Accountability is not synonymous with punishment: wisdom

The Bible is full of passages regarding both wisdom and strength, but wisdom in particular is an abundant theme throughout scripture.  The book of Proverbs is the most notable example, but also passages in the Gospels as well as James.  The fear of the Lord—the reverential awe which is earned by and owed to the God of the Universe—“is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9: 10).  

Proverbs 3: 3 - 8 says “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.  Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”    Proverbs 8: 13-6 says, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; to hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.  Counsel and sound judgement are mine; I have understanding and power.  By me kings reign and rulers make laws that are just; by me princes govern, and all nobles who rule on earth.”  

Reading these passages, there is so much to be learned and understood.  God is the source of all wisdom, and by trusting in Him we will be blessed with understanding, earthly blessings and authority. Godly wisdom entails rejecting evil, pride and “perverse speech.”  More than rejecting evil and seeking good, wisdom from God means knowing His plan of salvation lived out in Christ.  2 Timothy 3: 15 – 16 says “….you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  God’s word is the source of His revealed wisdom; Christ Jesus is “the Word made flesh” Who lived among us, Who revealed God’s grace and glory.  

Nancy Pearcey, Christian author, defines a worldview as that which frames our understanding of how the world came into being; what is wrong with the world; what can be done to fix the world.  Looking at the passages from Scripture above, God is telling us that His Wisdom must be our Wisdom, it must be our worldview.  His Word tells us how the world was made, what is wrong with the world, what was done to fix it—God created the world and has authority over it; human beings attempted to wrest authority unto themselves and all of creation tumbled into sin and darkness; God sent Christ to redeem the world out of His love and mercy.  That is my worldview, that is Godly Wisdom, Wisdom that is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…that is, useful for holding people accountable.  

I could go off on a huge tangent here, down a rabbit hole talking about Creationism, the Fall, the nature of human suffering etc etc.  But I won’t.  I am also not advocating for wholesale evangelism in the work place—that would be a quick way to get myself in trouble and out of any position to guide and help my subordinates.  But not being able to overtly evangelize does not mean that the strength, truth and rightness of my worldview is ineffective.  God’s truth, His Wisdom, transcends everything human and is therefore a strong and effective platform for basing my leadership principles as well as my way of enforcing standards.  

This Wisdom from God—this Scriptural, Godly, Wise worldview—tells me several things that are relevant for secular leadership.  1) God is ultimately the Creator and One in control; I am only a steward entrusted with His people, an under-shepherd of the sheep of His pasture—I will be called to give an account of my management of the people Whom He dearly loves.  2) The world is a fallen place full of sinful people, people who are sinful both by nature and inclination; that’s just the way it is and I need to prepare to deal with that fact and not be caught off guard or angered by it.  3) God sent Christ to redeem the world, to save it by His sacrificial death; that is the ultimate expression of His love and mercy.  I am responsible for also living out God’s love and mercy to His people.  What does this mean?  It means that I take my job as a leader very seriously but recognize that I am not a “law unto myself”; it means that I am not surprised or offended when people make mistakes, I help them move on from those mistakes while holding them accountable; and I hold people accountable in a way that is fair and compassionate.  My Christian worldview most assuredly has a place in my management and leadership approach. 

But beyond that worldview, I know that I must have wisdom for every decision. Every day—or at least every week—my human wisdom will be challenged by people who make mistakes.  Who was it, Dostoevsky, who said that happy families are all alike but unhappy families are unhappy in unique ways…the same is true for management.  People who behave well, who do what is expected and perform well, all do so relatively consistently.  But people who mess up—who make foolish, irresponsible, clumsy, selfish, shortsighted, dangerous decisions—do so in endlessly creative ways.  

(Irreverent, irrelevant side note:  is this why God allowed the fall to happen?  To create endlessly varied ways of displaying His love, compassion and mercy?  To create endless ways of applying kindness and generosity to endlessly diverse types of suffering and need?)

It is one thing to say that I have a Godly worldview and wisdom from God.  It is quite another to consistently and compassionately apply that wisdom to each scenario presented to me as a leader and manager.  According to James 1: 5 - 7 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”  I can therefore confidently ask God for wisdom in all situations, to ask that He give me His wisdom for appropriately holding people accountable in a way that upholds justice, shows compassion and achieves the overarching goals of my organization.  

Having the strength to do so is another matter.

1) Consider your worldview, your beliefs about how the world came into being, what is wrong with it (why sin exists) and what can be done about it.  Is there something in that worldview that is inconsistent with scripture?  Have you given intentional thought to your worldview in contrast with scripture or did your worldview simply evolve in response to your upbringing, education, readings, friends etc?  Is there something in your worldview which you believe needs to intentionally changed, re-aligned with scripture?

2) Do you come to God requesting wisdom for difficult situations? Why or why not?  Do you only seek God's wisdom for "religious" decisions and not secular, management or leadership decisions?

3) Read James 1: 1 - 7 and prayerfully consider how the passage may be applied to your management and leadership life.