Biblical Business Radical: Overcoming 21st Century Roman Oppression

Prior to a discussion with a group of pastors about their congregants’ workplaces, I remembered a bunch of startling aspects—some personally experienced—about the workplace in general. For the pastors, it’s one thing to help us find our purpose, mission in our vocation and to be encouraged to work as if we’re working for the Lord…but what if our boss is the devil?

• 4 out of 5 workers would switch companies if given the chance—which unfortunately means we’re all trading one dysfunctional place for another
• If we’re so unhappy in our workplace or dread going there, it may be one of the leading sources of mental and emotional unhealthiness that 2 out of 5 of us suffer from.
• If it’s true that 80 percent of business executives have suffered from clinical levels of depression, sleeplessness, anxiety, addiction, etc. (according to Dr. Henry Cloud) and they have more control over their work-life environment than the rest of the organization, it seems to spell doom for a lot of workers in our companies.
• Companies have been paying attention and making moves to influence employee engagement for 30-40 years but it hasn’t moved past 25 percent according to Gallup in all that time. So what are we business leaders getting wrong?
• Most people don’t know what their company is trying to accomplish and how they contribute, and most could care less if the company succeeds.
• In survey after survey, employees say there isn’t enough communication (but it’s unclear on what aspects of communication—content, media, frequency, style, etc.—are failing) and every employee can tell you about an inane policy in their workplace and dysfunctional workplace dynamics.
• Employees agree to be hired because of the organization’s brand and mission but most often leave because of the managers—so it’s not the work itself that’s the problem but how the culture of the organization that is. Remember 4 out of 5 would change companies if they could.
• Despite a move from Theory X (autocratic) leadership to Theory Y (consensual) leadership since the 1970’s there are still a lot of narcissistic and toxic leaders in our workplaces who will not change and leave their employees the only choices of prayer or departure.

This and more led me to think that what we have are oppressive situations here. People who don’t like what’s going on, feel controlled by rules that make no sense and have little voice in accomplishing changes and aren’t even sure they want to “owners” to win. It’s a lot like being in Israel in the 1st century where a foreign power governs and makes the rules. Into this situation, Christ preached the Good News that God had not abandoned them and that their circumstances did not negate their special status.

What would be our 21st century Business Sermon on the Mount—or Sermon on the Slack Channel?

Blessed are those who are poor in spirit and dread Mondays for they shall…

Blessed are those who mourn and grieve over layoffs and reduced work hours for they shall…

Blessed are the meek and those who competently do their work, collaborating freely for the organization’s success without expecting celebrations and glowing performance appraisals for they shall…

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for a feeling that their life matters, that their work matters and it could be more than just a paycheck that feeds the kids, for they shall…

I encourage you—especially you pastors—to contemplate the rest.

Calling and Confirmed?

 A lot of people talk about having a “calling”. I’ve been asked the question about what my calling is, as in “Do you feel called to this career, this ministry, etc.?”  Recently I heard a talk from the author of an upcoming book, Enduring Hope, about the gift of disillusionment based on the book of Jeremiah. In the talk, the author mentioned Jeremiah 20.7: “You misled me, Lord” i.e. this job is not matching his expectations of what a prophet’s career was meant to be. He may have imagined a bit of glory, crowds listening to his every utterance “thus says the LORD” and invitations from the nobility and elite. This is what we might imagine the result of a calling to be. I know several people who feel called into business; they certainly don’t expect that they’ll be failures in the calling. 

Jeremiah didn’t expect ridicule, assassination attempts, imprisonment, abduction and more…but that is what he got. Do we expect the same in our callings? Weren’t we warned by Christ on the Sermon of the Mount that we would be persecuted because we carry His Name on our team jerseys, so to speak? Certainly we don’t expect this in America. We expect that if God calls us, He will make us successful in that endeavor.

So how are callings given by God?

Abraham didn’t have a clear road map to how we would be father of nations and a blessing to all who lived. But he listened to God’s voice. He heard from God directly. 

Jacob deceived his way into a birthright but then had to wrestle God for his calling.

Joseph got a dream from God though he wasn’t shown exactly how it would come to pass. Through many downs and ups—slavery, prison, forgotten—he finally gets into a position where he can help nations survive a 7-year drought, including those of his family.

Moses did experience God through a burning bush. That would be a definite calling—though Moses negotiated some assistance to accomplish it. Aaron’s and Miriam’s calling was confirmed by God through Moses.

