Every Successful Management Principle
is based on Biblical Truths or Principles
By Rev. Dr. John Williams

I. Introduction
During my professional career, I have spent about 23 years in teaching management and law courses, in several universities in America. My educational background includes amongst other degrees, a degree in Science, Law and a Ph.D. in Management. I should also mention here that ever since I resigned my secular job, until today, I have been offering my services to churches and para-church organizations all over the world in at least 100 key cities, in more than 50 cities of the world, conducting Management training programs, both for the government and business organizations as well as for churches and major Christian organizations. With this background that I have, I want to bring it to the attention of the readers, ever since I started preaching the gospel and conducting pastors and leadership training programs, I discovered the fact that every key management principle that is being successfully used in the government and business sectors, has a scriptural basis or foundation.

II. Some Recognized, Well Accepted and Successful Management Principles
There are scores of definitions for the term 'Management.' Management is defined as a process of 'planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.' Besides several functions that we find in this definition, there are several other important management functions which are listed below under the five main management functions:

1. Planning

•  Imagination

•  Ideation

•  Creativity

•  Goal setting

•  Making a set of long term and short term goals

•  Scheduling

2. Organizing

• Developing system

•  Making checklists

•  Designing

•  Making workflow charts

•  Making PERT charts

•  Drawing graphs and histograms

•  Making Organizational Charts

3. Staffing

•  Preparing an organizational chart, identifying the levels of management, indicating various departments and developing a hierarchy of positions at different levels

• Preparing job descriptions

• Recruiting qualified and suitable candidates

• Interviewing

• Hiring

• Evaluating the performance

• Developing a compensation plan

• Rewarding staff members equitably and fairly based on their performance

4. Directing

• Assigning jobs to the staff members

• Appointing supervisors to train and direct staff

• Guiding and leading the staff

5. Controlling

• Ensuring that the goals are achieved

• Ensuring that deadlines are met

• Ensuring that everything has been done within the budgetary limits

• Ensuring that the quality of products and services are consistently maintained

• Biblical Foundation for Management Principles- The Bible stresses several important concepts and principles which have been used perhaps in a very diluted way, without comprehending the original saying in the Bible, which not only stresses this point, but explains several concepts with a wide range of examples that any one can understand but they will have a powerful impact on our activities. Some of these principles have been spoken in parables by Jesus himself.
  
  Investment
  One striking illustration given by Jesus Christ while He was ministering, was about a man that gave 5 talents, 2 talents and 1 talent to his servants and told them to invest and multiply it during his absence, and to give an account on his return. On this return, the one with 5 talents doubled it to 10, the one who received 2 talents also doubled it, and Jesus commended them. The one who received 1 talent said he had buried it to keep it safe, and just brought the same talent back to him. The master who gave the talents got furious and said to him, you foolish and lazy servant, at least you should have lent it to someone and received some interest. So then, the master took away his 1 talent and gave it to the one who had 5 talents. Mathew 25:14-30
   

• The Bible says in II Corinthians. 9: 6, that if you sow a little then you will also reap a little. But if you sow bountifully, then you will also reap bountifully.
   

• In the Bible, the term faith in God is used in several places and it is also mentioned, that without faith [on the promises and the Word of God] it is impossible to please God. In the same manner, in the business world, unless we have confidence, believe in what we do, and take calculated risks, we can not achieve anything.
   

• The Bible says, that Faith without works is dead. Therefore, it is important to do what we should and to take calculated risk is necessary in this world, no matter what decision we make, based on our forecasting as in God's kingdom, when a person trusts or has confidence in God's promises, and does it boldly, meeting all the conditions, he will definitely succeed.
   

