Philosophically, I am against full-time staff working from home for any significant portion of the week. Here’s why:
We read in Mark’s gospel “And he [Jesus] went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.” (Mark 3:13-15 ESV)
From this passage we learn that Jesus had a chosen method for developing those who would become the leaders over his church. How would they be developed? They would be with him – and as much as possible.
How would being with Jesus help develop them?
- It allowed them to see what Jesus did and to learn from what they saw (John 13:3-17).
- It allowed them to ask questions based off what they saw (Mark 9:11) and to learn from Jesus’ answers (Mark 9:12-13).
- It allowed them to listen to Jesus’ teaching (Matthew 5:1-2) and learn from what they heard.
- It allowed them the chance to do ministry (John 4:1-2) while Jesus watched and gave feedback, which was yet another means of learning.
In Matthew 10 we learn that Jesus sent his disciples out to minister, and the question begs, “How did they know how to do it? How did they know how to 1) preach, 2) heal the sick, 3) raise the dead, 4) cleanse lepers, and 5) cast out demons?” And the answer is: Jesus taught them! They learned all of this from being with Jesus.
Now Jesus’ example here is the ideal that we, as church leaders, ought to be striving to emulate. We ought to try and develop leaders the same way Jesus did. Reminder: A disciple is a learner. A disciple of Jesus is a learner of the words and ways of Jesus. And clearly, when it comes to developing leaders, Jesus had “a way.”
Ok, now that we know the ideal, we have to ask ourselves, “What will best help us develop leaders like Jesus? Having people work from home, (where they’ll be alone) or having people work in the office (where they’ll be together)? Obviously, having people work together in the office brings us closer to the biblical ideal.
When an employee is around his/her supervisor…
- It allows them to see what they do and learn from it.
- It allows them to ask questions based off what they saw and to learn from the answers.
- It allows them to listen to their instruction and learn from what they hear.
- It allows them the chance to do ministry while their supervisor watches and gives feedback, which is yet another means of learning.
When everyone is working from home, by themselves, it doesn’t facilitate the above nearly as well, which is why, at New Day, we want full-time staff in the office the majority of the time.