Finding Contentment in Unexpected Unemployment

The freefall of unemployment is frightening.

After experiencing success throughout their entire vocational careers, RoseWynne Brooks and Todd Foster found themselves at a crossroads in the fall of 2018.

They were both laid off.

The two overlapped as members of the 2018-19 class of the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work’s Gotham Program in the shock of attempting to land on their feet.

But it was precisely this place of brokenness that served as the impetus for change they are imagining in the journey of a surprise layoff.

“I went nine months from job loss to new job,” Foster said. “I honestly never thought it would take that long, it was much longer than I wanted. 

“But it was what I needed.”

Foster and Brooks collaborated on their capstone project in Gotham to create Career Walk, a partnership program where the two befriend and walk alongside others who are recently unemployed as they venture to establish their next vocational journey. 

“Where Todd and I got to, is we wanted to support people through that time of growth,” said Brooks. “Not in finding a job per se or telling them how to do it, but how do we support people through that time.”

Foster added with a chuckle, “I feel like I have a PhD in joblessness.”

The two have grabbed countless coffees and phone calls with Nashvillians whom they’ve met on a referral-only basis up to this point. Meetings are logged in an excel spreadsheet while Foster and Brooks check in periodically to help one another discern and pray for those they’re walking with.

“You're experiencing shame and the idol of pride is snapping at your heels every day,” Brooks said. “But to know that you have someone who says, ‘It will be OK,’ goes a long way.”

For now, Foster and Brooks will continue in their efforts while prayerfully considering ways to expand their work. Following up directly with Foster and Brooks via email is the best way to get involved if you or someone you know needs a friend to walk through an unexpected career change. Email info@nifw.org to receive their contact information.

Along with his Gotham experience, Foster also went through NIFW’s Career Discernment Program in partnership with the VOCA Center. Designed for those asking big questions regarding their vocational wirings, the program includes a handful of assessments, one-on-one coaching with trained professionals, and ongoing support through the discernment process. 

Regardless if you’re experiencing unexpected unemployment or are seeking deeper fulfillment in your work, the Career Discernment Program can offer guidance and insight amidst career tensions.

“It was transformative,” Foster said. “I’ve never done anything like that before, but, then again, I’d never lost a job before.”

Interested participants can apply for one-on-one coaching at any time via NIFW’s website.

In the meantime, Foster and Brooks are both pressing forward. Amidst their own unemployment stories, they’re content to continue offering a steady hand and an encouraging word to those walking through a valley they know on a personal level.

“As I look back,” Foster said, “we just want to shine some light in darkness.”

---

---

If you are experiencing unexpected unemployment or want to better discern what work you are called to do right now, please join us on December 3 or 4 for The Building Blocks of Career Discernment Workshop. More information can be found here.

Blain Wease on Serving Your Network

Your network can be one of the most valuable assets in your business, but as a Christian in the workplace, do you consider what it would mean to serve your network while growing it? 

Recently the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work sat down with Blain Wease, President of Provincial Development Group, who will share on “Growing versus Serving Your Network” at our upcoming October 23 Faithfully Working Lunch.

Tickets are going fast for this gathering, so reserve your seat and join us on October 23.

Question: What have you learned about integrating your faith into your work in the past few years?

Blain Wease: Divine partnership and the importance of mystery.

Q: What idols most plague you in a working environment?

BW: Allowing my work to become too much of a priority.

Q: Why do you think it is as important to serve your network while growing it?

BW: Because service is essential to the nature of genuine faith.

Q: How does your network impact your faith?

BW: We are not designed to operate void of relationship.

Q: How does your faith impact your network?

BW: [By] giving and investing in them, [and] seeing the person first, [while] discerning the nature of the relationship.

Q: Where do you feel your network at tension with Christianity?

BW: [I feel it in] responding to people that are on a very different page, or [when] their approach to business is incompatible.

Q: How does the image of God being imprinted on every person affect and influence the way you enter into networking and connecting?

BW: It’s a fundamental reminder, and [it] also requires faith to know and understand my role, whether big or small, or not at all.

---

---

Meet the Speaker

Blain Wease is the Founder & President of the Provincial Development Group, a Nashville-based professional services firm that advises Wealth Management Firms on the business side of their practices. Their work focuses on five primary aspects: Leadership, Strategy, Team & Culture, Client Services & Experience and Growth. Blain has experience in a wide variety of professional roles, beginning as an entry-level sales associate, to serving as a senior level executive, and ultimately becoming an entrepreneur. Regardless of the position or title, his contributions have consistently served as a catalyst to the growth of profitable revenue in a healthy, sustainable manner and developed leaders to maximize their impact for good. In addition to the client work that Blain enjoys, he is a frequent speaker at various conferences and events.

In 2012, Blain founded the Nashville Leadership Luncheon, which is held at the Bridgestone Arena and has grown into one of the region’s premier leadership events. It attracts a notable guest list of entrepreneurs, senior-level executives and aspiring leaders. The event is hosted in partnership with the Nashville Predators and Bridgestone Arena.

