As a young Christian in college, I heard a speaker mention that Luke begins the book of Acts with a unique statement about his Gospel: “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1). The speaker pointed out that Luke is implying that Acts was his account of what Jesus continued to do and to teach through the church. I believe that it is the calling of every Christian to continue to do the work of Jesus in the world.
Is There any Biblical Wisdom for Starting a new Career?
It was the spring of 1988. As a new sergeant in the U.S. Army, I had just been sent to Korea for a year, away from my young family. Like many Christians, I wondered if I was wasting my life stuck in a secular job. I thought I may have missed my calling. I doubted my job as a nuclear, biological, and chemical operations specialist had any eternal value. Did my work matter to God at all?
What I wanted to do was serve the Lord in vocational ministry. However, that door closed shortly after I was fired from my youth pastor position in the summer of 1985. My options for full-time employment were limited. I looked into going back to teaching, but my teaching certificate from Colorado was not recognized in Oregon. For a host of good reasons, I joined the Army at age 27.
Work, Grief, and Rehearsing Hope
On March 28th, I facilitated the NIFW women’s study to discuss the resource from Dr. Michaela O’Donnell, Make Work Matter. If you notice the date, it’s exactly 24 hours after the tragedy at Covenant School. I remember preparing for this class during commercials while I watched the news with tears in my eyes. I was waiting for updates on this unimaginable tragedy that directly impacted our friends, neighbors, and community.
I was grieving, working, and rehearsing hope.
Borrowed Gifts: A reflection on giftedness for service in the workplace
I remember making the most of the opportunity when I found a stretch of open road for the car to do what it was made to do. But I also remember driving with just a little bit of trepidation: this car was not my own. It was borrowed, and while I wanted to make the most of the experience, I also felt compelled to take extra care with this gift that had been entrusted to me for a time and purpose.
Have you ever considered that the gifts and abilities you bring to your work are not your own? They too have been entrusted to you by God for a time and a purpose.
Steady Ground & Shifting Seasons
If I was sitting across from you in a coffee shop and told you this story, you would nod and probably chuckle a little because, whether you are 25 or 55, one thing we know to be true about life is that it changes. We know we aren’t the only ones who feel like change is constant, with phrases like "quarter-life crisis" and "mid-life crisis" perpetuating in our circle of friends. It’s not "will change happen," but "when change happens."
Well, if change is a constant reality, how does Scripture equip us to navigate change? How do we find solid ground in shifting seasons?
Here are 3 ways that I found steady ground this past year. Now, this isn’t a 3-step process to happiness or success, but instead a glimpse into my bumpy and fumbling way to find steady ground in a shifting season.
Wisdom in the Age of AI
In the last week of November 2022, an artificial intelligence research lab called OpenAI launched a program called ChatGPT. GPT stands for “generative pre-trained transformer.” What exactly does that mean? Perhaps you should ask the program itself.
In the words of OpenAI, ChatGPT is “a model which interacts in a conversational way,” gathering information to user questions online and communicating responses to users in a way that mimics human authorship with incredible effectiveness.
Designed in the form of a virtual conversation partner, ChatGPT has the capability to produce an essay on any given topic in a matter of seconds. (To High School English Teachers: All the best…)
ChatGPT surpassed 1 million users on the platform in its first 5 days open to the public. It’s a fascinating program and quite competent.
As an example, here’s the response I received when I asked ChatGPT, “Share with me the value of integrating my faith and daily work, from a Christian viewpoint:”
Integrating your faith and daily work can provide a sense of purpose and meaning in your life. It can also help you to live out the values and principles of your faith in a practical way, and to use your talents and abilities to serve others. This can bring fulfillment and joy, and can help to deepen your relationship with God. Additionally, by living out your faith at work, you can be a positive influence on those around you and can help to create a more positive and compassionate work environment.”
Pretty solid response, right?!
Working for the Harvest
Let’s remember this time of year and every season: The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Celebrations are soon to come, but first, there’s important work to be done. Let’s pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers and let’s work to bring the kingdom of God to bear on the places where we live our lives through the power of the Spirit who lives inside of us.
Is Quiet Quitting for Christians?
How did we get here? The challenges of a changing economy and context for work over the past several years have created a variety of new challenges for both employees and employers. That is certainly true. As pressure is passed down the chain, many employees find themselves frustrated with their experience.
Cultivating Gratitude at Work
As we approach Thanksgiving, it is appropriate we take a moment to thank God for His blessings.
However, let’s be honest. Many of us have struggled in so many ways during this long pandemic: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. How can Christians truly praise God during this season of disappointment and frustration, especially for where we spend most of our time – at work?
In my last article, I discussed some of the sources of discontentment at work, and shared some ways that Christians can respond to it in a biblical way with patience, wisdom and discernment. Here, I will explore how we can cultivate gratitude for the gifts in our work. Let me offer a few categories found in our work environment where we can see His hand of blessing.
god has provided a place for us to serve
Have you ever stopped to think about how God has provided a place for you to work that allows you to contribute to God’s work in the world? God created this world. It was perfect, and yet it was incomplete. God has invited men and women to work together with each other and with Him to continue to care for, cultivate, and expand His creation in order to meet the needs of humankind.
Long ago, the Israelites were exiled to Babylon. This was not exactly the best place to work. They were told in Jeremiah 29:5-6 to “build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.”
“God has invited men and women to work together with each other and with Him to continue to care for, cultivate, and expand His creation in order to meet the needs of humankind.”
Hugh Whelchel, in How Then Should We Work? ties this passage to Genesis 1:28. He points out the connection between the command to “be fruitful and multiply”, with this one given to the Babylonian exiles. He observes that as they “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” (Jer. 29:7), they will be obeying God’s mandate to subdue and rule. In doing so, they will be “reweaving Shalom” (or wholeness).
Whelchel continues, “God meant them [the Israelites] to be a blessing to the world even while they lived in Babylon. God intends the same for us. We are called to work for the shalom of the city, whatever or wherever that city is, where God has put us. We are to be a blessing in our time and place. This is possible only because we have found our identity in Christ, the Prince of Shalom.”
You have been gifted with a unique set of skills and a role to be a blessing through your work, to contribute to the wholeness and welfare of your neighbors and community. That God has invited us to co-labor alongside Him and others in restoring His creation in ways big and small is a gift.
god has provided a purpose for us to fulfill
In this place where God has led us, He has given us opportunities to put to use the various abilities and experiences that He has graciously given to us to fulfill His purposes. Every single one of us, whether we realize it or not, have been divinely equipped to do the jobs we have so that God can work in us, with us, and through us to meet the full spectrum of human needs.
Tim Keller, in his excellent book, Every Good Endeavor, reminds us, “God does not simply create; he also loves, cares for, and nurtures his creation. He feeds and protects all he has made. But how does his providential care reach us? . . . God’s loving care comes to us largely through the labor of others. Work is a major instrument of God’s providence; it is how he sustains the human world.”
For example, if you serve in any capacity in law enforcement, justice, corrections, or in the military, God is working in, with, and through you to bring order out of chaos to keep the peace. You are loving your neighbors by what you do every day. This is a better world because of your efforts.
“Every single one of us, whether we realize it or not, have been divinely equipped to do the jobs we have so that God can work in us, with us, and through us to meet the full spectrum of human needs.”
