Beyond Sunday
No doubt, as a church leader, you want to add value to the life of the people who are attending your church. God has called you to preach specific messages that instruct, encourage and add value to their daily lives. And perhaps this is the week that you have been planning to lead a community service opportunity where your church will simply love on others in the community.
It is absolutely essential to focus on the spiritual life of the people entrusted to your care and, regardless of the percentage you hope to engage (or re-engage, post-COVID) in community service projects to serve alongside you and your staff, there is another way to equip your people on a weekly basis – one that has gone largely unrecognized as it requires a change in perspective – and the good news is you don’t have to do it on your own!
Consider Where Change May Be Needed
One of the principles of cultural change is that there must be a change in behaviour to realize the benefit of any significant, lasting change. After all, what is culture? Culture is a sum of all of the beliefs and behaviours held by an individual or group and that are taught and practiced – many times, they may be unwritten and unrealized beliefs or practices.
A simple tool often used with changes that require new established ways of doing things is a ‘From – To’ Analysis. Consider the following as examples in thinking about how behaviour in your church could change – where the current belief, behaviour or practice is named (the From) and the new belief, behaviour or practice is described so that everyone knows ‘what’ needs to change and ‘why’ it needs to change. Do they resonate with you?
Can you think of any other ‘From – To’ changes to consider? If you want more suggestions on what you can do as a pastor, download a copy of the recently released (May 2023) BAM Global Issue Report, ‘Business as Mission and the Church: Unleashing the Power of the Congregation in the Global Marketplace.'
2. You Don’t Have to Do It All or Alone
In late February 2023, we were privileged to meet Dr. R. Paul Stevens, Chairman & Founder of the Institute for Marketplace Transformation (IMT). IMT was originally founded at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. and today has teams globally in Hong Kong, Korea, SE Asia, Taiwan and North America.
Dr. Stevens encouraged us to visit with IMT Hong Kong when we visited Hong Kong in early March. There we learned about how they are working with Union Church based on a “top down” and a “bottom up” approach.
The rationale for this approach is described fully in Dr. Stevens’ Introduction to Marketplace Theology – Toward a Wholistic Science of Work, Worker and Workplace. Here are some excerpts:
“… marketplace theology needs to be done from “top down” and “bottom up”.
“Top down” means starting with “top down” revelation of God and God’s purpose in Scripture, in Jesus, as well as in history, leading to practice.”
This is the primary responsibility you as a church leader could have as part of any exchange or gathering of people in business or the workplace. A church leader need only show up at any workplace community gathering and speak to the theological basis and Biblical examples for what is being discussed as a reality in business life and the workplace.
Of course, it would also be important, as mentioned earlier, when your church ‘gathers’, to provide teaching that focuses on ‘whole-life discipleship and vocational stewardship – equipping people to live out their faith in their whole life and to practice what they believe’.
“But marketplace theology must [also] be done with “bottom up” approaches, beginning with practice through using case studies, work experiences and workplace situations as the starting point not just the end point. So the “bottom up” approach to doing marketplace theology could be partially crafted through narrative and story, seeing the intersection of the divine story with our own stories.”
This is the primary responsibility and contribution that a marketplace leader (or leaders) would undertake for any exchange or gathering – in addition to the logistics and hosting, of course.
Together, you as pastor and your marketplace leader(s) can ‘translate and contextualize’ what it means for everyone called to business or the marketplace.
“Marketplace theology involves translation, making it clear and understandable to people in the marketplace and in various cultures what is God’s purpose for their life and work. But it is not just translation that is required. Marketplace theology involves contextualization, enabling people to understand how God’s purpose for work, worker and workplace fits into as well as challenges the particular culture of the workplace and in the manifold contexts of the globe.”
Why not get started today by calling together some business or marketplace leaders in your church to talk about this blog and what it could mean for your church? They will thank you for it!
Resources to further your growth in this topic:
Forming a Marketplace Friendly Church by Dr. R. Paul Stevens
Get access for the BAM Canada Network for the business people in your church community
Book a meeting with one of our co-founders, Aubrey or Carrie-Anne to see what this could look like for your church! BAM Canada is here to assist you in any way we can!
Want to network for more Kingdom impact in our BAM Canada Network community?
Check out our private Network.
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Ad maiorem Dei gloriam –For the greater glory of God