God and Business

by Don Harkey

Religious freedom is held as one of the most sacred foundations of the United States. Regardless of faith, a person in the United States has a right to live their life and pursue their dreams.

The execution of this basic principle sometimes blurs our vision.

The concept of the separation of church and state comes from the very beginnings of this country. The purpose of this is obvious. If the government adopted a national religion, which religion would they adopt? Who is to say it is the "right" religion? It would be well within our human nature to begin to suppress the "wrong" religions if a religion were declared to be "right".

However, separation of church and state has entered our politically correct (PC) culture and taken on a new meaning.

In many large corporations (and more than a few smaller ones), it is against company policy to discuss religion or faith. Employees are trained with the conclusion statement of "just don't do it". A lot of this is admittedly driven by our out-of-control legal system.

I think this issue needs some clarity.

When one employee continuously preaches to another employee about their religion, tells another employee that their beliefs are "wrong" or when makes fun of another religion, the employee is has clearly stepped crossed a line. First of all, in terms of business, this produces an environment that kills open communication and the sharing of ideas. This is not good for the organization. Secondly, from a religious standpoint, this is the wrong way to try to help someone. As Christians, we are called to be "fishers of men". Is the right way to catch a fish to push it away and make it feel inferior? We are all imperfect people who are just struggling to do the right thing and we can all learn from each other.

However, when we completely separate God and business, we start to lose sight of our own personal core purpose. Most people believe in a "higher power". When we separate God from business, we are creating an anti-sanctuary where we suspend our core values in place of business metrics and profits. We lose opportunities to truly help people and live out our Faith (note that I say "Faith" not "Religion").

I believe we are placed on this Earth for a Purpose. God has given each of us Strengths to carry out that Purpose every day of our lives. We live together and work together and try to maintain our clarity on what that Purpose is for each of us.

This is why good management in business is so important. This is why good ethics in business is critical. EVERYTHING we do must align with our Purpose. Our goal in life is not to follow our own mission, but to follow God's Mission!

So if you are someone who has control over an organization, embrace the diversity of souls that have been brought together and allow people to feel the full satisfaction of living their Purpose and learning from each other. Allow people to apply their Faith to their work when it is done in a way that doesn't destroy communication or the sense of team within an organization. Pray together. Even someone who doesn't believe in God can respect the focus and clarity that can come from a good Prayer. Respecting each other is respecting what God has created.

By bringing Faith into our work, we just might gain a little more clarity to our real Purpose!