Do not ask questions about religion.
Unless you are a bonafide religious organization. If you do, you risk running into a lawsuit under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law prohibits employers from asking prospective employees about their religious views.
Employers should avoid questions about an applicant’s religious affiliation, such as place of worship, days of worship, and religious holidays and should not ask for references from religious leaders, e.g., ministers, rabbis, priests, imam, or pastor.
Only religious corporations, associations, educational institutions, or societies are exempt from the federal laws that the US Equal Opportunity Commission enforces when it comes to the employment of individuals based on their particular religion.
Hiring the wrong person can disrupt your Christian Culture
Your concern is understandable. You are a Christain business owner. You’ve worked hard to build up a Christian culture. Painful past experiences taught you that it only takes one match to burn a forest. In this case, that match is one angry employee and the forest is your business.
But hiring Christians only does not guarantee good results
And let’s say you are a Christian organization and you get to ask religious questions. A candidate being aware of this may just tell you what you want to hear. The candidate may even be sincere not knowing you have different views of what it means to be a Christian.
Remember what happened to World Vision? They got sued by three of their employees who got fired and claimed religious discrimination. The court case dragged on for four years.
The former employees were fired because they did not believe in the divinity of Jesus or the doctrine of the Trinity. How could someone call themselves Christians, when they don’t believe in Christ, is baffling.
This only goes to show that some people just wear Christianity as a label.
Hire based on shared values
The best way to approach this is to hire based on shared values. We understand the need for same-faith workers in religious organizations, but in for-profit businesses, it is not necessary.
Hiring based on values and not on religion may turn out to be the right path for you.
People who share your value maybe further down the road on their journey to becoming Christians. God places people where they have the most chance to become Christians.
You can see this in Acts 17:22, “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”
Hiring non-Christians but qualified people is your blue ocean as far as evangelism is concerned.
How do you intend to fulfill the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 if you are in your office every day surrounded by Christians? Exactly, you can’t. Unless you want a good excuse which you plan to say to the Lord on the day of reckoning. It’s not going to work.
Hiring qualified, like-minded people significantly increases your pool of applicants. There are a lot of talented good people out there who just need an opportunity to show what they can do. Great move on the business owners who hire them because they are likely to be loyal and contribute to the company for a long time.
Screen for skills first
Let your HR people or managers shift through the applicants to determine the most promising ones. Those who have the education, training, and experience to get the job done.
This is the first stage of the interview process to separate the chaff from the wheat.
Give them practical exams where you can pressure test their credentials. Take on a tour of your production floor and see if they know their way around the machinery and the production process. Give them problems to solve.
Test for values
After separating the most qualified, your next move is to them by your vision, mission, and company values. Habakkuk 2:2 we are told to “write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so that he may run who reads it.”
Find out what they think about each statement. Are these something that they are willing to abide by? Give an example for each to make sure they understand.
Ask them what do they think that your company will not cover contraception costs in the employees’ health insurance plan?
Make it clear that extra-marital office affairs are grounds for termination. What do they think about that?
Is it an issue with them that the company prohibits alcohol in its premises and all company events even outside the office?
Their feedback on these questions will give you a picture of what working with this person will be like. The applicant will also get a clear picture of what working for your company will be like. Is it something that they will find to be a healthy working environment for them?
Final thoughts
Hiring an employee can be a turning point for the person or for the business. That’s why you need to involve God in the final decision. Pray about it. Search the Scriptures. Seek counsel from your peers, mentors, and pastor.
Whoever you select, make your peace with it. Then trust God.
