A couple of great friends of mine visited the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove for a Corporate Chaplains training conference. One of them told me about the various displays at the center and the interesting facts about Graham’s ministry. As he talked, I thought about how I would love to have the impact that Billy Graham has had for eternity.
In my last post, I described a house that had gas cans, lit candles, and exposed wiring throughout. We agreed that the owner of this house is clearly trying to create conditions for a fire to break out. We also looked at how this same idea applies to Christian ministry in our businesses if we are looking for eternal impact by pointing people toward God.
Today, I would like to give you some specific ideas about how we take this same approach in our business. I do not have the space to fully describe each item on the list. Instead, I will give a brief description and then, when possible, direct you to another post on this site that goes into more detail.
My hope is that you can take even just a couple of these ideas and adapt them to your business. If you have any questions or want to discuss them further, please comment below or send me an email. I will respond as quickly as I can!
1. Mission Statement
God is central to our company mission statement and core values.
2. Chaplain program
We offer chaplain services to our employees on a weekly basis through Corporate Chaplains of America. This service is incredible and has too many benefits to list here!
3. Owners Manuals For Life
We put a New Testament Bible in the glove box of every vehicle we sell. The cover says “Owners Manual For Life” and we have a note inside that explains how we believe it is the greatest book they will ever read. We don’t point it out to the customer, but let them find it later.
4. Christ in Christmas Party
We celebrate and have fun like other companies, but we also make sure there is a story or illustration at the end of the party that contains the gospel message to keep our focus on the real reason for the party.
5. Christian magazines, Gospels of John in lounge
We keep Christian magazines like “TwoTen” on the tables in the customer lounges at each of our stores. We also keep pocket-sized copies of the Gospel of John stocked there.
6. Bible Studies
Our chaplain (and sometimes our Controller) leads a weekly Bible study in the employee break room. We do one at lunch and one at breakfast so everyone has the opportunity to come, regardless of work schedule. We provide the food and we watch a video series followed by discussion.
7. Devotions
I go around to each department once a month and tell a quick story or illustration with a business and spiritual message woven in. These take five minutes or so and stay very light, but get great responses!
8. Employee Newsletter
I write an article for our employee newsletter once a month. In this article, I follow much the same pattern as the devotions mentioned above.
9. Library
We have a couple of library areas across our locations where we keep books for use by employees. Topics range from spiritual to family to parenting to business. If they are looking for a book we don’t have (and it fits our mission), then we will get it.
10. Sponsorships
We sponsor a number of faith-based organizations around our community. While these are mostly financial sponsorships, there are also opportunities to help with things other than money. Use of facilities, social media marketing, etc. are some examples.
11. Car wash
We host faith-based organizations on our parking lot and provide all necessary materials for them to hold a car wash fundraiser. They provide the labor and keep the revenue from the customers. We give a per-car donation as well.
12. Open meetings with prayer
We take time at the beginning of our sales meetings to open in prayer.
13. Employee recognition
We recognize employees who go above and beyond expectations outside of their job with a couple of awards – the RPM award and the Lightning Strike.
14. Christian music
Our overhead and on-hold music comes from a Pandora station with upbeat Christian music. It is not overwhelming, but provides a great atmosphere in the showroom and around the dealerships.
15. Pay for volunteering
We provide opportunities for employees to volunteer during community events we sponsor and pay them for half the time they spend doing so.
This is not everything we do to create the potential for eternal impact, but it should give you some ideas about what you can do in your business.
The idea I want to make sure I convey is that all of this does not happen at once. This is an accumulation of over ten years of intentional thought and action. We started small. You can do the same.
If you work at it over time, your business will look like the house described in my last post. Everywhere you turn, you will see potential for Christian ministry to happen. You will also realize that it is good for business!
Comment below and let me know what you would add to this list! Have a question, ask it! I would love to engage in conversation about this.
The more I have committed to teaching or writing material over a period of time, the more I have begun to see lessons in even the smallest of things going on around me. I have found I can learn a lot about life if I will just pay attention! I recently learned a great lesson about how the “little sin” that we often leave unaddressed. It stinks!