• As explained below, you will find that all the management principles have been derived from the Bible as indicated below:
  
  6. Planning
  In the world there is a saying that if we fail to plan, we plan to fail. This stresses the importance of planning. The Bible says, as the statement made by Jesus, that if a man does not count the cost of the house that he builds before he starts building, then he is a fool. [Financial Planning]
  
  When it comes to planning, no one is comparable to God, no matter how high a position they may hold in a country or in an organization. It is mentioned in the Bible, even before God laid the foundation of the world, he planned using His infinite wisdom and foreknowledge about the fact that the man whom he created, taking a very high degree of risk, in his own stature and image, will at some point, disobey him and commit sin, and therefore in order to give him a chance to escape the wrath of God and be condemned and cast into the lake of fire, he made a plan to take the form of man and come to the world, to shed his blood and die on the cross for the remission of man's sins. Therefore, we can also say, when it comes to forecasting, which is a concept used so widely in the business world, no matter how good a person can be, in predicting, forecasting, etc., he will not be comparable to God's ability even to a slight degree. In the Bible, any principle that is given will be100% successful whereas in the business or in the world, the probability of making successful decisions, based on their prediction, will be far less than 100% because of the unforeseeable risks involved, and the absence of perfect knowledge and the inability to control the environment.
  
  Just like God has a system of justice and a way of executing judgment, which is 100% just, in the man made judicial system many criminals escape unpunished and many innocent people are punished. Whereas God has a perfect system of justice and even in the Old Testament times, he appointed many judges and kings to rule over the people using primarily the 10 commandments he gave to enforce righteousness and justice. It is also said in the Bible that at the end of the world, there is going to be what the Bible describes as the White Throne Judgment in which every sinner not washed by the blood of Christ, will be accountable and answerable for the acts of violation of the word of God and will be judged and severely punished, and there is not going to be the slightest degree of injustice when God executes judgment.
  
  Another common thread that runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is the judgment of God that came upon the Bible characters and various kingdoms that existed throughout the Old Testament times, either won the battle they had with other nations or were subdued and defeated by their enemies because of their compliance or violations of the laws of God.
  
  Imagination- There are sayings in the world such as:
  What a man can imagine, he can do.
  Ford has a better idea.
  Shoot at the star, hit the sky etc.
  
  The Bible says:
  The old men shall dream dreams and the young men shall see visions.
  The desires of the righteous shall be granted.
  For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
  All things are possible to him that believes.
  Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling.
  
  We have been created in the image and likeness of God, meaning that we have unlimited capability and only a very small percentage of our potential is being realized in our lifetime.
  In the same first chapter of the Bible, it is also said that, one can go and exercise dominion over the whole world.
   

• Ideation
  The world says that what a man can imagine, he can do and we see that it is true in the world, like landing on the moon.
  The Bible says that as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.
   

• Goal setting
  Making a set of long term and short term goals is a business practice.
  
  In the Bible we can see God's several short plans as well as 1000 year plans like his plan for the millennium.
  
  7. Organizing
  It is needless to say that as the Bible describes the creation of the universe and more specifically, the earth and the immediate surroundings, where we have the sun and the moon that provide light, heat, energy and a supply of needed oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc., and further, it is interesting to note the perfection and perfect coordination of a wide assortment of animals, birds, creatures in the water, and the micro organism that are not even visible to the naked eyes of the people, which are thriving in the soil, plants and are even living in the body of all the living creatures including human beings. While these micro-organisms such as fungus or bacteria, which are not only useful for the survival of the living creatures, can also be deadly if they are not properly controlled or eradicated from certain kinds of buildings or even human beings. Further, it is interesting to note that there is a perfect coordination in planning, creation and organization of God in the plant kingdom and animal kingdom, to be inter-dependent serving each other and also, and to be able to co-exist peacefully, without disturbing the nature, while it can be deadly or dangerous, if they pollute or destroy.
  
  In all that man does in this world to have a perfect system through better organization, he has failed miserably which has resulted in life threatening global warming, which we are experiencing right now through the catastrophic effects resulting in erratic weather patterns that we see in our times which is historical and unprecedented.
  
  The term organizing also includes functions such as the following:

•  Developing a system
  God has developed solar system

• Making checklists
  God has framed the time and listed it as minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, century and millennium

• Designing an office
  God has designed the entire universe including the planet and everything in it

• Making a workflow chart
  In the first 7 days of creation God had a plan or a schedule to follow every day of the week