Blain was the past Board President of the Scott Hamilton Foundation, a Nashville based organization, dedicated to fighting cancer through innovative research that facilitates treating the disease, while sparing the collateral damage to the patient. Blain has routinely served in several other charitable and community-based roles.

He was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Blain has been married for more than twenty-five years to his wife Shaloma, and they have four children. Their family resides just outside of the beautiful Nashville Metro Area.

How to Transition Well at Work

What does it look like to transition well?

If you’ve been in the workforce for even just a few years, this question will have entered your periphery at some point.

In 2015, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the average worker will hold 10 different jobs before the age of 40, with that number only anticipated to grow.

Given the boom of the gig economy in recent years as well, transition at work is not a matter of if, but when, for everyone in the workforce.

The days, for most, of working 40 years in a singular vocation and role and retiring with a gold watch in hand are long gone.

So if transition is inevitable, how do we overcome the tensions and trust God in the wake of vocational disruption?

Transition Tension

Sometimes the transitions happen to us, but other times the pursuit of ultimate fulfillment through our work drives our discontented career shifts.

In his 2005 Stanford University commencement speech, Steve Jobs offered words of insight that have defined vocational pursuits for many over the past decade.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do,” Jobs said. “If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.”

There is much truth we can derive from Jobs’ insights. The idea of pursuing, developing, and cultivating the passions and skills God has placed on our hearts and leveraging them for the betterment of the common good for all is incredibly biblical.

But this discontentment has fueled much job-hopping. Instead of seeking to see work as a means of serving my neighbor, we see work as a means to serve our own agenda. We lose sight of what work was intended to be when we pursue it for our own gain.

While discontentment surely fuels many of the transitions we experience, sometimes job switches happen to us unexpectedly.

Recently John Oliver focused a segment on his Last Week Tonight show on “job automation” and the effects things like automation are having on the workforce.

The piece was enlightening as it laid forth the reality for many in the workforce: transition, loss, and failure are a reality for many as the economy continues to shift in the U.S. and across the world.

“Automation is not going to stop,” Oliver said. “Some people are going to lose their jobs. So we should help those who do and prepare the next generation for the possibility that they may need to be more flexible in their career plans.”

Flexibility in career planning is not merely a nicety for vocational thriving, it has now become a necessity for the future workforce.

When things like our occupation, financial security, and pride are all shaken to the core, it can be hard to trust God’s plans are designed “to prosper you and not to harm you” and are “plans to give you hope and a future” as Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us.

An antidote to our moments of unbelief lies in remembering and proclaiming. We must remember the faithful God who has called us and proclaim that truth to our own hearts.

Transition Reimagined

A 2018 Harvard Business Review article titled “Learn to Get Better at Transitions” unpacks a few practical points on finding ways to live proactively in light of the transition-rich reality of our work.

“Longevity means that, more than ever, we need to plan for change,” the author writes. “Using the gift of decades requires acknowledging their existence and deciding what you want to do with them.”

To transition well we must remind ourselves of the Biblical storyline to best find our place in it and put our tensions in context. In fact, the Bible makes it abundantly clear transitions will be present.

But instead of allowing these times of tumult to drag us down, we would do well to reimagine these new seasons as fresh mercies of God to trust him anew.

This is not to shove down the emotional, financial, and physical toll a job transition can bring. Those are real and present realities.

But part of anchoring one’s hope in the gospel means we don’t see our vocational successes or failures as core to our identity. It is out of our status as children of God that we confidently work out the “good works he has prepared for us” as Ephesians 2:10 tells us.

It is God who goes before us in preparing the works of our hands. We are all made in the image of the creator, and by extension, we bring his image and character to bear in his world by living out his commandments and trusting him in each and every season.

In my own life, it’s been the moments of deep transition (from high school to college, college to the workforce, from the workforce to seminary) that I’ve felt most discombobulated and most reliant on this God who goes before me.

The tension of vocational transition provides a place for us to trust God in a new and deeper way.

May we take this hope to bear as we walk through each season of life the Lord grants.

---

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

---

Gage Arnold

Gage Arnold is currently a Master's of Divinity Student at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO., and the Communications Director at the Center for Faith and Work Los Angeles (CFWLA). He is formerly a founding team member of the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work (NIFW) and a 2014 graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where he studied journalism and electronic media. Gage is also an alumni of both NIFW's Gotham Fellowship and the Nashville Fellows Program. Above all else, he finds joy in telling and hearing the stories of others.

How God Uses our Failures at Work

Let’s face it. Fear of failure at work is a struggle for almost all of us, regardless of our gender, race, or economic status. I know it has been a struggle for me at times. The fear of doing or saying something wrong that threatens our reputation or employment security makes us anxious.

“Failures get our attention.”

