Accountability in a Compassionate Enterprise
Our Mission
To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.
2 Timothy 2.4 observes, soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. We should see joining the Church more like joining the military. That’s how the Muslims see it. I’m not advocating for Christianity to become more like Islam, our God is nothing like their god. The Bible does record God expecting, dare I say requiring, His people to be absolutely surrendered to His will and committed to His cause.
Too often the Church invites people to love God for what God wants to do for them. The enticement for people to follow Jesus is a list of benefits Jesus desires to confer upon His followers. While there is some truth to this, even the military lists some benefits for those who join, the invitation is really to a cause or in the case of Christianity, a Person, greater than ourselves.
The military begins with boot camp. It is this initiation that seeks to dispel the thinking that life is about the individual soldier. Boot camp seeks to break the individualism of a person then rebuild that person into a teammate who will give his life for a greater cause. Christianity needs a boot camp.
Truly the Biblical teaching is that a person who comes to Jesus to be adopted into the family of God is making a commitment to become a family member, part of the body of Christ and committed to the cause of Christ which is the reconciliation of the world to Christ. Repentance is the turning from the self-seeking, self-fulfilling life to the God seeking, God pleasing life within the community of those doing the same.
The military feeds, clothes, and houses the soldier but the soldier obeys unequivocally where and what the commander orders them to do. So too in Christianity, God promises to provide food and clothing to everyone who seeks first His Kingdom and His righteousness.
A life given to Christ is a life surrendered to His will and His ways for His glory upon earth as it is in heaven. A Christian is a person who submits themselves to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We are most Christian when we see ourselves as having enlisted forever in the Lord’s army having the same attitude as the soldier who serves willingly and bravely in our own military.
His Opportunities
- May 18th, Wednesday, Michigan Prayer Breakfast. 7.30am-9am at the Lansing Center. This year’s speaker is Luis Palau. Buy your table and register for this event HERE.
- June 2nd is the next CBMC Special luncheon at the Country Club of Lansing. Details to follow soon but mark your calendars and begin to pray for the men you will bring so they can hear how faith in Jesus changes lives!
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CBMC Central Michigan 6011 W. St. Joseph Ste. 401 Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996 www.lansing.cbmc.com
MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
April 25, 2016
Accountability in a Compassionate Enterprise
by John D. Beckett
Dr. Gonzales was a highly skilled dentist who presented himself to his patients as unusually caring and compassionate. He took extra time so clients were reassured and understood the procedures they would be experiencing. He occasionally provided services without charge for those who could not afford them, and typically followed up to make sure his patients were making good progress after major procedures.
However, there was a problem with some members of his staff. They took advantage of their boss’s tender nature, cutting corners in ways that would never be permitted in a demanding, no-nonsense workplace. These workers felt no accountability to him and did not fear having to incur any disciplinary action from him.
Dr. Gonzales decided he needed to make some changes, knowing that if he did not, eventually his patients and the reputation of his practice would suffer. He had to command the highest level of respect and professional diligence from his co-workers, without compromising his gentle and caring nature. But just how to accomplish this was another matter. He simply was not sure.
BEST PRACTICES
Compassion and accountability are parallel truths. They are like twin rails on which trains run. Both are necessary, even if some feel compassion and accountability are in conflict and cannot coexist. Wise business leaders strive to make certain that both qualities are fully functioning in their organizations, never emphasizing one to the exclusion of the other.
FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION
- A passage from the Old Testament book of Proverbs clearly expresses the importance of blending both compassion and accountability in a business context: “Let not mercy and truth forsake you” (Proverbs 3:3).
- Jesus, in addressing a group of leaders prepared to stone a woman caught in the act of adultery, offered a classic example of how to effectively merge compassion and accountability in a real-life situation. He said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” After all of the woman’s accusers departed, Jesus said to her with compassion, “Neither do I condemn you.” He did not stop there. To hold her accountable, He added, “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:1-11).
- In my book, Loving Monday, I explain how, when utilized properly, compassion and accountability can serve as two sides of the same coin: “Compassion without accountability produces sentimentalism. Accountability without compassion is harsh and heartless. Compassion teamed up with accountability is a powerful force.” They must be kept in balance, applying equal measures of both as needed.
2016. John D. Beckett is chairman of R. W. Beckett Corporation in Elyria, Ohio, U.S.A., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of residential and commercial heating systems. He was named manufacturing “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst and Young in 2003. His first book, Loving Monday, is available in 19 languages.
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