Ambition...Revisited

As I was thinking about today's post, I looked back at the last year's analytics data. Like many websites, I have software that counts the number of visitors and the pages that they look at. I was just curious regarding what posts were the most popular ones. The introduction that's linked to "about this blog" was easily the most popular. The second most popular posts were "grace" and "ambition."

The ambition post was one that I wrote at the beginning of 2011. As I think about the upcoming year and my goals, it's all too easy to focus on the accolades that I hope come from accomplishing those goals. It's a powerful temptation to think about getting ahead, receiving praise and money for what I plan to do. It's not that God is against success--just see what He did for Joseph. But that success should never be the goal. Our goal should always be to use our talents to honor god through our work.

It was a little disappointing to read the ambition post and know that I struggle with that temptation just as much now as I did on January 5, 2011. Which is why I'm glad the grace post was just as popular. It's critical to remember that God sees my growth as a process, not a one-time event. He knows that I'm going to struggle and fail. And He loves me (and you) anyway.

As I began this year, I made goals for the year just as I always do. But this year, one of my earliest posts on this blog was about grace again. It makes it easier to remember that, when I mess up, God is still there.

An Invitation to a Relationship

Why honor God in the workplace? It's not because doing so makes you holy (Ephesians 2:8-9). One way to think about it is that the opportunity to honor God at work is an invitation to a relationship with God in this aspect of your life.

Last Sunday, I heard a sermon on John 5:39-40 (and the context around those verses). The Pharisees were experts in the law but never made the connection between scriptures and relationship with Jesus.

Think about that in the context of the things in this blog. You can follow all the things in the Bible that connect to work. But if that doesn't lead you to relationship, you've missed the point. Whether it's honesty in reporting expenses, loving the unlovable coworker, or treating your boss or subordinate with respect, living out your faith at work is your opportunity to be in relationship with Jesus in a major part of your life. The reverse is also true. Trying to compartmentalize where focus on Christianity on Sunday but focus only on work on Monday through Friday means that for 8ish hours a day, 5 days a week, you are removing yourself from a relationship with Him.

As the week begins, think about work as an invitation to join in relationship with your Savior. If honoring God at work feels like a list of do's and don't's, putting relationship at the center tends to take the burden away.

Grace, Again

Romans 5:6-8

It's easy to think about things we should be doing better this time of year. That's what New Year's resolutions are all about. On Wednesday, I suggested that you make commitments for how you're going to better honor God at work in 2012.

You're not going to follow-through on those commitments perfectly this year. I hope that you follow through more than the average resolution, but the fact is that you're not going to be perfect when it comes to living out your faith at work. You'll be fine until a coworker does something annoying, and you'll respond with unloving sarcasm. Or you might make it through that but there's that expense account, and it's almost expected that you pad the numbers a bit. Or that might not be an issue, but it's too tempting to join in the boss-bashing around the water cooler. We all know that there are times when we mess up.

That's why I like Romans 5. Paul says that "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Beautiful!

Don't think of those commitments as a tight rope that you have to walk without falling. Make the commitments and don't use grace as an excuse to slack off. But know that Jesus gave everything for you so you wouldn't have to live in fear.

Being Exceptional in Ordinary Things

Sometimes we think that we need to do extraordinary things for God. Oswalt Chambers notes that we like to think about acts like walking on water as demonstrations of tremendous faith, but that following Jesus over the dry land of the mundane takes far more faith. Chambers states that "it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours in every day as a saint, to go through drudgery as a disciple...we have to be exceptional in the ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people" (My Utmost for His Highest, p. 295).

All of us would like to convert all of the unbelievers in our workplaces and thereby demonstrate our worth to God. But can you live every day without seeing any results? Can you honor God even when it means that you're misunderstood or isolated? Can you choose to do the right thing even in the seemingly insignificant things?

As we end the week, choose to be exceptional, even in the ordinary details of life.

Who Needs Grace, Anyway?

Every now and then, I look back on recent posts and realize that my thoughts on Christianity in workplaces has started to resemble lists of do's and don't's. It's easy to think that way, which is why I tend to gravitate to that style. And I don't think I'm alone. For today's post, I wanted to stop and think about God's grace.