Have you experienced this? This happens to me a lot. I can be in a conversation with someone about a funny story or something stupid I did and suddenly it hits me! Something one of us has just said strikes a chord inside of me and I get an immediate picture of a life lesson. In some cases, I file it away for later. Today, I felt the need to immediately share it!
Just this afternoon, I was in my office catching up on things with our chaplain. I described to him how I had been on my way out of town last night to watch my son’s last soccer match of the season. I had stopped for a burger and was hurrying to eat it while driving because I was running a little behind.
As I was taking a bite at a traffic light, I felt something drop onto my lap. As I looked down, I did not see anything on my pants where it hit, but I knew it had come from the burger. I figured it had fallen into that “black hole” between the seat and the center console, but I was not worried about it. I figured I would get to it later. After all, I was in a hurry and I would have had to pull over to dig down and find it.
I kept going and made it to the game with a few minutes to spare. As I got out of my truck, I knew I had better remove the box that once held the burger or else the cab of the truck would really stink later! I put all of the evidence of the burger into the box and placed it into the bed of my truck. I would throw it away after the game.
After the game, I returned to my truck to find that removing the box was evidently not enough to prevent the smell. It was bad. Of course, after a few minutes in the truck, my son and I got used to the smell. So we headed home without thinking there may be more to the smell than just the bag. Once on the road (a two hour drive), we forgot about the smell.
I did not give it another thought when we arrived home just before midnight. Even if I had remembered, I am convinced I would not have crawled under the seat to investigate. As it was, I was tired and just wanted to get to bed so that is what I did.
At this point, you are probably thinking that I making this up as I go. Unfortunately, I am not. This is all true. Fortunately, there is a huge amount of learning we can glean from my stupidity! Read on!
When I got into my truck this morning, the odor was terrible. The smell of onion was unmistakeable! So what did I do? I went back inside the house and came up with a brilliant idea.
I remembered an old method I had learned in the past for removing odors from a used car. I put about two cups of fresh coffee grounds into a small plastic container and took it back out to the car with me. The idea is that the coffee grounds smell great AND they absorb odors.
Proud of my ingenuity, I drove to work. I parked my truck and did not return to it until lunch. I was fully expecting to open the door and feel like I was entering the local Starbucks coffee shop. Instead, I was shocked to smell coffee…AND onions! In case you are wondering, these two distinct smells do not go well together.
Finally, I gave in. I realized that I would have to crawl in behind and under the driver’s seat and try to find whatever it was that had fallen in my lap the night before. It took me a minute or two, but I came out with a piece of an onion that was half the size of a penny! I could not believe something this small had caused so much damage!
Unfortunately, the truck still stinks. It will likely take a few days for all of the smell to go away. Until then, I will have to suffer through the consequences of my delay! Hopefully, I will learn from this!
I apologize if you have gotten to the end of this post and you are expecting the lesson. Amazingly, I have run out of room in this post! You will have to wait until my next post to get the points I want to make.
While I am sure you already have a hint of the lesson here, I would encourage you to read back through the post and consider ALL of the points that parallel our experience with a “little sin.” Just like the game on the kids menu at your favorite restaurant, I will challenge you to see how many points you can find in this lesson!
How many points can you make about the lesson we should learn?
Why do we ever let this happen?
What is the best way to prevent it?
As Christian business owners and leaders, we are virtually guaranteed to face a crisis in the course of doing business. In fact, the odds are we will face more than one.
Depending on your experience, you may or not be prepared for it when it hits. If it is big enough, even your years of experience may not help. This is where the combined godly wisdom of a good advisory board is critical.
In a recent C12 advisory board meeting, one of the members shared the crisis he is currently facing in his business. His crisis was actually a conglomeration of several difficult issues involving family, business, and faith. To protect the innocent, I will not go into details!
I will tell you that in all my years of business, I have not faced anything like this business owner is facing. It quickly became clear in the group that the same was true for the rest of the members. This situation was a doozy and had more hair on it than Bigfoot! Quite simply, there was no clear and easy solution.