Perhaps you work in education, whether as an administrator, support staff, or teacher. God is working in, with, and through you to care for His children as you train their minds and hearts, equipping them for the good works God has prepared for them to do through your own work.
Work, as we see, has a purpose far beyond being a means to an end or serving our own desires. God will use you for His good purposes right where you are, as agents of common grace, to bring shalom to a fractured world. God’s kingdom provides us with the gift of renewed purpose in our work.
god has provided people for us to bless
We have seen that God has provided a place of employment that is full of opportunities to serve. He has also given us a job where He can use us to fulfill His purposes. A final thing we can be grateful for in our work is that He has put us in the midst of people who need what we can provide.
Most of us have bosses. We may have employees, co-workers, and customers we work with as well. Each of these people have various needs. While God could meet these needs on His own, in His grace He has allowed us the opportunity to meet those needs through our daily work. “God does not need your good works,” says Martin Luther, “but your neighbor does.”
““God does not need your good works,” says Martin Luther, “but your neighbor does.” ”
What does your work provide that serves others? Perhaps it is a product, a new technology that will help solve a particular medical problem. Maybe you work in supply chain management: how does your eye for detail ensure that companies and their customers consistently have important products stocked? If you work in local government, what needs in the community do you advocate for and meet? No matter your industry, your neighbor needs your work.
Some might object at this point and question the value of their work. One way to think about how your work serves particular people is to ask, “What would happen if no one did my job?”
Certainly, beyond the work itself we have an opportunity to love and bless the people we interact with and labor alongside in our work. It may look like providing a listening ear for a weary coworker, encouraging an insecure supervisee, or setting healthy expectations around work-life balance for your employees. Whatever your role, your work is a setting in which God has placed you to love others.
There are specific people God intends for you to serve, with specific needs that you can meet through your work. Where have you seen your gifts and the needs of others intersect through your job?
gratitude in the midst of grief
Douglas J. Schuurman, in his book, Vocation: Discerning our Callings in Life reminds us, “The deepest meaning of one’s work comes from faith: to believe that God has placed you in this particular place for this particular time, to use your gifts and opportunities to express gratitude for God’s great gift of salvation by serving God and your neighbor through your work—that is true meaning, the sources of real satisfaction and joy.”
“As we approach Thanksgiving, come to the table God has prepared for you and bring both your laments and your praises. ”
When we truly see how God has blessed us by preparing us for and leading us to our workplaces and how He has used us to make a difference in the lives of those He has divinely placed us with, we can sincerely praise Him with a heart full of gratitude for these gracious gifts from His hand. We are a people with a place to serve, purpose to fulfill, and people to bless.
However, for many, this past year and a half may have been the most challenging season of work in your career. Fortunately, cultivating gratitude does not require that we ignore our grief. As we approach Thanksgiving, come to the table God has prepared for you and bring both your laments and your praises.
As you consider God’s kindness towards you this year, consider how He has shown His love for you through and in your work. Dwell on how the work of others has blessed and served you. And ultimately, take heart in the finished work of Christ that has been performed on your behalf, restoring you to right relationship with God.
It is from that work that we go forward in our own.
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Gotham Alum Facilitates Redemptive Travel for Families
Editor’s Note: The following video was produced by The Global Faith & Work Initiative, a ministry of Redeemer City to City.
At NIFW, we believe that God has called us to be agents of renewal in every industry, ushering in the kingdom of heaven here on earth. In doing so, we accept the call of being God’s ambassadors of reconciliation to a hurting world (2 Corinthians 5).
As a mother and travel advisor, Nashville Gotham Alum Christie Holmes had witnessed a particular gap in the travel industry: travel experiences for the whole family. At the same time, Holmes recognized how families often travel to other countries without truly engaging the culture or the people who live there. Passionate about cross-cultural engagement, Holmes wanted to foster a deeper connection between people and the places they visited, as well as within families.
With an overarching goal of creating “global citizens,” Holmes founded Global Community Travel, which provides customized travel plans to over 35 different international destinations with a focused emphasis on family connection, sustainability, and community engagement. To foster purposeful travel, Holmes and her team provide pre-trip engagement materials to help families learn about the history, values, and customs of the culture that they are traveling to before they go.
The five-minute video below tells Holmes’ story of developing Global Community Travel, her desire to instill deeper curiosity into travelers, and how the image of God is at the heart of her work.
Cultural Renewal in Travel: Gotham Alumni Christie Holmes
Gotham Alumni Works with Sheriff to Decriminalize Mental Illness in Nashville
Editor’s Note: The following video was produced by The Global Faith & Work Initiative, a ministry of Redeemer City to City.
At NIFW, we believe that God has called us to be agents of renewal in every industry, ushering in the kingdom of heaven here on earth. In doing so, we accept the call of being God’s ambassadors of reconciliation to a hurting world (2 Corinthians 5).
Nashville Gotham Alumni Thomas Hunter and Sheriff Daron Hall saw the criminalization of mental illness in their jail system in Davidson County as an area of brokenness. Hunter, who serves as the Community Engagement Director within Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, worked alongside Hall to create a new system where those detained presenting with mental illness were given the opportunity for treatment at their Behavioral Care Center instead of being jailed.
The video below tells their story of developing the Behavioral Care Center and the “why” behind their efforts. We honor the work of Hunter and Sheriff Hall and hold this up as a God-glorifying example of cultural renewal that seeks to extend mercy and care to those in need of it.
Cultural Renewal in the Criminal Justice System: Gotham Alumni Thomas Hunter
Why Networking is More Biblical Than You Think
What images and feelings come to mind when you hear the word “networking?”
Images: I picture an awkward gathering of awkward people fumbling over their paper plates, plastic cups, and elevator pitches as they try desperately to make a connection that will lead to a sale.
Feelings: discomfort, frustration, and the sinking conviction that I’m wasting my time.
After 32 years, I am still not entirely comfortable when I enter a crowded room where I don’t know most of the people. A significant percentage of the time I wonder: “Is this worth my time?”
Underneath it all is a deeper question: if my work is really an expression of God’s call on my life, am I still required to engage in these anxious attempts to make new contacts? If God is guiding and blessing me, do I need to strive so intently in the land of the awkward? Won’t he just “open doors” and make it grow if I’m being faithful to him? Is all this effort the opposite of having faith?
In this piece, I will draw on the story of Abraham to highlight a Biblical approach to networking. For those of you who are allergic to the practice, we will demystify it by showing its Scriptural roots. For those of you who enjoy networking, you will discover how you can engage in it redemptively.
genesis 24 as a template for modern networking
In Genesis 24, we read the story of Abraham securing a wife for his son Isaac. Abraham has been through all sorts of trials and kept believing in the promises of God. He proved he wouldn’t hold anything back from God (Gen. 22). God has blessed him with his promised son, peace on all sides, and material abundance. Now it’s time to set up his son for success. He needs to find Isaac a good wife.
Abraham has three challenges:
He does not want Isaac to marry a local woman - they did not share his values or faith.
He is too old to travel to the country where a suitable bride might be found.
He did not want Isaac to leave the land. God has given them this land and Abraham seemed to fear that if Isaac returned to the country of his extended family, he might not return.
part 1: the commission
“A danger for networkers is the scarcity mindset; we think we are asking people for a favor instead of offering a mutually beneficial relationship.”
