ESSENCE: As faithful leaders enter 2023, we want to share the four “first things” to “keep first” in leading faithfully–they are actually captured by the word Integriosity itself.   In this PART 1, we will describe the first two.  In our next post we will cover the second two. A key element of the RENEW step of Integriosity is re-ordering disordered priorities, because business as usual — business in “the way of the world” or, more precisely, according to “the kingdom of this world” generally puts “second things first”.  In looking at Biblical principles for work and business, we believe it is important to go back to first principles by asking what the Bible tells us are the keys to everything else.  And then we have to Keep First Things First by pursuing those first principles and trusting God to take care of the “everything else”! The key Biblical principles that form the foundation of Integriosity are embedded in the word itself: Integrity (and its components Righteousness and Kingdom) and Generosity (and its components Love and Humility).

Leading an organization faithfully through business a better way requires aligning the purpose, values and culture of the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  Integriosity^® is a four-step process toward that alignment–RENEW, RE-IMAGINE, RE-ALIGN and RESTORE.

A key element of the RENEW step of Integriosity is re-ordering disordered priorities, because business as usual — business in “the way of the world” or, more precisely, according to “the kingdom of this world” generally puts “second things first”.  In looking at Biblical principles for work and business, we believe it is important to go back to first principles by asking what the Bible tells us are the keys to everything else.  And then we have to Keep First Things First by pursuing those first principles and trusting God to take care of the “everything else”!

C.S. Lewis explains the importance of Keeping First Things First (and why the world’s pursuit of the “second things” misses the mark):

Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first and we lose both first and second things.

As faithful leaders enter 2023, we want to share the four “first things” to “keep first” in leading faithfully–they are actually captured by the word Integriosity itself.   In this PART 1, we will describe the first two.  In our next post we will cover the second two.

The 4 “First Things”

The key Biblical principles that form the foundation of Integriosity are embedded in the word itself:

Integrity (and its components Righteousness and Kingdom) and

Generosity (and its components Love and Humility).

We believe they are the priorities a faithful leader needs to “keep first” in leading faithfully. The two “Integrity Priorities” are God-focused and the two “Generosity Priorities” are people-focused.

The Bible sets these four up as foundational priorities.

• But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.  (Matthew 6:33)

• Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. (Proverbs 21:21)

• The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life. (Proverbs 22:4)

In these Scriptural passages, we see the “first things” and also the “second things” to which they lead.  If the “first things” are Righteousness, Kingdom, Love and Humility, the “second things” are “all these things”, “life”, “prosperity”, “honor” and “riches”.

Colossians 3:2 tells us “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”  We believe the “first things” are “above” and “second things” are “on earth”.

Understanding the 4 “First Things” 

We have spent many posts explaining the nuances of the four “first things”:

• Righteousness (posts #040-#044)

• Kingdom (posts #045-#052)

• Love (posts #053-#059)

• Humility (posts #060-#064)

To help faithful leaders kick-off 2023, here are some of the key ideas from those posts about the first two–the God-focused first things of Righteousness and Kingdom embedded in the Integrity element of Integriosity.  In our next post, we will cover the people-focused first things of Love and Humility embedded in the Generosity element of Integriosity.

Righteousness.

• Leading faithfully is much more than having good intentions, being ethical, “doing good”, “looking good” or “doing well”.  The key to understanding Righteousness for an organization is recognizing that “doing right” needs an object (by whom are we to “do right”) and a purpose (to “what end” are we “doing right”).

• We believe a faithful leader is called to “do right” by God, and that means being obedient to the Great Commandment (love God and love your neighbor) and the Creation Mandate (a commandment about our purpose on earth).

• Leading faithfully requires more than “giving” generously with the profits of a business–it requires the “vertical integration” of generosity.  Living generously is about operating the organization (and, in the process, generating wealth) in a way that generously loves others and stewards creation.  Living generously is living sacrificially—choosing to give something up or to forego a benefit because it benefits the common good–because it is faithfully “doing right”. 

• It means re-aligning the organization to live generously through loving others and stewarding creation as its driving purpose and not just a socially conscious add-on to Profit as Purpose.  It is acting to maximize flourishing (rather than profit).

• Moreover, as described most recently in our last post, Righteousness calls for not only doing the “right thing” but also doing it in the “right way” and for the “right reasons”.

