- Col 4:6 (NIV) Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
- Eccl 10:12 (NIV) The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails-given by one Shepherd.
The qualifications for a Christian Businessperson are simple and direct: purity of heart and pureness of speech. The heart is not often seen: what is said can be misleading, but in the end, it is what is said and how it is said that gives away the heart. Well-spoken people don't flatter for favor; they don't goad or gossip; they speak from a sense of purpose with clarity, conciseness and completeness. They know what to say and when to say it. It is not about vocabulary: it is about speaking clean and smooth reflecting the heart. Purity of heart is not only about illicit desire; it is also about lack of deceit and devotion to self. The conundrum is that no one has a pure heart. Our hearts are desperately wicked. It is only by God's grace that we can have purity of heart. It is a heart that has made room for the Holy Spirit to take-up residence. It is He that will clean out impurity - if we allow Him.
I am reminded of Matt. 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Here, in the list of the beatitudes we have a integration of holiness and happiness. Only those who are holy may see God - a holiness that is imputed to us. No matter what we do for a living, it all starts in the heart - not the head. It is what is missing in corporate America today - a heart-attitude for the people who depend on the firm for livelihood. Greed has replaced graciousness. Mocking has replaced mentoring. Cheating has replaced carefulness. People, who work for their Creator and their Lord, work differently than those who work for themselves. American business ethics have disappeared for many reasons: one certainly is that pureness of heart has been replaced with profit at any cost.
Do you want to make a change in your workplace? Work on your heart and leave the rest up to God. His love for you will cover the consequences of your stand for righteousness - your expression of a pure heart. Work for an executive that manages by intimidation and expect you to also? Stand firm in your conviction to be well spoken, not mean-spirited. Remember, we are called to love our enemies. Not to return evil with evil, but evil with good. Sure, you can sometimes achieve results with your team with browbeating and intimidation; however, your 9 - 5 job is your mission field. God has called each of us to represent Him in how we work.
Good business leaders have heart and motivate others to follow: Christian business leaders should have an advantage because we can lead from a pure heart and our speech can be seasoned with graciousness that only God can give us.
Share your heart. God did.
Copyright (c) 2006 by P. Griffith Lindell
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