So what does Abraham do? He commissions his head servant on perhaps the first “networking mission” in recorded history. The servant will go to the land of Abraham’s countrymen, and he will bring gifts. He will look for God to lead him to the right family and bride. He will make an offer to the bride and her family. In the end, it will be the woman’s choice - the servant’s only responsibility is to go to the right people and make a clear offer.
What do we learn about networking from the onset of this story?
First, we see that networking involves knowing who you need to know. Abraham knew where his servant needed to go to meet a suitable bride for his son. It wasn’t a random event; it wasn’t even about convenience. It may have taken his servant 30 days to arrive in the land of Abraham’s relatives. Importantly, Abraham knew who he needed to know. He knew what circle of people to pursue.
Some of us may be frustrated in our networking because we have just tried to show up at random gatherings. Early on in career transition or business building process, random events can help us get our conversational muscles in shape. But over time, we need to focus our efforts. Who do we need to meet to accomplish what it is we are called to accomplish?
“ Make prayer a habitual part of your networking.”
The second thing we see here is that successful networking is about delivering the offer (the offer of a follow-up conversation, of a product offer, of an invitation of some sort). It is not about the response. Even in the patriarchal ancient Near East, it was the woman’s choice to come or not. We don’t want to force people into doing business with us. We are looking for the willing.
part 2: the prayer
With his commission from Abraham and an oath to make good on fulfilling all his master’s expectations, Abraham’s servant sets on his way. Finally, after weeks of travel with camels and horses and gifts, he arrives in the country to which he was directed. Upon arrival, he says the following prayer:
“O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this, I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” (Genesis 24:12-14).
What can we learn from this passage?
First, make prayer a habitual part of your networking. How often do you pray before making a new contact? Abraham’s servant prayed for three things: 1) Success, 2) God’s faithful love to be obvious, and 3) Confirmation that he has met the right person for Isaac. What might it look like for you to do that?
In order to pray this way, it requires something else, a second takeaway from this part of the story.
Be very clear on what you’re seeking. In order to pray this way, we have to know what we are seeking. This means taking the time to think through the explicit criteria we use to determine if we’ve found what we are seeking. Sometimes in a coaching session, people will say, “I just want to know that I am doing the job that God wants me to do!” I ask, “How will you know it when you find it?”
“Approached biblically, networking is a divinely constructed way to discover new neighbors to love.”
The servant’s mission was pretty clear: find a suitable bride for his master’s son. What are you looking for? A job opportunity, industry intel, a potential client? Each is defined a bit differently. Ask yourself, “What is my goal?” “How will I recognize the right fit?” And then pray for God’s hand to be over your interaction.
part 3: the pitch
As soon as the servant has finished uttering his prayer, a woman named Rebecca comes to the well where he was resting. He makes his pitch and she answers as he hoped. He offers her gifts and Rebecca accepts them. She then takes him to meet the family. He offers them gifts and repeats the whole story. Afterwards, there is a grand celebration, and before long Rebecca is on her way back to Canaan to become Isaac’s bride.
From the conclusion of the story, we can draw two final networking principles.
Generosity: The servant leads with gifts and requests, rather than his needs and demands. He is generous. A danger for networkers is the scarcity mindset; we think we are asking people for a favor instead of offering a mutually beneficial relationship. We get sucked into a needy mindset (I need a sale, I need a job), instead of a value-add mindset (I have God-given talents and capacities that enrich people and organizations). Abraham’s servant shows us to lead with giving and confidence.
Tell the Story: The narrative was essential for Rebecca and her family to understand who was proposing. This was an exciting, miracle-like story, but it only made sense with the details. What’s your story? What are your skills? What have you learned? How do you aspire to have an impact? How can you quickly and positively help people understand who you are and why you are talking to them?
“Instead of a slimy exercise of selfishness or transactional goals, adopting a biblical view of networking connects us to God and our neighbors in new ways of trust and service.”
Finding a bride for Isaac is one of my favorite examples of networking in the Bible. But it is far from the only one. In Scripture, we see Jesus walking along the shore to call fisherman, visiting the tax collectors booth to reach Matthew, and stopping by the well in Samaria to convince a whole village that he is the Messiah.
We see Paul going to the Synagogue in Berea, to the place of prayer in Philippi, and the Areopagus in Athens. Over and over again in the Bible, we see followers of Christ going to the place where they will find the people they need to know, committing the outcome to God, and graciously and generously holding out an offer. Perhaps we can call this the Biblical framework for networking.
redemptive networking
In their book Designing Your Life, authors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans put it succinctly: “Dysfunctional belief: networking is just hustling people—it’s slimy. Reframe: networking is just asking for directions.”
Instead of a slimy exercise of selfishness or transactional goals, adopting a biblical view of networking connects us to God and our neighbors in new ways of trust and service. As we exercise our own agency, we ultimately look to God to open the doors and show us His favor. We are actively dependent on Him in the process. But it’s not just the vertical that’s important.
Networking can be redeemed when we look at it as a way to meet and serve others in our sphere. Part of the adventure of networking is asking “In what ways might God want me to share wisdom, comfort, or resources with this person?” Approached biblically, networking is a divinely constructed way to discover new neighbors to love.
So the next time you’re putting on a name tag at a networking event, reciting an elevator pitch, or asking for an informational interview over Zoom, remember: God delights in blessing His people through the generosity of others.
Looking for more resources for career discernment or job searching? Check out NIFW’s Career Navigator program, in partnership with Dr. Roper and the VOCA Center.
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Gotham Alum Balances Nonprofit Consulting and Ministry to Love Her City to Life
Some people are born to wear multiple hats. Nicole Rowan is one of them.
An ordained pastor in North Nashville, owner of a nonprofit consulting business, and landlord liason for Metro Nashville’s HOPE Program assisting renters impacted by COVID-19, Rowan has what you might call “eclectic” work interests. Possessing advanced degrees in business management and business administration, Rowan previously worked as an executive leader for the YMCA for over 15 years.
identifying the disconnect
As Rowan tells it, her nonprofit leadership experience with the YMCA ignited her passion for supporting nonprofits with strategic planning. So passionate, in fact, that Rowan’s expertise and excitement led her to leave her position with the YMCA at the end of 2018 to launch her consulting business, Press Play On Purpose Consulting, specifically serving nonprofits.
As Rowan explains, oftentimes there is a disconnect in nonprofit organizations between the strategic goals established by senior leaders and the ability of the employees to implement the solutions. “What leaders have established,” says Rowan, “doesn’t always work on the ground level.”
Rowan is energized by helping these nonprofit organizations rethink their strategic planning processes. “It’s about understanding the nonprofit is a business,” shares Rowan, “and still has to operate as a business at the end of the day.”
redeeming difficult work relationships
“ Our difficult work relationships are often a mirror for something that we don’t see in ourselves, and in many ways, we’re also mirrors for other people.”
At the same time she was launching her business, Rowan joined Gotham, NIFW’s nine-month faith and work leadership program. Gotham, shares Rowan, helped her to discern where God was calling her based on her experience, gifts, and interests. “Gotham helped me understand that I wanted to help businesses with a direct social cause,” says Rowan.
Beyond helping her solidify her business model, Rowan also shares that her Gotham experience helped her in the trenches of her work. Once her consulting business was up and running, Rowan recognized an area where she needed the light of the Gospel to be shed: difficult working relationships.
