We, Christian business owners, acknowledge that we are just stewards of God on this earth. God owns the business, not us.
Like the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14–30, our Master will soon return and we will have to account for what was entrusted to us.
This includes the employees that God gave us to take care of. Not only take care of in terms of physical needs but more so in terms of spiritual needs. The latter will directly impact their lives in eternity.
A spiritually fit worker is more productive, trustworthy, and happy. He knows that ultimately, Jesus Christ is his boss. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” Colossians 3:23.
Don’t worry. Your workers will still get frustrated with you just like in any other company. But they are also praying for you and your success. A spiritually healthy worker knows that his boss is Jesus.
So there are also practical benefits for the company if the workers are spiritually fit.
Ways to improve and maintain your employees’ spiritual fitness
1. Establish pre-work devotionals.
Do this every day before official work officially starts at 9 a.m. Devotions can be aired via the company intercom. It can be recorded to play during set times.
You can also ask for volunteers to do the devotionals among your Christian employees. It doesn’t have to be live every day but it will help encourage more volunteers to do the devotionals.
If you run more than just one shift, then you can do the devotionals at the start of every shift. This will serve as the official kick-off for work and will help everyone stay focused. Habit and routine help keep people productive.
Keep it under 5 minutes so that it doesn’t get in the way of deadlines and production quotas. There’s a lot you can say during that time already. Any longer and the attention of the employees will drift away.
2. Hold office Bible studies at least once a week.
Do it while your company is still small so that the culture will be ingrained as the business gets bigger. You will avoid the issues that beset bigger companies as they try to shift their culture.
New hires will join the company with the Christian culture already established. The influence of their more senior Christian colleagues will help new employees understand and get to know Jesus more.
Keep the office Bible study under a fixed time, schedule and venue. Again, helping it become a habit for your employees. It’s much easier to arrange schedules and work around something that is predictable. So once you determine the ideal time and venue, stick to it as much as possible.
It is important that you do the Bible study on company time, not after office hours. This signals to employees that the company is serious about investing resources in the spiritual wellness of the employees.
Doing Bible studies on company time and facilities also serve as the equity or share of the company in the endeavor. If workers are going to invest their time and energy in this activity, the company should also make its share of sacrifices.
You can invite outside speakers. Asking employees to serve as resource speakers for Bible studies may impair their productivity. It may also put them under more pressure on top of the usual workload.
You can avoid this by inviting your pastor, or other guest speakers from other Christian organizations. It will help keep things interesting. It will also blow away suspicions of office politics or gossip if you have a guest speaker who has no clue about what’s going on in the office.
3. Volunteering to the community.
Doing community volunteer work helps employees get a release from stress. Workers get a sense of pride if the company helps the community.
Most of all, helping the disadvantaged fills the gap between learning the Gospel and applying the Gospel. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me,” Matthew 25:40.
Never do volunteer work on a weekend. That’s family day for most people. Do it on company time which is your equity and convey that helping is something that management takes seriously.
Support your employees’ volunteerism with company resources. Provide the paints, lumber, cleaning tools, equipment, and transportation that are needed for the project. Get t-shirts made for the activity. This will help the community recognize and remember your company. It’s also a nice souvenir for the workers.
You can partner with a local Christian organization that is already doing work in the community and knows what its beneficiaries need. These are accredited charity organizations that can also help with your tax declarations.
4. Connect with their local church and pastor.
If you truly care about your workers, you will be interested in how they are doing as part of the body of Christ. Reach out to their pastor and find out more about their church involvement.
Find out if they are regular attenders like they said in their resumes or are telling everyone in the canteen. Having different points of view will show the bigger picture.
Are they participating in church culture? Are they giving their tithes and offering? Not that you acting as their pastor but this will give you an idea of the topics that need to be discussed in your office Bible studies.
If you serve as their mentor, encourage them to follow Jesus in a deeper way by serving in the church.
Invite their pastor to the office Bible Study. They will get a kick out of that. They’ll get an idea that you and their pastor are talking, Make sure that it is only their spiritual wellbeing that you are concerned about.
5. Promote a Christian Vision and Mission.
As a Christian, you know that making money is not why God made you a business owner. It is to make a difference in the lives of people for Jesus.
Are you sure your employees know and understand this? Maybe not. Make sure that they are not just employees or workers but you are all under the employ of God.
Employees must learn to internalize the company’s vision and mission.
Repeatedly and consistently talk about your vision and mission during meetings, team buildings, and brainstormings. Get their feedback and ideas on how to promote these better and apply them in their work.
6. Codify Christian values in your company manual.
The company manual is an important document. Employees will often read it first before asking questions to their supervisors.
A company manual is vital and a Christianized company manual even more. It answers a lot of questions that would otherwise be left unanswered because employees often don’t bother.
They won’t be asking why there are Bible studies, Bible verses, and other Christian practices in your office because they’ve already read the explanation in the employees’ manual.
The handbook should provide guidelines on how an employee is expected to behave and participate in the company. This is important as they will be spending a minimum of 40 hours in the company a week.
Especially for employees with no experience working in a Christian culture, a code of ethics will greatly clarify the do’s and don’t while working with your company.
7. Chapel services
Chapel services should be attended by everyone, whereas Bible studies are voluntary. Chapel services can be held to commemorate special occasions or coincide with special announcements. As such they are held infrequently, perhaps once every quarter.
You can make this like a hybrid town hall meeting so that the spirituality of your company is also highlighted.
Just like every official company gathering, it should be held on company time.
Guest speakers to deliver God’s Word and render an intermission number would be good additions to the program.
8. Always promote the Gospel through company communications.
There are many opportunities to share Bible verses, inspirational quotes, or stories through your owned media.
For example, you can have a regular devotional section in your e-newsletter. The mail footer can have the company’s favorite Bible verse which you can change monthly or quarterly.
The social media pages of the company can also highlight Christian messages, and share snippets of your Bible studies, or volunteer work.
Your website can have a page dedicated to your Christian activities. This can attract Christians who are looking for Christian companies to work for.
9. Most importantly, you have to lead by example.
People will follow someone they can respect, and who has integrity. Be a leader, not a boss.
Participate in these spiritual activities. Be seen leading Bible studies. Be genuinely interested in your employees’ life and spiritual growth.
We have seen Christian leaders get embroiled in scandals often enough. Their secret sex lives are exposed in the news, overpaying themselves while the company, and their employees are barely able to keep their heads above water.
Christian business owners have to walk in righteousness every day, with no day off. The eyes of your employees are on you. When a Christian leader falls down, he can take others with him.
That’s why the devil would like nothing better than to snare you in sin.
Final thoughts
We only have one life to live. It is relatively short. We have to make it count. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Fame and fortune are meaningless.
Leading people to Christ is the best thing that you can do here on earth. You only have so many chances to make an impact in people’s lives. Not everyone is given a position of influence and authority. Just like Joseph, use your position to save others (Genesis 50:20).
What will matter when we are about to take that step into eternity is every life that you helped bring into the Kingdom of God.
