There is a growing trend towards free-market gospel-oriented businesses, according to an article from Christianity Today. Some people are arguing that Business as Mission is the next great wave of evangelisation. Many countries are less receptive to traditional types of missionaries, but most countries are open for business, if it means creating jobs and contributing to the local economy.
Some argue that business-as-mission enterprises are considerably more effective in underdeveloped countries than aid agencies and traditional types of missionary work, because they are more effective at creating jobs and sustainable economic growth. As I have discussed in previous posts, the risks associated with foreign aid include creation of corruption and dependency. Business-as-mission enterprises are not prone to such side effects.
Of course, the end does not justify the means. Is there such a thing as a kingdom business, and are Christianity and Capitalism entirely compatible? Perhaps it all depends on how you read the gospels. On the one hand, in Jesus’s parables the servants who used their money to make more were rewarded whereas the servant who did nothing with his was punished; on the other hand, Jesus said, “You can’t serve both God and Mammon.”