Rowan’s perspective shifted after working through one particular exercise in Gotham which helps participants identify “sandpaper people” in their work and leads them through a process of examining where personal sin or idols may be showing up in the relationship. Ultimately, the exercise is aimed at seeing the Imago Dei in the other person and allowing God to intervene to redeem the relationship and change our own hearts in the process.
As Rowan explains, “In those times we’re often focused on complaining about the other person, rather than considering and seeing how you’re showing up, where sin might be present, and what that can teach you.”
This countercultural approach to also looking at ourselves rather than only blaming the other person is fueled by the Gospel’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves. “Our difficult work relationships,” echoes Rowan, “are often a mirror for something that we don’t see in ourselves, and in many ways, we’re also mirrors for other people.”
spiritual formation within community
While she emphasizes that her nonprofit consulting work offers her chances to minister to others daily, “even if it’s not done overtly,” Rowan also has served as an ordained minister at a church in North Nashville for over five years.
Discussing Gotham’s impact on her role as a church leader, Rowan shares that the program and its emphasis on both theological study and devotional practices “increased my fervor to be consistent with different forms of devotion, and to listen to God on a daily basis.”
“...We may not know how the work God has us doing today may be preparing us for our next assignment later in life.”
A significant lasting impact of Gotham, says Rowan, was how it helped her establish a habit of leaning on God in her work and outside of it, asking God, “What might you be saying to me in this moment?”
Rowan also adds that the Gotham curriculum helped her to become more aware of and open-minded about other Christian traditions and practices. With a diverse Gotham cohort coming from a variety of Christian traditions, Rowan said the friendships she developed were formative in helping her expand her view of what worship means to other people.
These friendships Rowan formed in Gotham are still important to her today. In fact, when Rowan was officially ordained as a pastor last year, she was able to invite ten people to the in-person ceremony. “Five of them,” says Rowan, “were friends from my Gotham cohort.”
EQUIPPED FOR GOOD WORKS
As Rowan’s life is a testament to, we may not know how the work God has us doing today may be preparing us for our next assignment later in life. What we do know is that God is the one who equips us to do those good works that He has prepared in advance for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).
Or, as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message translation, “God creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.”
Rowan is embracing the work that God has invited her to join Him in. Whether she is serving her congregants, supporting a nonprofit, or helping renters impacted by COVID-19, Rowan is steadily loving her city to life—one day at a time.
Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.
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Gotham Alum Leverages Leadership Role to Build Community of Women at Work
Katherine Lee isn’t comfortable settling for the status quo. A self-described achiever always seeking ways to improve processes and systems, Lee has spent her entire career in employee benefits, working within a variety of roles. Currently, Lee finds herself in a sales role at Hub International, the fifth largest insurance brokerage in the world. “My career,” says Lee, “is ever changing. I’ve never been bored.”
bridging the gap
In 2018, Lee joined the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work’s Gotham Leadership program at the recommendation of a trusted friend. While she came into the program with an “open mind,” what Lee says she sought was “personal transformation.”
Before Gotham, Lee says that she struggled with connecting what she believed about God to her work life. However, Lee explains that the curriculum and community of Gotham “helped bridge the gap by helping me identify my blindspots and biases where my view of and approach to work wasn’t aligned with my theology.” As someone naturally competitive and “doing-oriented,” Gotham assisted Lee in her development of a more balanced theology of work that included both a commitment to excellence and an ability to rest securely in God’s grace, regardless of outcomes.
Indeed, apart from the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, our default theology of work is often shaped by traditionally Western ideals of self-gratification, individualism, and hyper-productivity. This is why it’s critical for Christians to actively assess our assumptions and practices towards work and test them against the claims of Scripture. Doing so, says Lee, has helped her to look for the redemptive possibilities within her workplace.
content as cultural renewal
As a woman in leadership that also spent time away from her career raising her two children, Lee is more than familiar with the challenges women face in balancing professional and personal priorities. After further researching the disparity between female and male leaders within her industry, Lee became energized to find ways to encourage women within her sphere.
“For the Christian, the doctrine of the Imago Dei means that all people—and thus all work—have inherent dignity before the Lord. ”
As a part of her Gotham Cultural Renewal Project, Lee began strategically utilizing her regional leadership role within the Hub International Women’s Network, working with a team of leaders to regularly deliver content and resources on a global and local level to employees, with a focus on encouraging women in their professional and personal lives.
“The goal,” Lee shares, “is to see the brokenness of women who want to excel professionally, and to support and engage them in order to empower them.” Importantly, Lee notes, this conversation intentionally includes men, whom Lee recognizes have a critical role in this ongoing work.
While Lee works in a corporate setting, she recognizes the importance of the platform that God has given her to be able to Biblically encourage others. Accordingly, Lee attempts to ensure that the resources she and her team shares “align with a Biblical theology of work” rather than “a worldview shaped by worldly standards.” Says Lee, “The question I ask myself is, ‘How can we take the content or monthly theme and make sure we’re redemptively delivering that content?”
community, diversity, and the dignity of work
While Lee has long had a passion for empowering and connecting women, her experience within her Gotham cohort, particularly with the other women in the group, inspired her further to take tangible steps towards mending the brokenness she saw in her workplace and industry. “I gained so much,” says Lee, “from being in a cohort with the variety of women and the different stages of life that we were all in.”
“Cultural renewal is never over until the new heavens and the new earth come back.
”
Acknowledging the bias that gets directed both at working mothers and stay-at-home mothers, Lee shares how the Gotham community helped her to develop a deeper appreciation for the value that everyone brings through their work—both paid and unpaid. “It’s about recognizing what the world has said that doesn’t match up with our theology,” says Lee. For the Christian, the doctrine of the Imago Dei means that all people—and thus all work—have inherent dignity before the Lord. No person’s work is more important than another’s.
the power of connection
Today, Lee continues to utilize the Hub International Women’s Network to encourage women to excel both at work and outside of it. “The biggest impact my project has had,” says Lee, “is connecting women to each other and to others within our organization.” Rather than allowing competition or biases to divide, Lee is bent on uniting women.
While Lee celebrates the impact God has allowed her project to have on women in her company, she recognizes the work is ongoing and ever-evolving. Ultimately, she knows that ultimate redemption is in God’s hands, not hers. “I see ways in which systems are broken, and I see growth, but I know there is so much more. Cultural renewal is never over until the new heavens and the new earth come back.”
Until then, may we, like Lee, steward our work in such a way that tilts the world just a little closer to God’s vision of wholeness and perfection.
Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.
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Rethinking Conflict at Work
Workplace conflict carries a variety of connotations, depending on who you ask. Some employees thrive on it, others defuse it, and more may attempt to ignore it altogether. Regardless of your feelings about and attempts to manage conflict in the workplace, one thing is certain: conflict at work is inevitable.
In Romans 12:18, Paul writes that, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” While the call to unity is clear, Paul acknowledges that perfect harmony simply is not always possible. Anyone who has spent any time working on a team will recognize this reality. Whether it’s friction over a missed deadline or frustration due to unclear expectations, conflict at work is a daily reality—and a costly one. In fact, in the United States, 79% of workers experience unproductive workplace conflict, costing businesses $359 billion annually in lost time and productivity. If conflict at work is here to stay, can we leverage it for good?
“If conflict at work is here to stay, can we leverage it for good?”
