Type in the Google search "business as missions." You’ll find lots there, reflecting an increasing tempo of conversation about marketplace ministry…enough to suggest it could be the Next Big Thing, as far as many Christian communities are concerned.

I appreciate the sentiment . . . sort of. What concerns me is wondering whether the conversation is informed by the biblical text—whether people are re-framing their understanding of business in a biblical worldview or simply putting a new coat of paint on the old structure called "missions"— because I don’t think the old structure is transferable. I think it’s the "new wineskin / old wineskin" thing Jesus talked about:

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”

— Mark 2:21-22

And I’m afraid of a bait and switch. In my twenties, the prevailing attitude in the campus ministry group I was around was "As a Christian you should be a missionary. So while you are at college, missions are what you should be about . . . reaching people for Christ and discipling them. If you happen to get a degree while you’re here that would be nice . . . but you are basically here to do ministry." Lately I’m beginning to hear statements that sound similar . . . "The marketplace is the mission field. You go to work to lead people to Christ and disciple them. You are a "priest" and that should be the focus of your foundation at work."

I still know people who see nothing wrong with that. But I do, and I don’t want to see that myopic view in the marketplace. I think this is part of what the apostle Paul was talking about when he wrote, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:23, 24); and "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody" (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).

From the beginning . . . before marriage, before families, before church . . . there was work. Work is part of the very essence of who we are as creatures made in the image of our Creator. As followers of Jesus, we’re called to comprehend and address all of life from a biblical worldview . . . and we’re called to take that biblical worldview to the marketplace. Which means becoming the best we can be in our work, industries and companies . . . as well as our families and communities. This is one reason InsideWork is a for-profit company instead of a 501(c)3 non-profit. If InsideWork doesn’t create value we’ll go away like any other company.

I wish I could be sure this conversation about business as mission wasn’t merely old-school missionaries, trying to leverage positions in the marketplace to gain converts. I wish every one of us would strive to be the best we can be at our work so that our belief system—our biblical worldview—becomes the common denominator for best practices in business.

Can you imagine what would happen if all the entities that make up commerce were reshaped by people with a biblical worldview? Think of the good that would accrue to consumers, sellers, distributors, suppliers, workers, designers, investors, owners, and the communities they inhabit.

I believe a Christian white-collar worker should labor to be the professionals’ professional. . . I believe a Christian blue-collar worker should endeavor to be the craftsman’s craftsman. I believe people who wake up and consciously try to serve God every day should populate every job slot, industry and business . . . until every company in the world aspires to embody a biblical worldview.

For more insight into the issue of work and ministry, read Big in Japan: J.S. Bach + The Meaning of Work.