God Is at Work | Ken Eldred

Ken Eldred. God is at Work: Transforming People and Nations Through Business. Regal Books, 2005. 336 pp.

Kingdom business has several objectives, and a thorough discussion of it covers many facets. Yes, it is about missions, successful business practices, the integration of work and faith, economic development, spreading the gospel, transforming nations and transforming lives. Yet Kingdom business is not characterized by any of these alone.

It combines all of these factors in a refreshingly integrated missions movement.

In exploring how other believers have been called to use business to preach the gospel in word and in deed, I discovered that those engaged in business as missions are conducting their work in a wide array of capacities. Interacting with employees, negotiating with suppliers, advising entrepreneurs, creating useful products, and building local wealth are all vehicles for advancing the kingdom of God. A definition of Kingdom business must encompass the following ways in which God is using His people in the worldwide missions effort.

• Founder or manager of a Kingdom business. Those with entrepreneurial or managerial skills are building and leading successful businesses in developing nations. They provide employment, training, income and the gospel of Jesus to many.
• Lender to the poor. Christians are extending microloans to those considered unbankable. They are also providing business and spiritual instruction to loan recipients who typically establish simple cottage industry ventures. Barclays Bank was started by devout Quakers in 1690 with a focus on the banking needs of the poor, a segment no other bank would serve. Today, Christian organizations like Opportunity International and World Vision are assisting the poor through loans and business training.
• Mentor and financier of Kingdom businesses. Christian business professionals are providing the necessary funding, advising and mentoring to local Christians who are establishing or operating businesses in the developing world. Staffed largely by business professionals, Integra Ventures, for example, assists those running Kingdom businesses by providing the funding, consulting and discipling they need to succeed as part of the financing package.
• Trainer in Kingdom business. Some are training local managers in the basic skills and principles of business. These training courses typically include instruction in biblical values and principles that lead to successful business. For example, SERVUS, a Swiss organization led by Christians, offers biblical business training courses to managers in developing nations.
• Short-term consultant to Kingdom businesses. Christian professionals are engaging in short-term missions work that seek to bless business owners in developing nations. In connecting with specific Kingdom businesses on short-term trips, these Western business people are consulting with Christian managers on business strategies, managerial issues and spiritual matters. Led by Brett Johnson, Equip has been taking young Silicon Valley professionals on short-term Kingdom business missions trips. Their objective is to help South African businessmen and women re-purpose their companies as Kingdom businesses.
• Expert advisor to Kingdom businesses. Western Christians with relevant business experience are using their knowledge, expertise and contact network to assist Kingdom businesses in the developing world. Though they often reside on different continents and may even be retired from their careers, they are able to provide valuable help by lending their experience and by opening doors in the Western world.
• Sales partner to Kingdom businesses. Kingdom business professionals and organizations located in the First World are seeking to promote Kingdom business companies in developing nations. By marketing products or establishing sales channel partnerships, those in the West provide valuable assistance to Kingdom businesses.
• One-off support for Kingdom businesses. Some Christians employed in the Western business world are in a position to open doors for Kingdom businesses. Simply acting in the interest of their own organizations, they can introduce the products or services of Kingdom business ventures. A Kingdom-focused friend at a major U.S. credit card company opened the doors for ET to present its call center services. This simple act made possible a business relationship that could potentially double the number of Indians employed at ET.
• Investor in Kingdom businesses. God has blessed some people with the financial resources to be major investors in Kingdom businesses around the world. These people are promoting Kingdom business by providing capital to companies led by expatriates or by local Christians.
• Manager of Kingdom business funds. Though this role is still emerging, Kingdom business professionals can also act as private equity fund managers. Working within existing laws governing the establishment and management of investment funds, they can serve entrepreneurs, managers and investors by assisting and funding Kingdom businesses.Various individuals and organizations are actively involved in Kingdom business, yet in many ways, the terms commonly used to speak about and describe Kingdom business have yet to be codified. To date, the practice of Kingdom business has outpaced efforts to define or study it in a systematic manner. We need to define the language and structure so that professionals can communicate clearly. The most foundational of these terms is “Kingdom business” itself.

Simply Stated . . .

Kingdom business is for-profit business ventures designed to facilitate God’s transformation of people and nations. Business becomes a missions tool for ministering to those with real needs, both economic and spiritual. Addressing both needs is important for either to succeed. Though the practice of Kingdom business takes on many forms, what unites these efforts is a commitment to sustainable transformation, captured by a three-fold objective: 1) profitability and sustainability; 2) local job and wealth creation; 3) advancement of the local church. Kingdom business pursues each of these simultaneously.

