You ever have one of those weeks when something profound insight comes into your life and it sticks with you every day? This was one of those weeks for me. Actually, there were two such events in my life this week that are still rattling around in my soul this morning.
One was last Friday night when we rented the movie “Amazing Grace” from Blockbuster. Some of you have seen this, but if you haven’t you need to stop on your way home from church today and get it. It’s rare that I see a movie that makes an impact on my life, much less entertains me. Amazing Grace is the story of William Wilberforce and the abolishment of the slave trade in England in the early 19th century—an event that has its 200th anniversary this year. In 1785, Wilberforce became a devout Christian while a young member of the British parliament. His pastor was John Newton, the former slave ship captain who had renounced his profession, became a minister, and would write the words to the hymn, “Amazing Grace.” Inspired by his pastor, Wilberforce took up the cause of seeing slavery abolished in his life time—a task that was simply unthinkable at the time because the slave trade was the basis of much of the British economy. It would have been the rough equivalent for us of abolishing the oil industry.
The opposition to Wilberforce’s crusade was immense. Repeatedly he brought his bill before the parliament and repeatedly he was shot down by the long-established powers who benefited from the slave trade. In the movie, as I’m sure it was in real life, Wilberforce becomes discouraged by the constant defeat and contemplates quitting parliament and going into the ministry. But Newton and William Pitt, his friend and the prime minister, persuaded him that the best way to serve God was to continue his work in government.
With that thought in mind, Wilberforce strengthened his resolve and stayed at his work. It took twenty years, but in 1787 parliament ratified Wilberforce’s bill and the slave trade was abolished. The concept of slavery itself would be abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833. Wilberforce died three days later. He had changed the world—not by becoming a Sunday minister, but by applying his passion to his work which he came to see as being ordained by God.
The thought that hooked me as I watched this was the fact that for many Christians there is a real disconnect between Sunday and Monday. Being a Christian is something we do on Sundays—it’s easy to be righteous and reverent in church—but there are 168 hours in a week and most of those waking hours are spent at work. The truth is that if we want to make a bigger impact for Christ in this world then most of us will do it through our work. The truth is that we need to practice our faith on the job if we are going to do God’s will in the world. This doesn’t mean trying to convert coworkers around the coffee pot, but it does mean finding ways to integrate faith and work, and to draw on the resources of Christianity for ethical guidance. Like Wilberforce, we’re challenged to see the big picture, and work for good on both the personal and societal levels.
This is Paul’s point in this passage from Romans. Check the clock, writes Paul to the Romans — “it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep” (v. 11). Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed in Jesus Christ, so it’s time for us to put on our Christian clothes and get to work. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” says Paul, “and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (v. 14).
It’s time for us to living honorably in the day, paying attention to both Christian morality and social justice. For that we take our cues from models like a first century apostle and an 18th century politician. As followers of Christ, we are challenged to be a force for good in our communities, our schools and our workplaces.
David Miller is a former investment banker and current professor at Yale who has been studying the relationship between faith and work. His book God at Work says that business people now want to bring their whole selves to work — mind, body and spirit — instead of having to “leave their soul with the car in the parking lot.” Some use their faith as an ethical anchor, helping them to do the right thing and stand up to unethical practices, while others count on their faith to be a spiritual balm, providing serenity through workplace prayers and meditation. They want to “put on the armor of light” when they come to work — not a two-piece power suit woven out of the works of darkness (v. 12).
A growing number of companies have picked up this theme. Again, it’s not about proselytizing coworkers or creating an environment where people feel pressured to convert to anyone else’s faith. Rather, it’s about creating an atmosphere where people can authentically practice their faith from 9 to 5. Within the Ford Motor Company, for example, a group called the “Ford Interfaith Network” helped to calm anxieties about retaliatory violence against Ford’s large Muslim workforce in Detroit after the 9/11 attacks. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has a popular and active “Christian Fellowship Group.” And there have been dozens of events for CEOs and business executives at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. One conference was on “workplace chaplaincy,” in response to the fact that there are now at least 2,000 chaplains serving employees on the job. They meet the spiritual needs of workers by providing counseling and support in times of personal and professional crisis.
Tom Chappell, CEO of the natural-toothpaste company “Tom’s of Maine,” entered Harvard Divinity School at age 43 and then used his theological education to create a mission statement and business plan for his company based on moral and ethical principles. Andy Wescoat, an executive in the energy industry, is committed to creating an inclusive environment where people are able to contribute as whole individuals. “Their families, interests, beliefs and values should be included,” he says — otherwise, people feel the strain of trying to lead separate lives. When people are allowed to bring their faith to work, they have a resource to sustain them during difficult times, and the benefit for the company is that it gets to employ “the entire person — not just a half or a quarter.”
Miller says that faith in the work place carries with it several different themes:
One is ethics. The Bible is full of teaching about how to carry ourselves, not just in general, but in the marketplace in particular. Says Miller, “Most people don’t think about this, but if you go back to Leviticus, for example, you find a holiness code; you get the sense that it’s all about business ethics — a bit complicated with burnt offerings and doves and pigeons and so on — but if you can culturally transpose those things, it’s all about fair weights and measures, and scales, and how to treat people if they’ve treated you poorly, or you them. Fair disclosure, full disclosure.”
