Masters

     And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. (Ephesians 6:9) 

          Masters and slaves, Bosses and employees, each is to treat the other with respect, fear, and sincerity of heart. That’s what “in the same way” means. Threats and bullying have no place in Christian relationships. Having been in leadership/boss positions a few times, I understand how difficult that is. Most leaders and bosses have bosses, and those bosses require that the leaders and bosses work miracles in terms of production, sales, or other forms of results. Stress, like pain, tends to narrow one’s focus, often to one thing: whatever will reduce the stress and pain. Treating others well and loving others get lost along the way.

          Yet this is what God calls masters, bosses, and leaders to do, to love their slaves, employees, and followers. Jesus calls leaders to be servants. I’ve gone to conferences in which bosses were advised to get to know their employees, to find out what motivates them. We were sent back to our stores with that task, and it immediately got set aside because it was all company propaganda, not the true focus.

This is an area where I think the author of The Benedictine Option was correct. As                  Christians, we need to rethink how we do business. We need to start businesses in which we treat our employees the way Scripture teaches. We need to turn the focus away from wealth and power to service, in more than just our propaganda. That can happen in a non-Christian business place, but it’s harder.