In preparing this series of articles related to National Boss Day, October 16, I did several searches for clip art using the keyword "boss." I was surprised to find that many of the images were negative. The images showed bosses portrayed as the devil, bosses standing on people, yelling at them, making people bow down before them. We could moan and complain about the bad state of many workplaces today, but instead, let's look at how the church can communicate the way to be a better boss, both in words and actions.
Live out the lesson
Gayle Hilligoss contributed two challenging and helpful articles on this topic (CLICK on the titles to go to them):
What Bosses Want Ministry Assistants to Know
https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2013/10/what-bosses-want-ministry-assistants-to-know/
Bosses—What Ministry Assistants Want Them to Know
https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/bosses-what-ministry-assistants-want-them-to-know/
If we live out what she suggests, if we make our actions in the church office and whatever job we have a conscious reflection of our Lord, we can communicate to our world that being a follower of Jesus not only makes a difference in our eternity, but in our actions each day.
Today it is popular to say, "we are the church" as we remind our congregation that the church isn't a building, but the people in it who are the church, the body of Christ. But no matter how much we say it, we need to live it out in our servant lifestyle in our work. This is especially important for pastors, bosses, and leaders, because to be a servant to those you work with requires a lifestyle totally different from the rest of the world.
We can lead differently, because we know who is really in charge
All of the negative clipart and much of the reality of negative office situations comes from the mistaken idea that we can control others and the way to do it is to lord over them, yell at them, and put them under pressure to make them do what we want them to do. But that is not how Jesus wants us to lead. He was very clear:
But Jesus called them together and said, “Among the heathen, kings are tyrants and each minor official lords it over those beneath him. But among you it is quite different. Anyone wanting to be a leader among you must be your servant. And if you want to be right at the top, you must serve like a slave. Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28(TLB)
We lead best, when we serve best. One way to serve is to encourage each other. It's not always easy to look for a way to build someone up so they can do the job, to train, to come along side or cheer on, but as Charles Erwin Wilson said “A good boss makes people realize they have more ability than they think they have, so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could.”
Hebrews 10:24 (TLB) says a similar thing in this way:
"In response to all he has done for us, let us outdo each other in being helpful and kind to each other and in doing good."
When you live in response to these reminders by Jesus, you may not be able to change the way clipart portrays bosses and leaders, but you'll change the picture of them to your world. The little card below can help remind you.
Communicate the lesson: For ECC Members, an inspiring postcard for you or your bosses and leaders
I've put together the three quotes into an inspiring postcard, that is ready to print for ECC Members. If you aren't a member you can use the ideas to create your own. You can print them out as a reminder to yourself or as an encouragement to someone else.
There are three versions below and the card comes in a downloadable ZIP file (link at the end of the article). For each of the cards, the file has:
- Ready-to-print PDFs
- Editable MS Publisher files—so you can personalize them any way you want
- Hi res and low res images
If you are a Member of Effective Church Communications, you know this is just one of the many downloadable template and ready-to-print files available for you. If you are not a member, CLICK HERE for more information or to sign up.
Below are illustrations of the cards in the ZIP FILE for ECC Members. The download link is below the images.
LINK to download the ZIP FILE for the cards here:
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CLICK HERE to download the ZIP FILE
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Please share your thoughts, comments, questions!