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 Bill Gates and Warren Buffett announced this
month that 40 of America's richest people have agreed to sign a
"Giving Pledge" to donate at least half of their wealth to charity.
With a collective net worth said to total $230 billion, that
promise translates to at least $115
billion. It's an impressive number.
Yet some-including Messrs. Gates and Buffett-say it isn't enough.
Perhaps it's actually too much: the wealthy may help humanity more
as businessmen and women than as
philanthropists."
"What are the chances,
after all, that the two forces behind the Giving Pledge will
contribute anywhere near as much to the betterment of society
through their charity as they have through their business pursuits?
In building Microsoft, Bill Gates changed the way the world
creates and shares knowledge. Warren Buffett's investments have
birthed innumerable profitable enterprises, making capital markets
work more efficiently and enriching many in the
process."
"While businesses may do
more for the public good than they're given credit for,
philanthropies may do less. Think about it for a moment: can you
point to a single charitable accomplishment that has been as
transformative as say, the cell phone or the birth-control
pill?"
"I do not mean to belittle
philanthropy...My point is simply that there is nothing inherently
better or nobler about using one's resources for charitable
purposes than for any number of other ones. If anything, the
marketplace does a better job of channeling resources toward where
they are most valued, and of punishing
failure."
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Stay connected to Justin and the
Business as Mission Network
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Sponsors
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| Isn't it great that Corporate
America is paying you for your
Mission |
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We're entering a new era for the church. The
long road back of the US economy will challenge the purely donor
driven model of ministry and support
raising.
With it
brings a long overdue look at how we operate. New ideas will be
accelerated, our creativity challenged and our perspective forever
changed.
In the
end, I think it will result in a new kind of missionary. Not one
defined by geography but someone who see's their sphere of
influence at work as a God designed world of
opportunity.
And I
think there's nothing sweeter than hearing that message through the
largest marketing channel into the body of Christ, the
pulpit.
This
weekend a pastor of a influential church here in Dallas nailed it
on the head. He said "Isn't it great that corporate
America is paying for your mission?"
They say
that it typically it takes 18 months to raise the money to fund a
missionary to go overseas. Isn't it great that you don't have to
wait that long?
So make
the most out of it. Corporate America is paying your way, and even
opening doors of opportunity to make a difference right where you
are.
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You remain in Church while you're at
work!? |
 Guest Post by Larry Peabody - Ruts
pose two hazards for a bike rider. One, they're hard to get out of.
Two, they take control of the steering. The words "go to church"
create similar risks for Christ-followers. First, you can't escape
the words. Everyone uses them. They've become part of our
language-like "go for a walk." Second, the phrase "steers" our
thinking about church. Saying "go to" makes us think of church as
an event. We "go to" meetings and parties and weddings. Events
happen at set times and in specific
places.
If I say I plan to "go" to a meeting, that
means I am not there at the moment. Getting there will take some
effort. And when the meeting ends, I will not be in it any longer,
unless I "go" to another
one.
That's the problem with our saying that we
"go to church." The words condition us to think that most of the
time-including our hours at work-we are not in church. But such an idea is flat-out contrary to
what the New Testament teaches us about the
church. |
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The Next Event: The
RightNow Conference in Dallas Nov
11-12th |
An exciting past few
weeks. It was great to meet many of you at FCCI Conference,
Catalyst, TimeOut Conference and I heard great things about teh
Marketplace Revolution Conference in Grand
Rapids.
Looking
forward to hosting several of you guys at the RightNow Conference.
Erwin McManus and others will challenge 2,000 pastors to unleash
their people outside the walls of the church and we will be
debuting a few video stories we're capturing of businessmen and
women who are inegrating faith and work. I think a foundation is
being laid to do more things in the area of work as worship in the
coming years. Email me if
you will be coming so we can meet up this fall:
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Featured
Influencer of the Month:
Dave Dias, Chairman of the Board at Preimier Legacy Films and
Director of TimeOut Conference |
 One of the new things we're doing is featuring
key influences in the area of work and worship. My hope is that
you'll be able to network, connect on LinkedIn or sign up to
receive their latest updates through their twitter feeds.
Last week I was priviledged to see how Dave Dias has poured into
the lives of Christian Business leaders in the marketplace. For 23
years Dave has specialized in business and sales strategy to build
long term client value.He is an owner of a dynamic, privately held,
business insurance organization which is licensed in 50
states.
He have written a book titled SALES
Ethos, Building Long Term Client Value which is available on
Amazon. The vision and goal of SALES Ethos is to elevate the words
"sales professional" to a prestigious and respected vocation.
He is the Chairman of the Board of
Premier Legacy Films which captures the essence of one's legacy
with the sights and sounds that make up their life. Premier Legacy
Films produces heirloom quality documentaries that can be viewed
for generations.
Join over 1200
people on the LinkedIn groups of Business as
Mission. You can
request to join the group by clicking here. After
joining, email us at justin@businessasmissionnetwork.com
and
outline a couple of sentences about your business as mission story
so we can welcome you to the group.
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