For those of us who own their own business, the thought of it failing can be overwhelming. We don’t want to let our families, our employees, or our customers down. And we sure don’t want the discomfort of financial and reputational ruin. As Christians, we don’t want to let God down.

The Bible teaches us that failure is one of the main tools God uses to make us more Christ like. He transforms us through these experiences if we allow Him to do so. In addition, God sometimes opens up new opportunities to serve Him.

Failure is Transformational

Gene Veith, in God at Work, provides an astute observation: “Failures in vocation happen all the time. Wise statesmen find themselves voted out of office. Noble generals lose the war. Workers lose their jobs, maybe because they are not good at what they do, despite what they thought.”

Failures get our attention. They cause us to reevaluate our spiritual maturity. God often uses the failures we experience to humble us, remind us of our limitations, make us more willing to depend on God, submit to His commands, and remain open to His leading in our lives.

The Apostle Peter gives us some hope, reminding us of God’s restorative power after we have been broken: “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10).

Failures Open New Doors of Service

One who failed miserably at work was the late Chuck Colson. He was one of President Nixon’s most trusted staff members. After the Watergate scandal, Colson went to prison. It was during this time the Lord began working on his heart and prompted Colson to begin the Prison Fellowship.

As a direct result of his imprisonment, he became one of the most influential Christian leaders of our modern times. He was radically transformed through his failure, enabling him to minister to many because of his deep understanding of God’s grace, forgiveness, and transforming power.

I am reminded of my own failures at work. I was let go from a church youth ministry position in July 1985. During the first few days of summer vacation, the senior pastor called me at home and asked me to come in for a meeting. He informed me that the church no longer needed me to be the youth director. I had been fired.

However, God had a greater purpose in mind. This providential detour in my career set in motion an unexpected vocational journey that God eventually worked out for my good and for His glory. As a result of being fired, God redirected my life’s work by nudging me to consider joining the military (which I did in February 1986). I spent 20 years on active duty, and 33 years later, I still work for the US Army as a Department of the Army civilian.

I was able to serve God in a greater capacity than I would have experienced in full-time vocational Christian ministry.

“Jesus died a criminal’s death, seen by many as a man who was a total failure. That is, until Easter Sunday, when the empty tomb confirmed His victory.”

Stories of Failure in Scripture

We read many examples of men and women in the Bible who failed, only to be an illustration of God’s power to transform and open new doors.

A well-known illustration of how God transformed failure at work is King David. His moral failures were his own doing. He committed adultery and murder. He chose poorly and suffered the consequences of his decisions. Ultimately, he repented and confessed his sin (see Ps. 51:1-4).  Despite his sins, God called David “a man after His own heart,” and used him to pen much of the book of Psalms.

What about someone who was perceived as failing to the world’s standards, yet they were doing what God had called them to do? It is common to see someone labeled as a fool or failure because they are working counter-culturally in line with the Gospel.

The one that best illustrates this is Jesus. The religious establishment of the day treated Him as an enemy. They misunderstood Him. They persecuted Him, tried to trap Him, arrested Him, and eventually shouted to the Romans, “Crucify Him!”

Jesus died a criminal’s death, seen by many as a man who was a total failure. That is, until Easter Sunday, when the empty tomb confirmed His victory.

The Apostle Peter reminds the early church and us how to respond when we experience the kind of undeserved suffering that Jesus went through. Peter instructs us to live good lives in order to overshadow the false accusations they may make about us (1 Pet. 2:12). He exhorts us to submit to our employers, even those who give us a hard time (1 Pet. 2:18). He said it was a good thing when we endure “the pain of unjust suffering” as Jesus did (1 Pet. 2:19-21). Peter taught that we should not be surprised when we suffer for our faith; we are to rejoice (1 Pet. 4:12-13).

“... our God is more powerful, sovereign, and loving than our failures.”

How Does God Work Through Failure?

Below are a few biblical principles on how to handle our failures at work:

• Do not be surprised by failures; we do not know what a new day may bring (Prov. 27:1);

• If we think that we cannot fail, our pride will inevitably cause us to fall (1 Cor. 10:12);

• When our failures are due to our own sin, we need to repent and confess it to God (1 John 1:9); be reconciled and confess our sin to others as appropriate (Matt. 5:23-24);

• When we do fail, we need to rest in God’s promise to work out all things for His children, even failures, for our good and for His glory (Rom. 8:28);

• God makes us more compassionate as a result of our failures; it opens doors to pass on the comfort we received from God in our situation to those in the same situation (2 Cor. 1:3-4).

My prayer is that these truths will comfort the ones of us who need comfort and empower the ones who need the courage to press on or take that leap of faith into a new chapter in your spiritual career journey.

Trust that our God is more powerful, sovereign, and loving than our failures.

(Author’s note: Portions of this article were taken from my book, Immanuel Labor – God’s Presence in our Profession: A Biblical, Theological, and Practical Approach to the Doctrine of Work, published by WestBow Press, 2018.)

