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Godly Governance By Dr. Zenet Maramara

What does godly governance look like?

The concept of governance is not new. It is found in the Bible as early as creation. When God created the world and all that is in it, he entrusted its care and governance to Adam and his posterity. Humankind, as God’s representative, is mandated to exert dominion and rule over all of His creatures.

Since human beings are created in the image and likeness of God, our oversight of his creation ought to reflect his image and his character. How are we then to express the nature of God in corporate governance?

God is the creator and owner of everything. As such He is the sustainer and controller of all things. Our responsibility, as his trustees, is to acknowledge His ownership and control, and to pursue God’s plans and ways. The problem starts when we assume God’s responsibility and act as owners and controllers, pursuing our own agenda and selfish ambitions.

Reflects Character

How would it look like in your organization, business enterprise, or church?

We have to look into God’s character to guide us in godly governance.  He is a God of love, holiness, righteousness, and justice. He is also a God who desires his people to flourish and to redeem the structural evil that has befallen his good creation. How will that shape the governance framework for your organization?

Promotes Justice and Righteousness

Firstly, godly governance promotes justice and righteousness. Biblical justice means making things right. God took the initiative to restore our broken relationship with him by sacrificing his son,Jesus Christ. God’s justice and righteousness constrain us to imitate his love and compassion for the poor, the powerless and the needy.

Here is where integrity, transparency, and accountability are essential.  Integrity is consistency in faith and action. Transparency is making all things available for examination and being found blameless.  Accountability is answerability and giving account in a transparent manner, whether it be funds and assets or in our methods and processes.

 Empowers

Secondly, godly governance must be empowering. It should provide people opportunities to exercise their God-given abilities in ways that will bring honor and glory to God. Whether you serve on the board of trustees, executive, or support services, your roles and responsibilities must be clear to avoid false expectations.

Godly governance provides a safe place for people to grow to their full potential.

Considers Environmental Sustainability

Thirdly, good governance means that processes and policies help the world’s needs. That includes the efficient and effective use of resources that is sustainable and protects the environment. From corporate social responsibility(CSR), the business world pivoted to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). Cognizant of the earth’s sustainability and climate change problems, financial investors now look for companies that consider the sustainability of the community and the planet as part of its corporate governance.

Good governance then is the faithful stewarding of the organization, entrusted to us by God, whether it is a business enterprise, a church, or a non-profit organization. It is going back to the first governance mandate given in the Garden of Eden.

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Dr. Zenet Maramara is the founder/president of Christian Stewardship Association concurrently the executive director of Christians in Conservation, a A Rocha associated project. She was a professor of biblical stewardship at Asian Theological Seminary and former director of the ATS Strategic Leader Development; organized the MBA in Biblical Stewardship and Christian Management program of ATS.

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