One of the ways that the gospel of Jesus Christ is distorted today is the failure to see its relevance to every area of life and, in particular, the importance of a sound gospel expressed in the workplace.

Few professing Christians seem to see a connection between the gospel and labor. The gospel is viewed as spiritual reality and labor as physical reality. The pedestrian view is that the two don’t mix. This assumption is a corollary of Platonic dualism, which presumes that intangible reality is good and tangible reality is not good.

This assumption is inconsistent with biblical truth. According to Scripture, physical reality was created ex nihilo by a spirit being whom we call the Creator. This means that all physical reality emanates from spiritual reality. Axiomatically, this means that spiritual reality defines and drives physical reality. The physical realm is, therefore, a tangible manifestation of underlying spiritual reality.

A corollary of this truth is that unsound spiritual reality produces poor results, such as poverty, suffering, failure, and death. Sound spiritual reality produces positive results, such as prosperity, health, success, and life.¹

The fallen state of mankind, a spiritual reality, intimates that the innate spiritual reality within mankind is unsound.² How then can mankind enjoy success in the tangible realm?

The solution is the good news of a savior. The gospel presented in Scripture is the singular good news about this savior. And those who embrace this gospel lay a foundation for a productive life, including a productive work life.

Wise managers recognize the value of hiring people who embrace the singular gospel of Jesus Christ. This does not mean that they only hire people who profess to be Christians or who attend church. Wise managers look deeper. They look for C4 people.³ And, in particular, they look for people with godly character.

To see godly character, managers must examine the fruit of people’s lives, seeking to discern who truly embraces the singular gospel. Those who have received the gospel of grace in Christ will tangibly manifest this spiritual reality.⁴

When people who embrace the singular gospel of Christ are properly placed in an organization (i.e., they have C4 for their work assignment), they will be fruitful. This means they will be effective, efficient, and perform with excellence. Therefore, as a management maxim, genuine faith in the singular gospel should be the number one criterion for hiring.

This is a very high standard and difficult to meet. But there is an accommodation for people who don’t meet the standard but may be in the process of growing into the standard. Seek people who display humility, submission, and teachability. These are traits of a person who can be discipled. When managers see these traits and feel led of the Lord to disciple these people, managers have a basis for hiring them with the goal of discipling them into their C4 work.

Here is your business tip. Managers must be clear that spiritual reality drives physical reality. Long-term success is rooted in sound spiritual reality operative in the individual stakeholders of the organization. This is a nonnegotiable truth. One of the primary roles of managers is to walk circumspectly in this truth. They must diligently work with each stakeholder to help them grow and mature in Christ—doing the will of God in the ways of God in the timing of God. They must also help stakeholders find their specific callings, develop their skills to fulfill their callings, and set a context for them to succeed. This is sound management thinking, and action that will produce a consistently excellent, effective, and efficient value proposition for the organization.

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1. Deuteronomy 28; Psalms 1.
2. Romans 3:23.
3. http://strategieswork.net/publications/BusinessTips/2013/2013-07.htm.
4. James 2:26.