Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, haroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Wonderful job, kelly.
Great introduction.
Thank you and welcome everyoneto this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and I am so excited that you've
downloaded this podcast and,whether you're a first-time
listener or a long-time listener, I hope and pray that today
you're encouraged, you'reenlightened and you are
(00:42):
empowered by today's podcast.
Enlightened and you areempowered by today's podcast.
You know our goal here is forthose of you that are first-time
listeners is to help Christianleaders, to help business owners
, department managers,organizational leaders and
anyone else really try to findtrue godly success by applying
(01:06):
biblical business principles.
So just want you to be aware ofwhat we're about and what we do
here each week.
Please help us grow the CBCfamily and the community, and
you can do that by sharing thispodcast with four or five other
people and by posting the link.
You know, take that link andyou can post that on your
(01:28):
Facebook page, on your LinkedInpage, and share it with others,
and I'd greatly appreciate that.
We love your support, we lovethe fact that you listen each
week many of you.
So thank you so much.
This week I just want to give abig shout out to Frankfurt,
germany, for downloading so manyepisodes.
We appreciate those of youthere in Germany who are
(01:51):
listening to Christian BusinessConcepts and we appreciate you
and all of you that are a partof the CBC family Now this
week's Christian BusinessSpotlight.
I just want to talk a little bitabout ServiceMaster.
They're a company here in theUnited States, but they also are
a worldwide and internationalcompany.
(02:13):
They have several global brands, but ServiceMaster, you know
they have, you know kind of acommercial cleaning division,
pest control, home services, butyou know they were founded by
Marion Wade and ServiceMasteroperates under very strong
(02:34):
Christian values.
It also includes brands likeMarymaids, terminex, and all of
these companies really reflect acommitment to integrity and
service, you know, thus the nameServiceMaster and they really
foster a faith-based environmentthere.
They emphasize ethicaltreatment of their employees and
(02:59):
their customers, which Ibelieve helps them to retain
really good customers.
They have a really goodretention rate for employees
there and they're engaged intheir community.
You know the company supportslocal charities and community
service initiatives.
They contribute to socialwelfare in multiple countries
(03:23):
and they just have greatstandards.
They really prioritize ethicalpractices and ServiceMaster
influences the entire serviceindustry because they have such
high standards of customerservice, customer care, employee
welfare.
It really causes othercompanies to have to raise the
(03:44):
bar to compete in some of thosesame markets.
So great job, servicemaster.
We're so glad that you're outthere, we're so glad that you're
doing the work and you're doingit under the hospice of
Christian principles, and weappreciate you.
Keep up the good work and wehope that your business
continues to be blessed.
(04:04):
Appreciate you, keep up thegood work and we hope that your
business continues to be blessed.
So today I want to talk a littlebit about why does running a
business with Christian valuesmatter in today's world?
As you know, my heart's desireis to see more and more
Christian businesses started,that raise up, that are
(04:25):
Christian-run and not justChristian-owned.
There's a difference betweenthose two, and I believe that
one of the main reasons that Godwants Christian businesses in
this world that we live in todayis because we're all called to
be salt and light.
We're to be the light.
(04:45):
The Bible talks about nottaking your light and putting it
under a bushel.
It talks about we are to be thesalt of the earth, and if the
salt loses its flavor, then it'sno good, and so it's important
that we have that opportunity toreally reach out there, and so
I want to talk today about theimpact that Christian businesses
(05:08):
have on our culture and on oursociety.
You know Christian businesses,they create jobs, they support
local economies, they providegoods and services that meet
real needs, and they oftenengage in a lot of great
community outreach, likesupporting charities, mentoring
(05:29):
youth and really by upholdinghigh ethical standards, they
really set an example that canreduce corruption and promote
fairness in the marketplace.
And culturally, christianbusinesses challenge the status
quo.
You know.
They promote family values,which doesn't always happen in
(05:51):
businesses and most of thoseChristian businesses.
They prioritize a work, what Iwould consider to be a work-life
balance, and they countermaterialism.
They're not about materialism.
They show that they have apurpose and they show that that
purpose matters more than profit.
And so they show the world thatsuccess and faith can exist
(06:16):
together.
They can coexist.
You don't have to have justfaith or just success.
You can have success and faithand they can work, work together
.
You know, one of the greatexamples of that in the Bible is
Joseph In Genesis, chapter 41through 47, you can read that on
your own.
I encourage you to do that andreally look at it from a
(06:36):
different perspective.
But Joseph is sold into slavery.
He's later imprisoned and yethe rises to become the governor
of Egypt under Pharaoh.
He's like Pharaoh's number twoman and through God-given wisdom
he was able to really, I guesshe managed.
(07:00):
He managed Egypt's resourcesduring seven years of abundance
and then, more importantly, hemanaged that abundance so that
there were seven years of faminethat came next, and he was able
to manage that as well.
And so, as you look at that,you see a few things here with
(07:21):
Joseph's life.
First, you see stewardship.
A few things here with Joseph'slife.
First, you see stewardship.
Joseph faithfully managedEgypt's grain and he stored that
surplus grain during theplentiful years, during those
seven years of plenty, toprepare for that famine.