Joshua had been an aide to Moses and was anointed as new leader by Moses and filled with the Spirit of wisdom.

Judges, Deborah, Gideon, Samson were called by God directly. (It is interesting that after Joshua there was no anointed spokesperson and God spoke to all the people as recorded in the early chapters of this book.)

Saul was selected and anointed/confirmed by Samuel the priest.

David…ditto.

Jeremiah heard directly from God, as did other prophets, and many thought the job was burdensome.

Daniel beseeched the Lord for the gift of interpreting dreams to save himself and other leaders when the king was angry.

Esther confirmed by other(s), namely her uncle, “for such a time as this.”

 Mary’s calling confirmed through a visitation by an angel. 

Disciples called through invitation and repeated “selection” from the crowd of followers as the chosen ones by Christ.

Matthias confirmed by prayer and the casting of lots.

Stephen was appointed by the apostles along with several others for a service ministry.

Saul/Paul was called through a vision and others laying hands on him.

Paul/Barnabas were set apart for missions ministry after praying and confirmation of the Spirit through others.

What other examples can you think of and research?

Most of the time, people’s callings are confirmed through others’ prayers, as in others are hearing from the Lord. Most, if not all, the advice given to us about looking for our calling does not require confirmation by others. The advice merely suggests that you pray and hear directly from God. I know of one Christian ministry that will not confirm a staff person’s calling; it’s entirely on the individual. 

I’m wondering if the better plan is that you take your cues from others who have prayed and invite you into a ministry—whether it’s in business or outside. Don’t let the circumstances determine whether the calling is correct. A simple example of why I say this: the storm didn’t stop when Peter stepped out of the boat at Christ’s invitation. Also, Paul would have been advised by any 1st century career counselor to only do tent-making because his main career—planting churches—was leading to being ousted, imprisonments, beatings, stonings, starvation, shipwrecks, and so on.

Biblical Business Radical: Never Give Up?!

Perseverance and resilience are buzz words floating through the business world in the past decade. Leaders want employees who are resilient--bouncing back from a setback--and persevering--never giving up and pushing through a tough problem. I've done those things. I've done those things when I've had help to see other solutions. One early lesson in this was hiking along the Appalachian Trail but having an equipment failure on the first day. I thought the only solution was to look for the nearest "exit" back to civilization; however, my friend sacrificed a spare piece of equipment that substituted for the failed part. And we made it through the rest of the trip.

I've also quit. And then I'm told, "Never give up! Never quit! Quitters never win! Winners never quit!"

So let me describe a few times I have quit. There are personal/individual problems like fixing a household appliance. If it's not going well--taking 6 hours when a professional can get it done in 30 minutes because they have the right tools--it's time to quit. 

There are professional times when I just didn't have any more to offer; I was not contributing any more value to an organization. When all the organization needs is a manager to maintain the current systems, processes...status quo, it doesn't need me who will challenge everything and look for the next market opportunity. It's like a sculptor being asked to stack bricks. It's a misfit of skills and aptitudes. It's time to quit.

There are other professional times when I've been using my skills and aptitudes appropriately but it was in the wrong type of organization. It could be a cultural thing where daring is not needed. The market doesn't require creative marketing, for example. I was in one industry where social media was not an effective advertising channel; old-fashioned person-to-person networking was required to get on the decision-maker's call list.

There are also organizational times when to call it quits on a project. Some projects are just ill-fated enough--wrong time, wrong technology, wrong market, wrong price--that no matter how much money and time is thrown at it, it will not ever recover the sunk costs. It's time to call it quits. A lot of companies have gone bankrupt--or had to be sold--because they weren't willing to quit before the project sink-hole swallowed them up. I have written about the "million-dollar machines" in another blog because by the time we developed the product, the company spent $10 million dollars and we sold 10 machines. The company was later sold to a larger corporation because it had run out of money.

There were also times when the personal toll was too great because of a toxic culture. In other places--and done some master's degree work on the issue--I've written that there's not much you can do to change a toxic leader. The top books on this topic give ineffective solutions. No system, policy or procedural change is going to change a toxic manager's behavior; they're in it for themselves and "to hell with anyone else". They view their behavior as the reason for their success. I suggest there are only two options: pray for a spiritual intercession; leave the company. When you're energy is being spent to overcome the dread of going to work, or maintaining some organizational peace in the face of a person who's emotionally unsafe to be around, it's time to quit.

