“I would have sold you one,” the salesman explained, “but you never would have come back for number two.”
For Fawcett, this transaction sums up much of what he believes about combining Christian principles with real world business practices. Can the worlds of faith and business combine successfully? Fawcett has spent the past 23 years teaching his students that yes, they can.
“If you take Genesis literally, where it says that we are created in God’s image, that makes a lot of difference,” Fawcett said. “I’m going to treat my employees, my customers and my competitors differently than if I am simply trying to take money from my customers, get as much out of my employees as I possibly can, and beat my competitors at any cost.”
And so Cedarville University is trying to teach business principles within a religious philosophy that advises it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to reach heaven.
Faith filter
Cedarville’s business program offers students practical, real world business knowledge that is applied through the lens of biblical truth. “From a Christian perspective, marketing is marketing and accounting is accounting, there’s a common body of knowledge,” Fawcett explained. “The difference is the motivation that we have to apply that stuff.”
An ethical component is built into each course, with the mission of helping students build personal discernment as they acquire professional competence. Students also gain practical experience through Cedarville’s Integrated Business Core program where students write a business plan, obtain a loan, and run a company for an entire semester.
According to Fawcett, students are taught that there is nothing wrong with the creation of wealth, but it starts with treating people properly. Treating human beings as the “image bearers of God” shifts the focus from profit to principle, Fawcett said.
The real world
A belief in the dignity of human beings might make for sound theology, but how does this thinking pan out in the secular business world?
Joe Harkleroad, CEO of Brentword Builders in Cedarville, is a Cedarville University graduate. Harkleroad knows well the struggles of succeeding in a secular business climate while maintaining personal Christian beliefs.
“All businesses are people-related in one way or another — internally with our team, externally with our customers, vendors, consultants — I think the attitude that we approach everything with is that we are servants,” Harkleroad stated.
Jerry Robbins, a Cedarville graduate and president of Sonrise Window Cleaning in Centerville, echoes this principle: “If people are created in the image of God, we’ve got to treat them with respect, with dignity.”
Such respect for the individual will impact the day-to-day operations of any company that claims to function by Christian principles.
“Employees are not just an unorganized rabble that has to be controlled to the employer’s advantage,” Fawcett explained. “What can I do to continually help them become better employees? How can I advance them? By making them better, the employees will serve the employer and the customers better.”
Harkleroad believes that his role as CEO is to “nurture, encourage, coach, mentor, so that employees can do their job as effectively as possible to enhance their quality of life as well as benefit the customer and the company.”
David Gneiser, CEO of Fond Du Lac Bumper Exchange in Wisconsin is the father of two Cedarville students. Gneiser says he regularly prays for his employees. He believes that his faith means that he can have a tremendous impact on employees’ lives. “To whom much is given, much is expected,” Gneiser explained. “You have this huge opportunity to have an effect on people’s lives and, hopefully, with an eternal perspective.”
Using a biblical model, this same level of respect is extended to customers. “Customer who are treated well and receive real value will stick around,” explained Fawcett.
Principles over profit
Cedarville also offers coursework in Christian business ethics and personal finance. These classes deal with issues such as filing for bankruptcy, a practice that Fawcett has moral objections to. Fawcett counsels students to work with creditors rather than default on debt.
Gneiser, Harkleroad and Robbins concede that this focus on principle over profit is essential.
“It kind of changes your perspective,” said Gneiser. “You can be a mercenary in the business world and do very well but most people find out that that’s not satisfying after a while.”
Harkleroad agrees: “Let’s separate the financial implications from the question at hand — what is fair, what is right, what is biblical — then and only then, after you’ve made that decision, let’s bring the financial implications into the decision that’s been made.”
Tough questions
But what about tough issues like layoffs, competing aggressively or unfair competitor practices?
“Is it good to compete aggressively? Yes! My job is to meet the needs of my customers better than anyone else, and in that way, compete aggressively,” Fawcett said.
When it comes to layoffs, Fawcett says a belief in human dignity comes into play. A Christian employer might choose to issue pay cuts or accept lower profits in an attempt to avoid layoffs, Fawcett said.
Tough questions often do not have easy answers. Robbins explained that, particularly in the service industry, competitors who skirt tax laws and perform services under the table can make it more difficult for an honest business to survive.
“I have no respect for that,” Robbins said. Robbins said that the only honorable approach is to stick to his beliefs regardless of what competitors do.
Having an impact
Along with teaching students to develop personal discernment and professional competence, students are taught to strive for biblical influence on their profession and on the culture at large.
“You are not here to simply learn something so you can get a lot of money,” Fawcett tells his students. “We want them to make a difference when they walk out of here.”