And he was very strategic inhis planning.
He had a very detailed systemto distribute the food and
(07:47):
distribute it equitably, savingcountless lives.
If it wasn't for Joseph, therewould have been many people that
would have starved to death.
And he was a man of integrity.
He had a lot of personalhardships, you know, because of
what he went through, but heserved with honesty and he
(08:09):
credited God for his success andyou'll find that in Genesis,
chapter 41, verse 16.
But he gave God the glory forit and he had a great impact on
society that day.
You know, he preventedwidespread starvation, he
stabilized Egypt and he evenhelped the surrounding regions
that were outside of Egypt andhis policies really supported
(08:32):
economic strength and resilienceand Egypt, because of it,
became a hub for fooddistribution and it attracted a
lot of nations to trade with him.
And it attracted a lot ofnations to trade with him.
And then he even preserved thelives of his own family, which
(08:53):
enabled the growth of theIsraelite nation.
He was a great example when wetalk about culture in the local
culture.
He showed faithfulness, heshowed reliance on God.
He showed faithfulness, heshowed reliance on God.
You know, he influenced notjust his family but he
influenced the Egyptianofficials.
He influenced visitors thatcame, tourists that came into
(09:17):
Egypt.
His ethical leadership itreally challenged and again you
can read this in Genesis but hechallenged a lot of the corrupt
practices and he really set agreat standard for how to govern
and it was all rooted in God'sdivine wisdom.
(09:44):
And so you know, I believeChristian business leaders like
Joseph can use a lot of what Iwould consider to be strategic
stewardship and integrity toaddress a lot of the needs in
society and create that economicstability.
And so I want to look at somekeys or some key Christian
values in business and there'sseveral of these and I've spoken
(10:06):
about some of these.
But integrity and compassionand stewardship, servant
leadership those are some of thevalues.
And what about impact on thebusiness operations themselves?
Because you don't just make animpact as a Christian business
(10:26):
on society and culture, but youalso make an impact, a very
positive impact, on the businessitself, and some of that's
going to be on decision-making.
You're going to make betterdecisions.
You'll have better employeeengagement.
And what about customer trust?
You know you'll have customertrust.
You know Chick-fil-A is a fastfood chain.
(10:49):
You've heard us talk aboutChick-fil-A on this podcast many
times.
But they're founded onChristian principles and they
demonstrate how that they canhave that impact on our culture
and our society as a faith-basedcompany.
Their commitment, you know, along time ago, to close on
Sundays.
That allows their employees torest, it allows them to worship
(11:14):
and it reflects their values forfamily and faith, you know.
But they also Chick-fil-A alsoinvests in community programs.
They do a lot of scholarshipsfor employees.
They support local charities.
They're a great company and wehave a lot of positive things to
say about Chick-fil-A.
(11:37):
So I think that there's somethings that we can do as
Christian business leaders, asChristian business owners.
There's a lot of things that wecan do to drive this positive
change in our culture.
You know, to change our society.
You know to change our society,and I believe that Christian
(11:59):
business leaders can affectthose things intentionally and
integrate our faith into thesestrategies and operations of our
businesses.
So how can we do that?
Well, you know, here's just afew practical steps to move that
forward, to move that ballforward right.
So first thing is to make surethat you have defined a
(12:20):
faith-based mission, make surethat you've got a faith-based
mission, develop a missionstatement that reflects those
Christian values you know.
An example might be to serveour community with integrity,
providing quality products whilehonoring God in all we do.
That's a great missionstatement, but something like
(12:41):
that.
Next thing you can do is fosteran ethical workplace.
So you want to make sure thatyou have policies in place that
promote fairness, diversity andrespect and make sure that you
provide, I think, ethicstraining.
It's really important that youdo that, because there's so many
(13:02):
people that don't reallyunderstand what good ethics are
and how to have them.
It's amazing to me, and you seeit in the workplace all the
time.
I think you need to havetraining for that and do it
purposefully so that they canalign with those Christian
principles.
And then engage engage with thecommunity, you know.
(13:24):
Make sure that you partner with, like local churches and
nonprofit organizations to helpaddress a lot of the community
needs that you have.
And you don't have to start big, you can start small, you can
start really small, but juststart, just do something to
engage with the community.
You can sponsor some events orinitiatives that maybe promote
(13:47):
family or promotes education orhealth or something like that.
But be involved, engage withthe community.
And then make sure that youprioritize employee well-being,
you know.
Make sure you maybe offer someflexible work.
You know work schedules, sothat you can help them support
(14:07):
their family, better theirfamily life.
You know, and provide spiritualresources.
You know there's nothing wrongwith having workplace chaplains
or prayer groups.
This is something that'sprotected in the Constitution
and it's something that you cando.
(14:28):
Let me tell you your communitywatches how you treat your
employees.
Listen, I worked for a companyfor a very short period of time
and the owner treated theemployees horribly, and me
included.
I was the number two guy forthis person and I got to tell
you he treated people in ahorrible way and he had a very
(14:52):
horrible reputation.
I remember I was trying to hirepeople and we had such a bad
reputation of how employees weretreated it was very difficult
to get people even interested intalking about coming to work
for us.