• Making a PERT chart

•  Drawing graphs and histograms
  
  8. Staffing
  While for ruling the entire earth and replenishing it, God has created man in his own image and likeness, he has created a wide range of living creatures of all kinds which might be an impossible task even to list various kinds of them, while each one of these living creatures have been assigned a definite role for the maintenance and sustenance of the world in which we are living, and an atmospheric systems including the solar and the lunar systems which provide heat and light at the right time at the right degree, is not just operating as such by chance, but through the agencies and for the benefit of the various kinds of living creatures including creatures that live at the bottom of the sea, rivers stagnated water, such as crabs, shrimps, etc. which perform the task of maintaining the cleanliness of the river beds, the bottom of the sea etc by consuming the dirt that accumulates at the bottom of the water, while, at the same time, God has created certain kinds of eagles and vultures as well as pigs and other kinds of animals to serve as scavengers at the surface of the earth, where garbage is dumped or accumulates, or where some dead creatures may be just rotting, which are eaten by some of these creatures mentioned above. Finally, like staff who are assigned a definite role in an organization, the plant kingdom supplies needed oxygen and other kinds of gases, while at the same time, some natural phenomenon that operates in the atmosphere, cleans and maintains it in such a way through natural weather pattern or phenomenon such as storms, lightning, thunder, earth quake etc. known as the acts of God, which are devastating and catastrophic, may provide a conducive atmosphere for the living creatures to survive and maintain good health as mentioned above. God has developed a perfect and a harmonious system to maintain a conducive environment to live in health and safety. Just like every staff member in an organization is assigned a specific task either to produce or manufacture or to demolish buildings through a bull dozer, in God's creation of the world and it's environment, He has set up self regulating safeguards for the welfare or for the renewal of the environment of the living creatures on the earth.
   

• Preparing an organizational chart identifying the levels of management, and indicating various departments

• Preparing job descriptions

• Recruiting qualified and suitable candidates

• Interviewing

• Hiring

• Evaluating the performance

• Developing a compensation plan

• Rewarding staff members equitably and fairly based upon their performance etc, are done by the management of corporations are also done by God in different ways and patterns.
  
  9. Directing

• Assigning jobs to the staff members

• Appointing supervisors to train and direct staff

• Guiding and leading the staff
  In the biblical context, this matter of directing or assigning specific roles to specific individuals can be seen in several places in several ways but to give just one example, you can see how the 5-fold ministry planned, designed and given to the church he established, defines and lists clear cut roles to play  to accomplish the task of making disciples of all nations, preparing the people to be ushered into the kingdom of God, and living on this planet earth peacefully and in comfort; and these tasks or roles are called as the five fold ministry consisting of Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Evangelists and Teachers.
  
  The general mandate given by Jesus to his disciples to go into all he world and preach the gospel to every creature, heal the sick, cast the demons, etc. and the other great commission given by him was to go and make disciples of all nations are comparable to the assignments given to various Heads of Departments working in the government or in a private company.
  
  10. Controlling

• Ensuring that the goals are achieved

• Ensuring that deadlines are met

• Ensuring that everything has been done within the budgetary limits

• Ensuring that the quality is consistently maintained etc
  
  As mentioned in the Bible and as we can see in the Bible history, God controls everything to be done in an orderly fashion and peacefully through a system of rewards and punishments, as on earth, while we are here on the earth and also in eternity after we slip away from this earth into the phase of eternity.
  
  God has also given the 10 commandments in the time of Moses to maintain peace, order and righteousness, and he has also given literally hundreds of biblical principles that would lead to success or failure, sickness or health, joy or sorrow, peace or worry, weakness or strength, poverty or prosperity, abundance or lack, etc.
  
  III. Using Management Principles in Churches and Christian Organizations
  In the foregoing sections of this article, a wide range or assortments of examples have been given from the bible to illustrate the fact that everything we attempt to do in this miniature world, as compared to the vast universe, is like a replica or child's play while compared to how the creator of the universe is managing the affairs of the universe in a very orderly fashion and systematic way, with checks and balances, which explains beyond any shadow of doubt, that we can draw ideas, concepts or principles from the bible, to manage whatever responsibilities have bee n assigned to us, in a systematic and successful way.
  
  IV. Conclusion
  I would say that the bible is like an operator's manual for anyone engaged in any kind of task or responsibility, to manage or govern any thing small or big, and with the kind of background, environment, that we have, such as Law and Management. I have been able to manage personally, our world wide ministry, by pursuing our ideas, dreams and visions that God puts in my heart, boldly trusting in the Lord, of course, and following the divine principles in the Bible. Therefore, in conclusion, I can say that the Bible is the greatest book of Management and Law and it is no wonder that it is referred to by many, as the Book of Books!
  
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