Dr. Nate Regier thinks so. According to Dr. Regier, CEO and co-founder of Next Element, a global training advisory firm specializing in leadership communication, conflict offers us an opportunity to honor the dignity of our co-workers and create something new together. The key, according to Dr. Regier is “Compassionate Accountability®,” struggling with others through conflict. In his book Conflict Without Casualties, Dr. Regier outlines the process of effectively navigating workplace conflict through the Compassion Cycle, a model aimed at aiding employees to avoid typical drama roles and develop critical compassion skills instead. In this article, we’ll highlight seven important quotes from Conflict Without Casualties that will help you begin to rethink the way you engage in conflict at work.
engaging conflict redemptively
“Drama is the result of mismanaging the energy of conflict” (11). While every conflict isn’t necessarily intense, each moment of conflict at work involves people’s emotional needs and desires. Drama at work happens when employees struggle against each other to justify their behavior, while compassionate conflict is the process of relying on the compassion skills of openness, resourcefulness, and persistence to struggle with others.
“Compassion is the result of people taking ownership of their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and choosing to spend the energy of conflict pursuing effective solutions that preserve the dignity of all involved” (12). At the heart of our working relationships should be remembering that all of our co-workers are made in the image of God. Our conflict at work, then, offers us an opportunity to engage in such a way that affirms people’s inherent dignity and worth.
“Compassionate Accountability® is the process of holding someone (including yourself) accountable while preserving their dignity” (50). John 1:14 says that Jesus came “full of grace and truth.” Dr. Regier’s concept of “Compassionate Accountability®” mirrors this and wisely highlights that loving our co-workers will require both grace (compassion) and truth (accountability). As. Dr. Regier explains Compassionate Accountability® involves honoring other people’s emotions and boundaries (including your own) while pushing back against any drama-inducing behavior.
“Compassion is the engine that turns conflict into a creative force” (50). Dr. Regier regards conflict as not merely something to be mitigated or reduced but rather leveraged for the flourishing of individuals and organizations. This reminder of the creative potential inherent in conflict reminds us that in and of itself, conflict is not bad.
“Compassion without accountability gets you nowhere. Accountability without compassion gets you alienated. Blending the two is the essence of leadership” (66). Leaders may believe that compassion is the opposite of accountability, which simply means punishment for wrongdoing. However, such a narrow view of leadership limits the potential of every employee. The key is to hold both compassion and accountability together.
“Behind most drama roles are latent or misused positive qualities” (168). Empathy is at the heart of conflict handled effectively. This quote reminds us to look for the gifts people (including ourselves) may possess, even as people contribute to unwanted drama at work. As an example, Dr. Regier explains that behind every “Rescuer” (one who offers unsolicited advice) may be someone who is highly “Resourceful” (one who can come up with many solutions to a problem).
“Leading self and others out of drama with Compassionate Accountability® starts and ends with emotional responsibility” (172). The emotional reality of conflict, naming and owning what we’re feeling and what is important to us, and asking the other person to do the same, is critical. Emotional responsibility, as Dr. Regier reminds us, helps us move from a blaming culture to one of healthy accountability.
assessing your own conflict at work
Reflect on a few diagnostic questions adapted from Conflict Without Casualties to help you gauge your current conflict attitudes and patterns at work.
What is your relationship with conflict? How have you experienced it in the past?
Do you tend to fall into any predictable patterns of conflict, either at work or outside of work?
What does unproductive conflict (drama) cost you personally and professionally? Consider the emotional, psychological, and social consequences.
What’s a recent example that comes to mind when you were involved in productive conflict? What about unproductive conflict? What sticks out?
What gifts do you bring to managing conflict at work? What difficulties do you have with navigating workplace conflict?
When have you experienced or witnessed creative conflict that generated a new idea or innovation?
Watch a recording of “Conflict Without Casualties: Finding Creation Amidst Differences” with Dr. Nate Regier on Thursday, April 8.
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Working Faithfully Beyond Election Day
No matter your political affiliation, you have probably highly anticipated the results of this Election Day. As Christians we acknowledge that our allegiance is to God’s kingdom, not a candidate or political party. However, one way that we participate in God’s work here on earth is through our political engagement. As Election Day comes and goes, how do we continue to work towards God’s greater kingdom, regardless of political outcomes?
On September 17th, 2020, The Nashville Institute for Faith and Work and the Denver Institute for Faith and Work partnered with other faith and work organizations across the country to present The Politics of Neighborly Love: Christian Citizenship in a Divided Age, a national forum on how Christians can engage faithfully with politics. Below is a clip from the event featuring one of the panelists, Stephanie Summers, CEO of the Center for Public Justice.
In the following clip, Stephanie answers the question “How does your faith influence your work at the Center for Public Justice?” Her answers provide a practical framework for living out your faith in the days and weeks following the election. Additionally, they encourage all of us to remember that alongside faithful and thoughtful political engagement, our day-to-day work is a powerful avenue for participation in God’s kingdom. Included below is the video clip as well as a guided reflection to assist you in considering: How does integrating your faith and work allow you to serve your vocation, neighbors, and city beyond Election Day?
In this excerpt, Stephanie shares three ways that her faith informs her work: confidence, perseverance, and seeing all people as image-bearers of God. Regardless of the job, we can apply these principles to better love God and our neighbors through our work.
1)Confidence: “Knowing what God intends as the end of the story means that every day we can trust God for the results of our work in a world that is still marred by sin.”
As Stephanie explains, “God is not hampered in accomplishing what God intends,” which frees us to work without the pressure of believing success is entirely up to our performance at work. Instead, our ultimate hope is in the perfect plan of redemption that God is authoring.
Q: How does knowing that God’s plans cannot be “hampered” encourage you in your work and in your political participation? How does knowing the end of the story offer you confidence grounded in something other than your own performance?
2)Perseverance: “Perseverance is the persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.”
Stephanie says that because the Christian faith provides a robust explanation of sin, we should not be surprised when we encounter brokenness and systemic injustices in our industries. We are called to participate in the slow, costly work of addressing brokenness in our work, and our perseverance in this area is one way that we bring about God’s kingdom here on earth.
Q: How could perseverance transform both your work and engagement with politics? In what areas of your industry or community do you notice brokenness the most, and where could you begin to partner with God in redeeming these areas?
3) Image-Bearing: “Because God created every human being to bear God’s image, this means that every human possesses fundamental dignity and worth.”
Stephanie shares that a Christian approach to work is grounded in the doctrine of the image of God. The reality that all people are image-bearers means that our vocations must be aimed at serving those around us, rather than seeing people as a means to an end or our relationships as transactional.
Q: How might recognizing all people as image-bearers change the way you work? How does the concept of image-bearing change the way you relate to those with different perspectives than your own?
Citizenship is Our Common Calling
Editor’s note: This post originally appeared in Capital Commentary, a publication of the Center for Public Justice. Stephanie Summers joins us as a panelist for “The Politics of Neighborly Love” on Thursday, September 17th, 2020.
While our primary calling is to the person of Christ, we all have other callings on our lives that are oriented around our discipleship to Jesus.
For many Christians, our citizenship can best be characterized by the hope that it is somebody else’s job. I am regularly told what I should do or not do to “fix our broken government,” where government is always the adversary, the sole arbiter of our society’s disagreements, or the chief provider for the common good. I am more frequently told that when one looks at the extent of injustice in the world, being a responsible citizen seems overwhelming and futile.