So the community watches howyou treat your employees.
So make sure you havepriorities in place to take care
(15:14):
of them.
And then another thing that youcan do is practice what I would
consider to be responsiblestewardship.
In other words, make sure youhave some really good
sustainable practices that kindof reduce the environmental
impact that you may have as acompany.
Make sure that you havefinancial transparency, make
(15:37):
sure you're accountable, because, again, people are watching and
so that's important for ourtestimony.
Again, we're to be light andsalt.
The Bible says you know, if youlook at a person by the name of
Lydia in the New Testament,she's a great example of a great
(15:58):
entrepreneur, and I think youcould look at that through Acts,
chapter 16, verses 13 through15, and even in verse 40.
Lydia was a seller of purplecloth and Philippi, and she was
a very successful businesswomanand she was actually the very
(16:19):
first European convert toChristianity and after her
conversion she opened her homeup to the Apostle Paul and a lot
of the people that traveledwith him and she supported
financially, she supported theearly church and she had this
thriving trade in purple clothand it was a very luxury good
back in that time.
(16:39):
So she was pretty smart, shehad some good business acumen
and she was very generous.
So she provided hospitality,she offered her home as a base
for those who traveled inChristian ministry and her
conversion led her really toalign her business and her
(17:01):
resources with the purposes ofthe kingdom.
So her home kind of became ahub for the Philippian church
and she really fosteredcommunity and spiritual growth
and her business providedeconomic support and she became
a very prominent woman and herinfluence and see, that's kind
(17:23):
of what happens.
You know, as you are aChristian and you have a
Christian business, you begin tohave influence and that
influence encourages other women, other men, other people to
engage not just in business butto engage in faith, to engage in
(17:45):
leadership and to engage inChristianity.
So Lydia is really a goodexample of that.
So what are some lessons forChristian business leaders
through Lydia.
Well, I think it shows you thatbusinesses can be a platform
for generosity and ministry andyou can use profits and
(18:05):
influence to build a communityand spread the gospel.
So I think that's a good lessonfor Christian businesses.
Now, as you try to influence, asyou try to impact your society,
as you try to impact theculture, you're going to face
some challenges.
I mean, you just do.
The early church faced a lot ofchallenges and we, as men and
(18:30):
women of God, we're going toface challenges, and it won't be
any different trying to run aChristian business or a
Christian department.
So some of those challenges arebalancing your faith with
inclusiveness.
We've got to navigate how toexpress those Christian values
(18:51):
with yet respecting all thesedifferent beliefs among your
employees and customers.
So you've got to be inclusive.
You've got to show the love ofJesus, even to your employees
and to your customers.
So, though you have thisbusiness that you're running by
faith, you still, even thoughyou're trying to express your
(19:12):
values, your godly values, youstill have to respect others.
And then, of course, again as Isaid, there's that public
perception.
You know faith-based businesses, you may face criticism
sometimes or boycotts.
Let's look at Hobby Lobby,who's been boycotted.
Chick-fil-a's been boycottedbecause of their beliefs.
So you know what does that say?
(19:33):
Well, first of all, it meansyou've got to be resilient.
But the other thing is that itjust means and tells you how
careful you have to be in theway you communicate.
It's not just what you say,it's how you say it, and so it's
very important that you have agood communication into the
public arena and when youcommunicate things.
(19:56):
And then, of course, there'sthat profit versus purpose
battle or challenge.
You know, sometimes maintainingthat profitability and yet
prioritizing values can be very,very challenging, especially if
you're in a competitive market.
It really can, but you need tostay the course and make sure
(20:17):
that you keep that purpose.
Now, what are some strategiesto overcome those challenges?
I think that's a great question.
So what can you do?
Well, make sure again, as Ijust said, make sure you have
transparent communication andmake sure that you have very
inclusive policies where youinclude others.
(20:37):
And then this is very importantto me, and you hear me say this
a lot but seek wise counsel.
Make sure you have wise people,godly wisdom that people have
around you that can help you andgive you direction and guidance
at times.
So here's an action plan foryou.
(20:59):
Let's go over that real quick.
So, first of all, what you wantto do is just take a look at
what you're currently doing,take a look at your current
practices.
Just do a values audit.
Just make sure that youevaluate how well that your
business is reflecting Christianprinciples.
I think that's important.
I think you need to identifyareas where you can improve
(21:22):
maybe employee policies orcommunity engagement.
I would say most Christiancompanies that are out there do
not engage the community likethey should and like they can,
because that's where you canhave a great impact.
The next thing you need to dois set goals.
Make sure you have veryspecific they're very measurable
goals for integrating yourfaith into your business.
(21:46):
So, for example, you may saywell, we're going to launch a
community outreach programwithin six months Great goal.
Or we're going to increase ouremployee satisfaction scores by
10% in one year.
Those are great goals.
Those are just examples.
And then the next step is toimplement changes.
So make sure that you implementchanges you can update your
(22:09):
mission statement from time totime if you have to and make
sure that they include policiesthat reflect Christian values
and then train your leadership,train your staff on ethical
practices and servant leadership, and the next thing that you do
is you monitor things, monitorand then adjust if you have to.