• The purpose of faithfully “doing right”–the organization’s WHY–needs to have integrity in the form of “authenticity” (with authenticity having four components: identity, sincerity, consistency and transparency).  In other words, the organization’s WHY must be more than a pretty sign on the wall–it’s WHY must be at the heart of its culture.

Kingdom. 

• Many faithful leaders are operating out of a narrow and incomplete vision of God’s story–missing the beginning and end of a grand four-part narrative (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration).  Because the purpose and relevance of work and business are found in Creation and Restoration, we do not believe a leader can lead faithfully without understanding and embracing a BIGGER GOSPEL of God’s Kingdom.

• It is from Genesis that a faithful leader understands the Creation Mandate, God’s love for all creation and our role as its stewards.  As stewards, we have global responsibility to use our God-given creativity and productivity to cultivate God’s creation in order to enable flourishing.

• Without going back to Creation, we can’t understand Who We Are, and more importantly, we can’t understand Who Other People Are.  Imago Dei means EVERY human (not just C-Suite humans) is a sacred, creative, productive and relational being entitled to be treated with dignity and needing meaningful work in order flourish.

• A faithful leader seeking to lead faithfully must look to Creation to understand the importance of work to the humanity of those they lead.  God created work for humanity as a GOOD THING before the Fall, and people are more “fully human” when engaged in meaningful work that unleashes their God-given productivity and creativity.

• A BIGGER GOSPEL reveals that the purpose of work and business is not to “make money”–it is to reflect the creativity and productivity of God in ways that increase the flourishing of God’s creation and the beauty of His Kingdom, which, in turn, glorifies the Creator.  A faithful leader must look to Creation to understand the necessity of work to God’s plan for His creation.   The world was actually created to need our creativity and productivity in order to flourish.

• For a faithful leader to lead faithfully, they must recognize that what they believe about “where we are going someday” profoundly impacts “how we act today”.   A Restoration understanding of heaven means the “very good” creation that left plenty of room for our creative and productive cultivation will finally be perfected as a refined city on a hill.

• A BIGGER GOSPEL reveals that the Restoration understanding of heaven we learn from Revelation gives forward-looking purpose and relevance to the underlying importance of work we can only learn from Genesis–they are the book-ends.

• In essence, the book-ends of a BIGGER GOSPEL reveal the purpose and relevance of work and organizations in God’s grand plan and an even greater purpose for Redemption through Jesus.  Creation and Restoration teach us that humans need work and organizations to be “fully human”; work and organizations have intrinsic Kingdom value; work and organizations can glorify God; and a purpose of Redemption is to free and equip us to co-labor with God in His Restoration plan.

The hard part is Keeping First Things First and pursuing them simply because they are “first things” and not in order to get the “second things”.  Having an agenda of “second things” can leave us with nothing.  The problem is that an agenda of the “second things” makes them your “first things”–and that is a disordered priority.  In the words of C.S. Lewis:

Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first and we lose both first and second things.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  When James Hunter launched To Change the World at the 2010 New Canaan Society National Retreat in Washington D.C., we arranged for another keynote speaker to be David Kiersznowski.  David explained that when he and his wife, Demi, were forming a new company called Demdaco (you are likely to know them by their Willow Tree Angels), they were very thoughtful and intentional about trying to create an organization and a culture that pursued faithful presence and would be conducive to Shalom and flourishing.  This is how they describe the culture of Demdaco on the company’s website:

Our purpose is to pursue business the way it ought to be—not merely as a financial endeavor—but first-and-foremost, a human endeavor.

Therefore, we try to develop an environment where work is not just a job.

Our Mission to Lift the Spirit supports a holistic approach to career that includes opportunities for colleagues to pursue and nurture their personal and community interests in relation to the values we hold dear. We believe there is more to work than bottom lines and deadlines. Our endeavor to Lift the Spirit starts in our own halls, offices and meeting rooms. If we don’t feel a little Joy, Comfort, and Love in the workplace, it will be evident in the products we make and the way we engage with our community.

Copyright © 2022 Integrous LLC.  Integriosity is a registered Service Mark of Integrous LLC.

Photo Credit: Original photo by Ch_pski on Unsplash (photo cropped)