The Christian Entrepreneur » biblical business principles

Should Christians Bring Their Religion to the Workplace?

Brad Harmon — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:39:58 +0000

Why do Christian entrepreneurs insist on bringing their Christianity into their small business?

Why can’t Christians just keep their religion out of the workplace?

Have you heard these questions, or questions similar to these? Perhaps, you may have even been the person asking the questions?

It’s certainly a topic worthy of discussion. Both sides of the issue bring up valid concerns to bolster their position on the issue.

From the Christian’s Point of View

In defense of Christians, it is a bit disingenuous to insist that a person’s belief system be checked at the door when they enter their place of business.

Many would point out that doing such demonstrates either a gross misunderstanding of the role true faith plays in a person’s life, or a willful choice to discriminate against an acceptable group in our politically correct business world.

Christians who follow the example set by Christ, and the teachings of the Bible, should be the best workers and business people that exist. They should do their work cheerfully, diligently, orderly, patiently, honestly, and as unto the Lord.

They should be humble, grateful, kind, giving, compassionate, and forgiving. What employer would not want this type of person as an employee? In fact, wouldn’t you want all of your employees to be like this?

From the Business World’s Point of View

Yes, but where are these people? It’s not the Christians that we have hired. In fact, we wish more of our Christian workers were more like … well … Christians.

Instead we find most are all too willing to check their Christianity at the door. We’re pretty sure most of them just put it on when they enter their churches on Sunday, and hang it back up on their way out until they need it again the next Sunday.

The Christians we see are judgmental, lazy, and look on us with contempt. Anyone who disagrees with them on anything is going to Hell, and they will gleefully tell you as much.

They are the first to leave early, in the midst of most gossip circles, and when needed to work late conveniently have some church function to attend. On top of it all, they try to evangelize my workforce. That’s not what we are paying them to do.

Why would we want more employees like this? Seriously, why?

From God’s Point of View

Really? You thought I was going to speak for God? I’m flattered. Okay, I put the heading in so let’s just guess at what it might look like from God’s point of view.

It must break His heart. Christ said that we would know His followers by the love they have for one another. It was Christ who continued drawing in the sand when the adulteress was brought before Him.

She was clearly guilty, and it was clearly a case of entrapment, but He did not condemn her. He just kept drawing in the sand until the men left one by one from oldest to youngest. Ever wonder what he wrote?

I like to think that He wrote their names in the sand in that same order as they accused the woman, then when He said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her,” He started writing in their sins next to their names. Who knows if that is really what happened? It would fit His pattern.

You see, it was rare that Christ spoke harshly to anyone except for the religious leaders of the day. I don’t remember one instance – except in the form of a parable.

From My Point of View

It’s not that Christ looked lightly on sin. He expanded adultery to cover lust, murder to cover thoughts, and raised the requirements of the law. It’s not that Christ didn’t believe in Hell. He talked about it quite a lot, but only to those who came to hear His message.

It’s not just the people that pretend to be Christians that are tarnishing the brand today. It is those true Christians that, although they have been forgiven a great debt, seek out those who still owe this debt to punish them.

They have forgotten this parable, and they have forgotten to take the beam out of their own eye. They continued to levy their judgments in spite of Christ’s warning that with whatever measure we judge the same will be applied to us. That judgment is coming back on us today in America.

Somewhere along the way we started looking at the lost world as our enemy, or even worse that God was their enemy (see the sign above). Romans tells us that, while we were still enemies of God, He sent His Son to die for us. We were His enemies, not the other way around.

Check Your Religion at the Door, Just Bring Christ

I realize that not every Christian is not as bad as described above, but neither are most the model employee from above either. Evangelical Christians, like myself, must remember that we have not been commanded to convert anyone, but to preach the Gospel – the GOOD news. We were commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Paul taught us that we are not to pay “lip service” to our employers but to work as unto the Lord. Be the best worker, boss, employer that you can be. Be forgiving, loving, humble, and compassionate. Go that extra mile.

In short, bring Christ to the workplace, but check your religion at the door.

A Blog By Any Other Name

Brad Harmon — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:39:06 +0000

It’s been said that the sweetest sound in a man’s ears is the sound of his own name. I know I certainly like to hear mine.

This weekend, Keller Hawthorne pointed out a few SEO tips for my website in her reply to a comment I left on her blog. She noticed that I did not have any of my keywords in my title meta tag. To quote Homer Simpson, “DOH!” I’m not an SEO expert, but I should have caught that.