Who's your favorite Bible character? Have you ever thought about that person needing God's grace? Abraham told two different rulers that Sarah was his sister because he feared their power more than he trusted God's power. David boldly face Goliath and Saul, but pretended to be insane so as to escape his enemies (not to mention his sin with Bathsheba). Elijah ran away into the desert, convinced God had forsaken him. Peter was right there with Jesus for almost every miracle, every sermon. And yet he denied Jesus three times. Paul called himself the chief of sinners.

They all needed grace, and so do we. There are times when you mess up (in the workplace and everywhere else). Maybe you don't show love to a coworker. Maybe you yell at a subordinate in anger. Maybe you have a habit of telling white lies. Or not using your time effectively. Whatever it is, you need God's grace and so do I. It's not that the do's and don't's aren't important. It's just that you cannot honor God by following them. For that matter, you're never going to do each one perfectly anyway. Instead, focus on God's grace. As you seek to honor Him, the other things become ways of expressing your gratitude for what He's done for you.

What God Has Done For You

How long has it been since you thought about what God did for you?

I'm not talking just about health or a good job or family or anything like that. Have you really ever thought about God's grace? Have you thought about Jesus as He hung on the cross? While He was there, He was a murderer, a liar, an adulterer, a cheat. Think about the sins in your life. While Jesus hung on the cross, He was guilty of those sins so that you don't have to be. Pretty amazing, isn't it?

Look at what Paul says in Romans 2:1: "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things." We've been forgiven. Jesus was guilty so that we could experience indescribable grace. And yet it's still so hard not to pass judgment on others. When someone is rude to us, when they inconvenience us, or when we just don't like the way they look at us.

We probably all need to be reminded of the parable of the unmerciful servant. We've been forgiven a great debt. All that's left is for us to show mercy to others.

God's Grace to You, Your Grace to Others

The most popular post in the last three months is this one about grace. Here's another along a similar line of thought that was also well-read. It's pretty gratifying that the most read posts are so central to what God is all about.

We like checklists, and it would be easy if Christianity in general, and Christianity at work specifically, could be reduced to a checklist. The problem is, of course, that we can never be perfect at taknig care of the things on that list, and God expects perfection. Talk about a demanding boss! That's why His grace is so important. Jesus reduces our checklist to one thing--Himself. So respecting your supervisor, loving your coworkers, watching what you say, keeping God's perspective, etc., it's all about making Jesus the lord of your life. He takes care of the rest.

Just as we've been shown so much mercy, God wants us to show mercy to others. I think the parable of the unmerciful servant is one of the most convicting parts of Jesus' message. God has forgiven us so much. Others may offend us, but the offense is very minor compared to our offense toward God.

Mercy and grace aren't particularly popular concepts in workplaces. But they are part of our calling as Christians.

It's All About Grace

I want to end the week thinking about grace. As I look at the list of posts or the label categories on the left, it's easy to see a list of do's and don't's:

• Do work as if you're working for God.


• Don't be selfish.


• Do stand out from the crowd.


• Don't be sarcastic or hateful in your speech.

It's easy to think “if I do these things and avoid doing those things, I will honor God in my work.”

So you try to live by those lists and everything is going well for the first few days until Joe comes in late and you yell at him for messing up your day. Or your coworker Sally tries to steal your biggest client, so you let her have it. “Uh oh, I blew it. I'm not living by the lists.”

I want to really emphasize this—the ideas about which I'm writing are in no way lists of do's and don't's. I don't want anyone to read this book as a Pharisaical law of how to act at work. Paul says that we have all sinned and are justified through God’s grace (Romans 3:23-24) and that following rules can’t save us (Romans 3:30; Ephesians 2:8-9). While the Bible is full of commands and admonitions, that's not the “way” to God. Instead, the ideas that I've written in terms of honoring God at work are things to do because God has forgiven you for not being perfect. He knows that you're going to mess up. That's why He sent Jesus to begin with.

Don't think of these posts as rules for following God. Think about them as ideas from a fellow pilgrim.

