Grace Thoughts
Teaching Notes: The Christian Manager – A Caring Career (3)
Teaching Notes are Bible studies we taught before GraceLife Ministries began publishing articles online in 1995. Some were presented as sermons, others as group studies.
Our hope is that these older studies will be a blessing to you in your life and ministry. Please use them in any way God leads you.
These teaching notes are from a series about the opportunities to care for people as a Christian manager. You can read Parts 1 and 2 of the series here and here.
[These notes are from more than 35 years ago. Listen to this article on the GraceLife Podcast!]
The main thing that stands out to me is that my situation is not at all unusual or unique. I’m a manager who is a Christian. Most Christian managers in the secular workplace have the same opportunities. We need to seize those opportunities and use them for the glory of God!
One of the first objections I hear from some Christian managers is, ‘hey, my boss will never allow me to witness on the job.’ I understand the concern, but disagree that talking about God is not possible in the workplace. Your boss probably doesn’t want you to ‘preach’ on the job, but I doubt they don’t want you to ‘care’ about the people who work for the company.
I think that our fear of witnessing is in our own mind. Nobody’s telling us we can’t carry out the will of God in the workplace. Nobody’s telling us we can’t be models of hard and honest work. Nobody’s telling us we can’t show genuine concern for the problems of co-workers.
Here are two guiding principles for Christian managers –
- Win the respect of your employees – saved and unsaved. You do that in three ways: live a peaceful and calm life, mind your own business, and work hard. Here’s how Paul tells it: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life (hésuchazó – a tranquility arising from within, causing no disturbance to others), to mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders…” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)
- Use your personal experience with God’s love and grace to carry out a caring ministry with your employees. “… the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
So, how do we start a caring ministry with our staff? Begin with prayer. Ask God to give you a burden for the lost. Ask Him to help you “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ …” (Ephesians 3:18). Once you see people from God’s perspective you will go to work each day with a different hope and determination.
Next, ask God to make you the best manager you can be. It’s difficult to influence people who don’t respect your leadership. Demonstrate your own commitment to excellence and hard work. The more people respect you as a leader and fellow worker, the more open they will become to your advice on matters of personal importance to them.
Be honest and fair in your dealings with people – individually and as a group. Develop a deep feeling of trust with your employees. That trust opens doors of communication that can open hearts to hear about God’s love and grace.
Spend quality time with people. Don’t be too busy. Keep up with what’s going on in their lives. Stay in touch with their feelings, their pain, their joy, their hopes and dreams. Developing those kinds of relationships will put you in a place to make a difference in their lives.
Deal with employees’ problems quickly, wisely, and confidentially. When an employee opens up their life to you, treat it gently and with great care. Demonstrate God’s love and forgiving grace. Treat them in the same way you’d like your boss to treat you.
One more thought – we Christian managers are human beings. That means we need to be as ready to forgive ourselves as we are to forgive others. We are not perfect and never will be while on earth. So, don’t be so hard on yourself. If you mess up, forgive and more on. God’s forgiven you. Your staff will forgive you. Forgive yourself. It’s a wonderful testimony to the life of grace God has called us all to live,
I think Christian managers in the secular world are a precious resource in this day and time. Pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Together, we will see the wonderful hand of God at work!
Listen to this article on the GraceLife Podcast!
“Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.”
[Thank you for reading these teaching notes from more than 35 years ago. My prayer is they will be a blessing to you and your life and ministry.]
Published by gracelifethoughts
Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts
