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CHRISTIAN BASED MANAGEMENT
Christian Based Management
Joshua Barber
Huntington University
CHRISTIAN BASED MANAGEMENT
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In the world of business management, one of the key principles a manager must
pay attention to is how they conduct their selves amongst their employees. Our actions
amongst employees often influence how the employees work, the success of our
organization, and ultimately how others view our organization. A common style of
management is to take the functions of management and to develop your whole work
character based on them. However, doing so often makes those in management forget
about presenting themselves in a Christ-like manner. Managers are often put into
situations where they have to conduct business in a rather strict fashion and often
overlook the way Christ wants them to lead. Bruce Winston and Joel Manby have
expressed some viewpoints on how a Christian can manage an organization in a Christlike manner. Bruce Winston does so by relating Proverbs 31 to the management world
and by offering scriptural absolutes that one must bring to the workplace. Also, Joel
Manby describes the effects and benefits of a Christ-like management style through
personal life experiences in his book Love Works.
In Bruce Winston’s essay “Managing by the Absolutes,” he names ten scriptural
absolutes that all managers should take into consideration when dealing with employees.
A few examples of these absolutes are honesty and integrity, servant leadership,
empowerment and covenants of support, and love. Most of these absolutes are present in
all of the articles that are being discussed, but possibly the most important and most
recurring absolute of all is love. Love is a spiritual absolute that underlays the others and
is also a recurring theme in Winston’s and Joel Manby’s articles as well. In Love Works,
Joel Manby (2012) defines love as more than a feeling by saying we must treat “someone
with love regardless of how you feel about that person (p. 31).” He goes on to mention
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the four primary kinds of love, which are eros, phios, stogre, and agape and their
strengths in relation to the workplace. Ultimately, agape is the kind of love that is
unconditional. “Agape love is the foundation for the best and noblest relationships that
humans are capable of (Manby, 2012, p. 32).” Agape love can, and should, exist in a
work environment. Manby (2012) says, “Agape love will promote healthy relationships
among employees and their leaders, allowing people to perform at their very best (p.
33).” In relation to management, agape love can be described as, “standing up for the
subordinates and taking the blame for a failed effort rather than hanging the subordinate
out to dry (Winston, 1999).”
The next scriptural absolute I’ll go over is servant leadership. In “Managing by
the Absolutes,” Bruce Winston (1999) says, “We are to manage and guide our people
with the perspective of a servant leader (pp. 81-101).” Winston defines servant leadership
a few different ways. First of all, “Servant leadership is providing those who work with
you what they need to accomplish their task (Winston, 1999, pp. 81-101).” However, this
broad definition can be expanded upon. The definition of servant leadership can be
interpreted as not lording over those who work with you. However, the best description
of it can quite possibly be “the desire to see those you work with become all they can be
(Winston, 1999, 81-101).” This correlates with Winston’s views in his other article “You
Too Can Be A P31 Manager!” Winston believes that the servant heart of the P31
manager is shown when they provide for those they oversee before they provide for
themselves (Winston, 1999, 81-101). By doing so, a manager is trying to fulfill their
employees’ potential before they fulfill their own.
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Another key scriptural absolute is honesty and integrity. Honesty is critical in any
management role and over time will build up trust and integrity. Proverbs 16:13 says,
“Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value a man who speaks the truth (New
International Version).” In “Managing by the Absolutes” Bruce Winston (1999) says,
“We, as Christians in business, must hold ourselves as examples of integrity before others
(pp. 81-101).” In “You Too Can Be a P31 Manager” Winston (1999) says that the
perfect manager builds trust and “inspires full confidence from those above her (pp. 81101).” Trusting one another is a key to any business. In Love Works, Joel Danby says,
“Trusting the people we work with is crucial to building a climate of positive morale and
successful performance (p. 71).” As Christians, we must strive to be honest, to build
integrity, and to trust others and gain trust from them as well, which builds into the next
scriptural absolute.
The final scriptural absolute that I feel is key to the success of a manager is
empowerment and covenants of support. To introduce this absolute, Winston (1999)
said, “Prepare those with whom you work to trust in you and you to trust in them. Give
the trust and monitor the activity. The matters of the heart and not the head should guide
you as to additional training needed by those in whom you place or give your trust (pp.
81-101).” As Christians, we place our trust in our manager, which is God. God has a plan
for our life and over time He shows us His blueprint for our life. We may not know what
God has planned, but through our trust in Him, He will take us to where we need to go. In
the business world, we as Christians and managers need to gain the support and trust of
our employees. Just like our relationship with God, we need to show our employees the
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blueprint, or plan, gain their support and trust, and then lead them through the plan that’s
being set forth.
The four scriptural absolutes that have been presented are the ones that I feel
should be most visible in a successful, Christian manager. Despite my young age, I have
spent a few years in various management roles and these articles really made me think of
how I manage and how I come across to others. I thought about how, or if, I show love to
others. Reading Joel Danby’s excerpt titled “Sweden on an Easter Sunday” made me
realize that I am often like the manager who would fly his employee halfway around the
world on an Easter Sunday. I wouldn’t necessarily go to those extremes, but I’m always
so focused on getting the job done that I often come across as harsh. Instead, I should
slow down and lead my employees the way that Christ leads us. I need to show them the
agape love that says, “I’ll give my life to save or benefit another.”
Despite my perceived success in servant leadership and honesty, I tend to lack in
gaining trust from my employments. I’ve always wondered why this is true and the
excerpt from Love Works titled “Miss Pray” helped me discover the answer to this
question. Miss Pray told a young Joel Danby, “When you don’t listen to others, it sends
them a very negative and unflattering message (Danby, 2012, p. 72).” When I read this I
felt like Miss Pray was standing before me and speaking these words to me. I’ve always
had a habit of unintentionally interrupting others who I work with and interrupting others
is an instant sign of distrust. By doing so, I’m setting myself apart by saying that I’m
better than they are and that is not the message a Christian should be sending to others
regardless if they’re in management or not.
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To be a successful Christian manager one must be able to love others, be honest,
build integrity, show servant leadership, empower others, and support them as well. A
Christian based manager’s personality should reflect not only these scriptural absolutes,
but the other ones as well. Bruce Winston’s “Managing by the Absolutes” analyzes these
scriptural absolutes and then uses his article “You Too Can Be A P31 Manager!” to show
how we can be like the wife, or manager, in Proverbs 31. Finally, Joel Manby’s life
experiences give us examples of how to apply these scriptural absolutes to our own lives.
I have been a manager for a few years now and like most, I’m not perfect. However, I
will strive to manage by the absolutes and live my managerial life in a way that is
pleasing to the Lord.
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CHRISTIAN BASED MANAGEMENT
Works Cited
Manby, J. (2012). Love Works. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Winston, B. E. (1999). Essay 3. In Be A Manager For God's Sake: Essays About the
Perfect Manager (pp. 81-101). Virginia Beach, VA: School of Business Press.
Winston, B. E. (1999). Essay 5. In Be A Manager For God's Sake: Essays About the
Perfect Manager (pp. 81-101). Virginia Beach, VA: School of Business Press.