Knowing God

1 John 4:7-21

By loving our seemingly unlovable coworkers, bosses, and customers/clients, we show God's love to them. But more than that, showing such love is how we know God. Look at 1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." Later, John says that if anyone claims to know God but hates someone, he or she is a liar. Love is at the very core of who God is. It is as much of His essence as we can know. And that's not just love for those that love Him back. God loved us BEFORE we loved Him (verse 19). He loved us when we were unlovable (Romans 5:8). By loving those around us that seem unlovable, we experience, to a microscopic degree, what God experienced in sending His Son for us.

Remember--it's not about "killing them with kindness," loving so that maybe they'll be nicer to you, or loving to gain leverage in the future. It's not about showing that you're a team player or that you can get along with others. It's loving because God loved you. If your allegiance is to Him and if you want to know Him, then you need to show love to everyone around you, including those that seem unlovable.

The Remedy for Others' Mistakes

I don't know about you, but I see people around me making mistakes all the time. Not huge ones, mind you. Nothing that will bring jail time or might really endanger someone. But those little mistakes that get under your skin and really annoy you. Those things that make life inconvenient or make you have to do extra work. You know the ones. Locking the door to the copy room at 4:30 instead of 5:00 so you have to go get a key when you're trying to finish up and get home. Leaving the coffee pot on when there's barely any left so the break room smells like tar. Parking over the line and taking up an extra parking spot. Poor performance on a report than you now have to redo. I'm sure you can continue the list with any number of things from your workplace.

Today, I was reading Romans 5, and Paul reminded me of how to respond to such mistakes. This is not a workplace-specific passage, of course, but I think it can apply to workplaces just as much as anywhere. Look at verse 8: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

The older I get, as I see others who make mistakes, the more I think they need Jesus almost as much as me.

That's really the secret to humility and forgiveness in the workplace--knowing how much you've been forgiven. I think it's easy to compartmentalize our lives so that, even if we make mistakes in other parts, at work, we're all together. The problem with that thinking is that God doesn't make such distinctions. He sees your whole self. And He has forgiven your whole self. The only response is a gratitude toward God that motivates forgiveness toward others.

Addendum on Mercy

James 2:13

A few weeks ago, I posted about the value of mercy in the workplace and the danger of judgmentalism. I read this passage this morning, and I felt like it needed to be added to those ideas. As James talks about churches showing partiality to the rich, he also talks about the tendency to see some sins as more serious as others. In verse 11, he says that if you condemn adultery but then murder someone, you are just as guilty as the adulterer. He concludes this section by emphasizing mercy and saying that "mercy triumphs over judgment." Think about that in your workplace. I think that there is an important line between mercy and high standards, but knowing exactly where that line is not an exact science. Based on this passage in James, as you're looking at others' work, be sure to err on the side of mercy rather than on the side of judging them for poor work. As a Christian, it's better to be accused of being too merciful than it is to be accused of being a tyranical perfectionist. Remember, you've been forgiven. He showed mercy to you.

Judgementalism

Matthew 7:1-5

It's easy to think about being judgemental as someone else's problem (of course then, you run the danger of judging them for it!). But stop and think about it for a moment. Do you look at your coworkers with disdain for messing up a project? Do you think some of your supervisor's ideas are just ridiculous--if only they'd hired someone competent to do his/her job? Those questions get to the heart of at least one side of judgementalism in the workplace. It's easy to smirk at the inferiority of others. If only they'd come up to your level. That's passing judgement on them. There's at least three problems with that. First, it's unloving, and we're commanded to love others. Second, it may make you less likeable in the workplace. You might say, "they don't have to like me as long as they respect me." But that's not entirely true. Workplace relationships are one of the key parts of job satisfaction, and being friendly in the workplace can go a long way in helping you succeed.

But Jesus mentions a third reason when he warns against being judgmental. "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." To the degree that you look down at others' mistakes, you will be judged on your own mistakes. There's a couple of ways that happens. First, theologically, God judges us all. This is very similar to Jesus' teaching on forgiving others because you are forgiven, which I blogged about in terms of God's grace and the unmerciful servant. That's really the thing with the unmerciful servant, wasn't it? That he was judgmental toward a fellow servant when he'd been forgiven by the Master. Now for you. You've been forgiven a debt that you could never repay. How then can you judge someone else? It doesn't matter what context, whether a church or a business. We're called to accept people for who they are without judging them. That doesn't mean that you have to accept substandard work from others. But it does mean that you need to see them as worthy individuals just the way that they are.

