Finding parallels between the Bible and business

My husband has long worked in the world of non-profit business, currently spending over 15 years in community mental health. As a supervisor and project manager, he once used a term that I was, at that time, unfamiliar with: key performance indicators or KPI’s. Regardless of whether selling a product or offering a service, for-profit or non-profit, government or private sector, KPI’s are universal in the business world. They are measuring tools used by executives and line mangers to keep tabs on the overall health and status of business operations. Boiled down, they simply ask, how are we doing? There are some MBA’s who point to more than seventy-five different KPI’s. That is a lot of dials, graphs, scales and such to be monitoring at any given time.

The Bible is filled with business references; from trading, credit systems, honest weights, industry, prompt payment of wages, just dealings, and labor unions to extortion, fraud, unjust gain, and breach of trust. I wondered what it would be like to take some of those KPI’s and see how they would translate from a strict business perspective to my personal life – faith, family, friends, and community. With so many KPI’s to compare, maybe we (I asked for my husband’s insight.) could pare it down to four basic indicators, covering some primary bases.

We began with Internal Process Quality. Businesses, regardless of size, need to ensure their products or services meet projected standards and optimize delivery. One thing that we practice according to our Catholic faith is an examination of conscience. This includes taking a regular internal inventory. How do I stand with God? Do I participate in the Holy Sacraments, designed to impart grace, on a regular, even daily, basis? Do the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament and the Beatitudes from the New Testament help shape my inner being? Do I show mercy as I have received? Do I grant forgiveness as I have been granted? These and other questions in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, can be our Internal Process Quality. The old adage GIGO – garbage in, garbage out – still holds true. Our relationship with Christ and with His Church will impact how we relate and deliver Christ-like service to others.

Next was the Financial Performance Index, which no healthy business in their right mind would ignore. Neither should any Christian. The Old and New Testaments, early Christian writings, and our Catholic Catechism have much to say on this. One could easily spend half a day poring over poetic, convicting words.

“Give to everyone that asks thee, and do not refuse, for the Father's will is that we give to all from the gifts we have received. Blessed is he that gives according to the mandate; for he is innocent... But concerning this it was also said, ‘Let thine alms sweat into thine hands until thou knowest to whom thou art giving’. (The Didache, written in the first century).”

St. Paul, writing to the believers in Corinth, teaches us that “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).” The Greek word for cheerful is hilaros. Sound familiar? Yes, hilarious. The New Testament from the Gospels to the Apostles speaks of the believer’s Financial Performance Index. But in the kingdom of which Jesus teaches, the financial indicator of our spiritual life is not how much money we make or the number of material goods we acquire. On the contrary, it is how much we dispense and for what purpose (e.g. to glorify God, help the poor and needy) and with what kind of attitude.

I am a former Protestant and have no problem gleaning from the examples of both Catholic and Protestant Christians. One that I am familiar with is Charles H. Spurgeon, a nineteenth century British Baptist preacher, known affectionately as the Prince of Preachers. One story goes that he and his wife would sell the eggs that were laid by their chickens, refusing to give any away. Even close relatives were told they had to pay for them! The Spurgeons were labeled by some as downright greedy. They accepted the criticism, offering no defense. It was only after Mrs. Spurgeon’s death that the full story was revealed. All the profits from the egg sales went to support two elderly widows. They endured attacks in silence. I would certainly say that the two aforementioned KPI’s were well established on their radar.

There are two other KPI’s that we discussed and translated from a business to a personal model which will be for another article. For now, may we take steps to ensure that our inner spiritual process is of God-quality by reading, meditating, and receiving His words and sacraments; and may we measure our financial performance against the ideal that it is better to give than to receive, for “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to care for the widow and orphan in their distress and keep oneself unpolluted by the world (James 1:27).”

Allison Howell and her family are longtime residents of the Valley. They are Catholic converts and keep a hobby farm full of animals and children.

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