Is the purpose of management primarily to make a profit, create jobs, serve a social need, or serve a customer? All these have been posed and are, to varying degrees, popular views. While all these tangible answers are important, none of these are profound answers.

From a Christian worldview, the seminal purpose of management is to obey God. The tangible traits above are by-products of doing God’s will, according to his ways, in his timing, for his glory. This is the axiomatic principle of management as inferred from texts of Scripture such as the above verse. Based on this principle, here is a list of statements about management from a Christian worldview.

“In the beginning God” (Genesis 1:1) implies that individual purpose and organizational purpose are divinely ordained. The arche’ (beginning point) for thinking correctly about anything and everything is the Creator. This is an overarching, inescapable truth that governs all reality.
Organizations exist to help mankind fulfill the Creation Mandate in the context of the metanarrative. The Creation Mandate (Genesis 1:26−28) is the real Great Commission.
God has a specific will for individuals and organizations. His specific will is what he wants done in and through individuals and organizations to fulfill the Creation Mandate in the context of the metanarrative.
The driving agenda in every decision should be to discern and execute God’s will according to his way, in his timing, for his glory.
The predicate for success is individual and organizational congruence with the metanarrative. Congruence is a synonym for alignment. This facilitates success.
Though organizations should be profitable, their seminal motive should be obedience to the will and ways of God. Since God funds his will, profit will be a by-product.
Sin blocks success by impairing individual and organizational alignment with the will and ways of God.
The general will of God refers to the values, principles, and practices that emanate from a Christian worldview. Sound theology will lead to wisdom in thinking and actions, and to good results; unsound theology will lead to bad thinking and actions, and to bad results.
Sin management is an essential management function to facilitate congruence with God in any organization. In a fallen world, sin impairs stakeholders (owners, management, customers, employees, contractors, suppliers, competitors, and regulators) in their efforts to align with God.
Obeying God is more important than money. It is difficult to recognize the profundity of this statement because of the ubiquitous proclivity to wrongly use money as the metric for everything—success, security, significance, and satisfaction.

Here is your business tip. Wise organizational managers understand that reality is created and governed by the sovereign, intentional, strategic Creator as revealed in Scripture. Therefore, to manage well, they embrace a Christian worldview holistically because Jesus is Lord of all—no exceptions. Their focus will be discerning God’s will, doing it according to his ways, in his timing, and for his glory. There is no other legitimate way to function in God’s universe. And only obedience to God will bring enduring success, security, significance, and satisfaction.

The Purpose of Management