Grace

In thinking about the themes of mercy, love, and thankfulness from last week, and forgiveness in the workplace, which I anticipate writing about in the near future, I think that perhaps something very important to remember is that we do these things, we try to honor God in our workplace because of His Grace to us. Even when your subordinates screw up, your coworkers back-stab you, and your supervisors treat you worse than you deserve, remember that they are also sinners in need of a Savior, that they are also imperfect. The parable of the unmerciful servant is convicting. We have been forgiven a debt that can never be repaid, no matter how well our job pays us. That's a powerful perspective to have. We have mercy on others and show love, even to our enemies at work because God has shown such an immense love to us.

I have another purpose for writing about grace. One might look at the last 80+ posts and see them very much as a list of things to do or not do in the workplace. "If I do these things and avoid doing these things, I will honor God in my work." So you try to live by those lists and everything is going well for the first few days until Joe comes in late and you yell at him for messing up your day. Or your coworker Sally tries to double cross you, so you let her have it. "Uh oh, I blew it. I'm not living by the lists." I want to really emphasize this--the ideas about which I'm blogging are in no way lists of do's and don't's. While the Bible is full of commands and admonitions, that's not the "way" to God. Instead, the ideas that I've written in terms of honoring God at work are things to do because God has forgiven you for not being perfect. He knows that you're going to mess up. That's why He sent Jesus to begin with.

I don't want anyone to read this blog as a Pharisaical law of how to act at work. Instead, think of these as ideas about how to honor God because of His wonderful grace.

Blessed are the Merciful

Matthew 5:7; Matthew 18:22-35
cf Matthew 5:38-42; Luke 6:29

For the next few posts, I would like to look at the idea of mercy in the workplace. Today, I'm giving an overview and looking at supervisors and mercy. Wednesday, it will be the idea of forgiveness, particularly in terms of relating to coworkers and others at work. Friday, we'll stop and think about thankfulness. Finally, Monday, we'll talk about why do this at all, what is our motivation for thinking about mercy when those around us often don't.

Mercy is not a popular concept in what is generally thought of as a "dog-eat-dog" world where you have to "look out for number one" to "get ahead" in the "rat race." Those metaphors are much more widely accepted than "be merciful."

What does it even mean to be merciful? Does it mean that your supervisor can treat you like dirt and get away with it? Should coworkers be able to backstab you and know that you won't do anything? Does it mean to let employees slack off?

For me, one of the easist things to remember is to "turn the other cheek," which is found in Matthew 5:39 and in Luke 6:29. That really speaks to the first two situations presented above. Yes, your supervisor can treat you like dirt, and you should still respect, obey, and pray for your supervisor. Yes, your coworkers can backstab you and not expect retaliation. I don't think that means that you have to constantly put yourself in position to be backstabbed, but if it happens, you need to turn the other cheek. I'll continue this line of thought on Wednesday.

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to show mercy in a workplace is in relating to your subordinates. Think about the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:22-35. The servant was forgiven a debt that he could never repay. Even if the servant worked all of his life, he could never repay his debt, so the Master forgave it. No questions asked. Balance equals zero. What did this servant do? He went out and found another servant that owed almost nothing, assaulted and threatened him, and demanded money "or else!" Naturally, the Master was dismayed and threw the unmerciful servant in jail until he could pay his debt (which basically equated to a lifetime sentence). So think about your situation. God, the Master, has forgiven you a debt of sin that you could never repay. No matter how hard you worked and how much your job paid, you would never be able to repay the debt, so God said, "no problem, I got this one." What's your move? Are you the unmerciful servant, ready to pounce on someone that crosses you? Remember that, however they wrong you, it cannot compare to the sin that you've been forgiven! Hold your subordinates to a high standard. But remember to supervisor them with an ample supply of mercy for you have been shown incredible mercy yourself (which will be the subject of Friday's post).