives, and watch your support multiply! (Perspectives.org)