You know, regularly take a lookat and review your progress and
(22:33):
see how you're doing, see ifyou're meeting your goals, get
feedback from employees, getfeedback from customers, get
feedback from your communitypartners, and then you can kind
of look at that and review itand then make adjustments.
You know, and change the wayyour approach is and then share
your story.
Make sure you communicate yourjourney.
(22:53):
Communicate and you can impactthat through your marketing and
your social media.
Anytime you speak, you want totry to inspire other Christian
business leaders by sharing yoursuccesses and lessons that
you've learned, even from someof your failures.
(23:15):
There's a lot of great resourcesout there.
I'm going to mention just acouple here as we have time.
There's a couple of books.
One's called the Servant Leaderby Ken Blanchard and Phil
Hodges Great book.
Here's another great book thatI've read by David Stewart.
(23:35):
It's called Doing Business bythe Good Book Doing Business by
the Good Book Great resources.
There's a couple oforganizations that I would share
with you.
One is called C12 Group.
That's a Christian businesskind of a peer advisory group
C12.
Great group, peer advisorygroup, c12, great group.
(23:56):
And then there's Fellowship ofCompanies for Christ
International, fcci.
That's another greatorganization that you can get
involved in so you can checkthem out online.
And then there's, you know,events that you can be a part of
.
There's a lot of Christianbusiness leadership conferences
that come around.
I would encourage you to lookup some of those.
(24:20):
You know.
Check with your local chamberof commerce.
You'll be surprised thatthey'll know about faith-based
initiatives.
So that's something that youcan consider as well, you know.
Another example that we can readabout is Boaz.
You'll find that in Ruth,chapter 2 through 4.
You know, boaz was a verywealthy business owner.
(24:42):
He was a landowner in Bethlehemand he really demonstrated
compassion and integrity in howhe treated Ruth, who was this
foreign widow who came, and hereally adhered to God's laws,
and one of the laws was how thatyou left the corners of your
(25:03):
fields and you left them for thepoor so that they could go in
and they could harvest thosecorners of your crops in those
fields.
And so he had a lot ofcompassion when he allowed Ruth
to glean in those fields and sohe had a lot of compassion when
he allowed Ruth to glean inthose fields and he made sure of
her safety and he made sure shewas provided for.
(25:25):
He showed a lot of integritybecause he followed the law of
God, he was a servant leader, hetreated his workers and Ruth
with a lot of respect and so hehad a great impact on society
because he provided for peoplethat you would consider today
(25:46):
that'd be consideredmarginalized, like Ruth and
Naomi, and he helped to reducepoverty in his community.
And he helped to reduce povertyin his community and his
actions led to really thepreservation of Naomi's family
line, which really became partof the lineage of King David and
Jesus.
And you can read that in Ruth,chapter 4, verses 18 through 22.
(26:08):
So you know, boaz was a greatexample of that and he teaches
us that ethical leadership andcare for those marginalized
people can really transformcommunities, because he did and
he aligned those businesspractices with God's heart for
justice.
And keep in mind the earlychurch the early church was full
(26:32):
of generosity and they sharedresources, and so I think that
that's important.
You know, because you knowyou'll find in Acts, chapter 4,
how the believers sold theirassets to meet the needs of the
poor so that nobody lackedanything.
They really focused on thecommunity around them and they
(26:52):
were great stewards, and youknow it just really.
They impacted that society byalleviating poverty and they
also took care of widows andorphans.
Again, these are marginalizedpeople that a lot of people
don't think about, and so theearly church did that as much as
they could, and I just thinkthat's important.
(27:14):
So I believe that Christianbusiness leaders have a really
unique opportunity to transformour society and our culture, and
that's our heart, I can't sayit enough, it just is our heart
at CBC.
That's what we want to seehappen and I believe God wants
to do that as well.
And you know, we can integrateour Christian values into our
(27:37):
company, into the operations ofour company, and we can create
workplaces that honor God, thatsupport our communities and that
inspire positive change.
And today, you know, what we'vetried to do is kind of provide
a roadmap, you know, for helpingyou achieve these goals and to
help you equip your leaders andto navigate the challenges that
(27:58):
you have.
And you know, I think when youapply these principles and use
these examples, I believe thatyou can make a lasting impact in
your local culture and localsociety.
Lord, I just want to thank youtoday for all of those who have
listened to this podcast and,lord, I pray you will inspire
(28:19):
them to apply the principlesthat we've discussed here today
to have a powerful and aspiritual influence in their
culture and in their society.
Lord, I pray that you'd raiseup more Christian businesses and
Christian business leaders whoare driven, who have a strong
desire to see their position andto show your grace to others
(28:44):
that are inside their businessand outside their business.
And, lord, I pray this in thename of Jesus, amen and amen.
(29:05):
Well, I thank God for you.
I thank God that you listenedto this podcast and I just hope
that you'll continue to grow andgrow and bring a greater
reality of godly faith and gracein your business as each day
goes by.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today, so until next
(29:27):
time.
Remember Jesus is Lord and hewants you blessed.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast.
Lord, and he wants you blessed.