A core part of our vision at the Center for Public Justice is to equip citizens to understand that citizenship is our common calling. Our citizenship responsibilities are a direct response to the command to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God as articulated in Micah 6:8 and throughout Scripture. Yet God’s good invitation to citizenship in political community has become an invitation many dread receiving.
Can we rediscover God’s good purpose for citizenship? Can we respond to God’s good invitation to citizenship with joy? Here’s why we can say an enthusiastic “Yes!” to what it means to serve our neighbors as citizens and to see citizenship as our common calling.
Let’s start at the beginning.
“Our citizenship responsibilities are a direct response to the command to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God...”
CREATION
God created the world. All that God created was good, including the natural world and human beings.
The story of creation is a story of development and order. Right from the beginning, God created humans with the capacity to take part in the continuing process of cultivating human culture. God then commanded humans to fill and cultivate the earth, and their response is the ongoing act of further developing the potential of what God created. Culture unfurls as humans respond to God, bearing God’s image by using the capacity God has given them for modeling the creativity of God, working together to build families, to develop art and theology, and to fashion a physical world characterized by homes and architecture.
Unlike many familiar political narratives, political communities in this understanding don’t begin with human will or a social contract. It is true that God did not establish explicit political communities at the creation. But the mandate to humans to cultivate culture means that the genesis of political communities is found here. God’s authority over creation remains ultimate, yet God gives humans some responsibility over what has been made.
Corwin Smidt reflects on this in a discussion of traffic lights, “Even in the sinless garden, there may well be a need for some kind of state authority that would, for example, make decisions as to where to install traffic lights and determine how those at such intersections should proceed. It would not be wise to allow traffic lights to be put up by anyone who wished to do so. Such actions may not be morally wrong (sinful) per se, but the ability of individuals to install random traffic lights could well result in confusion, frustration, and possibly chaos.” Smidt goes on to describe the need for this type of structure within a political community to “establish rules related to the use of traffic lights” (e.g. a uniform color scheme), as well as the need for this authority to rightly bear the responsibility to “have its rules followed” such that when all members of a community follow these justly established rules, the whole community flourishes. Concern for our neighbors is the animating principle of such a structure. But sinless neighbor love, exercised only by individuals acting in isolation, is not sufficient to coordinate such a system. Structures of governance within just political communities make manifest love for all our neighbors.
We were made by God with the capacity to bring order to creation. The responsibility humans are given by God to further develop creation points to the foundations of the political community. By implication, humans bear the responsibility to establish political communities – where governments are accountable to citizens and citizens are under government authority – and where both are accountable to God, so all that God brought into being flourishes.
CORRUPTION
Yet all that God made was corrupted by evil.
Humans did not obey God’s directions. Human rebellion meant that every relationship human beings were part of was distorted by sin. Human beings’ relationships with God, with one another, and with the rest of the created order were affected.
While God chooses to give the goodness of the created order and enables all humans to participate in further developing all that God created, the potential of government authority was distorted as a direct result of human rebellion. After human rebellion, the task of any potential government within a political community could no longer be limited to promoting good so that all citizens and the created world would flourish. It became necessary that any potential government also restrain evil and at times compel citizens to conduct themselves in ways that are good.
Humans still bear the responsibility to establish political communities — where governments are accountable to citizens and citizens are under government authority and both are accountable to God — but these political communities now hold the capacity for governments and citizens to be agents of malfeasance.
But this is not the end of the story.
RESTORATION
God sent Jesus Christ the Lord of all to redeem all things. Jesus’s death and resurrection provided the way in which all things– humans, institutions, and the physical world– will ultimately be reconciled to God and to one other. Until that day, every bit of what God made is under God’s authority, and the call on all human life is to recognize Jesus’s reclamation of all that God created. This call is not for a return to a way of life that looks like the days before distortion. While the biblical narrative begins in a garden, it ends in a city.
Fulfilling God’s calling for us in God’s world means reforming what has been distorted, starting with the world as it is right now, and lining it up with God’s good intention and purpose. This is true for every area of life: our families, our churches, our schools, and our businesses, each one with different God-given purposes to fulfill.
It is also true for our work as citizens in our political communities, which must be lined up with God’s good intention and purpose.
“Fulfilling God’s calling for us in God’s world means reforming what has been distorted, starting with the world as it is right now, and lining it up with God’s good intention and purpose.”
SERVING AS CITIZENS
Many Christians know what it means to serve others in tangible ways– ways that are easily understood and applied based on the teachings of Scripture to serve one’s neighbors or to serve the least among us. For example, church members might be tutors in a school whose students may not have a parent at home to help them understand and complete their assignments.
But it is often much harder for us to understand what it means to serve our neighbors or the least among us when it comes to our political communities. Continuing with the previous example, it is harder for tutors to begin thinking like citizens.
Yet consider how at the most local level of political community, citizens might respond to God’s invitation. Citizens begin raising thoughtful questions about the quality of the facilities that affect the children they tutor. Shaped by an understanding of God’s intent for the unfolding of culture and knowing the importance of understanding and interpreting God’s word, these citizens begin to invest time in understanding and discussing what structural factors are at play. They examine where potential injustice resides and what should be done about the current state of the political community so that it begins to resemble the just political community God intended. They begin to fulfill their calling as citizens, participating in the unfolding of the political community. In some cases, this may mean advocating for reforms, or working to help shape new laws and administrative structures and processes that ensure a more just political community for all.
CITIZENSHIP AS OUR COMMON CALLING
Much of what has been said here has laid out the foundation for a Christian response to God’s call to citizenship. This extends to considering the well-being of all our neighbors as well. In this, we must recognize that we share the political communities we are developing alongside those with whom we have deep disagreements regarding our understanding of what it is to be human, the responsibilities of government, and the purpose of our political communities. However, we must do the hard work of remaining committed to the development of political communities that extend justice to all.
This also means that God invites us as citizens to examine our political communities with a critical, but hopeful vision. We must work together to animate, scrutinize, advance, and, when needed, correct through reform our political communities. God invites us to promote public laws that recognize and protect human responsibilities that are independent and distinct from government. Our vision should be that government, whether local, state, or national, makes room for the full breadth of culture to unfurl, so that families, churches, businesses, schools, voluntary associations, and the like develop and fulfill their own God-given responsibilities.
Citizenship is our common calling. In calling us to citizenship, God invites us to develop our abilities to accurately discern the well-being of our political communities. In calling us to citizenship, God also invites us to examine the relations of our political communities to those of other nations in God’s world. In so doing, we tangibly respond to God’s calls to do justice and to love our neighbor.
Citizenship is a calling for a lifetime, one where generations build upon the work of previous generations. In the same way that God invites and equips us to develop the potential of the church and families and art and science and countless other elements of God’s world, God invites us to develop just political communities so all that God made flourishes.
Hear more from Stephanie at “The Politics of Neighborly Love” on September 17th.
Leadership and Loving Your Employees: Learning from the Life of Jesus
Philippians 2:3-7 (ESV)
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Leadership advice can be found almost anywhere; articles on communicating well, videos about fostering healthy relationships with your employees, books on setting boundaries, and presentations on resolving conflicts. But are we loving the teams we lead well?
With an abundance of resources, perhaps what we need even more so is an example. In Philippians 2, Paul gives us the ultimate example to follow for authentic, self-giving, sacrificial leadership in the person and life of Jesus.
