THE BIBLE AND YOUR BUSINESS

Yes! My faith and/or values absolutely does affect the way I conduct business or deal with customers. To think that keeping these things separate, in a very realistic way, would be business self-sabotage. And he's why...

For example: I do my best to be as trustworthy as possible for my customers. If they see that you are watching out for them, at the a slight downfall to yourself, then that customer is more willing to continue to be a customer because they realize that you value them more than their money, and therefore they will always come back to your services for their needs.

And as far as not sharing anything personal about yourself within a business situation or relationship, that too, could be self-sabotage. And here's an example:

Now, to free disclose personal information about intimate details of one's marriage through a business relationship, of course you should NOT do this. But proclaiming one's faith or values is very different. Not to say that you should always pound the Bible to customers and co-worker or anything like that, but there can still be room to share these things about yourself to others within a business relationship. Although, you should not ACTIVELY or REGULARLY try to do this during business hours or on business property, this can still be done. If you are a Christian, as I am, you know that witnessing is something that you should be doing on your own time, and preferrably not on business property, out of respect for you Boss/Business relationships. But by trying to HIDE the fact of what you believe or how you think it is right to conduct yourself daily through business or any other avenue in your life, you MUST make it known and not fear the results!

Personally, and not because I am a Christian, I would prefer to know what a person's faith/ values are within a business relationship. If I were to deal with someone through a business relationship about something that requires a trust factor, at least if someone IS honestly a Christian, actively living a life in that manner, I know that person is more trustworthy that maybe another might be, becasue of the fact of the values the Bible teaches; honesty, trustworthiness, steadfastness, endurance, love, kindness, being considerate of others, repaying evil for good, etc, etc.

Also to add to the thread of discussion, there is the whole "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"!

If you are so busy hiding tha fact of your faith or value system that you FEAR the result of revealing it in a business relationship, what is the other party in that relationship supposed to think of you and how you handle business?

If you are afraid of letting it be known, and the other person, customer/co-worker/employer, knows that about you, would they not consider you a coward in that respect? And if they do, how could they trust you to have the courage to do what is necessary within that business relationship?

If you are denying your faith or values on the job and living it on your own time, and this person, customer/co-worker/employer, knows this about you, would they not consider you to be wishy-washy and incapable of having the ability to stand up for yourself, your customer's needs, your co-worker or employer's best interests? Would you not be considered two-faced or untrustworthy, or even possible working both sides of the fence? Because let's face it, if you can say that you are one thing but you are really another, could you not easily be working secretly for the competition?

Can you see what I'm getting at? By disguising or hiding who you really are, you leave the door open for any kind of mind work on the part of anyone within a business relationship! By living your life out in your faith and values the way that you do on your own time, you should likewise do on the job, therefore leaving no room for others to wonder, "Yeah, but what kind of a person are they, really?"

This could solve many issues be fore there is even an issue at hand. Employers want employees who they view as capable of being trusted with or without supervision, who can have a strong enough backbone to not allow the wrong person/entity to push them over, who they feel they can trust to be reliable. And this is the same for customers. Who wants a straddler to represent them? Who wants, for example, the same realtor to represent them as a buyer, and also represent the seller? There's an ethic issue there!

And this is not just an issue for proclaiming a Christian value system. It is important from all viewpoints to know where you stand as a person, before they can know where you stand within business!

Yes, I do find it a valuable resource for a few reasons. It's full of stories about imperfect nobodies who dreamed big dreams and changed the world--Joseph, Abraham, Peter, and John are my favorites. Even though I'm self-employed, I choose to have a Boss, and in the Bible I learn that He expects me to just and merciful in my dealings with others. And it just gives me a better perspective because even on days when I feel like I've failed in a certain matter or in months when I wonder where this is all going, I can zoom waaaaaaaay out and see a bigger picture. I'm no more or less secure than I was the day before, and I'm becoming a better human being--and business owner--when I let the good and bad times press me into that shape.

But I really just got on here to say that I just came across a new book re: this very matter, and it outlines what some biblical principles are.

http://www.crosswalk.com/careers/11609521/page0/

I'm amazed that the question has generated so much discussion, because my only question is this: why is this being brought up in a forum for business decision makers? Would it be appropriate to bring up the same question in the typical workplace? I would suggest the "separation of church and state/business." With all due respect to the respondents, I believe that this is not the place for discussion (potential arguing, potential conversion attempts) of religion. IMHO.

Lori,

I think the important driving factor of the thread is if Biblical principles have a guiding impact on Business Owners & leaders with respect to the way they make decisions and deal with clients, employee base & even vendors.

It's a legit discussion because people pull their values and principles from a variety of sources, including the Bible.

If the question was along the lines of what someone believes about certain doctrinal teachings and how those beliefs should be imposed upon or held up as a guidelines for those who do not share the same beliefs, then I think the question would be off-based.

As with most threads that have a wide-spread diversity of opinion, I found it an interesting read. I'm glad that Biznik let it ride, because apparently a number of others have as well over the course of 2+ years.

FTR, I totally agree with you that this would not be a proper forum for attempted conversion attempts, regardless of religious belief.

Separation of Church & State is a great political discussion in and of itself, but it is a political issue and not a religious one.

Just MHO & not without flaws, I'm sure.

I have been thinking for a long while now about doing a biznik networking group that is a spiritual round table of support for the participants.

What I mean to say - is that I believe that in the next few weeks, I will post a small group networking event that has a spiritually based, round-table format. I may propose we pray for each other... be-gad.

I decided to post my idea in this discussion because it has come back to life again - tho it was started almost 2 years ago now.

I would like to post a small-sized spiritual-format-based networking event to the main board to get the attention of all biznik participants.

I believe that an event that is spiritually based AND supportive to business in that spiritual expression is something that all business owners could benefit from experiencing.

I enjoy and have experience facilitating sanghas, prayer groups and spiritual discussions. I enjoy talking about the connection between the divine universe and the business I do in this world.

It's a natural fit and I would like to share the experience because the busines growth from an event like this is noticable and sweet.