Regent Business School Wins Top Ranking by Putting God's Word First
by Mary Rettig
October 17, 2005
(AgapePress) - The Dean of the Regent School of Business says he is encouraged by Business Reform magazine's having named Regent the number one Christian graduate business program in the United States. Michael Zigarelli says Regent's business school looks at the business field as ministry -- which is how he believes Christians should view everything they do. "Whether they are leading a church or leading a business or leading a parachurch ministry or leading a family," he says, "everything that we do should be done for God. And that's axiomatic. That's pretty basic theology." (Visit the Regent University website)
But for some reason, Zigarelli notes, many Christians tend to think of business as "some sort of secular or worldly thing that's somehow apart of ministry." But the college administrator says he feels the great preacher and author A.W. Tozer put it best when he said, "The difference between sacred work and secular work is not what we're doing but why we're doing it."
Zigarelli is happy about Regent Business School being named to the prestigious list, but he says for the college, earning accolades is not what "what it's all about." Rather, he says, it is about honoring God.
The business school dean says at Regent, "We ask the God question in every conversation that we have, in every class that we teach. And that question is 'Well, what does God think of this?'" And that is true, he says, no matter what topic comes of for discussion.
"We might be talking about motivating employees -- what's God perspective on it?" Zigarelli elaborates. "We might be talking about pricing. What's God's perspective on it? We might be talking about whether to roll out a new product. Well, what's God perspective on that? How can you know, and how can we do the right thing in God's eyes?"
But ultimately, Zigarelli says, graduating students with a Christian worldview and a heart for ministry is much more important than being named a top school by a leading business magazine. And Business Reform magazine agreed, noting that Regent's best attribute was its penchant for putting God's Word above an Ivy League reputation.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
