Strategic planning is a common annual ritual for most organizations. Depending on the management, some spend little time developing a plan and others spend considerable time; some write out the strategic plan and others don’t. Regardless of the level of rigor and detail, management must have vision for what an organization is called to do, which intimates there must be a strategic plan.

The pedestrian approach to strategic planning is to identify an opportunity or opportunities for an organization to make money and then develop a plan. The planners often pridefully presume that the organization can successfully execute the plan without divine assistance. The driving motivation of the plan is to make money (mammon), based on the hubristic autonomous presumption that God is not relevant to the plan.

This pedestrian approach to strategic planning—based on mammon, pride, and autonomy—is inconsistent with Scripture. James 4:13–17 (see above) specifically addresses the biblical approach to strategic planning, which is diametrically opposed to the pedestrian approach. The biblical approach to strategic planning is based on the traits of humility, dependence on God, and proper motive:

• Humility: Given a created universe and the innate fallen condition of mankind, organizational success in the natural requires humility. Pride leads to deception and humility leads to reality, and reality is the predicate for success in God’s universe.

• Dependence on God: As fallen beings, humans seek to live independently of God, which intimates that humans want to be god themselves. Autonomy was the driving motive of Adam and Eve when they sinned (see Genesis 3), which led to the fall of the human race. As their progenies, humans have an innate proclivity to autonomy that then emboldens human pride. The proper perspective is not human autonomy but human dependence on God—submission to his will and ways.

• Proper Motive: The worship of mammon (money) is ubiquitous. Properly used, money is a tool to obey God. Money should never be the ultimate objective of strategic plans. This makes money an idol. Strategic planning is not first and foremost about making money; it is about obedience to the will of God. Financial gain is a by-product of obedience to God.

A biblical approach to strategic planning avoids the common traps of pride, autonomy, and mammon worship. Biblical strategic planning is built on humility, dependence on God, and the proper motive—seeking the will of God. In other words, strategic planning is not about maximizing profit; rather, it is about maximizing obedience to God.

Here is your business tip. Management must develop strategic plans aligned with the will and ways of God. Care must be taken to humbly develop plans by seeking divine wisdom and guidance. Strategic planning is therefore a spiritual activity that requires prayer, obedience to scriptural principles, and spiritual discernment. The motive must always be pure—to seek alignment with the will and ways of God. When management functions accordingly, an efficacious predicate for success will be established.