From time to time, you may catch a glimpse of a carcass of the Wildebeest lying on the parched African earth, stripped of most of its flesh. Ask any guide, “What happened?” and you will learn that one strayed from the head and became a lion’s meal. The lions are watching carefully, always looking for that one or two that will stray from the pack.
Christian business leader, you and I face a “roaring lion” whose aim is to devour us. We are in a war! A battle for our foundational beliefs. Our understanding of eternal purpose. Our values. Our ethical framework
Many unprepared “Christians” in the business community are losing battles fought in the trenches of practical business decisions. Distracted – Dismayed – Discouraged – they have strayed from the herd.
The herd, in this case, may simply be a shared values system: sharing made more difficult now by three things: the assimilation of diverse cultures who have NOT become part of the “melting pot” that once defined being “American;” the eroding of the family and marriage; and the use and glorification of situational ethics promoted by the entertainment media. More and more pressure is put on the “grounded” businessperson to become shaped by this new pluralistic, postmodern culture - rather than shaping it.
As a leader, have you wrestled with questions like:
- Where are your values and ethics derived?
- What principles are non-negotiable and drive you?
- What is the ethical basis for your beliefs about:
- How you treat other people?
- The source and importance of truth?
- The role of your obligations – are they binding or can they be changed?
Are you shaping your team, organization or company’s culture? Or are you being shaped?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
1 comment:
Griff
It is amazing how when you follow the examples written for us in the Word of God how easy your decisions seem to be when it comes to ethics, truth, treatment of others and obligations to all.
One thought on cultural changes though. The divisiveness of multi-multiculturalism is driven not so much from the individuals of that culture as it is from a political bias. It seems that there is a usurper that is determined to divide mankind and also the Army of God into many battle fronts, a tactic Napoleon was successful with. Thus focusing us on many different plains so that we do not see the one thing that is truly important and that is living for Christ by living like Christ. Almost all immigrating cultures, from when my dad came over from Bulgaria to the Hispanic immigrants of today, lived, worked and socialized within their ethnic group for at least one generation (40 years) as they had to take the jobs others would not. Most of those early immigrants came in one wave. The new immigrants just keep coming thus the generational adaptation to the melting pot of old has changed forever.
Dealing with change often creates new situations (or a straying from the heard as you so pictorially put it) with which we must adapt without loosing our focus on what we are called to be and that is salt and light to the world.
God's Best to you Griff,
Dave
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