Sometimes I find the relationship between church and business a little baffling. It seems that the business world is increasingly adopting Christian values and practices to run their organizations, including aspects of Christian spirituality. It appears that there is something about Christian practices that is good for business.
In his “Uncovering the blind spot of leadership” article, C. Otto Scharmer, senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, writes : “When I asked [William O’Brien, former CEO of Hanover Insurance] to sum up his most important learning experience in leading profound change, he responded, ‘The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervener.’”
Since when is business intruding into the realm of “inner being,” a favourite territory of the Apostle Paul? The truth is that there are some big-name business consultants out there encouraging executives and senior employees to take a hard look at their inner life. It seems business is discovering that when employees are formed and shaped by spiritual values and practices, it can have a profound impact on the bottom line. When it comes to creating transformational change, people like Scharmer believe that it is only possible if leaders attend to their interior life and open themselves to a larger “presence.” Sounds suspiciously like the Apostle Paul’s emphasis on renewal of the inner self in Colossians 3.
So why is the church content to let others practise the very spirituality that it inherited? As it confronts a society that is becoming increasingly secular, the church seems to be flailing about trying to make itself relevant and, in the process, is often forgetting to practise the very things that can bring about the most profound change: attending to the inner life and listening for the presence of the Spirit at work within the world.
If pastors and church leaders want to be God’s agents of change in the church and have a transformational influence on society, then it is time we start paying attention to spiritual formation and the “interior condition of the intervener.” Attending to the quality of our spiritual life and allowing God to transform our inner beings is one of the most productive things leaders can do.
Transformation in a system will only take place when there is transformation in its leadership—deep, profound transformation that is only possible by the work of the Holy Spirit within the inner being of the leader.
What’s good for the leader is also good for the person in the pew. In our secular society, people within and beyond the church are begging for an experience of profound transformation that addresses their inner needs and helps them better participate in God’s agenda for transformation in their relationships, work and wider community.
Business and the church—it might sound like strange bedfellows—but maybe the church needs to start doing what’s good for business!
David Martin is executive minister of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.
--Posted Jan. 15, 2014
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