---

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

---

We are honored to have Russell E. Gehrlein as a guest contributor in this month’s newsletter. Russ is a former youth pastor and a junior/high school math and science teacher. In 2006, he retired from over 20 years of active duty in the US Army in the rank of Master Sergeant. He currently works as a Department of the Army civilian at the US Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

On Replacing Partisan Politics With Persuasive Lives

Whatever one’s place in life, whatever age or influence, all Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit’s power, endowed with the Father’s wisdom through Scripture, and energized by the love of Jesus. As such, all Christians are called as Christ’s ambassadors into the places where they live, work, play, and worship, with the glorious purpose of leaving it better than they found it. This is, we might say, the universal Christian job description.

As a father of two daughters, I sometimes offer them advice on their various endeavors. One endeavor for our oldest daughter was to build a thriving babysitting business in her mid-teen years. Since my wife, Patti, and I had previous experience “employing” babysitters to keep watch over our home and children, I felt qualified to offer constructive advice that might help our daughter succeed.

My advice about babysitting focused on two, simple actions. First, she should resist the urge to be on her phone and social media, and should instead actively engage and play with the kids until their bedtime. Second, after putting the kids to bed, she should tidy the house or apartment—especially the main living space, sink, and kitchen—so that when the parents arrived home, the house would be in better shape at the end of the evening than it was at the beginning.

Thankfully, our daughter embraced and implemented this advice. Before long, she was getting so many babysitting opportunities that she had to start referring some parents to her friends. These two, simple actions of playing with the kids and cleaning the home made her the favorite babysitter to the kids and the parents of virtually every family that she served. Even now, when a break from college is on the horizon, parents will line up to “preorder” her babysitting services for the weeks she will be at home. You might say that she has positioned herself, from a consistent commitment to be fully present with people—and to consistently care for places and things—to enjoy “the favor of all the parents.” 

In a similar way, Christians are called to serve the world as engaged servants, fully present and always looking for opportunities to leave people, places, and things better than they found them.

This dynamic was pervasive especially among first-century Christians, whose life of love toward one another, toward their neighbors, and toward the towns and cities in which they lived, caused them to enjoy “the favor of all the people” (Acts 2:47). Their neighbors, whether Christian or not, came to value and esteem them as a life-giving part of their own lives.

These Christians did not feel a need to become a powerful “moral majority” in order to impact the world around them for they realized, as Jesus had clearly told them, that his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Rather than control the world through coercive and politically partisan force, Jesus’ method was to win the world through the persuasive power of kindness and neighbor love.

Indeed, Jesus and his tribe of followers gained favor and influence by living among their neighbors and colleagues—including those who were poor, marginalized, and forgotten—as an intentional, creative, love-driven, and life-giving minority. As they freely gave to their neighbors the gift of love, service, and presence, they seized every opportunity to leave places and things better than they found them. It would be fair to say that if these Christians were taken out of the world, their neighbors would have sorely missed them.

Sadly, we in the 21st-century West have in many ways let this universal job description for living as a love-driven, life-giving minority slip away. Rather than denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following Jesus, many of us have instead opted instead to deny our neighbors and take up our comforts…all in an attempt protect our own interests and follow our personal dreams.

As the haunting lyric from singer-songwriter Jason Isbell reminds us, “Your creature comforts aren’t the only things worth fighting for.”

Perhaps lyrics like these can function as a clarion call to Christians to return to our roots and to once again live as Jesus’ ambassadors, aroma, and “sent ones” for the healing and restoration and rejuvenation of our tired, sin-sick world. Now is the time to repent of the ways we have contributed to the world’s sorrow and brokenness, and instead seek to be a healing agent of the world’s sorrow and brokenness.

Let’s begin today, shall we?

Article originally published at ScottSauls.com.

---

A Q&A with Greg Adams, COO of the State of Tennessee

The Nashville Institute for Faith and Work is excited to welcome Greg Adams for our September Faithfully Working Lunch on September 20 from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Read below to see a few thoughts he has to offer as a preview for his talk:

Q: What intrigues you most as you consider the concept of working faithfully?

A: How we live out the calling to do our work with excellence unto the Lord and our mission of declaring His glory through our actions as we interact with co-workers/people naturally.

Q: Can you name specific examples of ways you see faithfully working played out in your various industries (business, political, etc.)?

A: In both business and government, I have seen faithfully working most clearly played out when one is being mistreated or how one responds in difficult times. An attitude of hope, gentleness and reverence in the situation and towards authority is a stark contrast on the way non-Christians think. It often causes them to reflect on your behavior and ask where this comes from.

Q: Do you believe it's possible for those transitioning in and out of different industries to continually exhibit faithfully working? And if so, how is that possible?

A: It is possible, but you need the right perspective. If I believe my transition is all about me, money, status, and retirement then I will struggle with faithfully working. However, if I believe my work, and any transitions, are connected to God's bigger purpose, where I see His provisions and His management over my work life, then it is possible to exhibit faithfully working.