Another theme is experience. Miller asks, “How do you experience your work? Is it just a job to pay the rent, or is it a call, a vocation, a vocatio, a sense that God has placed you in this business, in this organization, with a particular purpose and plan; not only what you do, but how you do it. We can see the difference in the persons who are engaged in their work because they believe that God has them there for a reason, and then there are the people who are just going through the motions to get a paycheck.”
Then there is enrichment. Says Miller, “Let’s face it: The business world can be pretty brutal sometimes. People steal credit for your work; you get passed over for a promotion; you had your whole income riding on closing a deal and you don’t get it, so you don’t get your bonus; companies downsize; you lose your job for no reason, it’s not your fault. So there are a lot of hurting people, angry people in the workplace. Well, faith can be a form of healing, a restorative power. So this enriching dimension in faith at work is important.”
See, when we get up on Monday and get dressed for work we should not only be putting on that suit and tie (or, in Park City, jeans and a Marker fleece), we should also clothe ourselves with Christ. As Miller says, “Faith ought to be a vibrant part, not the only part, but a vibrant part of our tool kit when thinking about engaging situations, people, decisions and workplace.”
The truth is that those of us who are in full-time ministry have a limited reach. We spend most of our time with church people, doing churchy things. You are really the front lines in bringing the good news of God’s Kingdom to the rest of the world. You are the real ministers, faith-sharers, with a real opportunity to impact the world. Now, that’s a real job! Don’t get me wrong, I think ministry is an important vocation—I’ve given my life to it—but it’s no more important than the work that each of you do every day.
I’ve been convicted of the fact that churches do a pretty good job of recognizing people who do church work, but a pretty lousy job of blessing people’s daily work. We have a Sunday School teacher recognition day, for example, but we don’t have, say, a CPA recognition day just before tax time that blesses those of you who will spend every waking moment working on someone’s taxes. That’s God’s work, too. Miller also points out that pastors in churches don’t think twice about visiting people in the hospital, but don’t think at all about visiting people in their workplace, learning about what they do and how their faith integrates into their vocation.
So, let me make an offer—If you’re game, I’d like to set aside time each week to visit some of you in your workplace. Now, before you start freaking out, I’ll only do this if you invite me to come. I’d love to take a bit of time, maybe lunch or a coffee break, to simply learn about your work, encourage your faith journey there, hear about the moral and ethical issue you deal with, or maybe even just shoot the breeze for awhile. I realize that as a pastor I need to be out there more, encouraging you in your work. This is an open offer—just give me a call or drop me an email if you want get together at work. I’m excited to learn and to help!
This leads me to the second experience I had this week which ties into all this. I went to a Franklin Covey seminar on Tuesday, where the topic was about focusing on priorities and time management (this course was constructed for me). The part that really hit me was when we looked at the time management matrix. You may be familiar with this, but it goes like this:
Quadrant I: Things that are urgent and important—these are those things that pop up every day that require your immediate attention.
Quadrant II: is that which is important but not urgent—things like planning, relationship building, prevention, and “sharpening the saw” (which means self-renewal).
Quadrant III is stuff that is not important but at least seems urgent—emails, interruptions, little distractions, busywork—stuff that’s fun to do but isn’t very productive.
Quadrant IV, then, is stuff that is not urgent and not important—here’s where we go to escape—watching too much TV, surfing the net excessively, it’s the realm of the wandering mind and the wandering eye.
The basic gist of the quadrants, according to Covey, is to live your life primarily above the line—focusing on what’s most important.
Interestingly, that’s exactly what Paul is saying in Romans. The list of stuff that Paul talks about as the “works of darkness”—orgies and drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery, dissension, and jealousy—are all quadrant four! Now, we may not engage in those specific activities (hopefully), but our culture does seem to pull us toward that quadrant with the constant offer of escape and pleasure. The culture wants us always to be dressed for the party, while Paul urges us to be dressed for work, to be clothed with Christ. I think Paul would have agreed that living north of the line is really the goal of the Christian life and how we should spend our time.
Wilberforce clearly lived north of the line, despite coming from a wealthy background. He understood what was urgent, what was important, and dedicated his life’s work to that. In doing so, he changed the world in the face of impossible circumstances. We can do the same. The movie and the seminar were wake-up calls for me this week—that I personally need to focus on what’s most important and pour my life into work that really matters—work that I’m called by Jesus to do.
How about you? We begin Advent today, where we anticipate the Lord’s coming. He came long ago in a manger, but the promise is that he will come again. When he comes, what will he find us doing? Partying like hell or working for heaven?
I’m no prophet, but I’d guess that the day of his coming won’t be a Sunday and we won’t all be sitting in here looking pious. That begs a question, and I leave you with this to ponder.
What would it be like if Jesus came to your work, your school, your home, tomorrow?
“The hour has come,” says Paul, “for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
May your Advent be a time of preparing for His coming. Amen.
Sources:
“A Wilber Force,” Homiletics, Nov.-Dec. 2007
David Miller Interview, homileticsonline.com.
(To order God at Work or Amazing Grace, click on the appropriate icon in the “Good Books” widget on the left of the blog. A portion of every sale benefits PCCC).
