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LEADERSHIP
Jesus as Boss

David Wiebe

I admit it: I borrowed the idea from Laura Beth Jones’s book Jesus CEO. Jones is a Christian businesswoman who has extracted principles from the practices of Jesus for people who lead in the business world. It is a kind of manual on “ethical business practice”.

John 15:9-16 is an interesting passage from this perspective. What if Jesus was your boss? At a recent staff devotional on “Bosses’ Day”, I made the following observations:

Verse 9: Jesus loves us! He relates to us. Verse 11: This relationship is designed to give us joy! Verse 12: He wants His workers to love each other too! Verse 15: He tells us what’s going on. Verse 16: He picked us and wants us to do well.

What a boss we have! If we were to place this in the workplace, it might look like this:

He loves us. What would it mean to you if you knew your boss really cared about you? He knows life is more than work – we need joy, fulfillment. Our boss shouldn’t make us work “wall-to-wall” – it’s dehumanizing. One of the “best places to work” in the USA is a fish market in Seattle. That seems ironic where handling wet fish and ice on rainy winter days doesn’t sound like fun. Apparently, for the first 10 years, the owner was a tyrant. He felt that was the way to get results. He was motivated to shift toward a complimentary style. Now his workers “have fun” at work – and sales are growing steadily. He wants us to get along. This is one of the basic lessons we learn from kindergarten. Positive relationships equal productivity. He communicates. A study of middle level managers who failed and middle level managers who succeeded revealed this: All the various leadership styles were evident in both camps. The difference between success and failure boiled down to basically one thing: communication. Those who succeeded, worked hard to make sure people knew what was going on. He chose us. If we knew our boss had personally selected us, we would know we were valuable to the company. He wants us to do well. What if your boss consistently celebrated your success and carefully coached you through difficult spots, giving grace for failures until you succeeded?

Tell your boss the things you appreciate about him or her. Thank God for the times He’s been a “great Boss” in your life.

David Wiebe is executive director of the Canadian MB Conference.

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Last modified August 13, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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