The greatest commandment we are given from Jesus, is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. In addition, He said that the second commandment was very similar – love your neighbour as yourself.
How does that love work in the organisations we work for? Whether it’s a business, church or club we should not neglect the fact that we are all part of a family somewhere. But how can we express our love towards staff, clients, advisors, suppliers and even our competitors?
Love Beyond Sunday
We are called not to limit love within the walls of the church on Sundays and wage a secular battle for the rest of the week. Christina Dean leads the organisation Uniforte, and specialises in business and organisational change management. She recently joined us on 20Twenty to talk about how we can express God’s love in the workplace.
CS Lewis examined four types of human love: affection, the most basic form; friendship, the rarest and perhaps most insightful; Eros, passionate love; and charity, the greatest and least selfish.
‘Friendship is the strong bond existing between people who share common values and interests or activities,’ says Christina. ‘The love God wants us to learn about is called agape love. It’s a love that exists regardless of changing circumstances.’
It’s All About Me
Christina believes that getting the relationships right within an organisation is the key to improving productivity. ‘If the relationships are always self-interested,’ she says, ‘they become easily fractured. People are easily angered and frustrated.’
This can lead to an all-about-me mentality in the workplace. People are not as productive in an environment that feels like a battlefield. ‘That’s just not how God designed the planet. He designed it to be all about us, not all about me,’ says Christina.
A lot of businesses have now started taking on chaplains because it makes such a difference relationally within their workplace. Christian organisations are not immune from the challenges other businesses face, whether it’s staff relationships, supply chain issues or outside factors such as unpredictable weather.
Faithful In All Things
Without a team that functions well together, these things become all the more difficult to face. ‘If there’s no integrity,’ says Christina, ‘then you really cannot expect the organisation to flourish. The Lord says if you’re not faithful in the little things you won’t be faithful with the big things.’
Christina had to realise for herself that her way wasn’t the right way. ‘It’s only since I’ve been obeying God that business is much better,’ she says. ‘I’m happier and people around me are more steady and reliable, and much more loving toward each other.’
Listen to Christina’s full interview on 20Twenty below:
