Stewardship of Relationships

Written by William Nix

Team building is a fad sweeping the workplace. Today, a company may send employees on dangerous adventures, hoping the experience will bond its people into a cohesive team. Check out some of America’s biggest, swiftest corporate “rivers” and you will find rafts full of petrified coworkers clinging to one another.

Team building is a concept that recognizes the value and potential of relationships. Team-building exercises attempt to force relationships to develop. The idea is fine, but it falls short when compared to the potential of building relationships in Christ.

What is the mathematical probability of getting to know the specific individuals in your life given the number of people that have lived, the number of people that are living, and the number of people that will live? Billions of people have lived, are living, and will live; yet you are probably surrounded by only several hundred friends and coworkers. My guess is that the probability of interacting with the people you know today cannot be calculated. Do you think your relationships are by chance? No. So, why build relationships on negative, river-rapid-induced fear. Why not build your relationships on the positive current of Christ?

Step 1: Look at others through the eyes of Jesus

From the Author For most people, their most promising mission field is the workplace. Transforming Your Workplace for Christ identifies ten Christlike values every workplace needs, and offers an action plan for Christians to bring those values to their workplace.

God created us for eternity. He sewed into each of us special abilities, and He grants to us resources that we are to invest for His benefit. Then, God intentionally brings people into our lives to challenge and love us. Our relationships are God-given, and we should place the highest value on them.

Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep to illustrate the incalculable value of each of His children. When we are lost, He risks the balance of the herd to find us and bring us back to safety (Matt. 18:10-14). We are challenged to treat others in like manner – and that includes our coworkers. Good stewardship requires that we acknowledge God’s role in our relationships and then see others through His eyes.

Step 2: Invest yourself in building relationships

We are required to show the love, encouragement, and forgiveness of Christ. We are to seek and give loving accountability. We should use the time, abilities, and resources given to use by our Master in service to those in our path, because ultimately it is the people and our relationships that stand for eternity.

Honey Carter experienced a pain in her back. It was intense and unusual. Her doctor confirmed the worst: cancer. Honey’s treatments would be expensive, long, and painful. The pain of her condition and treatments did not concern Honey as much as the expense and time involved.

Honey is a civil servant at Maxwell Air Force Base. She draws a civil servant’s pay and is given the standard number of annual sick and vacation days. Since she is not independently wealthy, Honey was concerned about how she would manage.

Treatments began and, as Honey feared, her allotted number of sick and vacation days dwindled. She faced the frightening prospect of taking unpaid leave to complete her treatments.

Enter the good stewards. Several of Honey’s coworkers realized her need and acted without her knowledge. They rallied the office and donated almost five hundred hours of their vacation time for Honey’s use. Her coworkers literally gave up their vacation time at the beach and elsewhere so Honey could complete her treatment without missing a paycheck. They didn’t see it as giving up a thing. These workmates considered their vacation time an investment in Honey’s life. That is good stewardship of God-given relationships!

Check your appointment book. How much of your time is spent nurturing your relationships?

Make a list of the dominant relationships in your life. Begin praying for each of these people.

Schedule time with these friends over the next two weeks. Tell them you are praying for them.

This article is excerpted from Transforming Your Workplace for Christ by William Nix (Broadman & Holman). Used by permission. Nix is also the author of Character Works.

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