“Christians in leadership positions don’t just have a responsibility to perform well; they also have a calling to love well.”
Philippians 2: 3-7 presents to us a staggering Christology: Jesus, who was fully God, came to earth as a humble servant and offered his life as a means of sacrificial love. As Matthew 20:28 puts it, “...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” In other words, the most powerful person to ever walk the earth didn’t wield his power over others but instead used his authority to serve others.
This humility that Jesus displayed is in contrast to how we often lead in our work. While Jesus emptied himself, we tend to make sure that our needs are filled first. While Jesus took the form of a servant, we often want others and our work to serve us. While Jesus leveraged his power for others, many times we want to climb the ladder for our own glory. In short, we have a tendency to pursue and hold onto power—influence, social capital, wealth—for selfish gain.
When we meditate on the weight of this passage, we come to an important conclusion: power gained for the sake of power is toxic; power leveraged for the sake of others is transformative. As Christians, we have a calling to selflessly steward the influence that God has given us for others as much as for ourselves.
LEADING IN LIGHT OF THE LIFE OF JESUS
This reality has important implications for our work. Realizing that whatever job we have is a gift from God, we see that the authority and influence God has given us in our work is to be leveraged for human and organizational flourishing. We are commissioned, as Christians, to count employees as “more significant than yourselves.” We have a responsibility to design and implement processes and cultures that uplift our coworkers in meaningful ways. We have a calling to consider the needs of all the voices in the room.
One of the dangers with separating our faith from our work is the way that such disintegration prevents us from thinking and acting redemptively in our work. We often fall into the trap of seeing our work as separate from loving our neighbor, our customers, or our team, rather than seeing our work as a conduit of grace and vehicle for human flourishing. Many leaders see the workplace as a separate domain from their faith, instead of a primary arena for expressing it. However, Christians in leadership positions don’t just have a responsibility to perform well; they also have a calling to love well.
“This labor of loving others through our work isn’t a side-gig to our mission as Christians, but is central to fulfilling it.”
How does your work offer you a chance to love and serve the people you encounter in your work? Cultivating a redemptive imagination allows us to consider the many possibilities in light of Jesus’ example to us, described in Philippians 2.
LOVING LIKE JESUS AT WORK
While COVID-19 has created an immense challenge for leaders everywhere, it also offers an opportunity to model the love of Christ to those we work with. Jesus has given us a template of leadership for how to love and lead well. With Jesus as our example, here are three principles for servant leadership:
Consider the needs of others: Consider how to help solve your customer’s problems, while solving your own (Philippians 2:4). Consider the Nashville-based fundraising and donor management platform, Kindful, who is allowing current and new customers to have a flexible pay-as-you-go plan with no minimum contract, giving their customers the ability to adapt to the economic circumstances that come with COVID-19. If you work for a B2B company, could you serve your customers by leveraging your economic resources to offer flexible payment programs for financially-stressed clients?
Creatively serve your team: Look for ways to meet the needs of others, not only how to maximize their performance (Philippians 2:7). The technology company HP found a creative way to help working parents meet the demands of balancing a job and facilitating their children’s remote learning by offering employees access to online resources including weekly literacy activities curated by education leaders. If you manage a team who are working remotely, could you take the time to listen to the different challenges they may be experiencing and genuinely seek to find solutions that work for both the company and your team members?
Bless others in your work: Be quick to honor the work others are doing, rather than being consumed by your own (Philippians 2:3). Our team has set aside time at the end of each week to specifically call out appreciations about the people on our team in addition to sharing one thing they are proud they accomplished that week. In your meetings, could you commit to time spent affirming your team’s major accomplishments and asking how you can empower them moving forward?
This labor of loving others through our work isn’t a side-gig to our mission as Christians, but is central to fulfilling it. Every place of work is part of a larger system, and it is the calling of all Christians to promote systems that create human flourishing. If you don’t know where to start, ask God to cultivate a redemptive imagination in you, and to help you identify the brokenness within your workplace, industry, or city that you might have the opportunity to address in your work.
If you feel overwhelmed by the challenge of serving others through your leadership, remember that Jesus isn’t just an example to follow but a life-giving Savior who forms and fashions us to love more like Him every day. As leaders, remember, too, that grace abounds when your best efforts fall short (Romans 5:20).
As Andy Crouch writes, “Leadership does not begin with title or position, it begins the moment you are more concerned about others' flourishing than your own."
In a world obsessed with status, how will you instead utilize your God-given agency to serve and love others through your daily work?
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Chip Roper Q&A: Previewing NIFW’s Upcoming Webinar Series, “Pursuing Purposeful Work Right Now”
COVID-19 has drastically changed the world of work. When everything feels off balance, how can we find our footing and gain a greater sense of confidence and clarity in our work? As Christians, how can the Gospel inform our response as we consider how to move forward in our work?
We have partnered with Dr. Chip Roper, Founder and President of the VOCA Center to create a three-part webinar series titled “Pursuing Purposeful Work Right Now” that will answer these hard questions and help you gain a grounding sense of confidence and clarity for your work in the midst of COVID-19 and after.
We talked to Dr. Roper about the upcoming series to give a preview of what to expect.
Nashville Institute for Faith and Work (NIFW): The title of our three-part webinar series is “Pursuing Purposeful Work Right Now.” Can you give us a preview of what our audience can expect from each webinar?
Dr. Chip Roper (CR): The series will focus on finding confidence and an enduring sense of calling for our work in the midst of our current moment. The first webinar will explore the question, how can we find an enduring sense of meaning in our work? In the second webinar, we will look at the building blocks of calling and the intersection of the Real World and the Real You to answer the question, how do I figure out what work God wants me to do now? The third and final webinar in the series will be tactically-focused, where we get into the nitty-gritty of how to pursue a job in the midst of this altered job field and beyond.
NIFW: The series has an intentional order to it. How does the content build upon itself?
CR: The first webinar will help us with how an understanding of calling rooted in the Gospel can anchor us even when our work has been disrupted. Once we’ve explored the meaning of our work, the second webinar builds on this by asking the question, how can I discern the work God is calling me to by finding out where the Real World and the Real Me intersect in a job? Then, the final webinar takes the information from the first two and discusses how to prepare for a job search, leverage your network in your search, and position yourself to land the job you want.
NIFW: One of the topics you’ll be discussing is how our different frameworks for approaching our work can change the way we think and experience our work. What do you mean by this?
CR: While a secular perspective on work largely equates our work with our identity, seeing work through the lens of the Gospel means that we bring meaning to our work, rather than getting meaning from our work. As Christians, we have a narrative that the Gospel brings us meaning to our work irrespective of what our work is. As a result, instead of looking to our work to define ourselves, we can look to God for our significance and identity and work with and for God rather than for ourselves.
NIFW: Some people might be wondering who the content targets. Who is this information for?
CR: The content we will cover is relevant for people all across the spectrum—from those who have been laid-off to those whose work has ramped up as a result of COVID-19. These webinars are for anyone whose work has changed in some way during this time—which is everyone.
NIFW: The content of the series is timeless in its relevance—yet, COVID-19 has created a sense of urgency around these issues of work and calling. Why is a Christian understanding of work needed right now?
CR: A Christian understanding of work is rooted in something other than our circumstances. So, even when our work itself changes, the meaning and purpose of our work does not. During a time of anxiety and fear, the Gospel reminds us of an important truth about vocation: God is the caller, not us.