---

Greg Adams serves as Chief Operating Officer for the State of Tennessee. He joined the governor’s senior team in July of 2013 after working for IBM for 36 years. Adams was a member of the company’s senior leadership team, most recently as a managing director in the financial services sector. In the governor’s ongoing effort to make Tennessee the best managed state in the nation, Adam’s role is to work with state departments to ensure they’re operating in the most efficient way possible. For more, click here.

You can register for the September lunch HERE or register for any of our other upcoming events HERE.

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Reflections on Work from Praxis’ Rule of Life

A few weeks ago NIFW’s Executive Director, Missy Wallace, had the privilege of attending a three-day gathering summit organized by Praxis, an organization dedicated to the concept of redemptive entrepreneurship.

At the conclusion of the event, a written “Rule of Life,” especially for high-capacity entrepreneurs in mind, was unveiled. Yet, a case can be made for the nuances of this particular Rule of Life to be relevant to anyone working in positions of influence where there is temptation to overwork and play God.

“At its best, a rule of life is an expression of community, undertaken in the belief that we need help from one another to live the lives God meant for us,” the Rule states. “It also expresses humility, recognizing that we are prone to specific pitfalls that require us to take extra care with our practices.”

These principles are impactful not only for the work of entrepreneurs but those in the workforce at-large who find themselves with tensions of overwork, ambition and influence.

Key elements of the Praxis Rule include the following:

TIME
Instead of endless productivity, we practice a rhythm of work and rest, attending to our need to grow in all the dimensions of being human: heart, soul, mind, and strength. We commit to take one full day every week for complete rest from our daily work, and to make Sabbath possible for everyone within our sphere of authority.

MONEY
Instead of being preoccupied with money and possessions, we practice simplicity and generosity. We commit to give away a minimum of 10% of our gross income, with special attention to the needs of the materially poor.

IMAGINATION
Instead of having our imagination saturated by media, we seek to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We commit to disengaging from screens of all kinds on a daily, weekly, and annual basis. We establish structured limits for our consumption of entertainment, in quantity, frequency, and moral character.

DECISION-MAKING
Instead of willful autonomy in decision making, we practice active dependence on God. We commit to daily prayer, and at times of major decisions, not proceeding until we have actively submitted our own desires fully to the will of God and have inner peace about the decision.

POWER
Instead of accumulating power to benefit ourselves or exploit others, we use it to generate possibility for those who have less access to opportunity. We commit to the practice of gleaning — frequently sacrificing opportunities for our own advancement to intentionally create pathways for others. We also practice chastity and fidelity, honoring the men and women with whom we work.

COMMUNITY
Instead of individualism and isolation, we practice real presence with others who are not part of our daily work. We pursue diversity across class and ethnicity in our friendships and mentoring relationships. (Praxis Rule of Life, 2018)

---

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

---

Visit the Praxis website to read the Rule of Life in full or to make a confidential commitment to the Rule as your own spiritual practice. Praxis also has small hard copies available for the Rule here.

A Primer on Work for Recent Graduates

Summer months mean this: thousands of U.S. graduates from high school to university institutions walked across the stage to receive a diploma of completion over the past few weeks. And even more sat through the roll call of names waiting to hear just one familiar one, culminating decades of hard work.  

As freshly minted graduates transition into new day-to-day vocations and rhythms, the following Gospel principles can guide both good days and bad. These principles are for all - those who celebrated with the graduates and those who will welcome them into workplaces. It’s a theology of work for all to model as these new minds breathe new life into our organizations.  

1. You were created to work.

In the first sentence of the Bible, God creates.  Then He makes man and woman “in his image.” By being created in the image of God, you are created to work.  And like God did his first six days of creation, you can bring structure out of chaos over and over. Every job is some version of structure out of chaos - healthcare, starting a company, financial analysis, parenting.  Scripture also tells us to be “fruitful and multiply” and “take dominion over the earth” Can these extrapolate beyond agricultural work and child bearing? Analysis of scholars seeing the original text language help us understand that these passages can be interpreted more widely as “create flourishing.” How can you think of your job if you know it is to “create flourishing”? As noted by Tim Keller and Katherine Alsdorf in Every Good Endeavor, “we are continuing God’s work of forming, filling, and subduing. Whenever we bring order out of chaos, whenever we draw out creative potential, whenever we elaborate and 'unfold' creation beyond where it was when we found it, we are following God’s pattern of creative cultural development.” Work itself is a basic need for man and helps to provide both purpose for our lives and means to serve and honor the Lord through the labor of our hands.
 

2. Work is broken.

In the third chapter of Scripture, brokenness entered the world.  You are broken and work is broken. Because of this brokenness entering humanity, we now experience frustration and toil in our work on earth. Regardless of your job or industry, you should anticipate thistles and thorns in your work. The old adage “love what you do and you will never work a day in your life” is the American dream for a happy career, but it does not align with biblical truth. People are broken, systems are broken and therefore work will be hard at times.
 

