While it is very easy for us to pick up the latest business book on Amazon.com or at the local bookstore, sometimes the best advice for our business can come from the Bible. The process of applying Scripture to the way we operate our business can be easier than you might think.
If you go to Amazon.com and spend any time at all, you will find more books about mixing Christian ministry and business than you can likely read in a year. While that is a good thing for those of us learning how to do it, there is an even better source than Amazon – the Bible! Practicing the art of applying Scripture to business is a skill we all need!
In my opinion, entrepreneurs are the backbone of our country and the economic system as we know it. Without entrepreneurs, our economy would fall apart. At the same time, being an entrepreneur is not an easy path to take. There are many challenges and hurdles to overcome before an entrepreneur can truly be successful.
As you are probably aware, there is not a shortage of reading material on business strategy. In fact, the vast majority of business schools, seminars, and coaches want to focus on strategy as well. The problem is that most businesses do not fail due to a poor strategy. No, it is execution that kills most businesses (pun intended).
I was recently asked by a reader if labeling our business as “Christian” was offensive to non-Christian employees. We had a great discussion, but it made me realize that this concern might be prevalent among Christian business owners or leaders, possibly even preventing many from stepping out in faith to leverage their business for eternal returns.
Not too long ago, I received a comment on one of my posts. I would like to address the issue more fully in this post. The comment (quoted in full below) said Christian business owners and leaders need to be careful to comply with “the separation of Church and State” issues placed on us by our government. Many others have asked “Is Christian business against the law?” Let’s take a look…
A Christian should run their business on Biblical principles…honesty, integrity, love, truth, etc. However, if you start requiring people partake of “COMMUNION”, or complying with Jesus’ command….to “go ye into all the world…” you will be hard-pressed to comply with “the separation of Church and State” issues placed upon us by our government.
First, I would like to address the big picture. After that, I will tell you how we address the overall issue in our business. Finally, I will give you some resources that will allow you to seek further information.
Sometimes I get focused on leveraging our business for eternal return. It is easy for me to overlook the details of the business. If you own or lead a business with any number of employees, you likely have experienced something similar. However, we are responsible for running businesses of excellence. We cannot afford to overlook the basics for long. This includes a safe workplace!
As a result of some turnover in our business recently, I have seen two out-of-the-ordinary accusations against us. While these accusations were certainly unusual for us, they are not uncommon in our industry.
As Christian business owners and leaders, we are usually very involved in employee decisions on a consistent basis. In fact, that part of our job can absorb a majority of our time. Our ability to handle these employee decisions well can also be one of the biggest influences on the success of our company, as well as the ministry we desire.
Assuming this is true, then it is clear that we must devote time to learning how to best handle these employee decisions. While we all agree that issues concerning people often account for the majority of the time and energy we spend in our jobs, many Christian business owners fail to spend much time thinking about their approach to this important subject.
With all of the recent news about mass shootings, have you ever stopped to think about how you would respond if you had advance notice of a similar pending tragedy and had the time to avert it? Would you step in and prevent the crisis? What if this exact same danger is coming from your hiring practices?
I have been going back through the book of Proverbs with my “business glasses” on. I have been looking for business truths that we can apply to our business. If you have never done this, I strongly recommend that you try it. If you would rather let someone else do that and tell you about it, then keep reading!
In a previous post, 10 Pitfalls To Running A Christian Business, I included the fact that “People think a Christian business does not terminate people” as one of the pitfalls. What do you think? Should a business that professes to be run according to Christian principles terminate employees?
Many people associate Christianity with always being nice and kind, turning the other cheek, and overall just being weak. Or they believe that a Christian should never “wrong” anyone else…and they consider any sort of termination to be wronging the employee. The problem is that this does not match up with what the Bible teaches.