How are your Christian business values?

I remember when I first went to college.  I was living in Houston, Tx.  I had to learn to drive in a new way with all the freeways, constructions and all the traffic since I came from a much smaller city.  I remember distinctly getting cut off by a driver who had a Christian bumper sticker.   That same day, I was flipped off (middle finger wave), by a guy driving a car with a Christian fish on the back of his car.

As Christian business owners, we want our businesses to represent Christ.  We can post symbols and Bible verses anywhere we want, but what really differentiates our business from others is the way we act.  Our Christian values should show up in every part of our business and not just in words.

I saw a mission statement recently that read “(We seek) to honor God by impacting the lives of our employees, customers and community.”

I cringe when I read something that is so bland and without definition.  I am sorry to be blunt, especially if this is your statement.  My point is there is no qualifications in that statement and nothing tangible that customers can grasp on to. Our brains don’t think in abstract.  Our brains want something concrete to hold on to.

If you honor God with your business, how do you do it?  What problem do you solve in this world?  Who are you helping (impacting)?

I don’t want to get too far into this before I mention that I think this company is doing a great job at trying to bring their foundation of beliefs into their business.  It may work perfectly fine for their company and the owners may be able to explain that statement in a way that the whole company rallies behind that statement.

I would simply ask Christian business owners to take it to the next level.  Talk about how you honor God.  Talk about how you impact lives.  If you make clothes, how do your clothes impact lives if they are being made in a factory that does not value their employees.  (Do you see the impact of statements like that?)

Every part of your business has moving parts.  As a Christian business owner, you must be able to see how each of those parts are falling into your core values.  You have a great value statement, mission statement or vision statement, but miss the impact because you didn’t define the terms in a way the world can understand.

The company I mentioned does have a list of core values which builds on their statement.  That is a good addition to a basic statement.  I just want to challenge you in your business to have a statement that reaches beyond the Christian bubble into a hurting world.

A hurting world does not want to know how your company honors God, they want to know how you can help them.  They want to know that you will help them with honor, dignity and value.  Once they see how you run your business and recognize that your company is different, they will be impacted because you honored God.

Business and beliefs are built on the backs of relationships.  When Jesus was on this earth, he met with people, talked to them and helped them get past their hurts, then He introduced them to the Father.  Imagine using your values statement to build relationship that leads back to Christ.

Take Action: Create or adjust your values statement to reach out into the world.  There is nothing wrong with mentioning Christ, but keep in mind you are using this statement to talk to people in this world.  Don’t hide your light under a bushel, but don’t make it so bright lost people are blinded.

Endnote: I know this is a challenging article for some and I understand that I will probably get some email about it, but before you send me a message, please pray about it.  Are you reacting to something I wrote or something you ‘felt?’  Being offended is a choice, and I don’t ever intentionally write something to offend someone.  If I offended you, I’m sorry, but we are still in the family of God and we can walk together in unity.