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, haroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Wonderful job, kelly.
Great introduction.
Thank you and welcome everyoneto this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and I am so excited that you've
downloaded this podcast and,whether you're a first-time
listener or a long-time listener, I hope and pray that today
you're encouraged, you'reenlightened and you are
(00:42):
empowered by today's podcast.
Enlightened and you areempowered by today's podcast.
You know our goal here is forthose of you that are first-time
listeners is to help Christianleaders, to help business owners
, department managers,organizational leaders and
anyone else really try to findtrue godly success by applying
(01:06):
biblical business principles.
So just want you to be aware ofwhat we're about and what we do
here each week.
Please help us grow the CBCfamily and the community, and
you can do that by sharing thispodcast with four or five other
people and by posting the link.
You know, take that link andyou can post that on your
(01:28):
Facebook page, on your LinkedInpage, and share it with others,
and I'd greatly appreciate that.
We love your support, we lovethe fact that you listen each
week many of you.
So thank you so much.
This week I just want to give abig shout out to Frankfurt,
germany, for downloading so manyepisodes.
We appreciate those of youthere in Germany who are
(01:51):
listening to Christian BusinessConcepts and we appreciate you
and all of you that are a partof the CBC family Now this
week's Christian BusinessSpotlight.
I just want to talk a little bitabout ServiceMaster.
They're a company here in theUnited States, but they also are
a worldwide and internationalcompany.
(02:13):
They have several global brands, but ServiceMaster, you know
they have, you know kind of acommercial cleaning division,
pest control, home services, butyou know they were founded by
Marion Wade and ServiceMasteroperates under very strong
(02:34):
Christian values.
It also includes brands likeMarymaids, terminex, and all of
these companies really reflect acommitment to integrity and
service, you know, thus the nameServiceMaster and they really
foster a faith-based environmentthere.
They emphasize ethicaltreatment of their employees and
(02:59):
their customers, which Ibelieve helps them to retain
really good customers.
They have a really goodretention rate for employees
there and they're engaged intheir community.
You know the company supportslocal charities and community
service initiatives.
They contribute to socialwelfare in multiple countries
(03:23):
and they just have greatstandards.
They really prioritize ethicalpractices and ServiceMaster
influences the entire serviceindustry because they have such
high standards of customerservice, customer care, employee
welfare.
It really causes othercompanies to have to raise the
(03:44):
bar to compete in some of thosesame markets.
So great job, servicemaster.
We're so glad that you're outthere, we're so glad that you're
doing the work and you're doingit under the hospice of
Christian principles, and weappreciate you.
Keep up the good work and wehope that your business
continues to be blessed.
(04:04):
Appreciate you, keep up thegood work and we hope that your
business continues to be blessed.
So today I want to talk a littlebit about why does running a
business with Christian valuesmatter in today's world?
As you know, my heart's desireis to see more and more
Christian businesses started,that raise up, that are
(04:25):
Christian-run and not justChristian-owned.
There's a difference betweenthose two, and I believe that
one of the main reasons that Godwants Christian businesses in
this world that we live in todayis because we're all called to
be salt and light.
We're to be the light.
(04:45):
The Bible talks about nottaking your light and putting it
under a bushel.
It talks about we are to be thesalt of the earth, and if the
salt loses its flavor, then it'sno good, and so it's important
that we have that opportunity toreally reach out there, and so
I want to talk today about theimpact that Christian businesses
(05:08):
have on our culture and on oursociety.
You know Christian businesses,they create jobs, they support
local economies, they providegoods and services that meet
real needs, and they oftenengage in a lot of great
community outreach, likesupporting charities, mentoring
(05:29):
youth and really by upholdinghigh ethical standards, they
really set an example that canreduce corruption and promote
fairness in the marketplace.
And culturally, christianbusinesses challenge the status
quo.
You know.
They promote family values,which doesn't always happen in
(05:51):
businesses and most of thoseChristian businesses.
They prioritize a work, what Iwould consider to be a work-life
balance, and they countermaterialism.
They're not about materialism.
They show that they have apurpose and they show that that
purpose matters more than profit.
And so they show the world thatsuccess and faith can exist
(06:16):
together.
They can coexist.
You don't have to have justfaith or just success.
You can have success and faithand they can work, work together
.
You know, one of the greatexamples of that in the Bible is
Joseph In Genesis, chapter 41through 47, you can read that on
your own.
I encourage you to do that andreally look at it from a
(06:36):
different perspective.
But Joseph is sold into slavery.
He's later imprisoned and yethe rises to become the governor
of Egypt under Pharaoh.
He's like Pharaoh's number twoman and through God-given wisdom
he was able to really, I guesshe managed.
(07:00):
He managed Egypt's resourcesduring seven years of abundance
and then, more importantly, hemanaged that abundance so that
there were seven years of faminethat came next, and he was able
to manage that as well.
And so, as you look at that,you see a few things here with
(07:21):
Joseph's life.
First, you see stewardship.
A few things here with Joseph'slife.
First, you see stewardship.
Joseph faithfully managedEgypt's grain and he stored that
surplus grain during theplentiful years, during those
seven years of plenty, toprepare for that famine.
