What the Church can teach the business world

Ken Gosnell Dec. 18, 2022

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Recently I wrote about what the business world or marketplace can teach the Church. Even more important is what the Church can teach the business world.

Churches are growing and following a business model in their structure and attitude. To that end, churches will have the ability to influence business thinking and corporate leaders.

Here are a few essentials the business world could learn from the Church.

1. The essentials of ethics and honesty

The world has seen the cloud of corporate corruption before their eyes in recent years. Large business is no longer trusted. People believe that businesses are only out to make money and that they are full of corruption.

Churches and church leaders are people with core values and systems of beliefs for making good decisions. Pastors and church leaders are rightly positioned to communicate about personal leadership and the Godly habits of a leader.

Business leaders can learn how to conduct themselves by watching their pastor and by bringing pastors or corporate chaplains into their workplace. Chaplains could work with employees to help them develop better ethics and honesty.

2. The significance of balance

Jack Welch's book, Winning, talked about the transformation of his life and how he started to value the balance of life with work. He said, "For 41 years, my operating principle was work hard, play hard and spend some time with family." He learned the hard way that this philosophy did not bring him the desired results which led to his largest life regrets. He ended his business career with broken marriages and estranged kids.

The Church values a balanced life and can lead the way in teaching balance in the business world. Church leaders care about their work, but they also care deeply about their families and can teach many CEOs and business owners how to be better spouses and parents.

3. A focus and value on people.

The Church as an organization works because of volunteers. Pastors and church leaders know how to deal effectively with people. A few ways that the Church values people are through:

• Rallying people around a cause. The Church can teach the business world how to bring a team together for a purpose and to complete a task.
• Rewarding and honoring team members. The Church prioritizes compassion, encouragement, and unity. Churches place a high premium on people and must call the corporate world to treat people better. The business world will find that when they treat their employees with respect, they will perform at their highest level.
• Prioritizing time together.The business world can learn about "fellowship" and the community spirit that churches epitomize so well.

4. How to develop a feel-good experience

Many people attend church because it makes them feel better and gives purpose and meaning to their lives. They develop friendships and learn about their value to God and to the world. Church life is essential to living a great life. Churches become safe places where friendships can grow, work can be shared, and bonds can be developed.

Many work places are not great environments. However, businesses that create positive environments will be more successful than those that don't. Church leaders can take the lead on helping business leaders learn how to develop an environment that others will want to come to and join.

There are aspects that the Church can learn from business, but our culture and companies in our communities are crying out for the Church to teach businesses a few lessons about how to operate. Pastors should prioritize and specifically call out to the leaders that attend their church to establish godly models for success and organizational effectiveness. The Church and its leaders are suited to teach these ideas to businesses.

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Ken Gosnell is CEO and Servant Leader of CXP (CEO Experience). CXP is a premier coaching and executive roundtable business that serves Christian CEOs in Washington DC, Maryland and Florida. Ken serves leaders by helping them and their teams to have great experiences that both transform the leader and their organizations to go further faster. Learn More »

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