Theology and Ethics of Church Business Administration
Our first day started out a bit heavy. The presenter, Professor Tom James, was very good. We were challenged to think deeply for most of the day! We talked about the priority of grace, sin as multi-faceted corruption, the knowledge that God loves us, and that we need to act responsibly in absolute dependence of our Creator. Act always as if responding to God's prior action upon you--if we act on our own resources we'll fail. We were challenged to creatively administrate in our churches. What would that look like? My suggestion would be to wait and pray---not feeling rushed to a decision. A priority of intimacy with our Savior is imperative! And in our work, a thick skin is necessary. The Professor quoted Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Testament of Hope' that can be such an encouragement to us today in the world's current condition. There is hope through the love of God. We need a spirituality of business because we need a way of orienting our administrative practices, a way of opening the mundane to the presence of the Spirit! How could this happen? Slowing down, making it habitual to spend intentional time in prayer, don't feel the need to rush to a decision. Prayer is crucial to the opening up to the Spirit of God, not only in the utterance of petition....but the practice of learning to hear and listen. Don't we want to see more of the LORD? He wants to be seen in and through us, even the mundane!!!