3. God’s good work can come from anyone, not just those who believe in God.

The concept of common grace affirms that all good gifts in a person come from God, regardless of a person’s personal beliefs.  Every man and woman is created in HIS image. The world may be enriched, brightened, and preserved through anyone and that goodness is of God, even if the one doing the work does not see it. Because all human beings are image bearers, it should not surprise us that all are capable of doing great work.
 

4. Work is an opportunity to use the gifts you have been given.

Do you think of work only as a way to pay the bills, get ahead, or provide a convenient schedule for you? If so, you may need to reassess how you can serve the work rather than the work serving you. Regardless of your position, workplace, or title, your work serves a purpose in God’s unfolding story. Dorothy Sayers said it best: “Work is not primarily a thing one does to live but the thing one lives to do. It is, or it should be, the full expression of the worker's faculties, the thing in which he finds spiritual, mental, and bodily satisfaction, and the medium in which he offers himself to God."
 

5. We are called to rest from our work.

God rested on the 7th day. And he commands us to rest. The pace of the American workforce and 24/7 connectivity can pressure us to be “on call” at all times.  Rest is not only a way to restore our minds, souls, and bodies (and many “secular” articles suggest that comes with productivity and creativity improvements), but it also increases our dependence on God.  In the words of Keller and Alsdorf, “To practice Sabbath is a disciplined and faithful way to remember that you are not the one who keeps the world running, who provides for your family, not even the one who keeps your work projects moving forward.”  He calls us to rest.
 

With these principles in mind, how can your day-to-day work be transformed with this renewed perspective? “The Gospel frees us from the relentless pressure of having to prove ourselves and secure our identity through work, for we are already proven and secure. It also frees us from a condescending attitude toward less sophisticated labor and from envy over more exalted work. All work now becomes a way to love the God who saved us freely; and by extension, a way to love our neighbor.” - Katherine Alsdorf and Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavor.

---

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Corporate Warmth? How Flourishing Can Inform a Healthy Workplace

How can faith practically serve as inspiration for those in corporate America?

This question is complicated in a time where 70 percent of workers are disengaged in their day-to-day work.

Looking at the Bible a few things are clear: we were created to work (Gen. 2:15), work is broken (Gen. 3:17-19), through Christ’s work on cross all things, including work, are being redeemed (Romans 8:20-21), and we are playing a part of redemption in God’s unfolding story (1 Corinthians 10:31).

With that being the case, how do these principles manifest themselves in workplaces where conversations around faith aren’t encouraged or condoned?

It begins and ends with a reminder that work in Corporate America is just as honoring and glorifying to God as work in ministry or the nonprofit sector.

“In the same way that God created structure out of chaos while creating the heaven and earth, we, too, mimic God in the ways we bring structure out of chaos and call it good (Gen. 1:1-2:3).”

In the same way that God created structure out of chaos while creating the heaven and earth, we, too, mimic God in the ways we bring structure out of chaos and call it good (Genesis 1:1-2:3).

For example, bringing structure out of chaos could be scrubbing a spreadsheet or facilitating budget meetings among departments or easing tension between disgruntled employees.

The Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics recently wrote an article that focused on an unlikely corporate value that can transform the corporate workplace: warmth.

Paul calls us to a lifestyle of genuine love and tenderheartedness (warmth). We are to put off the character of war – bitterness, wrath, anger, slander, and, instead, be imitators of Christ by putting on the character of peace – kindness, tenderheartedness, forgiveness. Jesus often showed warm affection for those he met, especially those who were suffering (Matthew 9:36, 14:14). And, of course, in dying in our place, he made the ultimate peace offering.

Is your workplace one where people thrive and enjoy working?

If you’re looking to continue further contemplating this question in your work, join the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work and ProviderTrust CEO Chris Redhage for lunch and conversation on “Lessons in Building Healthy Corporate Culture” on December 6 at Adele’s.

---

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Love Thy Neighbor: How Faith and Fashion Inspired a Post-Retirement Entrepreneur

Age is just a number for Agnes Scott.

"I don’t think about age," she says. "I think about how I can pass on what I’ve learned to others."

As a post-retiree serving as a "one woman band" of her newly-realized nonprofit venture, NeighborH.O.O.D., Scott rightfully has much to pass on.

Founded out of her own entrepreneurial success following her employment in the automotive industry in Detroit in the 1980s, Scott is the founder of NeighborH.O.O.D. (Hands on Our Destinies), a fashion and design trade and arts school built around a 15-month cooperative entrepreneurship curriculum that includes business and entrepreneurship courses.

The curriculum uses the performing, literary, decorative, graphic, plastic, visual, and performing arts as backdrops to spark creativity and innovation, promote social cohesion, spur academic performance, and heal and unite the community.

“This nation does not have the luxury to dismiss the need for the underserved to be advantaged.”

