Seeking the Best for Others in Our Work: The Example of Cornelius

Scripture — Acts 10:1–8 (NRSV)

In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius.” He stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” He answered, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.” When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.

Devotion

In a previous devotion, I looked at Luke’s account of John the Baptist and noted how the coming of God’s kingdom did not call people away from their daily work, but rather called them to do their daily work in alignment with the values of the kingdom. John’s ministry garnered attention from the religious leaders, tax collectors, and soldiers. We have seen how the life of Saul, a religious leader, was radically reoriented toward God’s kingdom on the road to Damascus. And we saw how Zacchaeus the tax collector had built a work life around justice and reconciliation, resulting in Jesus calling him a son of Abraham. In our text today, Luke provides an example of how the soldier Cornelius aligns his life with God’s kingdom.

Cornelius is described as a centurion of the Italian Cohort who was devout and feared God. High praise, indeed! His devotion is expressed through his practices of giving alms generously to the people and constant prayer to God. I will look at his practice of prayer in my next devotion. For today, I would like to discuss his practice of giving alms generously.

Giving alms is a key practice in Luke’s Gospel that demonstrates a person’s allegiance and alignment with the economy of God’s kingdom (see Luke 12:33). The practice involves more than giving money to the poor and needy, though that is a good thing. As Joel Green comments, the giving of alms “has the effect … of embracing the needy as members of one’s own inner circle.… Such giving, then, is translated into solidarity with the needy” (p. 496). Giving alms isn’t something done at a distance, but should create bonds of neighborly love that draw people together into a community of mutual care. We can see evidence for these bonds in how Cornelius is later described as someone “who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation” (Acts 10:23).

Perhaps more significant is the reality that Cornelius gives alms generously to the people whom he has authority over. Identifying Cornelius as part of the Italian cohort locates him squarely within the Roman Empire that rules over the Jewish people. It would have been easy for Cornelius to remain distant from those he exercised authority over or use his power to exploit them for his own benefit, leaving behind him a trail of pain and anger among the people. Instead, Cornelius finds ways to fulfill his work responsibilities and draw closer to those under his authority, using his authority to seek the best for others in ways reminiscent of Jesus’s teaching on greatness and power (see Luke 22:26–27).

The example of Cornelius invites leaders to consider how they can use their authority to seek the best for others and build stronger bonds of trust and care with those they lead. This could involve generosity with finances. Max De Pree often wrote about the need for an organization’s profits to be shared throughout all levels, and discussed his own practice of maintaining a balance between his pay as the CEO and the pay of an entry-level factory worker.

But we can—and should—think beyond money to other ways of exercising leadership authority for the good of others. I recently read a newsletter series that argued the biggest infrastructure problem in many organizations isn’t systems or strategy, but confidence. Specifically, the confidence for employees to raise issues, ask questions, or admit mistakes without fear of punishment. In light of this, what would it look like to use your authority to invest in a culture that values truth-telling, builds confidence in those who surface problems, and learns together how to address them?

This is just one example, and there are many other ways to move in solidarity with the needy in your organization. Such work will look different for each person and organization. But using your authority in this way aligns the practice of leadership with the values of God’s kingdom by creating bonds of trust and care for those who are scared and vulnerable.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Work and Christian Identity (Acts 8-12).