The path to business transformation
Download as DOCX, PDF0 likes394 views
This document discusses how Christians can transform their businesses by applying biblical principles. It argues that businesses are important for Christians to provide for their families and that God promises to bless faithful work. To transform a business, one must grasp the spiritual aspect by aligning the business with biblical promises of abundance. This involves identifying any gaps in knowledge that the enemy may be exploiting. The document also discusses applying kingdom values to business objectives and stakeholders like employees, customers, partners, government, and society. It emphasizes the importance of walking in love through actions like resolving conflicts peacefully and speaking the truth in love. Signs of growing in love include improved staff retention, open relationships, and an atmosphere of peace. The overall aim is for Christians to build
The path to business transformation
- 1. THE PATH TO BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION AS CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEURS INTRODUCTION Why are businesses important to us as Christians?Is the Lord interested in our business?How should we run and transform our businesses? The objective of this write up is to provide answers to these questions based on our constitution the Holy Bible. First, it is important we realise that as Christians we are part and parcel of God’s Kingdom, as such, we are to abide by the rules of the Kingdom in reverence and honour of our King Christ Jesus. Now, to the question why are businesses important to us as Christians? First, it is a means of providing for our household for the scripture says in 1st Timothy 5:8 – If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Secondly, the Lord promises to bless the work of our hands. Deuteronomy 28:12 says "The LORD willopen for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. Clearly, one means by which the Lord will prosper us exceedingly is through the works of our hands which on its own provides evidence of His interest in our business. This leads us to the question how should we run our businesses? Joshua 1:8 provides some guidance – This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shallmake your way prosperous, and then you shallhave good success. Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men (Proverbs 22:29). Thus, we should run our businesses diligently in accordance with the Holy Scriptures. To do this, we obviously have to love the Lord and He has to be our first priority. Our Lord Christ Jesus confirms this assertionin Mathew 6:33 – seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and allthese things shallbe added to you. This way, our business is just an extension of our relationship with the Lord and worship of our heavenly Father. And this is how it should be – “Business is Ministry”. An important note though, we must not fall into the trap of feeling when we run our businesses this way they would be less profitable. That’s a lie and we only need to repent i.e. change our thinking and align them with the truths of God’s word. Actually on the contrary, we would be very profitable and in a sustainable way too when we run our businesses God’s way. In fact,with the right scriptural mindset, we are guaranteed to be exceedingly profitable. Joshua 1:8, Proverbs 22:29, Deuteronomy 15:5-6 and Matthew 6:33 amongst many others. We shouldn't try to separate Business and Ministry rather see Business as Ministry and run it God's way. This may require a broader view of Ministry though. Once we jump on this train what a fascinating journey it will be. Will there be challenges? Sure, but it will be a story from glory to glory (Proverbs 4:18). Heaven on Earth! For further detailed guidance on how to transform our business, we will be looking at four essential elements; i. Grasping the spiritual aspect of business transformation, ii. Applying Kingdom values to enterprise objectives, iii. Growing in love as an enterprise, iv. Walking in love as an Enterprise.
- 2. GRASPING THE SPIRITUAL ASPECT TO BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION Here two elements are essential. First, it is important we have the right perspective about the potential of our business from the Holy Scriptures viz-a-viz our current position. Secondly, identifying possible reasons for the divergence observed and coming up with remedial action plans to bridge the gap. First, concerning our business the Lord says in Deuteronomy 15:6 For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. How close is our business to fulfilling this promise as members of the body of Christ? Could the activities of the enemy (John 10:10 – The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly) be connected to our inability to experience the fulfillment of God’s promise? Is there a knowledge gapwe need to unravel? The Holy Scriptures is filledwith God’s promises of abundance for us. So if our businesses are falling short of His abundant blessings there can only be one conclusion which is; there is a knowledge gap the enemy is exploiting succinctly captured in Hosea 4:6. This also applies to other aspects of our faith. And that is why our journey is one from glory to glory acontinuous path of discovery tillwe are filledwith the fullness of God. Now from observation, there is the tendency to separate our business from our relationship with the Lord. Phrases such as “this is business” is common. This is a fundamental issue which we should not permit in our business. Our business should be an extension of our worship to our heavenly Father. Whenever we tow the former line we are subconsciously handing over our business to the reign of the enemy and we know his motive. If only we knew, we would completely erase such phrases from our memory and our heart. Furthermore, business more often than not is a test of character and relationships. An ample opportunity for us Christians to “live the gospel” both as owners and as employees with love (God’s Love 1st Corinthians 13) as our motto. Once we have this shift in mindset we would be amazed at the influx of divine inspiration that we would have. We honestly can no longer afford to run our lives and businesses in a way contrary to God’s word. We are the salt of the earth and we should let our light shine that people would see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven. We should let this sink in; we are to make disciples of all nations and lend to nations. This is the Lord’s mandate and promise to us. Once our thought pattern concerning our business is alignedwith the Holy Scriptures we are better positioned to receive more divine wisdom on how to practically apply divine/Kingdom principles to practical aspects of our business. In the next three sections, we will be looking at the practical application of some Kingdom principles to our business. APPLYING KINGDOM VALUES TO ENTERPRISE OBJECTIVES/STAKEHOLDERS Our major stakeholders are our employees, customers/suppliers, business partners, government and the society. How are we to interact with these stakeholders from a Kingdom perspective? We will be shedding more light on these for each of these stakeholders. i. OUR EMPLOYEES Hmm! These are an organisation’s human capital. Business scholars increasingly agree that this is the most important asset of an organization. As such, it is important they are nurtured and treated properly. We can take a cue from how Jesus interacted with His disciples. He mentored and taught them often leading by