“Its mission is to bring forth the latent talents and abilities of Nashville’s underserved population via theory, application, and self-advocacy skills,” Scott says, “using hands-on cooperative entrepreneurship principles to shape their destinies.”

A partnership with Lipscomb University’s SALT (Serving and Learning Together) Program has accelerated NeighborH.O.O.D.’s launch date; the inaugural class, which began classes at the end of September, will graduate in winter 2018.

At last count, 11 students were set to enroll.

“This nation does not have the luxury to dismiss the need for the underserved to be advantaged,” Scott says. “So, in order to avoid increases in the dire economic, social, and educational woes of that population, which negatively affect the well-being of this nation, both domestically and internationally, steps must be put in place to change the dire statistics for this population."

Tuition is almost entirely subsidized by those sponsoring NeighborH.O.O.D., but students are expected to provide a proof of household income and contribute a reasonable portion for participation in the program.

Agnes Scott

‘THIS ORGANIZATION IS NEEDED’

So why focus on a fashion and design trade school to equip the underprivileged youth Scott feels called to serve?

Easy: because an element of fashion and design is attractive to the average person, and, as Scott points out, for the last five years the industry has shown significant growth in Nashville.

It’s the best of both worlds.

Because, as Scott notes, the Davidson County 2010-2014 Census shows at least 25-41 percent of Nashville’s District 17 (NeighborH.O.O.D.’s target area in Edgehill) lives in poverty. The organization was created with communities like this in mind.

What sets the organization apart is that NeighborH.O.O.D. offers to a number of individuals (at one time) through cooperative ownership a better way of life through education, entrepreneurship, and employment principles.

“Cooperatives can help change the statistics.”

This is Scott’s inspiration—to shine her light and push back against the darkness.

“This organization is needed,” she says, “because disadvantaged young people are at higher risk of marginalization and social exclusion than other youth (International Labour Office, 2011, P5).

“Cooperatives can help change the statistics.”

IMPACTING 'MY FELLOW MAN'

Scott is a rare Nashville native in a time when an estimated 100 new Nashvillians are moving to the city each day.

“All of my quests can be viewed as experiential learning, experiences to educate others,” Scott says. “However, over the last ten years, a spiritual aspect has been added to my goals and objectives, and I think about how what I do impacts my fellow man.”

Most recently, Scott completed the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work’s Gotham Program, a nine-month intensive emphasizing the integration of faith and vocation that ends with its signature “Cultural Renewal Project” aimed at shining light on an area of darkness in participants’ workplaces.

“All of my quests can be viewed as experiential learning, experiences to educate others. However, over the last ten years, a spiritual aspect has been added to my goals and objectives, and I think about how what I do impacts my fellow man.”

NeighborH.O.O.D. was Scott’s project, and it was born out of a desire to impact those in her sphere of influence across the generational divide.

“The greatest joy in working with those in different age generations,” she says, “is to see their thirst for learning and to learn from them.”

---

NIFW’s Gotham program is a nine-month faith and work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their roles at work for God’s glory and the common good.

---

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

How Can Faith Combat Workplace Loneliness?

The workplace is filled with exhaustion and loneliness—a bit more so than usual.

Research cited suggests "50 percent of people are often or always exhausted due to work," a number that is 32 percent higher than two decades prior.

A recent write-up from the Harvard Business Review concluded workplace burnout today is more impacted by loneliness rather than exhaustion.

So how do Christians respond to a culture that both values and suffers due to the pursuit of productivity?

“The work we do cannot ultimately fulfill us.”

Jesus spoke of the idea of striving, exhaustion, and rest in Matthew 11:28-30.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The response is found less in striving without ceasing and more in embracing that your work matters and acknowledging its limitations.

The work we do cannot ultimately fulfill us. That doesn't mean it doesn't serve a purpose. We are called to serve the work at hand, not the other way around.

As Tim Keller and Katherine Alsdorf hone in on in their book Every Good Endeavor, "we work to serve others, not ourselves."

By embracing an identity of resting in the person and work of Jesus Christ, a slice of freedom to serve the work at hand—without perpetual exhaustion or loneliness—can be fully embraced.

---

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Unpacking Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Apology

What does it look like to apologize when our work is divisive?

Recently Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his personal Facebook page asking for forgiveness for the ways his social media platform has promoted divisiveness rather than unity.

“For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better,” he wrote. “For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness, and I will work to do better.”

Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, was celebrating Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, and was considering his sins from the previous year.

“For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better.”

— Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg’s apology emphasizes a key question: when (and how) do we corporately apologize in the workplace? Or to our stakeholders and constituents?

While culture moves quickly to finger-pointing when division strikes, how might the Bible inform a reconciliation? Or even a first step in a conflict?

We will answer questions like this and more at our October 11 Lunch & Learn at Adele’s on Navigating Conflict Resolution at Work with Dr. Phyllis Hildreth, Lipscomb University Associate Professor and Academic Director for the university’s Institute for Conflict Resolution. Reserve your spot, invite a friend, and join the discussion today.

