Business Integrity Matters

Business Integrity Matters

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2 Ways We Can Honor God in our Work

Have you ever measured yourself against others by the job you had? I know I have. I used to confuse job title for importance. I figured the long hours, massive responsibilities and an overwhelming to-do list were the measures of my own value. In addition, if others did not appreciate my position, what I had or how I did my job, I took it as their personal disapproval of me – which just made the whole situation worse!

I’m wondering how many of you can relate to my own desire to simply be approved by those around me. As I was seeking approval, I saw the labels of success provided by the world and continued to chase my own significance into an idolatry spiral. I was overcome by chasing after more possessions instead of running toward God.

If you are a business owner – ministry leader or a faithful worker, keeping up with the Jones’ can be exhausting and get us into more trouble than we might realize in the beginning. If we continue focusing on what our own possessions will buy us and how they might bring us more power, we slowly replace God with stuff.

There is one story that comes to mind that provides an interesting example of the challenge to honor God in our work. Most of you are probably aware of this short – yet impactful story in the Book of Genesis. The story is Cain & Able.

While this story only has a few verses dedicated to the incident, we can see ourselves and our jealous drive in there somewhere. If we take a step back from the details associated to the killing of Able by his brother, we might see the beginning of a struggle of world views. From reading the text – it appears that Cain had a heart for the harvest and Able had a heart for God.

This is the cosmic battle we continue to see today. Is our faith and worship of the Father more important than the fields we tend, the widgets we sell or the paycheck we bring home? I would say that in a simple look around you – you could probably identify this same problem today. We’re continually bombarded by advertising images that say we just aren’t good enough without the right look, the right toys or the right financial resources – leaving the judgement of worth to our own peers.

This is upside down! God provides us with our value – creating each of us in His image. If we are to honor God in our work – we should be focused on pleasing Him in worship at the office. This means performing to godly standards and having a stewardship perspective.

Performing to godly standards starts with understanding God’s personality and working with the quality that honors his character. However, knowing God’s personality can be hard work – it requires study, prayer and accountability. Therefore, I challenge you to grab your Bible and simply start reading. As you do, look for the character traits of God and start applying them to your work today. As a way of keeping you on track, I encourage you to confide in a friend – asking them to hold you accountable for the changes you are going to make.

In addition to simply understanding God’s character – shifting your world view to see possessions the way God sees them will dramatically impact your ability to honor God with your work. If you view your job, your employees, your paycheck, your car, your team, your everything as a possession of God’s that you are simply blessed to take care of for a while – your behavior will change. These changes will show others who has lordship over you life.

As you display these changes in world view others will notice. As they notice that you are working to honor God – having a heart for Him rather than a heart for the harvest – you will be changing lives. Others around you will see this as refreshing and start to act authentically around you. All this allows you to share the Good News of Christ and affirm their value through the sacrifice that was paid for you and them on The Cross.

Imagine what work would be like if we shifted our eyes from the grievous act of Cain against Able and saw the root cause as not having a heart for God in our work. By adjusting our own behavior before jealousy takes over – before we replace God with our paycheck – we get a chance to witness and worship through our work. May God richly bless you and your business!

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Neutralizing Risks of Workplace Ministry

Creating a Christian work ministry has been a trial in my career. As a recovering engineering, I am risk averse. As the boss, I am averse to lawsuits. As the salesperson, I am afraid of offending customers. As a supervisor, I am fearful of employee discomfort. As a business owner, I am spooked by added costs. However, I understand that we are called to be ambassadors for Christ as though God were making an appeal through us to be reconciled to Him (2 Cor 5:20). Searching for solutions to these risks, I found several.

Let us address the risks head-on. The most common misconception is that we will be sued. However, we may not realize that even the federal government has a policy protecting workers rights to express their faith at work. My layman’s take on this policy suggests you have the right to express your faith at work as long as it is nondiscriminatory and programs are voluntary. In addition, the Christian community is replete of legal advice in this area.

Losing sales is another concern. Most workplace ministries express their faith through core values and business practices. All of your customers should see Christian core values and business practices as benefits. These values show your kindness, respect, and commitment to excellence. Great customer service is built from these values.

Your employee’s comfort is another key worry. All workplace ministries are voluntary and provide benefits that are supplemental to traditional benefits packages. Additional benefits may include chaplaincy, small groups, community involvement, and charitable giving. These options provide employees opportunities to belong to groups that care beyond their work function. Case studies show workplace ministries actually increase employee retention and reduce operations costs.