It took the member 30-45 minutes to finally get all of the pertinent facts onto the table because he was so distraught over the situation. He bounced from issue to issue, trying to describe all the details. We were asking clarifying questions the whole time because he was so scattered in his thoughts and words. It was a painful effort just getting a clear picture of the whole situation.
From there, it was amazing to watch the minds of eight godly, Christian business owners jump into action. In a flurry of more questions, debate, and brainstorming, our advisory board group came up with a solid action plan for the member to execute.
Here are some of the advisory board contributions:
2. Debated the best approach to each step of the plan.
3. Outlined possible break downs in the plan and how to respond to them.
4. Discussed the potential pitfalls to shortcutting various steps in the plan.
5. Gave advice relating to legal issues he will need to further investigate.
6. Tested our recommendations against Scripture throughout the process.
7. Questioned him on various decisions he had made up to this point.
8. Gave him contact info for key people that could meet various needs.
9. Prayed over him and the whole situation – asking for wisdom, peace, strength, mercy, forgiveness, peace, and reconciliation for all parties involved.
At the end of the meeting, it was clear that the member was in better spirits and fully equipped to face the crisis head on. While, the tough time was still in front of him, he knew he was on the right path and had a solid game plan. He also knew that we would continue to pray for him through the process. That does a lot for one’s confidence.
I encourage you to contact C12 if you are interested in visiting a group meeting to get a feel for how it works. Of course, the C12 Advisory Board structure is not the only way to accomplish this process. In my conversation with Mark Cress a couple of weeks ago, he explained how his advisory board consisted of a unique blend of personalities and experience. This board is the actual Board of Directors for Corporate Chaplains of America (CCA).
Though there are some significant differences in the responsibilities of his board when compared to the C12 advisory board, the benefits discussed in this post are the same. An example of this is how the CCA board has played a critical role in creating Mark’s succession plan over the next several years. Their combined wisdom will ensure a smooth transition of leadership over CCA, as well as position the organization for significant growth in the future.
The bottom line is that regardless of the size of your business, you need an advisory board. There are too many potential problems you could face that will require more wisdom and experience than you have. Whether you seek a paid advisory board or one that volunteers their time, you cannot afford to go it alone.
Consider these verses from Proverbs as your encouragement to get started:
Without guidance, people fall, but with many counselors there is deliverance.
-Proverbs 11:14Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisors they succeed.
-Proverbs 15:22Finalize plans with counsel, and wage war with sound guidance.
-Proverbs 20:18…wage war with sound guidance – victory comes with many counselors.
-Proverbs 24:6
Do you have similar access to the godly wisdom an advisory board offers?
What are some other benefits you have seen?
If not, when are you going to get started?
I made a new friend recently. During our conversation, he told me about his decision to walk away from a very successful business because he felt God calling him to something different. He did not know where God was calling him, but he knew he had to follow. I think you can draw inspiration from his story – whether you have ever considered walking away or not.
In 1993, Mark Cress was part owner of an Inc. 500 company. At 37 years old, he was extremely successful and it appeared he had nothing but blue skies ahead. But then he started to realize that God was calling him to something else. Once he and his wife made the decision to follow God’s call, things changed rapidly. Within months, he was walking away. He had sold his business to the employees, sold his house on the lake, and enrolled in seminary. In less than a total of three years, he had started the organization that is now Corporate Chaplains of America.
Corporate Chaplains of America (CCA) now ministers to more than 800 different business locations. Those locations represent thousands of employees served on a weekly basis. Can you imagine the impact God is having through this organization?
As I listened to Mark tell his story, I saw a few clear parallels to my own story. At the same time, God sent us down different paths.
All of my life, I had been working toward taking over my family’s business, an automobile dealership group in Georgia. In 2001, I was General Manager of two of our seven locations. I planned to expand and take the company to new heights! I had visions of grandeur and everything looked like it was headed that way. But when I began spending time in God’s Word, I realized that everything I wanted and was working for was only temporal. None of it would really matter in 1,000 years.
