4 of 4

Stearns characterizes that bias in this way: "I know all the answers, because I played in the big leagues. This is the way it's going to be, and I'm going to change everything."

That attitude is a recipe for failure.

"If I had come to World Vision saying, 'I know all the answers. Watch and learn,' World Vision would have rejected me as a leader like a body would reject a heart transplant as foreign tissue." Instead, he took this approach: "I don't know the answers, but I think you do, and I want to learn from you. If you can teach me, and I can learn from you, then I hope to get to a place where I can add value to what you're doing."

That approach took patience but ultimately paid off for Stearns—he earned the right to be heard. It's an approach he hopes that others who come to the nonprofit world will take. For now, he sees the prospect of thousands of business leaders taking a leap of faith into the nonprofit world as a double-edged sword.

"To the extent that these execs come in with a little humility, with a willingness to learn, with a healthy appreciation for how different the nonprofit sector is—not inferior but different—that could be a good thing," he says. "But I think there are going to be some horror stories as well, where very reputable charities suffer because the person coming is not the right medicine."

Stearns is glad he set aside his fears to follow God's call to World Vision. He draws on a verse from Jonah to describe the change in his life: "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs" (2:8).

"When I came to World Vision, I had a real desperate need to cling to my safety zone, but those were worthless idols," he says. "Selling fine china to well-to-do old ladies is a worthless idol. But in clinging to that worthless idol, you are forfeiting the blessing that would come if you completely surrender."

Bob Smietana is features editor for The Covenant Companion.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

World Vision CEO Rich Stearns, George Williams of the YMCA, Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ, and Millard Fuller of Habitat for Humanity are all business executives who took on careers in not-for-profits.

Interviews with Rich Stearns include a Q&A with Christianity Today and with The Other Journal.

The Fuller Center for Housing has links to Fuller's speeches. He has written The Theology of the Hammer and Building Materials for Life (I and II).

Today's Christian has an obituary for Bill Bright, 'Remembering a Crusader for Christ.'

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability helps evangelical organizations maintain sound and ethical financial standards.

Halftime helps people go from "success to significance."

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, has a website devoted to the principles he writes about. It includes an excerpt from Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer. Christianity Today interviewed Collins.

Christianity Today articles on organizations in 'Leaps of Faith' include:

Home Sharks | Unscrupulous lenders target Habitat for Humanity homeowners. (February 19, 2007)

Keeping the Faith | How other Christian organizations stay true to their mission. (June 10, 2002)

God's Contractor | How Habitat for Humanity's Millard Fuller persuaded corporate America to do kingdom work. (June 14, 1999)

Habitat Builds 50,000th Home | Habitat for Humanity had its busiest week ever starting September 8, constructing 150 homes in 70 cities. (Oct. 26, 1998)

Building Straw Houses on a Firm Foundation | Habitat for Humanity goes low-tech with big results. (Feb. 3, 1997)

What's Next: Relief and Development | Not What, But How: What evangelical leaders say are the priorities and challenges for the next 50 years. (October 17, 2006)

College Sports: Prodigal Son of "Muscular Christianity" | In the wake of a basketball scandal at a prominent Christian university, we take time to remember the Christian roots of college athletics. (Christian History & Biography, August 15, 2003)

first page |  4 of 4

share this page

March 2007, Vol. 51, No. 3