And he was very strategic inhis planning.
He had a very detailed systemto distribute the food and
(07:47):
distribute it equitably, savingcountless lives.
If it wasn't for Joseph, therewould have been many people that
would have starved to death.
And he was a man of integrity.
He had a lot of personalhardships, you know, because of
what he went through, but heserved with honesty and he
(08:09):
credited God for his success andyou'll find that in Genesis,
chapter 41, verse 16.
But he gave God the glory forit and he had a great impact on
society that day.
You know, he preventedwidespread starvation, he
stabilized Egypt and he evenhelped the surrounding regions
that were outside of Egypt andhis policies really supported
(08:32):
economic strength and resilienceand Egypt, because of it,
became a hub for fooddistribution and it attracted a
lot of nations to trade with him.
And it attracted a lot ofnations to trade with him.
And then he even preserved thelives of his own family, which
(08:53):
enabled the growth of theIsraelite nation.
He was a great example when wetalk about culture in the local
culture.
He showed faithfulness, heshowed reliance on God.
He showed faithfulness, heshowed reliance on God.
You know, he influenced notjust his family but he
influenced the Egyptianofficials.
He influenced visitors thatcame, tourists that came into
(09:17):
Egypt.
His ethical leadership itreally challenged and again you
can read this in Genesis but hechallenged a lot of the corrupt
practices and he really set agreat standard for how to govern
and it was all rooted in God'sdivine wisdom.
(09:44):
And so you know, I believeChristian business leaders like
Joseph can use a lot of what Iwould consider to be strategic
stewardship and integrity toaddress a lot of the needs in
society and create that economicstability.
And so I want to look at somekeys or some key Christian
values in business and there'sseveral of these and I've spoken
(10:06):
about some of these.
But integrity and compassionand stewardship, servant
leadership those are some of thevalues.
And what about impact on thebusiness operations themselves?
Because you don't just make animpact as a Christian business
(10:26):
on society and culture, but youalso make an impact, a very
positive impact, on the businessitself, and some of that's
going to be on decision-making.
You're going to make betterdecisions.
You'll have better employeeengagement.
And what about customer trust?
You know you'll have customertrust.
You know Chick-fil-A is a fastfood chain.
(10:49):
You've heard us talk aboutChick-fil-A on this podcast many
times.
But they're founded onChristian principles and they
demonstrate how that they canhave that impact on our culture
and our society as a faith-basedcompany.
Their commitment, you know, along time ago, to close on
Sundays.
That allows their employees torest, it allows them to worship
(11:14):
and it reflects their values forfamily and faith, you know.
But they also Chick-fil-A alsoinvests in community programs.
They do a lot of scholarshipsfor employees.
They support local charities.
They're a great company and wehave a lot of positive things to
say about Chick-fil-A.
(11:37):
So I think that there's somethings that we can do as
Christian business leaders, asChristian business owners.
There's a lot of things that wecan do to drive this positive
change in our culture.
You know, to change our society.
You know to change our society,and I believe that Christian
(11:59):
business leaders can affectthose things intentionally and
integrate our faith into thesestrategies and operations of our
businesses.
So how can we do that?
Well, you know, here's just afew practical steps to move that
forward, to move that ballforward right.
So first thing is to make surethat you have defined a
(12:20):
faith-based mission, make surethat you've got a faith-based
mission, develop a missionstatement that reflects those
Christian values you know.
An example might be to serveour community with integrity,
providing quality products whilehonoring God in all we do.
That's a great missionstatement, but something like
(12:41):
that.
Next thing you can do is fosteran ethical workplace.
So you want to make sure thatyou have policies in place that
promote fairness, diversity andrespect and make sure that you
provide, I think, ethicstraining.
It's really important that youdo that, because there's so many
(13:02):
people that don't reallyunderstand what good ethics are
and how to have them.
It's amazing to me, and you seeit in the workplace all the
time.
I think you need to havetraining for that and do it
purposefully so that they canalign with those Christian
principles.
And then engage engage with thecommunity, you know.
(13:24):
Make sure that you partner with, like local churches and
nonprofit organizations to helpaddress a lot of the community
needs that you have.
And you don't have to start big, you can start small, you can
start really small, but juststart, just do something to
engage with the community.
You can sponsor some events orinitiatives that maybe promote
(13:47):
family or promotes education orhealth or something like that.
But be involved, engage withthe community.
And then make sure that youprioritize employee well-being,
you know.
Make sure you maybe offer someflexible work.
You know work schedules, sothat you can help them support
(14:07):
their family, better theirfamily life.
You know, and provide spiritualresources.
You know there's nothing wrongwith having workplace chaplains
or prayer groups.
This is something that'sprotected in the Constitution
and it's something that you cando.
(14:28):
Let me tell you your communitywatches how you treat your
employees.
Listen, I worked for a companyfor a very short period of time
and the owner treated theemployees horribly, and me
included.
I was the number two guy forthis person and I got to tell
you he treated people in ahorrible way and he had a very
(14:52):
horrible reputation.
I remember I was trying to hirepeople and we had such a bad
reputation of how employees weretreated it was very difficult
to get people even interested intalking about coming to work
for us.