---

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Bono: 'By its very nature art is revelatory'

Last year U2’s renowned frontman Bono sat down with Fuller Studio and Eugene Peterson to unpack his thoughts on the Psalms, Christianity, and art in the 21st century.

After wrapping up the interview with Peterson in his Montana home, Bono traveled back to New York to sit down with Fuller Texas professor David Taylor for an interview on Christianity, the Psalms, and role of the artist today.

Bono goes so far as to say art itself is “revelatory” in nature.

“If the job of the prophet is to describe the state of the soul — the soul of the city — and you really want to know what’s going on outside the AC here that keeps us from the 100 degree heat, then you really need to go look at the art, go look at the graffiti, and go listen to the hip hop coming off the ghetto buses. Some of it is strong stuff, but it’s honest.”

Watch one of the full interviews below or view each of them here:

Bono, the lead singer of U2, and David Taylor, assistant professor of theology and culture, reflect on the relationship between the prophet and the artist, how art reveals our inner lives, and the importance of looking for the drawing in the sand.

---

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Having a Head (and Heart) for the City

What is the end of innovation?

Earlier this year the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work welcomed New City Commons’ Greg Thompson in for our Redemption Through Innovation event at Houston Station in Nashville, Tennessee.

Thompson’s talk focused on themes like social justice, collateral effects of innovation, and how Christians might reengage the city.

“It is my experience,” Thompson said, “that Christians have a heart for for the city but not a head for the city.”

Watch the full excerpt from Greg’s talk below:

---

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Helping Hands: Using Healthcare to Affirm Dignity in Nashville’s Aging, Special Needs

It started with painting fingernails.

Every two weeks in high school Gretchen Napier showed up to a local nursing home by recommendation from a fellow church member.

“I began to look forward to my visits because I felt so useful,” Napier says. “When I would walk into their room their eyes would light up.”

Napier was awakening to the impact something as seemingly simple as a touch could have on another person’s spirit.

She was playing a role in calling out the dignity (Genesis 1:27) in each of her newfound friends.

“Most nursing home residents are only touched to be cleaned or fed or turned,” Napier says. “So my work of taking off their nail polish, rubbing lotion on their hands and arms, trimming their nails and then painting them, was often the most caring touch they received.”

Holistic patient care, down to the detail of a personal touch, is at the core of how Napier’s faith inspires her work today as CEO and Owner of LifeLinks, an organization in Nashville, Tennessee, and Raleigh, North Carolina, armed with a client-centered approach to caring for older adults and others facing ongoing health challenges.

Napier’s team consists of a handful of passionate registered nurses, psychologists, physical therapists, hospital administrators, and social workers with more than a decade of highly-personalized professional aging life care services.

“Instead of warehousing the elderly and disabled, we are seeking to meet their holistic needs to promote as much quality of life and independence as is safely possible,” Napier says. “We are seeking to reconcile families.”

A Career in care

The passion to serve those with ongoing health challenges first stirred within Napier as a teenager.

Although Vanderbilt University did not offer any classes in gerontology (the study of the aging process) at the time, she was able to use the practicum hours in her Human and Organizational Development degree to tease out the calling with the help of a few local nonprofits — specifically FiftyForward.

After spending a summer in Washington, D.C. working on the House Select Committee on Aging’s Subcommittee for Retirement Income and Housing Napier earned her Master’s in Health Services Administration (MHSA) with a certificate in Gerontology from the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

She transitioned into running independent and assisted living facilities while publishing a resource guide for seniors before being recruited by the LifeLinks team. Napier joined the team in 2009 and became CEO and sole proprietor in 2012.

“Our team is a reflection of the body and the vine,” Napier says. “We all bring different gifts, skills and perspectives to the aid of the client’s we serve.

“The excellence we strive for and love we give to our clients, are given first to us by God.”

HOLISTIC HEALTHCARE

Working with broken people, broken families and broken healthcare systems provides lots of opportunity for Napier's team to show God's love, mercy and grace.

Sometimes they are advocating for the often overlooked older adult and others they are helping families build bridges to one another during the difficult final human season.

Isaiah 1 calls to mind the call to advocacy of your neighbor—specifically those in distress—that LifeLinks puts to practice.

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause..” — Isaiah 1:17 (ESV)

While healthcare is traditionally fragmented, with the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, Napier and her team serve as a hub for information and communication, simplifying the big picture in ways the family can process, understand and act upon.

But the work is rewarding.

“Healthcare in general is very broken,” Napier says. “It has a difficult time seeing people as complicated individuals with a variety of facets.

“We can’t just treat the body because the mind and spirit have a profound impact on our body.”

---

At the time of this article, Napier was a member of NIFW’s Entrepreneur Support Group, which consists of weekly meetings with other entrepreneurs facilitated by an executive coach to provide community and a refuge for entrepreneurs seeking to glorify God in their work. NIFW accepts applications for the group on a rolling basis.

---

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.