Miracles can and do happen, but they're not a strategic plan that will win. We see this sometime in scripture: the paralytic by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years--you can calculate the months, weeks, days that he just lay there--until he was healed by Christ. Admittedly, a healing by angels was more the paralytic's plan than the appearance of the Messiah.

But then we have the apostle Paul, preaching in Jerusalem for the first time. He's preaching to the Greek-born Jews. Fights and riots are breaking out. The "brothers" (Jerusalem apostles) encourage Paul to return home to Tarsus. It says they helped him get home, but I imagine there was some conversation about it. 

"Paul, it's just not working. People are trying to kill you. Maybe we should try something else."

"If I keep doing this, eventually it'll turn around. Persecution does not mean it's not working."

"Paul, we really think you should preach in your home town of Tarsus. You're less likely to upset the majority Jews. You'll probably be well-received among the Greek Jews. You're doing the right thing, but it's in the wrong place." 

What was the result? Paul goes to Tarsus. "The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers." (Acts 9.31 my emphasis) The word "then" is not an English translation transition; it's there in the Greek implying a cause-and-effect, Because Paul was doing the right thing in the wrong place, it was not going well; it was time to quit. 

Henry Cloud has written a book, Necessary Endings, to help discern the time to quit. If you apply some of the thinking above regarding a mismatch between available skills and effective skills, that will go a long way to knowing whether to persevere or not.

 

 

Biblical Business Radical: Your Words, Your Actions...Your Testimony

 We heard the verses from 1 Corinthians 13 read so often at weddings, that it's hard to put them in any other context than marriage. Granted, a marriage relationship is supremely important to get right. I would also say that employer-employee relationships are very important and we should learn to get them right as well. Bad employer-employee relationships not only affect the individuals, they infect the organization's culture with toxicity, low productivity, low community reputation, and low profitability and all the rippling effects from profit generation that are impacted. 

A recent management book, Love As a Management Practice, highlights many of the Corinthian chapter's verses in a business context. And it's welcome in that regard. How do we show patience and why is it important in the workplace?

The broader context to the "love chapter" in the bible is clear from the first few verses:

If I speak in the tongues ^a of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, ^b but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Cor. 13.1-3 NIV)

Let me suggest a paraphrase:

    If I market with all the skill of Madison Ave and win large contracts, but do not have love, I'm just making noise in the marketplace. If I set a brilliant strategic plan that creates tremendous business growth, but do not have love, I've put my ladder up against the wrong wall and am measuring success the wrong way. If work 80-hour weeks and pay my employees handsomely but do not have love, my place in God's kingdom is not assured.

Recently, and often unfortunately, I've worked with CEO's, who in times of deep stress, resort to what they've learned to be appropriate responses to crises, real or imagined. I've seen them berate employees, customers, suppliers--focusing on the people rather than the process or problem that created the situation. (I often recall Juran's mantra that 80% of problems are controlled by management while Goldratt claims it's more like 99% because the activities are interrelated and not independent events.) They fail to exhibit "love is patient...kind...". They fail to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5)--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control. Bosses are not exempt from these strictures. In fact, as business "teachers or preachers"--placed in authority--in the workplace, we can be held to a higher standard (James 3.1).

It is especially troubling to see CEO's who say they've dedicated the business to the Lord, that the business is their ministry and they want to win people to a relationship with God. How effective is their ministry when public humiliation occurs? Are people attracted to that level of grace and mercy, our actions and words meant to reflect the nature of the Christ for whom we are ambassadors? 

Being a boss does not mean we can ignore exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in all interactions we have, personal and professional, nor fail to practice the dictums in 1 Cor. 13. If you really want to be worried as a business manager, read the whole book of James and try to practice what it preaches. Here's just a few snippets:

• be joyful in the midst of problems
• guard your tongue because if God loves them, so should you
• don't prejudge or be biased in favor of people with status or looks or "what they can do for you"
• help others tangibly, not just with words
• be accountable
• be humble in expectations ("we'll go to this village and make a profit over the next year" 4.13) because the Lord determines the outcome
• pay your employees fairly, justly--and your suppliers and your customers when owed a rebate or refund
• don't judge or condemn or speak harshly

It ain't easy being a boss. But if you want to be in that position, then do your best to act and speak in a way that brings glory and honor to Him who loves you...and loves your employees.