So the community watches howyou treat your employees.
So make sure you havepriorities in place to take care
(15:14):
of them.
And then another thing that youcan do is practice what I would
consider to be responsiblestewardship.
In other words, make sure youhave some really good
sustainable practices that kindof reduce the environmental
impact that you may have as acompany.
Make sure that you havefinancial transparency, make
(15:37):
sure you're accountable, because, again, people are watching and
so that's important for ourtestimony.
Again, we're to be light andsalt.
The Bible says you know, if youlook at a person by the name of
Lydia in the New Testament,she's a great example of a great
(15:58):
entrepreneur, and I think youcould look at that through Acts,
chapter 16, verses 13 through15, and even in verse 40.
Lydia was a seller of purplecloth and Philippi, and she was
a very successful businesswomanand she was actually the very
(16:19):
first European convert toChristianity and after her
conversion she opened her homeup to the Apostle Paul and a lot
of the people that traveledwith him and she supported
financially, she supported theearly church and she had this
thriving trade in purple clothand it was a very luxury good
back in that time.
(16:39):
So she was pretty smart, shehad some good business acumen
and she was very generous.
So she provided hospitality,she offered her home as a base
for those who traveled inChristian ministry and her
conversion led her really toalign her business and her
(17:01):
resources with the purposes ofthe kingdom.
So her home kind of became ahub for the Philippian church
and she really fosteredcommunity and spiritual growth
and her business providedeconomic support and she became
a very prominent woman and herinfluence and see, that's kind
(17:23):
of what happens.
You know, as you are aChristian and you have a
Christian business, you begin tohave influence and that
influence encourages other women, other men, other people to
engage not just in business butto engage in faith, to engage in
(17:45):
leadership and to engage inChristianity.
So Lydia is really a goodexample of that.
So what are some lessons forChristian business leaders
through Lydia.
Well, I think it shows you thatbusinesses can be a platform
for generosity and ministry andyou can use profits and
(18:05):
influence to build a communityand spread the gospel.
So I think that's a good lessonfor Christian businesses.
Now, as you try to influence, asyou try to impact your society,
as you try to impact theculture, you're going to face
some challenges.
I mean, you just do.
The early church faced a lot ofchallenges and we, as men and
(18:30):
women of God, we're going toface challenges, and it won't be
any different trying to run aChristian business or a
Christian department.
So some of those challenges arebalancing your faith with
inclusiveness.
We've got to navigate how toexpress those Christian values
(18:51):
with yet respecting all thesedifferent beliefs among your
employees and customers.
So you've got to be inclusive.
You've got to show the love ofJesus, even to your employees
and to your customers.
So, though you have thisbusiness that you're running by
faith, you still, even thoughyou're trying to express your
(19:12):
values, your godly values, youstill have to respect others.
And then, of course, again as Isaid, there's that public
perception.
You know faith-based businesses, you may face criticism
sometimes or boycotts.
Let's look at Hobby Lobby,who's been boycotted.
Chick-fil-a's been boycottedbecause of their beliefs.
So you know what does that say?
(19:33):
Well, first of all, it meansyou've got to be resilient.
But the other thing is that itjust means and tells you how
careful you have to be in theway you communicate.
It's not just what you say,it's how you say it, and so it's
very important that you have agood communication into the
public arena and when youcommunicate things.
(19:56):
And then, of course, there'sthat profit versus purpose
battle or challenge.
You know, sometimes maintainingthat profitability and yet
prioritizing values can be very,very challenging, especially if
you're in a competitive market.
It really can, but you need tostay the course and make sure
(20:17):
that you keep that purpose.
Now, what are some strategiesto overcome those challenges?
I think that's a great question.
So what can you do?
Well, make sure again, as Ijust said, make sure you have
transparent communication andmake sure that you have very
inclusive policies where youinclude others.
(20:37):
And then this is very importantto me, and you hear me say this
a lot but seek wise counsel.
Make sure you have wise people,godly wisdom that people have
around you that can help you andgive you direction and guidance
at times.
So here's an action plan foryou.
(20:59):
Let's go over that real quick.
So, first of all, what you wantto do is just take a look at
what you're currently doing,take a look at your current
practices.
Just do a values audit.
Just make sure that youevaluate how well that your
business is reflecting Christianprinciples.
I think that's important.
I think you need to identifyareas where you can improve
(21:22):
maybe employee policies orcommunity engagement.
I would say most Christiancompanies that are out there do
not engage the community likethey should and like they can,
because that's where you canhave a great impact.
The next thing you need to dois set goals.
Make sure you have veryspecific they're very measurable
goals for integrating yourfaith into your business.
(21:46):
So, for example, you may saywell, we're going to launch a
community outreach programwithin six months Great goal.
Or we're going to increase ouremployee satisfaction scores by
10% in one year.
Those are great goals.
Those are just examples.
And then the next step is toimplement changes.
So make sure that you implementchanges you can update your
(22:09):
mission statement from time totime if you have to and make
sure that they include policiesthat reflect Christian values
and then train your leadership,train your staff on ethical
practices and servant leadership, and the next thing that you do
is you monitor things, monitorand then adjust if you have to.