Kingdom Business Professionals

Kingdom business professionals are authentic, skilled business people who use their talents to further the worldwide mission of the Church through Kingdom business. They are called and equipped to use their spiritual gifts in a business context.

Kingdom business professionals have hearts and minds both for growing businesses and for growing the Church. Rather than perceiving their work in business as a distraction from their ministry, Kingdom business professionals recognize it as the important vehicle through which they bring the gospel by word and by deed.

Kingdom business professionals are so committed to meeting spiritual, economic and social needs in the driest places that they are willing to live and work in these locations.

Kingdom business professionals see their mission as multi-fold: They seek to influence employees, partners, suppliers, customers and the local community for Christ. They use business itself to demonstrate biblical business principles and set values. They serve others through quality products and helpful services. They seek to provide a venue for people to use their gifts and earn a living. They desire to create a culture of light in and around the businesses that they develop through good, biblically based business principles and the love of Jesus Christ.

Kingdom Businesses

Kingdom businesses 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. Kingdom businesses come in many sizes and shapes. However, we can point to some features that commonly characterize them.

People can be Christian; businesses cannot. Thus, the discussion centers around the characteristics of Christians in business, not about the characteristics of Christian businesses. It’s a subtle yet important distinction. People can have right standing and communion with God, businesses cannot. People can be indwelt by the Spirit of God, businesses cannot. People can become sons and daughters of God, businesses cannot.

Confusion about this can lead to questionable business decisions. Some people might seek to establish a Christian company by only hiring Christians. But how are they going to be salt and light in the workplace if they are surrounded only by fellow Christians?

Jesus taught that the nature of a tree is observed by the fruit it bears. The follower of Jesus who has the Spirit of God as his or her guiding force will exhibit good fruit—sanctification is the primary sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. In fact, Scripture explicitly lists what characterizes that fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (see Gal. 5:22-23).

So what does the fruit of Kingdom business look like? R. Paul Stevens, scholar and author on the topic of faith in the marketplace, notes 10 characteristics of companies that are led by followers of Jesus whose goal is to advance the kingdom of God.

1. The presence of a Christian or Christians with a sphere of influence.
2. A product or service in harmony with God’s creational purpose.
3. A mission or business purpose that is larger and deeper than mere financial profit (though including it) so that the business contributes in some way to the kingdom of God.
4. The product and service is offered with such excellence that it suggests the presence of the Kingdom and invites the opportunity to witness.
5. Customers are treated with dignity and respect and not just as a means of profit.
6. Employees and workers are equipped to achieve greater potential in their life and, if they are Christians, to work wholeheartedly with faith, hope and love.
7. All aspects of the business are considered to be potentially a ministry and the subject of prayer.
8. The culture (values, symbols, governing beliefs) of the organization line up with God’s word and Kingdom purposes.
9. The business runs on grace.
10. The leaders are servants, dedicated to serve the mission of the business, the best interests of the employees, the customers and the shareholders because they are first of all servants of God.

Transformation

Various segments of the Church today emphasize different aspects of transformation. Some Christians focus exclusively on spiritual transformation, demonstrating great evangelistic zeal but showing little compassion for the economically needy or socially outcast. Others emphasize social and economic transformation by fostering harmony and unity and curing social and physical ills. The ministry of Jesus demonstrates that God cares about transforming people’s spiritual, social and economic conditions. He fed the hungry, called people to personal holiness, healed the sick, taught in the synagogue, preached to thousands, and affirmed the social outcasts. His was a comprehensive ministry, not one limited to a single realm. Likewise, Kingdom business is committed to transforming nations and advancing the kingdom of God through a comprehensive ministry. It addresses spiritual, economic and social ills that plague many people in developing nations.

The concept of Kingdom business sees business as missions. It considers business activity itself the missions work. Kingdom business professionals work with realworld problems with which they can demonstrate the gospel in action. Perhaps most importantly, Kingdom businesses provide a powerful platform of respect for the furtherance of the gospel both within the enterprise and outside of it.

Individuals engaged in Kingdom business see their role as job-makers who provide work opportunities for those who are desperately lacking them (frequently, these are local believers). Their companies produce valuable goods and services. They create long-term value for all stakeholders: employees, partners, customers, investors and community members. And they effectively further the gospel in the local community in which they operate at no cost to the local or worldwide church. They are missions vehicles for sustainable transformation.

Excerpted from God Is At Work, © 2005 by Ken Eldred. Published by Regal Books, www.regalbooks.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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