Business as Mission

Introduction & FAQs

This page is intended to give a broad introduction to business as mission in the form of some extended answers to often asked questions. We welcome your comments!

What is business as mission?

I’m really not sure about the term business as mission, isn’t there a better one?

What is the definition of business as mission?

What then is the difference between business as mission and kingdom business?

Why do you describe business as mission as a new movement, isn’t this an old idea?

Where should I start if I want to read more about business as mission?

What is business as mission?

‘Business as mission’ is a term being used in contemporary Christianity to describe the integration of business goals and mission goals. It is an answer to the prayer ‘may Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’ – as people and communities are positively transformed through for-profit business activity.

The idea of integration is important, this is not ‘ministry’ tacked onto business for convenience or business tacked onto ministry. Instead the mission is outworked in and through the business, through it’s activities, through the products and services and through relationships. The business itself and life in business for those involved becomes the means of carrying the good news of Jesus through word and deed to the ‘ends of the earth’.

Business has the potential to generate new wealth and resources through a combination of creativity, risk and work; to provide goods and services that are needed in a community and it is established on a wide network of relationships. These natural outcomes of business provide opportunities for a broad range of missional activities and objectives, addressing spiritual needs hand in hand with social, economic and environmental needs.

These objectives might include:

Creating jobs and providing dignified work for poor or marginalised communities
Introducing essential services/products into a community, profitably
Modeling the wise use of resources and practicing good environmental stewardship
Transferring skills and training, spinning off new businesses, encouraging entrepreneurship
Establishing a credible role in the community, having a respected and influential voice in society
Modeling biblical principles and business ethics
Being a witness to Jesus in word and deed in the context of everyday life
Discipling through real-life situations and problems
Strengthening the local church, helping to establish new church plants or providing economic stability for believers
Using excess profits to fund community or church projects

Business has tremendous potential as a force for good, to tackle poverty, to stimulate local economies, to bring social and environment improvements and to carry the Message of eternal hope to people and places which are often otherwise beyond reach. And because a profitable business is self-sustaining, it can help to bring about sustainable social, economic, environmental and spiritual transformation.

I’m really not sure about the term business as mission, isn’t there a better one?

Yes there are lots of good terms for the same concept, however, business as mission has caught on and is the most widely adopted and understood.

Other terms that have been used to express the same or related concepts are: kingdom business, kingdom entrepreneurship, great commission companies, transformational business, corporate social responsibility+, missional business, mission through business, business based mission and so on! Here we are talking about how the concept is rendered in English, each language will have it’s own terms.

Here are some common criticisms of the term business as mission:

Mission and business are in themselves two very broad concepts – put them together and you get an term which is open to much interpretation and for which a universally understood definition is a challenge!
The ‘m’ word is not helpful in certain contexts where there is hostility towards Christian mission in general.
It might wrongly imply a mission disguised as a business (shell company) or business disguised as mission/charity (tax evasion!).

So there is a need to bring clarity to our terms, to use other terms when they are more appropriate and to continue to advocate and educate for the concept widely.

What is the definition of business as mission?

There is no one universal definition of business as mission (or similar terms), however here are some definitions from recent authors that you might find useful:

Neal Johnson, 2009

A for-profit commercial business venture that is Christian led, intentionally devoted to being used as an instrument of God’s mission to the world (missio dei), and is operated in a cross-cultural environment, either domestic or international.

Mats Tunehag, 2006

Business as Mission is about real, viable, sustainable and profitable businesses; with a Kingdom of God purpose, perspective and impact; leading to transformation of people and societies spiritually, economically and socially – to the greater glory of God.

Ken Eldred, 2005

Kingdom Businesses [BAMs] are for-profit commercial enterprises in the mission field of the developing world through which Christian business professionals are seeking to meet spiritual, social and economic needs.

Rundle and Steffen, 2003

A Great Commission Company is a socially responsible, income-producing business managed by kingdom professionals and created for the specific purpose of glorifying God and promoting the growth and multiplication of local churches in the least-evangelised and least-developed part of the world.

Business as mission models and approaches are extremely diverse. However, two essentials of business as mission are:

1. that it is built on a commercially viable, for-profit business

2. that it is highly intentional about fulfilling it’s mission objectives.

What then is the difference between business as mission and kingdom business?

There is no one definition of either of these terms (see previous question) – so there is no definitive answer to this either! For some these two terms (and others mentioned above) are interchangeable, however for others they imply different, but related, concepts.

One way that they are commonly used is as follows: a kingdom business is one that seeks to integrate faith and witness in business life and be intentional about opportunities to build God’s kingdom through the business activities and relationships - but that could be anywhere in any context. A business as mission enterprise is that AND is deliberately focused on (usually cross-cultural) mission to the most needy and those who have least chance to hear the gospel. The Lausanne Occasion Paper #59 expresses the focus of business as mission like this:

“We recognise the importance of extending God’s kingdom through business in any context. However, we want to highlight the biblical mandate to serve the poor and oppressed, in particular in those areas where the gospel has yet to be received. This will lead us to a focus on cross-cultural activity and should draw our attention to areas of endemic poverty and/or unevangelised communities. We acknowledge that this does not automatically suppose the crossing of international boarders and will be necessary within culturally ‘near’ communities as well.”

So we might venture to say that all business as mission is kingdom business, but not all kingdom business is business as mission!

The danger with definitions is that they can easily alienate groups that find themselves outside too rigid a definition and these groups might be the ones we most need to engage with. We prefer to think of kingdom business and business as mission as part of a continuum where the intentionality and focus of the business is shifting. Delineation becomes useful when you are focusing on the practice of ‘business as mission’ which has some particular challenges.

Why do you describe business as mission as a new movement, isn’t this an old idea?

Yes in many ways this is a very old idea! Throughout church history business men and women have carried the gospel along with their trade to other nations. However, it is certainly true to say that business as mission is gathering fresh momentum in our generation.

We would confidently say that business as mission is being revitalised because God is at work, stirring up Christians all over the world and from many backgrounds to engage with this idea. There is a growing wave of Christians called to business as a vocation, to integrate their faith and business life and to use for-profit business development as an instrument of holistic mission to the world.

We consider business as mission as part of a broader movement which is drawing the church towards:

The realisation that faith is relevant for the marketplace and that the work place is the ideal environment for witness and discipleship because that is where people spend most of their waking lives and where faith applies to real-life issues.

The realisation that mission or ministry is not just for the professional seminary trained pastor or minister, but that the work of the church is to equip the saints to live our their call in all vocations. Indeed, that society needs the influence of Christians in healthcare, education, politics etc. and that we need all professions and skill-sets in cross-cultural mission also.

That the church should be more holistic in it’s mission , not solely focused on evangelism or social concern, but an integration of these, not one without the other. One of the results of this shift is the growing engagement of evangelical Christians in issues such as economic justice, eradicating poverty and enterprise development.

Business as mission draws from and builds on the foundations of these ‘moves’ and is gathering pace as it’s own ‘movement’. Although business as mission has historical precedent, it feels new because it is breaking out from more recent mission paradigms that have been largely based on non-profit/charitable/donor based models.

In their paper Distinctives and Challenges of Business as Mission, Rundle and Johnson identify business as mission as one of four camps or strands in a single movement, along with economic development, tentmaking and workplace ministries. Neal Johnson goes on to describe this in his new book as the “marketplace-mission movement”.

Where should I start if I want to read more about business as mission?

There are lots of great resources on this website – see the resources menu. However, if that is a bit overwhelming, here are some recommended places to start: