As I'd written on recent posts, last month I went to the II 3E Meeting. 3E is the part of IFES in Spain that puts together people who love God and who have little businesses or work for a company or simply they want to know better how to serve God in their secular works&lives.
We had listened to Mats Tunehag, from Business as Mission in Sweden and the following is what he explained to us. If you need more detailed information and explanations, you can go to
his own page.
Follwing you can read some notes taken on the first exposition by Mats.
Why "Business as Mission"? Is business for christians? Is good for christians doing business?
We, people, have a basic need on family and dignity&value. The first one (family) can be supplied by each one's family or church, but the second one (dignity/value) needs to be supplied by a job or doing sth.
Business as Mission (BaM) means community and is also a new term for an old concept. BaM goes back to the basis: who is God, who we are and what God said.
Now we're going to look on to te first business person in the world. In fact, we could say that
she is a Godly businesswoman. Let's read on
Proverbs 31. Is it a good example of working, isn't it?
As Christ followers we have a 3-fold mandate:
-
the Creation mandate: till, care for, exercise... (Genesis 1). God worked during the creation and evaluated the product and did sth like a quality control. After that, everyday, he was proud of what he had done in the physycal level. ("it is good").
So that, to be involved in Business is deeply human and, also, deeply divine.
-
the great commandament: to love God and our neighbour.
-
the great commission.
Being christians means to serve Jesus. And serving Jesus means serving people. So, what we need to think about is "Who is Jesus to me?". Mother Theresa wrote once the following list:
Jesus is the Joy- to be shared
Jesus is the Peace- to be given
Jesus is the Hungry- to be fed
Jesus is the Thirsty- to be satiated
Jesus is the Naked- to be clothed
Jesus is the Homeless- to be taken
Jesus is the Sick- to be healed
Jesus is the Lonely- to be loved
Jesus is the Unwanted- to be wanted
Jesus is the Beggar- to be given a smile
Jesus is the Crippled- to walk with him
Jesus is the Drug Addict- to be befriend him
Jesus is the Prostitute- to remove from danger and befriend
Jesus is the Prisoner- to be visited
Jesus is the Old- to be served
Mats suggested to add one more line: "Jesus is the unemployed- to be given a job".
Moreover, talking about BaM is also doing like Jesus did: he met and supplied the needs. We should remember to follow and serve Jesus. But, let's have a look on that: distinguishing between the "Charity response" and the "Business response". Is good and Biblical to separate both? Let's have a look on the "Pyramid of Christ":
That's NOT a BIBLICAL lesson, nor a pyramid to climb up. As Martin Luther wrote:
"All our work in the field,
in the garden, in the city, in the home, in struggle, in government-to
what does it all amount before God except child's play, by means of
which God is pleased to give his gifts in the field, at home, and
everywhere? These are the masks of our Lord God, behind which he wants
to be hidden and to do all things.
A
cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade,
and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every
one by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every
other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily
and spiritual welfare of the community, even as all the members of the
body serve one another".
Despite some people makes that differece, we all do the same: work for God.
So, we can see Business as:
- a Mission
- a calling
- a business in its own right
- salt&light in the Market Place.
So, Business as Mission includes everything included in Business plus the Spiritual bottomline, which means that our RSC is now RSC+ remembering us that + is the Cross of Christ and that we are what Jesus made us.
RSC+ means putting everything under Jesus's lordship.
Mats's second exposition will be summarized asap. Hope you have enjoyed this far.
