Podcast: Use Your Manual to Align Your Leadership with the Word of God

The American Bible Society helps people experience God through the Bible. With partners around the world, they help translate the Bible, distribute the Bible, engage people with the Bible, and advocate for the Bible’s message of hope here in America and globally.

Through the Church and a global network of local Bible societies, ABS carries the gospel message where it is needed most. Research and experience tell us the Bible makes us more generous, more compassionate, more loving toward our neighbors, and more hopeful about our future in Christ.

That’s why their mission since 1816 has been to help all people experience the life-changing message of God’s Word.

Meet Jennifer Holloran, president and CEO of the American Bible Society. Jennifer is passionate about ensuring her organization exceeds expectations. In this episode of Encouragement for Work, learn how to Use Your Manual to Align Your Leadership with the Word of God. Listen in as you learn these three keys to organizational leadership success.

1. Know Your Role as Aligner

As the leader of your organization, God has placed you in a position of responsibility to align the direction of your organization with God’s will. As followers of Christ, we do not work from the assumption that we know best.

Proverbs 3:5-6 GNT: Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.

Where do we start? Surrendering our own desires for the future to Him. Then, discerning His will and conforming yourselves and our organizations to it.

James 4:13-15 GNT: Now listen to me, you that say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money.” You don’t even know what your life tomorrow will be! You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears. What you should say is this: “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

Romans 12:2 GNT: Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God – what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

2. Know Your Role as Shepherd

As the leader of your organization, God has given you responsibility to care for a certain portion of His flock – those who work under your leadership, but also those who are beneficiaries of the work that your organization does. God’s Word provides clear direction about what it means (and what it doesn’t mean) to serve in a shepherding role.

Mark 10:42-45 GNT: So Jesus called them all together to him and said, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it is among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest, and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.

In fact, the Bible breaks it down even further for us:

1 Peter 5:1b-4 GNT: I appeal to you to be shepherds of the flock that God gave you and to take care of it willingly, as God wants you to, and not unwillingly. Do your work, not for mere pay, but from a real desire to serve. Do not try to rule over those who have been put in your care, but be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the glorious crown which will never lost its brightness.

3. Know Your Role as Chief Steward

Finally, as leaders, God has given us an important responsibility of stewardship for all that has been entrusted to us. We will be held accountable for how we steward our organizations and the resources God has given us. Matthew 25 illustrates how that wonderful that accountability can be when we are faithful:

Matthew 25:21 GNT: ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small accounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’

Matthew also shows us what happens when we are not faithful:

Matthew 25:26-28 GNT: ‘You bad and lazy servant!’ his master said. ‘You knew, did you, that I reap harvests where I did not plant, and gather crops where I did not scatter seed? Well, then, you should have deposited my money in the bank, and I would have received it all back with interest when I returned. Now, take the money away from him and give it to the one who has ten thousand coins.’

The bottom line if we want to be good stewards?

Luke 12:42-43 GNT: The Lord answered, “Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant? He is the one that his master will put in charge, to run the household and give the other servants their share of the food at the proper time. How happy that servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes home!

The Bible has even more incredible wisdom to shape how we lead, if we will take the time to use the manual we’ve been given. When we align our leadership with the Word of God, we have put ourselves on the path to true effectiveness and satisfaction of a job well done.

Learn more about HR best practices as Mark interviews Jennifer about emerging HR practices post-pandemic, helping you to develop high performance in the workplace.

 

Mark A. Griffin | Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Podcasts