Min-Young Jung was a missionary to Indonesia, translating the bible for one of the Indonesian minority tribes. He also served as Deputy CEO for Korea's Global Bible Translators (GBT). For several years, he served as Vice President of Wycliff International until the end of 2016. Currently, he is Ambassador to the Global Mission Movements with Wycliffe Global Alliance. Min-Young is Adviser to SfK Ministries on Global Missions Strategy.
A
Reflection on Business as Mission
Minyoung
Jung
Ambassador
to the Global Mission Movements, Wycliffe Global Alliance
A
layman's perspective
I am not in a position
to say anything substantial about business. Yet when it comes to the theme of missional
business or business as mission (hereafter BAM), especially since it is
increasingly acknowledged as a crucial approach to the Great Commission, I feel
I can and should add my two cents' worth to it as a fellow Kingdom worker. As
we all have been awakened rather belatedly, business should not be demoted to 'the
lesser half' of our age-long dualistic understanding of missions. It sure can
provide resources and opportunities for missions, but instead of taking it as a
disposable tool for the 'real ministry,' we should do our homework of integrating
it within the spectrum of holistic mission.
Integrity—a Christian core value
To discuss BAM properly, we should first understand the concept
of holism or integrity, a prominent core value of the Christianity. Integrity
is intrinsic in the incarnation in which the eternal Word was not just
pronounced to be heard but embodied ('en-fleshed') to be seen as well (John
1:14, 17-18). Even though the apostle John borrowed the term 'logos' from his contemporary
Greek philosophy, he effectively filtered out the Platonic dualism by
introducing the incarnated Word of God.
Since God is
the Word, His Word represents His very being. Thus He cannot speak a lie or
change His promises: "God is not a
man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does
he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"(Num
23:19) Likewise, we who are created after God's image─which
was lost in sin but restored through the redemptive sacrifice of Christ─should maintain integrity in our word and behavior. Our word
cannot be simply a sonic wave, but it should represent who and what we are, as
we often stake our trustworthiness by saying, 'I give my word.'
Primary
and secondary callings
As Os Guinness rightly points out in his great book The Call:
Finding and Fulfilling the Purpose of Your Life, our primary
calling is not to a specific job but to (and for) the One who calls us. In that
sense, every Christian regardless of his/her specific vocation has the same primary
calling. Business, then, is a secondary calling which is an integral component
to embody our primary calling. Whatever we do, whether it be a church-related
work or a market-place business, we as followers of Christ should do it not
only for the Kingdom cause but also in ways Christ Himself role-modeled: "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."(John
20:21)
It sure is commendable to use business profit for the
Kingdom cause. But it is more important to run business as if Christ Himself
were in charge. Success in business is not as essential as integrity,
transparency, common good, etc. which reflect the character of Christ. BAM, as
I understand it, is meant to demonstrate God's glory through the manner and ways
(process) of running business, not simply through appropriation of the profit
(result).
Qualification
of a witness—integration of word and deed
So, a crucial question
is who runs a business, along with how and why, rather than which business. And
it takes integrity, not religiousness, of the person in charge to witness the
gospel through business. The word 'witness' can be either a noun or a verb
depending on the context. The Bible focuses more on the qualification of a
witness (noun: 'being') than act of witnessing (verb: 'doing'):
"You are my witnesses"(Isa 43:10); "You are witnesses of these
things"(Luke 24:48); "You will be my witnesses"(Acts1:8). Doing
will flow naturally from being, not vice
versa. If you are an authentic witness, the gospel will be witnessed
through the way you do business.
Witness may
or may not include the act of evangelism, and witness is a more fundamental and
broader concept than that of evangelism. Modern evangelicalism has made a
serious mistake of equating witness with evangelism. Witnessing the gospel normally takes
verbal proclamation, but the credibility of our message is either reinforced or
invalidated by our character, attitude and behavior. That's why the Lausanne
Covenant declares that it takes not only proclamation but also demonstration of
the gospel.
Salt and light—a market place spirituality
The gospel should first
be seen before heard, and business is a great vehicle to demonstrate the excellent
values of the gospel, i.e. salt and light of the world (Mat 5:13-16). Paul
says, "the fruit
of the light consists
in all goodness, righteousness and truth."(Eph 5:9) If we run business
with justice and sincerity for common good, it will distinguish (meaning
'holy') our business from worldly ways of injustice, falsity and selfishness,
thereby effectively demonstrate the gospel values.
Thus, witness is much more than verbal proclamation of
the gospel. We witness both verbally and non-verbally. As is often said,
"we cannot not communicate." We keep communicating to the people with/for
whom we work. As Christians we keep emitting certain (intentional and
unintentional) messages through our words, deeds, attitudes, manners, etc. By
introducing a worship service and/or a Bible study to our work place, we tell
the world that we are Christian. But by running our business in Biblical ways
following Christ─constantly
asking "What would Jesus do?"─we
demonstrate the gospel values. So, as
the famous Shakers' maxim encourages us, we should "walk the talk."
And this is what BAM is all about.
