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18: When You Realize Your Industry Is Harming People · Finding God at Work

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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This is Finding God at Work.
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Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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course.
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Check it out at findinggodatwork.org.
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Our current series is Divine Disappointments, Facing Pain
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and Sorrow at Work.
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A few months ago, I was talking with
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my friend Nick, and Nick is a really
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smart guy, very sharp, also very kind, really
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glad I have gotten to know him.
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He's an engineer, and he works in a
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company that creates drones.
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So from a technology standpoint, the work is
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really fascinating.
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It gives Nick a chance to use his
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educational background and his particular gifts to solve
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technical problems, to create new products, and it's
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really exciting and engaging.
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It's a great kind of work.
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But Nick was talking to me about some
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of his ethical concerns about how those drones
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end up getting used.
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The primary customer for his company is the
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Department of Defense, and those drones are used
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for warfare.
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And so we were talking back and forth
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about how to understand that and the ethics
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of warfare and how we think about that
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as disciples of Jesus.
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And I bring that up not to get
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into a discussion about warfare, as important as
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that discussion is, but to bring up the
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situation that so many of us as disciples
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of Jesus find ourselves in, of working in
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an industry that is somewhat morally problematic.
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And every industry has what are technically called
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negative externalities, something about how in the course
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of getting business done, the world around the
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business is negatively affected.
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So the classic example is pollution.
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Say you have a manufacturing plant.
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It's manufacturing a great product that serves society
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in some ways.
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But just in the course of manufacturing that
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product, it pollutes the environment around it in
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some way.
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How do we grapple with those negative externalities
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that are part of any industry?
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Well, the first thing I want to say
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is that our response is going to depend
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on where we find ourselves in the spectrum,
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right?
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Some externalities are more negative than others.
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So at one extreme, there are entire industries
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that are just clearly unethical and that disciples
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of Jesus cannot participate in in good faith.
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So, for example, if you're a professional thief,
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right, if you rob expensive I don't know,
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jewelry, technology, things from people's homes or somehow,
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you know, do cons on the Internet with
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cryptocurrency.
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If you come to faith in Jesus Christ,
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you should repent of that.
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You should quit that job and also restore
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what you stole to the people you stole
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it from.
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Right.
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Do that restitution.
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OK, that's that's really obvious.
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If you're literally a thief, that's bad.
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That industry is not a healthy industry, et
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cetera.
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But for many of us, we're in a
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more gray area where the work itself isn't
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necessarily wrong, right?
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Like drone technology isn't necessarily inherently unethical, but
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there could be uses of the technology or
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the product that the industry creates that are
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unethical.
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Or there are other ways that our industry
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negatively affects society around us.
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How do we make sense of our responsibility
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as disciples of Jesus when we're in an
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industry like that?
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Well, I think it's helpful to start with
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our own personal responsibility.
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What if we face a particular ethical decision
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and then we'll move from that into, OK,
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can we influence the industry in some way?
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But let's start with just our own character,
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our own way of relating to other people.
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And for this, I want to go to
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Psalm 15, because Psalm 15 is one of
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the classic psalms that sort of gives an
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image of the character of a godly person.
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And some of the the illustrating points that
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are used in the psalm are specific to
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the workplace.
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And I'm not sure if you've noticed that
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before.
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So I'm just going to read the whole
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psalm.
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It's pretty short.
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Psalm 15.
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Oh, Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
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Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
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He who walks blamelessly and does what is
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right and speaks truth in his heart, who
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does not slander with his tongue and does
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no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up
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a reproach against his friend and whose eyes
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a vile person is despised, but who honors
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those who fear the Lord, who swears to
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his own hurt and does not change and
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who does not put out his money at
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interest and does not take a bribe against
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the innocent.
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He who does these things shall never be
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moved.
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OK, so again, this psalm is describing basic
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good godly character.
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He who does these things shall never be
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moved.