You know, regularly take a lookat and review your progress and
(22:33):
see how you're doing, see ifyou're meeting your goals, get
feedback from employees, getfeedback from customers, get
feedback from your communitypartners, and then you can kind
of look at that and review itand then make adjustments.
You know, and change the wayyour approach is and then share
your story.
Make sure you communicate yourjourney.
(22:53):
Communicate and you can impactthat through your marketing and
your social media.
Anytime you speak, you want totry to inspire other Christian
business leaders by sharing yoursuccesses and lessons that
you've learned, even from someof your failures.
(23:15):
There's a lot of great resourcesout there.
I'm going to mention just acouple here as we have time.
There's a couple of books.
One's called the Servant Leaderby Ken Blanchard and Phil
Hodges Great book.
Here's another great book thatI've read by David Stewart.
(23:35):
It's called Doing Business bythe Good Book Doing Business by
the Good Book Great resources.
There's a couple oforganizations that I would share
with you.
One is called C12 Group.
That's a Christian businesskind of a peer advisory group
C12.
Great group, peer advisorygroup, c12, great group.
(23:56):
And then there's Fellowship ofCompanies for Christ
International, fcci.
That's another greatorganization that you can get
involved in so you can checkthem out online.
And then there's, you know,events that you can be a part of
.
There's a lot of Christianbusiness leadership conferences
that come around.
I would encourage you to lookup some of those.
(24:20):
You know.
Check with your local chamberof commerce.
You'll be surprised thatthey'll know about faith-based
initiatives.
So that's something that youcan consider as well, you know.
Another example that we can readabout is Boaz.
You'll find that in Ruth,chapter 2 through 4.
You know, boaz was a verywealthy business owner.
(24:42):
He was a landowner in Bethlehemand he really demonstrated
compassion and integrity in howhe treated Ruth, who was this
foreign widow who came, and hereally adhered to God's laws,
and one of the laws was how thatyou left the corners of your
(25:03):
fields and you left them for thepoor so that they could go in
and they could harvest thosecorners of your crops in those
fields.
And so he had a lot ofcompassion when he allowed Ruth
to glean in those fields and sohe had a lot of compassion when
he allowed Ruth to glean inthose fields and he made sure of
her safety and he made sure shewas provided for.
(25:25):
He showed a lot of integritybecause he followed the law of
God, he was a servant leader, hetreated his workers and Ruth
with a lot of respect and so hehad a great impact on society
because he provided for peoplethat you would consider today
(25:46):
that'd be consideredmarginalized, like Ruth and
Naomi, and he helped to reducepoverty in his community.
And he helped to reduce povertyin his community and his
actions led to really thepreservation of Naomi's family
line, which really became partof the lineage of King David and
Jesus.
And you can read that in Ruth,chapter 4, verses 18 through 22.
(26:08):
So you know, boaz was a greatexample of that and he teaches
us that ethical leadership andcare for those marginalized
people can really transformcommunities, because he did and
he aligned those businesspractices with God's heart for
justice.
And keep in mind the earlychurch the early church was full
(26:32):
of generosity and they sharedresources, and so I think that
that's important.
You know, because you knowyou'll find in Acts, chapter 4,
how the believers sold theirassets to meet the needs of the
poor so that nobody lackedanything.
They really focused on thecommunity around them and they
(26:52):
were great stewards, and youknow it just really.
They impacted that society byalleviating poverty and they
also took care of widows andorphans.
Again, these are marginalizedpeople that a lot of people
don't think about, and so theearly church did that as much as
they could, and I just thinkthat's important.
(27:14):
So I believe that Christianbusiness leaders have a really
unique opportunity to transformour society and our culture, and
that's our heart, I can't sayit enough, it just is our heart
at CBC.
That's what we want to seehappen and I believe God wants
to do that as well.
And you know, we can integrateour Christian values into our
(27:37):
company, into the operations ofour company, and we can create
workplaces that honor God, thatsupport our communities and that
inspire positive change.
And today, you know, what we'vetried to do is kind of provide
a roadmap, you know, for helpingyou achieve these goals and to
help you equip your leaders andto navigate the challenges that
(27:58):
you have.
And you know, I think when youapply these principles and use
these examples, I believe thatyou can make a lasting impact in
your local culture and localsociety.
Lord, I just want to thank youtoday for all of those who have
listened to this podcast and,lord, I pray you will inspire
(28:19):
them to apply the principlesthat we've discussed here today
to have a powerful and aspiritual influence in their
culture and in their society.
Lord, I pray that you'd raiseup more Christian businesses and
Christian business leaders whoare driven, who have a strong
desire to see their position andto show your grace to others
(28:44):
that are inside their businessand outside their business.
And, lord, I pray this in thename of Jesus, amen and amen.
(29:05):
Well, I thank God for you.
I thank God that you listenedto this podcast and I just hope
that you'll continue to grow andgrow and bring a greater
reality of godly faith and gracein your business as each day
goes by.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today, so until next
(29:27):
time.
Remember Jesus is Lord and hewants you blessed.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast.
Lord, and he wants you blessed.
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