I realized I was only giving God the Christian requisite one day per week (actually, just Sunday morning) and an occasional Wednesday evening. The rest of the time was spent trying to juggle my job in the car business and my family at home. Even when I added the daily quiet times, God was still not the central focus of my life. This was not the way He wanted it!
I began searching for answers. If God wanted all of me, what would that look like? I had heard of people getting “called” into full-time ministry, but I did not feel that call. I knew of others, like Mark Cress, that were “called” into the mission field, but I did not feel that either. What exactly was God asking me to do? What was I created to do?
To tell the truth, I did not have a clue! I only knew I was not comfortable with the status quo and had to change it. I sat down with my father and explained that I was walking away from the business. Because I was already in a significant leadership position within the company, I told him I did not want to do it effective immediately. I wanted him to have time to replace me and make any other arrangements that may be necessary. This would likely involve downsizing the business and could take a couple of years.
I did not feel God calling me to leave right away, only to let go and be prepared to walk away. I had no idea where I was going or when. I only knew I wanted to be spending more of my time working for God – whatever that entailed.
Fast forward eleven years, and I am still in the business! It was almost two years after that conversation with my father that God showed me where He wanted me. Though I thought I was walking away, He showed me that He had placed me in the position I currently held for a purpose and a season. He wanted me to do all I had envisioned in ministry, but He wanted me to do it through the business. As a good friend recently told me, God wanted me in the car ministry!
So that is exactly what I am attempting to do. I have said it many times – I do not have it figured out. Yet I keep showing up. I am determined to allow God to have the eternal impact He desires, through this business. I am only the steward of this business for now. Until He changes my direction, that is the role I will play.
See, Mark Cress followed God’s plan and he is enjoying the fruit of that decision. There is incredible eternal impact coming from his decision to step out of his business and start CCA as a non-profit organization. For me, walking away is not in the cards (at least for now!). God has called me to stay in business and I expect there will be eternal impact from that decision as well.
My point is this…regardless of where God calls you, you can have an eternal impact. There is no reason to think that you have to be a paid staff member of a church to do ministry. Seek God’s guidance, but know that He just may want you doing ministry right where you are!
What would you do?
Do you think this move was too drastic?
Have you thought about walking away?
Just before Christmas this past year, one of our long-term employees took her 14 yr. old son to the doctor to have a knee injury checked out. What they thought was simply swelling turned out to be a mother’s nightmare – a rare form of bone cancer. Obviously, this is a life-changing event. It poses the question: What ministry responsibilities does a Christian company have in responding to this kind of situation?
Now, I will be the first to tell you that we are not the perfect Christian business. Not even close. There are so many ways we fall short of where we want to be. I am sure we miss ministry opportunities every day.
On the other hand, we give it a lot of effort and I am proud of what God has accomplished in our company over the past eight years. In fact, this blog is an attempt to share some of what He has done to change this company’s focus. So, when a situation comes along that exemplifies this kind of ministry, I feel compelled to share.
First and foremost, we wanted to make sure that this mother had full freedom to be with her son at every possible moment through the medical maze of full diagnosis, planning, and treatment. Though she is in a critical role within our company’s accounting department, we gave her the freedom to effectively set her own schedule.
She worked when she could (occupying her mind) and she was with him whenever she needed to be. In this case, we took Andy Stanley’s advice and did for one what we wish we could do for everyone. While our employee handbook does not exactly deal with this situation, we made sure we gave her every freedom we could. We cannot allow everyone this freedom all the time, but we can bend the rules when we have to.
Next, we had several employees step up in various ways from providing gas for her multiple trips to Atlanta (60+ miles each way) to chipping in with her work responsibilities and even helping her set up an account at the local bank for donations toward medical expenses. Everyone did their best to show their support through encouragement and prayers. She has never been in doubt that we were supporting her and her family.
One of the sales departments had the idea of hosting a car show, with the profits going to help out with medical expenses. This idea gained support and that department really put hours of effort into pulling it off. The event drew 60 cars, raised close to $1,500 for their medical expenses, and even served as the capstone to her son’s birthday party!
