The C4 Principle is a biblical principle used to guide people into alignment with the will and ways of God. C4 is an acronym for calling, character, capability, and commissioning.
Conventional wisdom about human resources for building organizations is to find the best people, which generally means those deemed most qualified. The definition of most qualified includes traits of capability, such as skills, education, experience, and personality. Some include calling under the guise of passion. Others might add character as defined by popular metrics of values and principles. And a very few might include commissioning considered by authority figures—something that is not popular today.
This is not profound thinking about the C4 Principle. Profound thinking would be to use biblical definitions for each component of C4. Calling is divinely defined direction that is implanted in the heart of each person. Character is alignment with Christian values and principles. Capability is the skill and ability divinely given to each person. Commissioning is the direction provided by authority figures sovereignly placed by God over each person.
God creates each human with intent and purpose, and he provided the C4 Principle found in both general revelation (e.g., Exodus 18:21) and special revelation (e.g., Acts 6:3) to guide organizational leaders to the right people.
Organizational leaders and managers should build with the people who have C4 to function in each position of their organization. This can be accomplished most efficiently by using the C4 Principle to identify those whom God has created specifically and intentionally to be part of the organization.
For leaders and managers to function at this level is challenging and therefore summarily dismissed by many. But Christians are charged to live in obedience to God. Consequently, they must seek to obey God’s will and ways to build organizations that glory him. They must become students and practitioners of the C4 Principle.
To summarize: Calling is the call of God congruent with the passion that God gives to each person—not to be confused with fleshly desires. Character is a measure of the Christian maturity in a person—both his or her current maturity and the path of ongoing maturity. For each work assignment there is a level of maturity and an ongoing process of maturity that is essential. Capability is the level of developed skill requisite for each work assignment. As with character, both a minimum level of capability and ongoing development are required. And finally, commissioning is what the divinely ordained authority figures see as the purpose of God in a person. The C4 Principle is God’s way to guide leaders and managers to make wise choices about the people who are the right people for each organization.
Here is your business tip. Wise leaders and managers understand that the only correct way to build organizations is God’s way—his will done his way in his timing for his glory. In God’s universe this is the only right way. Accordingly, they will build diligently using biblical principles, such as the C4 Principle, to help identify the right people—those God has sovereignly ordained to be part of an organization. This practice is one of the keys to facilitating individual and organizational excellence and success.