- 3. example and served them. He was interested in their entire well-being including their families even though He knew they would deny Him. This is a good example of how we should interact with our employees. We should be interested in their entire well-being. Employees likewise are to serve their masters as unto Christ doing the will of God from the heart. Ephesians 6:5-9 provides a good summary of the nature of the relationship that should exist between both parties. ii. OUR CUSTOMERS/SUPPLIERS To our customers we owe them our best quality product/service at the best price with absolutelyno desire to manipulate or cheat our customers placing their needs ahead of ours as a service to them (Proverbs 20:10 Diverse weights, and diverse measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD). Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men (Proverbs 22:29). iii. BUSINESS PARTNERS To our business partners we owe them faithful and honest stewardship. The parable of the talent as told by our Lord Christ Jesus captures this succinctly (Mathew 25:14-30). Clearly, we should be profitable and accountable stewards of the resources placed in our care. Lest, we forget we are stewards here, for it all belongs to the Lord and we are ultimately accountable to Him. It is our prayer that His comment to us will be “well done good and faithful servant”. iv. GOVERNMENT To the government we should provide an honest and accurate reporting of our affairs and be faithful citizens of the land. “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” In modern terms, pay your taxes. (Mathew 22:21). We are also to intercede for those that are in authority in the place of prayer (1st Timothy 1-2). v. SOCIETY To the society we are to be good corporate citizens practicing ethical and sustainable business practices. We should be interested in the well-being of the planet and use its resources to the best of our ability in a manner that is sustainable knowing fully well that it is our Father’s property first and foremost and secondly in love we are motivated to leave it in a better state for future generations. Lest we forget also, the earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof (Psalm24:1) and we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). So it is our property too. To all of this, love (God’s kind of love) has to be our primary motivation and not the brand leverage from our activities for it is the oil by which all things work together in the Kingdom of God where we belong. For irrespective of our gifts and talents if they are not used or exercised in love it profits us nothing (1st Corinthians 13). Therefore, it is important we know how to walk in love and grow in love both personally and as an organization. In the next two
- 4. sections, we will be looking at these two aspects which are essential to us achieving our objectives of transforming our businesses and organisations. WALKING IN LOVE AS AN ENTERPRISE To walk in love, it is important we have the right definition of what love is. 1st Corinthians 13 4-7 tells us “love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things,believes allthings, hopes all things, endures all things”. And Romans 13:10 tells us love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Now, for an organization, who is our neighbor? From the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10 anyone whom we can help is our neighbor. So for us as an enterprise the scope is really wide isn’t it? It will include our employees, vendors, service providers amongst others and extended to the society and the environment at large. Once we see the larger picture we will be amazed at the connections we can make that would help various stakeholders across the value chain and also help the organization. Love would help us see things the profit motive mindset would miss and ultimately would help us even become more profitable in a sustainableway. The Word of God says so,and let God be true (Romans 3:4). We would not seekto undermine anyone in anyway but look out for the good of all (Philipians 2:4 - Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.) In conflict resolution, we are to judge with righteous judgement (John 7:24 – Do not judge according to appearance but judge with righteous judgement.) speaking the truth in love. What then is righteous judgement? John 5:30 tells us “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my Judgement is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent me”. Therefore righteous judgement entails judging by God’s standard i.e. His word. How are we then to speak the truth in love? 2nd Timothy 2: 24-25 provides some insights “ And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth. Now, let’s assume we know and are applying insights and principles of how to walk in love; how do we measure our progress? How do we know we are growing in love as an organization? We will be looking at the evidence for our growth in the next section. GROWING IN LOVE AS AN ENTERPRISE How can we tell we are making progress and growing in love as an organisation? Are there indices we can use to track our progress? Below are some indicators we can use to track our progress. Consistent improvements in Staff retention rates Increasing number of open positive interpersonal interactions and relationships within and outside the work place. Growing feeling of we are one family and increasing demonstration of the fruits of the spirit in our interactions.
- 5. Improving atmosphere of peace and love that would be easily perceived by external visitors. And oh yes that’s it, the peace of the Lord that passes all understanding. A more open culture that embraces diversity without losing its root in Christ Jesus. We would increasingly see our business first and foremost as a means of worship to our heavenly Father. If we get this right, do not be surprised if we have a replica of the Apostles experience right there at work in a meeting… o The baptism of the Holy Spirit – Heaven on Earth! In conclusion, businesses are the economic nucleus of a nation. If businesses thrive, we can be assured that the nation will at least thrive economically. If the business have been and are being built God’s way we willno doubt have a much better society and will wellbe on the way to being a nation built on God’s word, a people after God’s own heart. In scriptural terms a sheep nation. So therefore, because we are part and parcel of God’s Kingdom; Christ Jesus is our King and we are motivated by the love of God that has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit in our business dealings and daily affairs. As a result, we are prosperous, peaceful, kind, gentle, longsuffering, joyful, meek and loving; a people and a nation after God’s own heart. Shalom!