WPF Summit Breakout Session 2021: Business As Mission
Introduction To Hunter Haley
- Serial entrepreneur and BAM ambassador
- Currently a rural property developer and pursuing commercial real estate opportunities
- Also hosts a business podcast and is a course instructor at TheBlessedBusiness.com
Breaking Old Paradigms
- A common paradigm amongst many Pentecostals is the idea that vocational preaching ministry is the only meaningful way to advance God’s Kingdom.
- Zealous saints are faced with a false choice between “doing something for God” or “pursuing a secular career.”
- Business As Mission (BAM) resolves many of the problems created by this faulty paradigm and opens vast new potentials for the Kingdom of God.
- Business As Mission is a significant and meaningful way to advance the Kingdom of God!
What is BAM?
- “Business As Mission is utilizing our career or business to advance the Kingdom of God by demonstrating Christian values in the context of business and by facilitating ministry with human and financial resources.” Pastor Caleb Adams
Power To Get Wealth
- But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:18
The Importance of BAM
- The work of God is expensive!
- This is not an obstacle. Instead, it is an opportunity to be blessed!
- Who bankrolled Jesus’s ministry?
- Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them[a] out of their means. Luke 8:1-3
- “Check writing” may be a big part of your God called ministry!
- My goal is no longer to be a ‘six-figure earner’ but rather to be a six-figure giver
Practical Application of BAM
- Do business the Bible way (reflect biblical principles in your business dealings)
- Demonstrate Christian values on the job and in your business
- Utilize your resources, gifts, skills, talents, opportunities, etc. for the Kingdom
- Positively leverage your sphere of influence (mentorship and discipleship)
- Embrace the ministry of check writing (financially facilitate)
- Go and teach others how to do all the above!
Going To The Next Level
The parable of the talents shows us that it is possible to increase our level of fruitfulness
- Believe that God desires to bless you (Hebrews 11:6)
- Embrace an abundance mindset (Ephesians 3:20)
- Be willing to stretch beyond your comfort zone and take a leap of faith (action bias)
- Pray for divine enablement (example of the story of Bezalel in Exodus 31:1-10)
- Look for God orchestrated opportunities (God is the creator of opportunity!)
- Seek out and apply Biblical principles in your life, vocation, and finances (alignment)
- Examples of Biblical principles (Give, save, invest, treat people right, guard your reputation, be diligent, etc.)
- “The flow of God’s blessing is directly connected to how many Biblical principles you are willing to incorporate into the work or field of labor you are in.” Pastor Caleb Adams
How God Blesses Us
- God’s blessings come in seed form (they must be cultivated)
- Many people miss God’s blessing because they come dressed up in overalls and look like work
- View obstacles as opportunities (Be a rational optimist! - Romans 8:28)
- Blessings are the bridge between where we should be (based on the sum of our limited abilities, work ethic, etc.) and where God is taking us (our unrealized potential).
- “Blessed people must point to Divine Favor to explain their place in life” Pastor Caleb Adams
Who Is God Looking To Bless?
God is actively looking for people that He can trust with blessings so they can be used to finance and facilitate the advancement of God’s mission.
- Biblical Alignment
- Submission (to God, leadership, and the process)
- Abundance mindset (big faith and trust in God)
- Stewardship (wise management and giving)
- Connection to mission
- Financing and facilitating God’s mission
- Fruitfulness (in your current season)
- Cultivating and maximizing your opportunities/resources
- Capacity for blessing
- Personal/professional development
- Character Development (exhibit Christian values in fine-tuned details)
- Honesty, integrity, excellence, diligence, trustworthy, empathy, generosity, humility, etc.
Remember:
When your finances and vocational efforts are aligned with Biblical principles and focused on helping further the kingdom mission; God has a vested interest in your personal prosperity!