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The person who has these character qualities is
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steadfast.
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They're secure.
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They're able to consistently do what's right and
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love other people.
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At the beginning of the psalm, it connects
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that to being in the presence of God.
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Who shall sojourn in your tent?
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Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
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Part of being close to God is as
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he gives us ability, doing the right thing
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whenever we can.
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That's part of our life with God is
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that life of godly, ethical behavior and decision
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making.
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And as much as it's up to us.
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But then what are the particular things that
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are up to us?
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Well, it talks about our interior life, right?
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So he who walks blamelessly and does what
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is right and speaks truth in his heart.
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So our interior life is part of developing
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that character.
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We've talked a lot about that in other
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episodes.
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Then it talks about your social relationships, how
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you treat other people, who does not slander
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with his tongue, who does no evil to
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his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against
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his friend.
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So in your words and in your behavior
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towards other people, not harming others, not mistreating
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others, not treating others unfairly.
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Then it gets to these workplace examples.
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It says who swears to his own hurt
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and does not change, who does not put
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out his money and interest and does not
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take a bribe against the innocent.
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OK, so swears to his own hurt and
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does not change.
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What's that mean?
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Basically means if you've made a promise or
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struck a business deal, you're going to honor
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your side of the deal, even if the
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economic situation changes such that it's more costly
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for you than you originally realized.
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Who swears to his own hurt and does
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not change.
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Right.
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So if you if you make a deal
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with your neighbor like, hey, I'm going to
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help you plow your field this fall because
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you helped me with my issue with building
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my wall last spring and then it rains
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a ton.
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And so it's actually really hard to help
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your neighbor in the mud.
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And that's more time than you anticipated giving.
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You still keep your promise.
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You're still a good neighbor.
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You still take on that cost.
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You swear to your own hurt, but you're
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not going to change, even though the situation
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has changed.
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Who does not put out his money and
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interest.
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What's that about?
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Well, in the Torah regulations, the people of
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Israel were not allowed to lend money to
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each other at interest.
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That was considered taking advantage of the person
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who needed the loan.
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And so this is basically saying if you
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have a way to make money, but it
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involves taking advantage of someone else, you have
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to forego that way to make money.
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Right.
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That's pretty straightforward.
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It's like, oh, I could do something that's
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harmful to someone else and make some money
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that way.
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But I'm going to let go of that
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money.
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I'm not going to do it.
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Similarly, does not take a bribe against the
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innocent.
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This could be the case of a judge
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or a witness in court where somebody who
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wants the case to go in their favor
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is willing to grease the palms of the
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witnesses and say, hey, say this and I'll
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give you money.
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And yet we know that that's that's deceitful,
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that that's wrong.
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And so this, again, is a case of
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foregoing money, in this case, the money of
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a bribe in order to do the right
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thing.
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OK, so in our workplaces, we might face
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quandaries where there's easy money to be had,
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but the right thing to do is to
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say no to that easy money.
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Again, it could be something as straightforward as
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theft, right?
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Not embezzling funds, but it could be more
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complicated temptations than that.
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Maybe stretching the truth in a sales presentation
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so that you can land a deal.
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Right.
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Maybe making it harder than reasonable for customers
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to unsubscribe from certain services so that you
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can get their money even when they don't
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intend to continue the service.
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There are these different practices that may face
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us.
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So so staying at that level of our
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kind of individual character, how do we think
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about Christian ethics?
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Well, for this, I want to go to
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Timothy Keller, his book with Catherine Leary, Allsdorf,
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Every Good Endeavor.
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It's a great book that we've used several
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times in the podcast.
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And he's talking about how if you take
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a kind of honesty is the best policy
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approach of like, oh, yeah, we do the
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right thing because that's good for business.
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You're not really going to cover all of
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your bases because sometimes that's not true.