Finally, and likely most importantly, our company chaplain has been able to give her and her family the spiritual support they need. In addition to his normal support through weekly visits, he has been able to provide focused support for her and her family throughout the process so far.
Yesterday, the chaplain was able to sit with the family as the son went into surgery to remove the tumor from his leg. He was able to pray with them before and after the surgery and to wait with them until the doctor came back with the results. In fact, he was there to hear the doctor report that the surgery went better than expected! It appears that all of the cancer has been removed and that the leg is going to look great and operate normally!
This situation is not completely over for this family. We will need to maintain the support and continue to look for ministry opportunities. Our prayer is that our actions will help to get them through to the other side of this situation with their family intact. We also hope that their faith is strengthened as a result. The main goal is that God gets the credit for all that is done.
As far as can tell, there is not a book that specifically addresses how a Christian company is supposed to respond to an employee crisis like this one. I believe we are simply to seek to honor God and love our neighbors as ourselves. Regardless of the crisis, this behavior will have eternal impact!
How has your company responded to similar situations?
Do your employees have the opportunity to engage?
What more could you do next time?
This is the final post in a series of posts on creating a Strategic Plan for Ministry in your business. At this point, you should have a mission statement with an eternal perspective. You should have a well-defined mission field as well as a set of action plans for ministry activities that will help you to impact that mission field. Now you need to lay out the accountability processes to ensure your action plans are executed and achieve the results you desire.
Let’s take a look at an example to illustrate my point. An easy example for our company is the CCA chaplain program (Corporate Chaplains of America). We have a chaplain assigned to our company as a benefit to the employees. By permission, this chaplain speaks to each of our employees face-to-face at least once per week.
He is on call 24/7 and 365. He will meet with employees after hours for extended care sessions in person or over the phone, according to their preference. He performs funerals, weddings, and hospital visits. He prays for the company and every employee on a regular basis.
On an ongoing basis, I need to know whether this program is achieving the results I expect from it. Fortunately, CCA provides their own reporting process as part of the program. They send me a report via email at the end of each month that details the activities of the chaplain. A report like this makes it easy for me to determine whether the program is working or not.
Here is an example of their report:
Your reporting may look very different. It may not be as formal or it may be more so. The format is not important. The accountability is. While each ministry activity will likely present its own measurement challenges, try to make sure there is some ability to track and measure the activities and the results (if possible).
You should have some sort of reporting for every ministry activity on your action plan. If you cannot measure it in some way, then you need to decide whether it is worth doing or not. This is not to say that you are not to do anything that you cannot measure – there are certainly exceptions. It is more about making sure that there is accountability built in to every part of your plan.
Too often, companies come up with a great idea, begin a process or initiative, and never build in accountability. Without a clue as to whether it is effective or not, they forget about it until something goes wrong or someone leaves. This is simply not being a good steward of your resources.
There are a couple of challenges I will note about measuring ministry. First of all, we are not able to save anyone. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. While we may count the number of times someone turns their life over to Christ during one of our activities, we certainly cannot take credit for that. We are simply celebrating!
Second, we cannot truly know the condition of any individual’s heart or whether that condition has improved in a measurable way. To attempt to measure life change or improvement is not something I recommend. I think you get it, but measuring ministry is very difficult.
As a result of these challenges, we will most often revert to simply measuring our activities in ministry. As an example, look at the chaplain’s report. We do not attempt to measure the effectiveness of the chaplain’s prayer for our company and individual employees. We simply measure the number of times he prayed. We do not attempt to measure whether his care sessions had the intended effect. We can only count the times he had them.
I think you get the idea. When dealing with the heart and spiritual matters, measuring is difficult. At the same time, we cannot just leave our efforts to chance! Therefore we do our best to discern the right activities, maintain our focus on the right purpose, and then measure our efforts. We leave the results to God.
Do you currently have any sort of ministry results reporting?
If so, do you review it as often and with the same intensity as you review your financial reporting?
I won’t ask a third question…that last one hurt too much!