Business as Missions in the Wall Street Journal

This was a good article from last month on business as missions in the Wall Street Journal. Here are three interesting excerpts:

Faith-at-work movements have been popular at least since the 1857 businessmen’s revival in New York City, in which noon-hour prayer meetings were so full of the city’s professionals that many businesses closed during the gatherings. But churches have typically kept business people at a distance, needing their money but questioning their spiritual depth. With the business as mission movement, that has changed. In 2004, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism, founded by Billy Graham, featured a track on business as mission. At a recent missionary conference in Hong Kong, Doug Seebeck says mission leaders apologized to the business people present. They had been guilty of asking for their money while keeping them in the foyer of the church, outside of the sanctuary.

….

Now Mr. Seebeck says, “Business is the greatest hope for the world’s poor.”

….

While advanced economies question capitalism, Christians who work in developing countries see how essential business is to provide jobs and health care, build communities and even minister to souls. For these business owners, a desk job overseas has become a full-time ministry.

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January 7, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 
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One Response to “Business as Missions in the Wall Street Journal”

  1. Ken Askew on January 10th, 2010 4:04 pm

    This is a subject dear to my heart. There should not be a disconnect between Sunday and Monday when it comes to faith. Over the years I’ve come across some helpful material on the subject. I am currently reading David W. Miller’s book “God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement.” A classic on the subject is “Luther on Vocation” by Gustaf Wingren. In my vocation (financial services) a group called Kingdom Advisors (which is where I first became acquainted with David Miller) seeks integration of faith and vocation; http://www.kingdomadvisors.org.

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