How to Become a
Christ-Centered Manager

Invite the presence and will of God into your business.

•   The voice of Jesus Christ via the Holy Spirit must be of paramount importance regarding the vision, mission, strategy, and tactics of your company.

•    After Jesus’ disciples had been out fishing all night, He instructed Peter to drop his nets on the opposite side of the boat (see Luke 5:1-11).

•   How can this become a part of your company’s culture?

•    Regular and ongoing personal prayer times, Bible study, and worship on the part of the company’s Christian leaders. 

•    These disciplines will prepare the company’s Christian leaders to hear from and obey the Holy Spirit at a moment’s notice.

Use the right fuel for your God-given ability.

•     Lead from your spiritual gifts (charismata)—not from the ability of the flesh.

•     Fuel your spiritual gifts with the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-23)

 

Maximize and expand capacity.

•     “Who despises the day of small beginnings?” (Zech. 4:10)

•     “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’” (Matt. 25:23)

•     Fulfill your capacity … then, expand capacity.

 

“Gentlemen, I am tired of hearing you talk about how we need to get bigger. If we get better at what we do, our customers will demand that we get bigger.”

—Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-a

Divide the labor and delegate.

•     God delegated the Garden responsibilities to Adam. (Gen. 1:28)

•     Moses’ father-in-law (Jethro) admonished him to delegate in order to avoid burnout. (Exod. 18:1-27)

•     Jesus delegated to His disciples. (Luke 10:1-23; John 4:2)

•     Stephen was tasked to feed the widows so the apostles could focus on their individual callings. (Acts 6:3)

Implement systems.

•     Use batching.

•      During Creation, God had a specific plan for each day of the week.

•     Automate wherever possible to eliminate waste.

•      These systems are developed and maintained by hard-working people.

 

Provide rest for yourself and your people.

“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

—Psalm 46:10

“I was not so committed to financial success that I was willing to abandon my principles and priorities. One of the most visible examples of this is our decision to close on Sunday. Our decision to close on Sunday was our way of honoring God and of directing our attention to things that mattered more than our business.”

                  —Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-a          

(said closing on the Sabbath is a “top five” reason for success of his company)

Sabbath rest…

•     Restores us.

•     Improves us.

•     Calms us.

•     Centers us.