Customer Reviews

Business as Mission: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having played a key role to create the Perspectives program, I am certain that Johnson's book will become the default handbook for any BAM student, business owner, church mission pastor or aspiring missionary. It is tour de force in nearly every way. It appeals to me as an MBA professor, as it covers entrepreneurial and economic facets of Business as Missions (BAM) in developing economies. As a missiologist, I find it cutting edge and contextually relevant to Evangelicalism. As a strategic leadership scholar, I find its hands-on guidelines for business and ministry practitioners to be practical.

As comprehensive as Johnson's book is, it does not address the macro-issues that must shape BAM as a community of practice. While it does address corporate social responsibility and "kingdom" bottom lines, it could have offered a stronger business call to sustainable development and social entrepreneurship, in the vain of Friedman's _Hot, flat, and Crowded_ (2008), or Hart and Quinn's _Capitalism at the crossroads: Aligning business, earth, and humanity_ (2007).

These issues of systemic business transformation are not foreign to Evangelical discourse, as McLaren has shown in _Everything Must Change_ (2007). Christianity must address the macro issues of transforming business so it doesn't live beyond its limits, in creation abuse, energy overuse or debt formation.

If you're a "BAM" proponent, practitioner, or promoter, this book, "Business As Mission: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice," is the one you'll want to buy and read. Neal Johnson gives over 400 pages of great reading for students and business leaders already interested in Business as Mission but are looking to get the full picture. If you don't know about the BAM movement and are a business person, get this book and make your business count for the Kingdom. I'm a Perspectives veteran and a businessman myself, so this book really makes sense.

It was a good book and a great place to start if you want to create a business as a mission. Highly recommended.

To start, I haven't found any BAM books that are worth 5 stars, though I think many are worth reading, but maybe that's just me. I come from a business background with an MBA and am interested in going into BAM in the future.

What is unique about this book, and also what I found the most insightful and helpful, was the section on the Four Camps. As someone in business looking into BAM, I've been pretty confused by many differing voices and opinions. Is an accountability group with coworkers considered BAM, or does BAM have to do with those who are creating micro-enterprises overseas among the poor? If you're like me, talking to more people does not always help answer this question, because everyone is petitioning for the importance of their BAM work as THE work of BAM. This book does help, overviewing all the various "camps" that are out there. Understanding this has really helped me identify where I fit, and how to support others who play in different spaces.

Sometimes, you don't need a groundbreaking idea, you just need someone to help you see the big picture. I think this book give you that, and I'd highly recommend it for those who are interested in exploring BAM and finally making sense of the growing whirlwind of media surround this important topic these days.