Dear Pastor,
One of the greatest legacies pastors can leave their congregants, especially business leaders, is instruction on how to live and minister as marketplace Christians. My letter is intended to encourage you to better understand and equip workplace leaders to become more effective Kingdom ministers in the field to which God has called us. For most pastors, it is easier to talk about living out faith through volunteerism, community engagement, or financial giving then to talk about a faithful approach to work issues. One quote I read recently is, “My pastor has no idea what I do for a living, and has shown no interest in finding out. He does know a great deal about my family.” So here are seven things you need to know about us and where you can help.
Teach us to depend on God
Many business leaders have so much talent and energy that they seek to “do life” in their own strength, demanding much (sometimes too much) of themselves and others. And as we succeed, we depend less on God and become even more identified with our careers. How we handle success is a huge determinant of how we will finish the race. Success and achievement make it easier to focus on ourselves and not depend on God. We must learn to limit ourselves. If Satan can’t destroy our families with direct sin, he will push until relationships crumble as a result of exhaustion and neglect. Humility and surrender of control are not characteristics that come easily to anyone, especially “type A” business (or dare I say, church) leaders. But they are essential for us to become godly leaders and influencers for Jesus Christ in the workplace. Business and other leaders must intentionally give up control of our lives to God, or He will bring about the circumstances to show us we were never in control in the first place.
Teach us to integrate our spiritual life and our work life
David Miller of Faith and Work fame at both Yale and Princeton Universities uses the illustration of a Bible in one hand and a Wall Street Journal in the other. To quote G.A. Kennedy, “A very large number of the people who attend our services and partake of the sacraments are disassociated personalities. They are one person on Sunday and another on Monday. They have one mind for the sanctuary and another for the street. They have one conscience for the church and another for the cotton factory. Their worship conflicts with their work.” Encourage us to develop vision and skills. And give us a vision for reaching out to others. Equip us to face life’s daily battles with God’s Word, the “sword of the Spirit.” Teach us not to be satisfied with the pleasures of this world, but to have a passion for the lost, and how to use our positions and our possessions as tools for the gospel, not as idols. Many business leaders view evangelism as a course, an event, or an activity instead of a lifestyle of naturally exposing people to God’s love.
Teach us prioritization
Many business leaders are good at prioritization at work; fewer of us are good at prioritization of life. Impress upon us keeping first things first (e.g., getting alone with God daily, scheduling time with spouse and children, planning times of personal and spiritual refreshment).
Teach us, show us, help us to understand that God has called us to be faithful, not successful. Help us adopt a godly work style—the way we do our work, the attitudes we express, the methods we employ, the language we use, and the behaviors we exhibit. Help us understand that the way we do our work says everything about how seriously we take our faith. Help us really understand that the outcome of our work, even employment itself, can be out of our control. We must ultimately trust God for the results of our labor.
Encourage us to be in accountability relationships
Every believer needs two or three or more people who care about them when adversities and trials come. This kind of accountability, dare I say intimacy, is also needed in the good times to avoid hubris and excessive self-reliance. We type A business leaders need to understand that our jobs and our careers are important, but not all important. We should want to and, indeed, honor Christ and serve others by what we do. We also need to understand our limitations at work and career. Accountability relationships can help put all of this in perspective.
Help us understand that our work is a calling
All too often, workers view their jobs as something to be endured, or better yet, a means to an end (feeding my family), or even better, to support the church and missionaries, or even better still, an integral part of the Christian life, indeed a calling by God as expressed so well in Os Guinness’ book The Call. We evangelicals focus so often on exhorting each other to keep our eyes on the eternal. And while it is inevitable that the grass will wither and the flowers will fade, an inordinate emphasis on soteriology can lead to an individualistic understanding of one’s relationship with God but neglect the Christian’s larger responsibilities for the created world of God’s creatures, our fellow man. Business leaders need to understand and appropriate the reality that our work is a calling by God. And so, pastors, tear down the sacred/secular divide when it comes to the workplace. Don’t just pray for the new Sunday school teachers and classes at the beginning of a new year; pray for the teacher in the public and private schools. Pray for the accountants around April 15. Don’t just commission the missionaries heading off to the field; commission the new college graduates for their careers in business, education, the arts.
Help us understand that the 9-5 Window is every bit as important as the 10-40 Window
Billy Graham said, “I believe that one of the next great moves of God is going to be through the believers in the workplace.” Many workplace leaders are confused about our role in evangelizing the world. We often feel that our small part is insignificant compared to the contribution of the “professionals” and have resigned ourselves to a “support” position in helping the professionals who have been trained, equipped, and gifted to be on the front lines. Help business leaders understand that our responsibility and opportunity is to witness to those who are already friends, relatives, neighbors, and colleagues. Christians can commend Christ by word of mouth, but also by our consistent, honest, thoughtful conduct in the workplace as well as our demonstrated concern for justice.
When others can see from the quality of our daily work and interaction that this is done for the glory of God, then the Christian worker is being a witness indeed and may be afforded an opportunity with credibility to express the gospel in word.
Teach us how to be generous
Sacrificial giving is different for the high six- or seven-figure income worker than it is for the five-figure earner. Teach us how to give—radically, generously, without restraint, liberally, over the top. Express a vision for what God can do and the benefits. Involve business leaders in the vision. Teach us to give until it feels good (not until it hurts). Show us testimonies of giving and sacrifice. Ask us to give. Thank us for giving. Motivate us to give 20%, 30%, 50%. Some earn enough to be reverse tithers—giving away 90%, living on 10%.
Pastor, At the culmination of God’s purposes when Jesus comes again, Christians will be judged not only for their direct evangelistic and church-oriented work, but also for their faithfulness as stewards of their God-given resources, talents, careers, and wealth. I believe the power of stronger pastor/business leader relationships can make a positive difference. We are the people of God gathered on Sunday, scattered on Monday. Help us let our light shine so that others can see our good work and give God the glory.
Professionally,
Business Leader
Bridging the Pastor/
Business Leader Gap
by
Jamie Rasmussen, Senior Pastor,
Scottsdale Bible Church
and
Bob Doll, Chief Equity Strategist,
Nuveen Asset Management
