Reprinted from LinkedIn
"If you're not growing, you're dying. If you're standing in place, you're dying." I've repeated this mantra many times in my career. I've also referenced the Alice in Wonderland image of trying to run faster in a race just to stay in place.
Recently I started synergizing a couple of thoughts. One was from a friend, Bill English, and his latest book, A Christian Theology of Business Ownership, regarding how business owners are placed in authority of their businesses. But we are stewards of His resources. Bill's point was that we should ask what God's plan is for the business and not just devise our own plans.
I have been in positions of owning businesses and leading other people's companies and sometimes my hubris probably got in the way. I can say though that I did pray. Almost all companies grew while I was on the leadership team. A few did not. "Lord, I am just the steward and it's your choice whether this company grows or dies...and if you want the financial resources to be disbursed to others outside the company, that's fine but I would make sure the company has them. I think that's the better decision." That prayer was not always answered.
I've also had conversations with many business leaders who believe that growth of a Christian business--one dedicated to the Lord--is a given. But worldly success is not guaranteed 100% of the time in the scriptures; we wouldn't have martyrs or the nation of Israel beat up so many times. We wouldn't have more powerful, pagan countries surrounding God's people if worldly success was God's goal for His chosen ones.
I started to think about the Israelites after the Exodus from Egypt. They survived in the wilderness. Their numbers grew despite losing a generation of people who had once lived as slaves in Egypt. After crossing the River Jordan into Canaan and the other lands, they were militarily victorious. They conquered and occupied the land God has designated for them. Their borders were defined. Joshua proved to be a solid leader, following Moses' example.
They had success after success--with a few setbacks. They knew about empires seeing them all around and hearing the stories from their fathers, mothers, grandparents who lived and worked in the great empire of Egypt. Why didn't Israel become a great empire? Instead it's future became being overrun by Assyrians, Chaldeans, et al. They knew about Persia, Babylon--and some were exiled there--Macedonia and later the Roman Empire.
Especially in the time of their early success of taking the land on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, Joshua surely must have prayed to God that the nation grow. "If we're not growing, we're dying." If they felt blessed by God, certainly it would mean that they would continue to expand their borders and be as powerful as the Greeks and Persians.
But those prayers were not answered. God's promise to the Israel forefathers was that they would be a blessing and an influence on all the nations, not that they would conquer all nations. The goal seems to be a blessing, not an overlord.
So what does that mean for our businesses? Perhaps growth is a byproduct. Our goal should be to bless our customers, suppliers, employees, communities, shareholders--all of our stakeholders. Like the apostle Paul says, learn to be content with much and content with little. Perhaps our goal is to execute effectively and efficiently, utilizing all of our talents and resources--as in the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25.14-18). Maybe that means moderate goals in our strategic plan. As long as we're bringing a return to our investors, perhaps that's enough.
As long as I am and my company is doing the "right things" to bless and serve others, I should be content that my company has 10 employees...or 30 employees...or 100 employees... Should we be allowed to grow by God's will, that I should be allowed to lead a larger organization, I will humbly accept the duty. Until then I will try to check my hubris and learn from Joshua that prayers for an empire may go unanswered in the way I think they should be.
As a postscript, I'm finding several business paradoxes in scripture. This week it's the teaching of Bill English's that we should ask God what He wants done with the business, which I think is correct, while the master in the Talent Parable does not proscribe how the servants should grow the business. Though the parable is not a business lesson, but it does show that not all direction is given by God.
#strategicplanning #theologyofbusinessownership #businessgrowth #leadership
