Business Benefits: Why do Christians...

Good morning, Servant Leader. Today starts a new miniseries of blogs on Christians in business and how businesses benefit from Christian tenets. This short series will investigate some of the most common themes we see among servant leaders in general, and more specifically among Christian servant leaders in the Government Contracting (GovCon) world. In this miniseries, we’ll dig into why Christians choose to serve, why we pursue faithfulness over success, and why trust matters more than protection, among other topics.

To kick us off, let’s start with “Why do Christians…make good leaders?”

To find the answer, we don’t have to go any farther than Colossians 3:23-24.

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Christians understand that our leadership is granted by the God who sacrificed His own Son in service of our salvation. God’s own demonstration of leadership was to serve a humanity that could never deserve His sacrifice.

That same thought process colors every leadership decision a Christian makes, whether in business, at home, or generally in life. When a Christian embraces the tenant in Colossians 3 – that everything we do reflects on and is in service to the One True God – then every leadership decision carries the weight of the cross. When a Christian understands that our actions reflect on God’s demonstration of love – that He gave His everything for a people who could give nothing substantive in return – then our own leadership becomes less about growing our own portfolio and more about growing everyone around us.

And that mindset reflects on our business. When Christian leaders serve our companies like we serve our God, our companies get our best efforts…every time…even when we disagree with the business decisions we’re directed to follow. There are no half measures for a Christian leader. There is no “mailing it in”. Everything we do reflects on the One who sacrificed His Son so that we could live in promise. And that means giving back our best.

And when we give our best to the business, the business prospers.

We optimize work.

We empower employees.

We steward resources.

And the business benefits.

The flip side of leadership is followership – also called service. The same passage in Colossians explains why Christians also make good employees.

When an employee serves his or her employer as if they are serving God, everyone wins. That’s not to say that employees worship their employer – God forbid. No. It means that every invoice we bill, every workflow we support, and every phone call we take is an opportunity to demonstrate God’s love for those in our spere of influence.

That customer who calls cursing poor quality merchandise – Christian employees see an opportunity to improve a person’s day, which reflects well on the company.

That executive who changes his mind and the direction he gives every second Tuesday – Christian employees get in front of the next change rather than complaining about the last one.

That manager who was promoted out of a responsibility they couldn’t handle – Christian employees see an opportunity for 360-degree service.

In each of these instances and more, Christian employees see our service to our employer as a

reflection on our God. He gave His all in service to a humanity that did not deserve His sacrifice.

And He saw every bad decision, every poor witness, and every selfish choice we would make throughout our entire life…

…yet He did it anyway.

So, why do Christians make good employees?

For the same reason Christians make good leaders.

We serve the God who directs us to serve others as if they were Him.

And that level of dedication lands squarely on the business we serve, our customers, and our fellow servant leaders.