I added my tag line,”The Christian Entrepreneur,” to my title meta tag, and I jumped 3 to 5 pages on several keywords – literally overnight. That revelation started me thinking about why I was using my name as the title of my website.

It’s Not About Me

Honestly, I was using my name as my blog title because the URLs I wanted had been purchased and parked for a few years now. Since the URL was my name, I just plugged my name into the blog title and forgot about it.

There was probably a little vanity involved as well. Over the past month, I’ve added more tags and categories than I originally intended, but I kept telling myself that those topics were just a reflection of my interests. After all, the website has my name on it!

While fixing my SEO issues this weekend, the opening line from Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life flooded my mind, “It’s not about you!”

The Purpose Driven Blog

The purpose of this blog is not to write about whatever interests me. It is to help small business entrepreneurs grow their businesses using proven, practical, and Biblical financial principles.

It’s also to remind, or teach, us that being a Christian entrepreneur is about a lot more than just being an entrepreneur who is a Christian. It’s a calling from God.

When properly realized, it showers those around us with blessings shining God’s glory and converting our temporal wealth into eternal riches.

I Don’t Care About This Christianity Thing

The funny thing about God’s laws and principles is that they work whether you believe in Him or not. I promise that at no time will I try to convert you, preach to you, or try to convince you that God even exists.

Many of my posts will not mention God, the Bible, or Christianity at all. This does not mean that they are not grounded in all of these; it’s just that there is no need to over-spiritualize everything.

I don’t need to quote chapter and verse to instruct you on how to make a cake. The same is true about many small business principles.

If there is going to be a heavy dose of Christianity in a post, then it will be filed under The Christian Entrepreneur category. The title of the post should usually give you a hint too.

A Blog By Any Other Name

Other than the new name, and a renewed focus, the blog is still the same. The new name better reflects the purpose of this blog.

Going Dutch – Moses, James Bond, and the Christian Entrepreneur

Brad Harmon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:59:53 +0000

Last week I published a post titled Have You Been Recommended by God? where I looked at the qualities of a man named Bezalel. God handpicked him by telling Moses that Bezalel was the man to head up the most important national project in the history of the Israelites up to that point.

Bezalel was charged with crafting the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle, the alters, the priestly garments, and the holy relics used by the priests. You may be thinking to yourself, “Okay, I can see an Indiana Jones reference, but how does James Bond fit into this story? Or better yet, the Dutch?”

Going Dutch

I received a comment on my post from a Dutch blogger named Leon de Rijke (his blog is written in Dutch, but Google translator works well). He pointed out that God also tapped Oholiab to assist Bezalel. I had left him out because I was saving him for another post on leadership, but Leon gave a quick outline of this passage that I just absolutely loved.

He pointed out that Bezalel was

properly briefed (he knew what to do, his vocation)
properly trained (he knew how to do it)
properly resourced (he had tools etc)
properly supported (he had an assistant)

Isn’t that a great outline? I was so impressed with it that I asked him if he had written a post already using that outline (if not I was going to “steal” it).

“Bond, James Bond”

He replied back saying that he had not, and that it was actually from a video comparing Christians and James Bond. To quote the great thinker of our times, Mylie Cyrus, “Say Wha-aaat?” I clicked on the link in his reply and found the video below.

The video was made by the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC). I don’t know much about this group, but the videos they have posted on YouTube are great. I like the line where he compared Bond to Sampson, but his four quick bullet points at the end are very true. As entrepreneurs, we are often guilty of not properly training, equipping, and supporting our people and business.

Moses & Aaron, Bezalel & Oholiab

God seldom calls us to act alone on his behalf. There is great comfort and strength in having someone with whom we can share our burden. Moses was given his brother Aaron because he was not a good speaker (he ended up being very good at speaking but Aaron was of considerable help to him). God appointed Oholiab to assist Bezalel.

It’s been this way from the very beginning when He made Eve. Genesis 2:18 says

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

This verse has often been misinterpreted to show that a man is superior to a woman, but this is clearly refuted over and over again in the Bible. I make this point because we tend to make the same mistake in our view of the owner/boss to employee relationship. As Christian Entrepreneurs, we must remember we are given people to assist us in our calling from God, but we are also meant to assist them.

True leadership is that demonstrated by Christ, servant leadership. It’s recognizing that, because you have been charged with the responsibility for your team, you must suppress your pride and become a servant to your team. It is only then that each of our strengths can complement the other’s weaknesses to create a stronger team.

Providing Resources for Our Business

As Christian Entrepreneurs, we need to make sure that we properly resource our business (especially if we have employees). God did not simply call Bezalel, but he equipped him as well. In Exodus 31:6, God says

Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you.

