Serving God as an MBA

both Locally and Globally

John Terrill and Scott McFarlane

Background
John Terrill
♦ NationsBank (Bank of America) and
Hay Management Consultants
♦ MBA from Northwestern (Kellogg)
♦ Presently, Director for InterVarsity
Professional Schools Ministries (PSM)
~ business, law, healthcare, education,
government, and theology
Background
John Terrill
♦ Search to discover biblical theology of
work (vocation).
♦ Joined InterVarsity during fall of 1998
as National Director for MBA Ministry.
♦ 4+ years at Harvard Business School
♦ Help professional school students and
faculty know that their work in the world
can count for God
Background
Scott McFarlane

♦ MBA from Spring Arbor University

♦ Founder and Director of EC Institute
♦ Associate with EC Group International
{Scott will provide more of his background when he comes to the
podium}
Current Reality
♦ Perceived gap between sacred and
secular
♦ Business professionals marginalized in
fulfilling their calling outside the walls of
the church (viewed as a second class)
♦ Mistakenly separate the Great
Commission (Mt. 28:19-20) from
Creation Mandate (Gen. 1:26-28) and
Great Compassion (Mt. 25)
Current Reality
♦ Busyness without sense of mission or
purpose
 Staying busy is a mark of prestige in
our culture…particularly true in MBA
programs
 Career is derived from a word that
means racetrack…speed
 Vocation is derived from a word that
means to be called or summoned
Current Reality
♦ Men and women in business live
discouraged and/or bifurcated lives
♦ Christian witness is diminished
♦ The devil thwarts the growth of the
church
9 to 5 Theology
Cultural Mandate
♦ Genesis 1:26-28
♦ Created in God’s image to do good
works
♦ Reign with him in a spirit of dependency
and interdependency with one another
♦ Business is perfect discipline to practice
these truths
9 to 5 Theology
Priesthood of All Believers
♦ 1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare
the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light.”
NIV

♦ Priesthood of OT times no longer

restricted
9 to 5 Theology
Everyone Has Spiritual Gifts
♦ 1 Corinthians 12:4-6
“Now there are different kinds of gifts, but
it is the same Holy Spirit who is the
source of them all. There are different
kinds of service in the church, but it is
the same Lord we are serving. There
are different ways God works in our
lives, but it is the same God who does
the work through all of us.” NLT
9 to 5 Theology
Jesus Valued the Marketplace
♦ Of the 52 parables Jesus told, 45 had a
workplace context
♦ Different forms of the word “work” are
mentioned more than 800 times in the Bible
♦ Of the 132 public appearances of Jesus, 122
were in the workplace
♦ Of the 40 miracles in Acts, 39 were in the
workplace {Os Hillman, International Coalition of Workplace Ministries}
9 to 5 Theology
Importance of Eschatology
♦ Eschatology is pastoral {Theologian Jurgen Moltmann}

♦ Moves us away from a belief system of

endless, repetitious cycles
♦ Christ-centered and vindicates God’s
purposes for all of creation
♦ Eschatology is connective tissue
between old creation and new creation
{Theologian. Jack Davis}
9 to 5 Theology
Continuity as well as Discontinuity

♦ Discontinuity between this world and

new heavens and earth clearly
understood
♦ Strands of continuity not so clearly
expounded
♦ Scripture confirms that our work is
gathered up and taken into the new
creation in a transformed way
9 to 5 Theology
Continuity
♦ Historical continuity between the body
of Jesus that walked in Palestine and
the body that ascended to heaven.
Jesus was recognizable post-
resurrection.
♦ Will not cease to work in new heavens
and new earth {Isaiah 65:21-22}
9 to 5 Theology
Continuity
♦ Visions of new heaven and new earth
are in terms of what we know and do
today
♦ Isaiah 60 and Revelation 21
♦ The kings of the earth bring their glories
into the new heaven and new earth
(Rev. 21:24). The glory and honor of
the nations is found in the Holy City
(21:26).
9 to 5 Theology
Continuity
♦ Invited to consider which of our works
will last (1 Cor. 3:12-15)
♦ Deeds of service seem to follow us
(Matt. 25:31-46)
9 to 5 Theology
Our Response
Adapted from model presented by Sunki
Bang {Business Ministry Institute in South Korea}
♦ Business and mission (isolated
activities)
♦ Business for mission (profit and
enterprise as means of financing
mission)
♦ Business as a platform for mission (way
to gain access)
9 to 5 Theology
Our Response Cont’d.
♦ Mission in business (hiring nonbelievers
with a view to leading them to Christ)
♦ Business as mission (marketplace
activity viewed as integral part of God’s
kingdom work in the world)
Background
Scott McFarlane
♦ Ministry undergraduate degree
♦ Almost 2 years in Asia
♦ “Screaming Socialist/Communist”
♦ Reading and research

♦ Business Degree

♦ EC:
• EC Institute and EC Group
EC Group International
“A global business solutions provider”

India
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

China
Sourcing Manufacturing

Supply base of Kingdom companies

Stories
India:
♦ Agape Rehabilitation Fellowship, Able
Computers and www.StrategicNetwork.org

China
♦ Factory Ministries & Strategies
♦ Seminars, Consulting, Micro, SME, OPE
EC Institute
www.ec-i.org

♦ Summer Programs
♦ MBA Consulting Projects
♦ Advancing Churches in Missions
Commitment (ACMC) Business as
Mission Division

Partnership with InterVarsity – MBA Ministries

Dallas Willard
The Spirit of the Disciplines - Chapter 10
“There truly is no division between sacred and secular
except what we have created.

And that is why the division of the legitimate roles and

functions of human life into the sacred and secular does
incalculable damage to our individual lives and the cause
of Christ.

Holy people must stop going into “church work” as their

natural course of action and take up holy orders in farming,
industry, law, education, banking, and journalism with the
same zeal previously given to evangelism or to pastoral and
missionary work.”
God’s Plan
Godly women and men in places of
leadership
♦ Business
♦ Healthcare
♦ Government
♦ Social Work
♦ The Arts and Media
♦ Law
In Conclusion
John Beckett Video
All Christ followers are priests and salt and light in
the world.
We are not called to live bifurcated lives.

The church, which is gathered on Sunday, is to

be scattered Monday through Saturday.

Given our interests, skills, experiences, and

training, how can we best live out God’s
calling on our lives?
Creation – Fall – Redemption – New Creation
In Conclusion

Thank you for your time…

Any Questions?
www.ec-I.org
www.intervarsity.org/gfm/psm/