Operational cost savings may afford the implementation of a full service workplace ministry, which generally costs only one percent of gross sales. However, simple programs can be established for free. The best solution is to create a program that fits your budget.
Simple, and free, solutions include prayer groups, Bible studies, and community service. Bible studies are my favorite solution. I do my normal study in the conference room or lunchroom. When others ask what I am doing, I let them know that I am studying my Bible. Then, the Holy Spirit does something fantastic; He delivers more studiers during my normal study time, forming a group. Prayer groups can be started the same way by praying before work, after work, or in the parking lot during a break. This creates a great opportunity to proclaim your faith and gain participation. While these are very practical and cheap, some may want to go the extra mile (Matt 5:41) and provide full service workplace ministries are another solution.

Full-service ministries can be created in your office in only a few months. His Way at Work, a non-profit organization that equips and encourages business leaders to transform their workplace culture with the Light of Christ can help you establish a full-service solution. Their case studies are helpful in navigating the process and increasing your efficiency in implementing a program.
No matter the answer that you select, your business is a gift from God and you can be certain that when you proclaim His truth in everyday speech, you are letting others in on the truth so that they can grow and be strong and experience His presence with you (1 Cor 14:3-3 Message). Today is the day to start your ministry at work and be an ambassador for Christ.

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Corporate Stewardship

Fast cars, fancy clothes, elegant watches, season tickets to sporting events and the local theatre – all of these are the spoils of war in today’s corporate culture. However, they are all idolatry. I know, I struggle with this sin the most. The privilege of having a career that spins off dollars like leaves falling from trees can really challenge your perspective and your judgment. Pretty soon, you may find as I did – there is never enough. This lifestyle of excess has us doing and spending for the simple sake of wanting others to see how great we look and what influence we can buy. All of this spirals out of control as the need for more never gets truly satisfied and we keep worshiping our own pride while our greed feeds the dysfunction.

Have you ever been sucked into the unending cycle of wants that far exceeds your needs? Are you a business owner or leader that puts yourself on display for the staff after you get the new car or the front row tickets to the big sporting event. Are you posting all of your spoils of war on social media just to be noticed? If so, your challenge is not unique. Your challenge was shared by religious royalty – and Jesus adjusted their judgment just as he adjusts our own.

When I was first exposed to the story of the widow’s mite in the 21stt Chapter of Luke, I read it completely out of context. I saw that a poor woman gave more as a percentage of her own wages than those that had great wealth. I had not considered the larger lesson Jesus was trying to give me. As I read the text leading up to the example of the widow I was struck by the behaviors that Jesus noted of the Sadducees.

Jesus put a spotlight on the greed and prideful habits of the religious royalty of the time, the Sadducees. These religious leaders were struggling with the same sin with which I struggle. These leaders put themselves on display with flowing robes and lengthy prayers, they garnered attention by long greetings in public places, they put themselves in positions of prominence by taking the important seats in the synagogues and banquets, and lastly they continued to seek more money by taking from those of little means.
When I read this in full context, I can see that the struggle of the religiously powerful of their time is similar to the struggle of the socially powerful of our own. I can see that those of us in leadership positions can misuse the gifts we have been given for our own gain. I can see the focus easily shift from a heart for God and stewardship of those great treasures He has given to a focus on our things and us.

To underscore this lesson, Jesus shows us the example of the widow that gave a large portion of her own possessions. Since the value was small compared to others, her giving was driven by worship and obedience rather than pride and greed. She had nothing to gain socially and a lot to lose financially for following through in her own obedience.

So now what? Do we simply give it all up and live a life as a pauper? Maybe yes, maybe no. As I learn from this lesson I am continually challenged to understand the true meaning of stewardship and learn how to apply it to my daily life. As a Christian business owner or leader you have been entrusted with much. You have been entrusted with a business that can have an enormous impact on others for the good or the bad. If we all understand true stewardship we will focus our attention on the Creator, be thankful for the resources we have and ask Him what He would have us spend them on. We need to turn from our own selfish ways so that we are more likely to have an eternal impact on those in our businesses, families, and community.

We are truly blessed to be in business. We are truly blessed to be saved from eternal separation from the one and true God. If we were to really understand this spirit of stewardship and change our own behavior the resources we could put toward God’s kingdom on earth would be astounding. Imagine what your giving would look like if you settled for a simple sedan and not the luxury SUV or if you stopped buying imported suits and selected something on sale instead. What if you donated your season tickets to a family that couldn’t afford the popcorn? These acts of stewardship would demonstrate how grateful you are for the gift of salvation that you have received as a Christian. These are the fruits of the Spirit that demonstrate your changed heart and you would be in continual worship to the One that paid the price for you!