We must recognize that God also provides us with the resources to accomplish His calling. It comes back to seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. It is in the accepting that our vocation is a calling from God that points our focus towards Him. It is this focus that transforms us into a Christian entrepreneur.

Bezalel was given a skilled helper and skilled laborers. He was also given the raw materials. Remember that the Israelites where without a home to call their own – they were nomads at this point. Where were they to get all of the resources necessary to complete this work while nomads in a barren land?

It was the wealth given to them by the distraught Egyptians as the Israelites started their mass exodus. These same resources that they had earlier used to craft their golden calf were now being employed by God to craft His holy artifacts. There’s a good listen here about how we treat the resources God has entrusted to our care.

Thank You

There are probably many more lessons we could learn from Bezalel and Oholiab. One of the things that I love the most about the Bible is how these brief mentions of people, that are so often glossed over, can provide us with so much insight.

You just never know when your footnote in life will serve as the inspiration to others. Many times the comments on my blog, and the blogs of others, are often more insightful and informative than the original post itself.

Thank you Leon for your comment. I hope you, and my other readers, will leave many more.

Should Your Small Business Advertise as Christian Owned?

Brad Harmon — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:42:36 +0000

I just read the article Slapping Fish- Being a Christian Entrepreneur by Melanie Hope. She writes about slapping the Jesus fish on the bottom of her website without giving it much thought until someone questioned her about it.

She discusses the inner conflict that Christian business owners face in wanting to be true to their faith without losing potential customers. It’s a great read, and I wish I would have thought of the title.

So what do you think? Does displaying your Christianity in your small business limit your customer base? If so, what type of customers will it attract?

“They Just Cleaned the Carpets and Left!”

Certainly, you will automatically be disqualified by some due to your proclamation of faith. People have become distrustful of the motives of business owners that bring their faith into their business.

It reminds me of the episode of Seinfeld where George is upset that he was not recruited into a cult that operated the Sunshine Carpet Cleaners. He exclaims in disgust, “They just cleaned the carpets and left! They call themselves a cult?”

In a day where politicians proudly proclaim that their faith is left at home when they take the oath of office, many will assume that you will attempt to convert them as part of your business. There may even be a few George’s that will wonder why you couldn’t be bothered to convert them.

It is important that you clearly define why you are advertising your faith. If your business is more of a ministry then be up front with it.

“Mine, Mine, Mine”

You will attract other Christians by openly displaying your Christianity in your small business. People have a natural affinity to live and trade with those who share their customs, religion, and ethnicity.

If you think this makes it easier to satisfy them as customers, you may be wrong.

While it is true that birds of a feather flock together, you will want to be wary that they are not like the birds in the movie Nemo fighting over every little fish in the sea.

Many will be looking for the “family discount” to which they feel entitled. After all, you did market directly to them didn’t you?

It’s not only fellow believers that will expect you to lower your prices. Many believe that Christians should always be the low cost provider – they assume making a profit is the same as loving money (or the root of all evil) and Christians should avoid this.

Remember, Christ said in Luke 10:7 that the “the labourer is worthy of his hire.” If you are providing a quality product or service you deserve to be paid a fair price.

Let Him Have Thy Cloak Also

There are those that will expect you to provide extra products or services for no additional charge, or expect you to always provide these to a church or charity pro bono.

These people can quickly siphon the profit out of a small business, and take up valuable time and resources that could be used to generate profits from more reasonable customers.

What do you do with verses like Matthew 5:40?

“And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.”

Does this prevent you from suing to collect monies owed? Will some customers refuse to pay you or severely delay payment in preference of other less understanding businesses?

What Does the Bible Say About Business Anyway?

The Bible directly, or indirectly, mentions money over 800 times! When we slap the Jesus fish on our businesses we raise the standards to the highest possible level. And even Christians disagree on how to apply all of these passages.

Don’t leave it up to your customers to assume the meaning, or you will only set yourself up to be compared against vastly different standards which you will likely not fare well against.

Even Fish Slappers Deserve a Second Chance

My advice is to take a second look at why you want to advertise your business as Christian owned. Even if you do not advertise your business this way, are you not still required by your faith to run it in the same manner?

If you do decide to continue to advertise your faith, then you should clearly define what that means for your customers in writing. Include it in your “About Us” page or as an answer in your “FAQ” page.

I think many of us have been guilty of being fish slappers without giving it much thought. I have barely scratched the surface on issues small business owners could face by advertising their business as Christian owned, but hopefully I have given you an opportunity to think about why you’ve made this choice.