As a business leader, you are aware of the negative domino effect excessive taxation, regulation and intrusive government mandates have on corporate and personal prosperity. Costs to comply can be so prohibitive that you may be forced to eliminate products or services, relocate, cut jobs or (sadly) close your doors.
When combined with fear of censorship for Christian and conservative voices, you may feel overwhelmed, fearful and discouraged, and your focus may shift from innovation and expansion to compliance and survival.
The ripple effects can be overwhelming for any business, but for a small business, they can be devastating. The dominoes fall one after the other as jobs are lost and families suffer.
What can you do to reverse this?
And as a Christian employer, how can you create a workplace culture that may also open the door to sharing the Gospel?
Many job providers unite in advocacy groups to promote pro-business legislation or elect business-friendly leaders. While important, those actions are not enough to reverse the trend.
We must first identify the cause of the problem, which lies in a cultural lack of understanding about basic civics, economics, and why profits matter. Second, we must capitalize on opportunities to increase economic and civic literacy, especially among employees, and do so in a non-partisan manner.
Business is the backbone of our economy, yet not all employees share that understanding. Many in the workforce have not been exposed to basics regarding our system of government and the God-given rights it protects.
In addition, many have not been taught to think critically about issues, and in our secular society, it’s likely they do not have the discernment of the Holy Spirit to detect truth from error.
Economic illiteracy contributes to the spread of ideas that capitalism is bad, business leaders are selfish, and wealth redistribution and dependency on government are good. Many employees unwittingly vote for politicians and policies that could put you out of business and them out of a job!
Informed, educated and economically literate employees are informed, educated and economically literate voters who understand the need for policies and leaders that will promote growth, opportunity and freedom.
Educating employees can be done in a variety of ways such as workshops, online courses, book clubs, or special events. Doing so may be one of the most important things you do to combat the negative economic and cultural dominoes caused by poor policies and mainstream media misinformation.
If you are prayerful, intentional, non-partisan, and truthful, you will promote an atmosphere of trust, which may allow for increased opportunities to share your faith, as well.
I believe employers are the last line of defense for our nation. I believe you (yes, you!) can reverse the negative domino effects as you boldly speak truth and compassionately care for your employees.