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Restructuring Your Business

If I had this sage advice 11-years ago, I would have avoided making huge mistakes. In the beginning of the millennium I was asked to step out of my comfort zone and reconstruct a segment of an existing business. This was foreign because I had spent most of my leadership tenure starting a new venture from scratch or expanding an existing operation. Reconstruction was a beast I new little about.

The school of hard knocks put me through the ringer, and hindsight is certainly 20-20. I made a huge mistake in reconstructing the business. In the effort to retool, I searched for skills, not character. I worked on the minutia, not protection of profits and reputation. I tried to get over it, not allow it to heal. I tried to do it all by myself, not find the right leaders & workers to take over. I was the only one emotionally invested, and for the wrong reasons.

If you are a business owner, business leader, employee in transition, or human resources director maybe you can relate. The profit and loss statement shows a degenerating trend and the morale of the organization has been lousy for a long time. Your customers have noticed a difference too and they no longer bless you with the loyalty you need to keep the cash flowing. Your employees depend on you righting the ship. Your investors rely on more than stabilization; they require growth. As you are under water, you struggle to see a clear path to reconstruct your once-great company.

If Jesus could be resurrected in three days, He certainly has the power to help you reconstruct your business. Our God is big enough to do what seems impossible, even on Main Street. He demonstrated this power through the resurrection of Christ and the rebuilding of Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah. It is in the first five chapters of the book of Nehemiah where God lays out a plan for reconstruction that you can use in your business today. Nehemiah’s approach included working on the foundational items first, finding the right leader to support the mission, empowering the staff to build, reordering the organization chart, and filling the new chart with the right mix of seniority and character.

Like Nehemiah, we would be best served to focus on foundational principles first. We must strategically plan by revisiting our core beliefs, restating or recreating our mission and vision and partnering with key customers. These activities form the nucleus of the business and the purpose for its existence. Once we understand purpose, we can start building the staff.

If we follow Nehemiah’s example, our staffing must start with a leader that will help keep the team on mission. Therefore, this leader, like Nehemiah’s brother Hanani, must be selected on character traits rather than demonstrated skill. Hanani is picked as commander because he is faithful and fearful of God; not because he is stronger, bigger, or faster than anyone else that could stand guard. These character traits are essential in reinforcing purpose of the company. With this purpose in mind, the required skills can be taught. And as Hanani was soon to find out, delegation would be a skill to perfect immediately.

After the leader is selected, the focus shifts to delegation and execution. The leaders must reiterate the purpose, identify those most emotionally invested, and empower them to execute the mission. In Nehemiah’s example, he found success through empowerment of the local townspeople. These people understood the local culture, could identify the enemy, and had a vested interest in the city’s success. Likewise, as we reconstruct our businesses, we should be relying heavily on those most loyal and most heavily invested to get the company going back in the right direction.

Finally, after the wheels of commerce start to spin again, you can retool the organization chart. Here, as with Nehemiah, we want to fill the chart with leaders that have been loyal to the company and have historic perspective. This historic perspective helps protect the company from repeating its mistakes. One way to do this is to find those shining stars that left the company as it was losing its way and put them in leadership positions. With a little support and reinforcement of the mission, these returning leaders can help you grow to new levels.

As you reconstruct your business, I challenge you to examine the reasons the organization lost its way. I challenge you to see if the soul of the company was lost because you and the other leaders in the company lost sight of Christ and His purpose for your business. I challenge you to identify those that need the grace of our Lord in their lives. This rebuilding process can have a profound impact on those in the company. Your company and its new direction can bear witness to the transformational power of Christ through the Holy Spirit. The new peace and purpose of your company may be the reason someone receives the healing power of the resurrected Lord.

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Corporate Responsibility Gone Bad

I find myself tempted to reap the marketing benefits of Corporate Responsibility rather than focus on the heart condition of generous giving. Corporate Social Responsibility began in the late 1960’s and early 1970’; a time when Americans struggled with authority and started turning their backs on God in mass. The concept of this responsibility was focused on businesses taking responsibility for their impact on the environment, consumers, employees, and communities. Soon, corporate marketing departments were tempted like me. They started advertising these good works for the benefit of the bottom line. This bottom line thinking has a tendency to harden our hearts and steer us away from our Savior.

Marketing directors, business owners, and employees often look to benevolence as a way to show their commitment to the community and garner favor with customers. If you are a business owner, have you been tempted to give simply because it may impress your customers? Have you consider the side benefit of this generosity as a way of justifying even more generous giving? Do you want the world to applaud your actions as being righteous? If so, you are not alone. In fact, Jesus foretold of this very temptation and provided clear instruction to all of us.