Join us for our three-part webinar series, “Pursuing Purposeful Work Right Now,” on June 3, 10, and 17 from 11:30am - 12:30pm. To register for this FREE webinar series, click here. All registrants will receive a complimentary job search guide from Dr. Roper and the VOCA team.
CHIP ROPER BIO:
As the President of The VOCA Center, Dr. Chip Roper is driven to rescue people from the forces that rob them of effectiveness and joy at work. Chip and the team at VOCA know what it is like to be stuck in a job that sucks the life out of you. They know what it is like to be tolerated, instead of followed as a leader. They know the fear that most managers share: “am I getting the best out of my team?”
To answer these common challenges, VOCA delivers customized coaching and training to executives, professionals, company teams, and the pastors who serve them. Chip is a sought-after speaker on the topics of faith, work, and calling. He hosts The Resilience Webinar Series, Produces the Calling Workshop, a bi-annual event in Midtown Manhattan, and facilitates a monthly peer mentoring experience entitled, “The Executive Circle.” He writes the column Marketplace Faith for Patheos.com. Chip is the Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at The King’s College in New York City.
Certified in Executive Coaching by Columbia University, Chip tackles the vocational challenge from 30+ years of P/L leadership responsibility as a small businessman, a pastor, a career coach, and a business consultant. Dr. Roper’s executive clients can be found in firms such as J.P. Morgan, Baycrest Partners, Google, Target Health, Previnex, Hangang Asset Management Company, the Ugandan Permanent Mission to the United Nations, CNBC, and the New York Property Insurance Underwriters Association.
Negotiation at Work Doesn't Mean Leaving Faith at the Door
As a professional focused on integrating faith into a Christian’s work, I am often asked do and don’t questions: “Should I check email on Sunday?” “Should I fire a non-performing employee or give him another chance?” “Do I pay the market wage for the position even if it is below a livable wage?“ Sometimes answers are black and white, but most often they are not. My mentor Katherine Leary Alsdorf once told me that she shies away from “ethics” questions worrying that checklists pay homage to the checkbox Christian pharisaical behavior rather than the great matters of the heart underlying the questions. And I agree, with the great matter being “Do we love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and do we love our neighbor as ourselves?”
But that being said, I do think we can examine both the ethics and the heart simultaneously around negotiations.
Ethics
Scripturally speaking, to negotiate, or “to confer with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter” (Merriam Webster) is an ethically neutral act, and several instances of negotiation exist in Scripture (e.g. Abraham for Sarah’s burial plot). The art of give and take with gains and losses can be, at its best, a transparent and efficient process to redistribute resources to symbiotically meet mutual needs. At its worst, a way to transact, extort, and seek advantage through lack of transparency or dishonesty.
Those who follow the Christian faith can use a fundamental negotiation principal. The overwhelmingly simple yet complex commandment from Jesus: Love your neighbor as yourself.
This second commandment from Jesus is a lovely balance of power. It does not say “Love your neighbor.” Rather it includes neighbor and self; both of your interests matter. Interestingly focusing on all parties’ underlying interests, rather than just their position is also consistent with widely accepted negotiation theory. Per Nashville attorney, Mark Donnell, “the point at which those interests may overlap is the fertile ground for resolution.” Further, Donnell highlights that focusing on interests rather than outcomes reduces the temptation for dishonesty or negative focus against the opposing party.
As well, Scripture says to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s as well as offers the parable of talents. We all have authorities over us - managers, boards of directors, and investors for instance. And we should work with excellence to steward the legalities, responsibilities, and resources that come from our authorities. Per Donnell, “We don't always control the positions our jobs ask us to take in negotiations. As a lawyer, I must advocate my clients' positions. So I may be asked and even required to take positions that I personally think are overreaching, unfair, or harsh. In those situations, the approach to the other party is key, even if the position is firm. I seek ways to be kind while simultaneously committed to my parties’ interests.”
In putting together our responsibility to care for the interest of all parties while also honoring our authorities, things can get grey:
Is it appropriate to use the common practice of stating a “final” price which you know really is not “final”?
Should you use the advantage of information inconsistencies between parties for personal gain?
Are you required to get the best possible outcome for your organization when you can tolerate a lower one and the other party cannot?
Do you withdraw from a negotiation if your “authority” requires a position with which you do not agree?
Interestingly, US contract law addresses many of these questions in the concept of “Good Faith Negotiations” which seem grounded in the root of the command to love one’s neighbor.
Per an article on the Harvard Law website,
“In U.S. contract law, the concept of good faith negotiation is rooted in the legal concept of ‘implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing,’ which arose...to protect parties from taking advantage of one another.... In 1933, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that every legal contract contains an ‘implied covenant that neither party shall do anything, which will have the effect of destroying or injuring the right of the other party, to receive the fruits of the contract.’ The implied covenant ...was eventually incorporated into the Uniform Commercial Code and codified by the American Law Institute. In current business negotiations, to negotiate in good faith means to deal honestly and fairly with one another so that each party will receive the benefits of your negotiated contract….(and) must desire to reach agreement and commit to meeting deal terms.”
So what kinds of practices would suggest “bad faith” negotiations?
Engaging in negotiation with no intent for a positive outcome but rather, only to use the offer to leverage another offer, to gain public show, or to gain privileged competitive information.
Using deception of any kind.
Sharing contracts/information between parties without their consent
Heart
Any question of ethical dos and don’ts also comes with a heart issue - what prevents us from loving God with our full heart, soul, and strength? Our idols. And where can idols often rear their heads? Our work. So as we consider negotiation postures, a great starting point is analyzing where our personal idols could cause ethical blind spots and temptations for us. What does “winning” this negotiation do for you? Affirmation? Status? Promotion? Wealth? And what if Jesus asked you to walk away from that? Ethics checklists can be dangerous and serve as “workarounds” from loving God; remember the rich young ruler looked to satisfy his righteousness with his actions yet was unwilling to part from his wealth to love God.
The Theology of Work project offers a fantastic case example of Jack van Hartesvelt, a professional working to negotiate more lovingly in the context of a large organization.
As you enter a negotiation, consider these principles partially taken from the Harvard Law website and expanded with Christocentric postures to help guide your head and heart.
“Reciprocity: Would I want others to treat me or someone close to me this way?” How does this apply to the command to love your neighbor as yourself?
“Publicity: Would I be comfortable if my actions were fully and fairly described in the newspaper?” Would I be comfortable if my actions were fully and fairly described to Jesus?
“Trusted friend: Would I be comfortable telling my best friend, spouse, or children what I am doing?”
“Universality: Would I advise anyone else in my situation to act this way?”
“Legacy: Does this action reflect how I want to be known and remembered?” Does this action point to the Kingdom of God?
And as that negotiation intensifies, remember, we can only serve one Master. Which will you choose?
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Missy Wallace is the Vice President and Executive Director of the Global Faith and Work Initiative (GFWI), a ministry of Redeemer City to City. Before moving to GFWI, Missy was the founder and Executive Director of the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work (NIFW). Prior to launching NIFW, Missy worked at Bank of America in Charlotte, NC; The Boston Consulting Group in Chicago, Singapore, Bangkok, and New York; Time Warner in New York; and on the team that launched a new independent high school where she worked in various roles over a decade in marketing, admissions, and college counseling.