Business as Missions

Rob Moll writes at the Wall Street Journal about the Business as Mission movement, which is likely the more Biblical model for the Great Commission than what we see today in most Christian missions practices. The Apostle Paul himself disdained accepting money from those he brought the Gospel to. This modern movement instead demonstrates that it is likely better that missionaries bring material value to the cultures they are reaching, and develop every-day relationships within the communities they touch:

The Business as Mission movement began in the 1990s, when globalization allowed Christian business people to build companies overseas. Often they did so without the help of churches. This missions model required some initial capital but no long-term subsidies. Business missionaries could become integral parts of a community, build trust with locals through business relationships, and minister every day of the week—not just Sunday—to employees, vendors, suppliers and customers.

It also debunks the myth that a Christian missionary must be educated, learn a new language, raise money, and get ordained — wasting valuable time that could be spent instead on immersing oneself into the culture and accomplishing the goal:

Steve Rundle, an economics professor at Biola University in California, has been studying business as mission for 15 years. Prof. Rundle says that much of the movement is still informal, led by individual entrepreneurs. Because many business owners work outside of traditional mission agencies, it can be hard to quantify their numbers. But surveys of U.S.-based agencies found that about 5% of their missionaries are working in business, up from almost nothing 20 years ago.

If you are called to the mission field you don’t need permission from an agency or a church. You don’t need to wait around until you raise support. Just be willing to go, work, and tell.

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