Jesus’ love for us is very practical and personal. In fact, He warned of this very temptation and the detrimental effect on our own hearts when He said “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven” (Matt 6:1 NASB). This statement is followed by the practical guidance that we should give anonymously so that this practice can glorify Him and becomes a means of worship by us rather than a badge of honor we wear to gain approval of our peers or customers. It is time for a paradigm shift in our businesses. It is time to view giving as a way for us to bless others and honor God.

Therefore, as a business owner, leader, or employee it is time for you to act. It is time for you to develop a habit of joyous giving, not for praise of your colleagues, customers, or competitors; but because you have a heart for the God that so loved you that He sacrificed His son to reconcile you to the Father. These habits can include a bucket at the office that others can contribute to without credit, a bank account for anonymous donation, a trust, or automatic paycheck deductions that directly benefit charitable organizations. In fact, this giving could even be to provide periodical subscriptions to missionaries or soldiers. You and your business could sponsor a child at camp. Remember, giving is not restricted to financial contributions. This giving could be time off work to volunteer in local ministries. Be creative and be committed to giving as a means of worship. These acts will change the hearts of those with which you work and will have a side benefit of building God’s Kingdom through example and testimony.

Imagine the change in the business world and our communities if we chose to give as a way of worship rather than to impress our neighbors. Imagine the impact you and your business could have on this community, this state, the country, or the world through giving. Stories of how your gifts changed lives through your demonstrated love for Christ will have angels singing in heaven (Luke 15:10)!

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3 Ways to Increase Your Giving Every Year

I love Christmas, but hate December! From a business standpoint December is about finalizing last years’ books & reconciling accounts with hope for a fresh start in the New Year. Each December I find myself wishing that I had more set aside as resources to give to my family, my friends and my community. However, like most business owners, I struggle to simply work my way through the bills and set aside extra for the down season in January.

If you are a business owner or leader you may be able to relate to the pressures of financial contributions, holiday parties & additional expenses attacking your bottom line. If you are a faithful worker, you might be frustrated by the limited budget your company has to give to the causes you appreciate most. All of this pressure could be relieved if we simply apply the principles taught to us by God through the life of Joseph and his time serving Pharaoh (Gen. 39-41).

If you remember the story, Joseph spent his latter teen years until he was in his thirties in and out of sticky situations. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, purchased out of slavery by Pharaoh’s captain of the guard (Potiphar), put in charge of all of Potiphar’s possessions, wrongly accused of infidelity with Potiphar’s wife, thrown in jail, then retrieved from jail to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. Upon interpreting the dream, Joseph understood that a famine would follow bountiful times and God’s wisdom directed him to suggest a special savings program for Egypt.

Pharaoh, impressed by Joseph’s interpretation, put Joseph in charge of the kingdom’s resources. Under Joseph’s command, the Egyptian people saved up twenty-percent of their grain for future use. When the famine came, Pharaoh sold back grain to the Egyptians to make up the difference between what was being harvested and what was needed to feed families. The practical solution of setting aside resources during the good times is one we can implement in our companies today.

As the year comes to an end, it is time to revisit pricing, look at compensation and benefits packages, and set our budgets for the coming year. With all the moving parts in each company’s spending plan, now is the time to look at what can be set aside for the down times – or gifting time at the end of next year.

Looking at Joseph’s practical guidance, we see a great formula. If we structure our budgets to operate on only seventy percent of our gross income, we will have enough to tithe and save for special giving opportunities. As we expand this concept to include our office or warehouse space and our individual time, we see three simple ways our businesses can provide something special to the community.

Not only can we contribute more in cash, we can set aside office space to house a non-profit or other community groups. They can even use our buildings and other facilities in off hours or weekends. By learning to work in smaller spaces, the extra we have can truly bless someone else in the community. By using our space to give, we can reduce the financial burden on our businesses but still positively impact our communities for Christ.

In addition to facilities, we can support our employees and the company’s leadership in community service. For instance, businesses could establish a voluntary service project for the summer months and ask the employees to donate a portion of their vacation time for the work effort. As an added bonus, the business could even match the time with additional time off during the year or donate the financial savings toward materials or supplies. Being creative with our time and including these activities in the budget continue to demonstrate our understanding of God’s ownership of everything.

Imagine what could happen through your business if you simply budgeted your time, money and resources to relieve the stress of giving any time of year. In addition, imagine what you could do with the money that is set aside at the end of the year and what a blessing you could be for someone that doesn’t know Christ. Together we can budget unique ways to pour into our communities and reduce the stress that piles on at the end of the year.
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