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So Keller writes, won't there at least be
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some situations in which the short term gains
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for an ethically questionable act will be so
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great and the danger to you or your
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friends so small that on the basis of
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cost benefit analysis, the potential gains vastly outweigh
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the risk?
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Of course.
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And there will even be situations in any
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field in which doing the purely ethical thing
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could be financially ruinous.
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And therefore, according to strict cost benefit analysis,
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the risk of getting caught in an ethical
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violation or fracturing a relationship is clearly worth
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taking.
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So at least part of the time it
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is bad business, to be honest.
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I can't underscore this enough, at least some
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of the time it is bad business, to
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be honest.
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This flies in the face of the prosperity
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gospel that says that if we do the
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right thing and we follow Jesus, things are
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always going to go our way.
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That is not true.
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And if you believe that's true, it'll be
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easier to deceive yourself and to rationalize when
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you face an ethical conundrum where doing the
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right thing is going to hurt and it
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requires some cost from you.
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And that will happen.
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There will be times in your life at
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work where to do the right thing, you're
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taking a hit.
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All right, Keller continues to write.
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Christians can take a stand against unethical behavior,
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even if it means great sacrifice on their
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part.
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Fortunately, the storyline of the Christian faith gives
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believers an ethical bedrock, a much firmer foundation
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for acting with integrity than offered by the
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pragmatic approach of a cost benefit analysis.
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We are to be honest, compassionate and generous,
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not because these things are rewarding, which they
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usually are, hence the cost benefit analysis approach
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to ethics, but because they are right in
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and of themselves, because to do so honors
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the will of God and his design for
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human life.
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Sometimes, of course, that will put us in
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the minority and even at a disadvantage.
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OK, so this is where our overall vision
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of God is so important.
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If we believe that there is no God
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or we functionally are doubting that God will
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take care of us, then when we have
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this temptation to take care of ourselves and
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do the wrong thing or take the hit
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and do the right thing, if we're not
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trusting in God, we're going to take care
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of ourselves.
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But if we have that attitude of, you
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know, God is going to provide for me,
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even if I take the hit now, I
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know that eternally and long term, I'm secure,
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I'm safe in the love of God, then
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you can take the hit.
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So that's our first point is when when
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it's up to you and it's a specific
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ethical decision that's within your area of authority.
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Take the hit and do the right thing,
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trusting that God will bail you out.
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Right.
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And that bailing out may not be short
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term, it may not be immediate, but long
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term, God has your best interests at heart
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and he will provide for you.
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OK, but what about that that bigger context
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of your industry?
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Right.
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Let me give some other examples.
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I have a family member who's a conference
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planner.
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She travels a lot for work in airplanes
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that contributes to climate change over time.
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Or I work at the food bank.
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We receive gifts from the local casinos.
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I kind of feel weird about that because
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I think that casinos, their profit model, their
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business model is essentially profiting off of people's
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gambling addiction and gambling addiction destroys lives.
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What do we think about these these kind
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of gray areas?
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Right.
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It's not that the work itself is necessarily
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wrong, but there's some aspect of it that
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has that that negative externality.
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Well, what I want to suggest is in
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as much as it's up to us, we
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can choose to take the hit to minimize
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negative externalities.
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And as much as it's up to us,
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we can choose to take the hit to
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minimize negative externalities for the enterprise, too.
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Right.
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Like if the enterprise is 98 percent as
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profitable as it would have been, but it
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significantly reduces its negative externalities for society and
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the world, that's probably wise for that corporation,
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that enterprise to take that 2 percent hit.
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Right.
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But sometimes it's not up to you.
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Right.
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Sometimes you're answering to other authorities, to shareholders.
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To the executives, et cetera.
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And so how can you influence things when
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it's not just in your domain of authority?
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Well, here's where you can advocate for that
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take the hit mentality, even if it's not
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fully up to you.
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Let me give a Bible example here.
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Think about Esther.
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Esther, if you need a reminder of the
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story, she was Hebrew.
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She was taken into the pagan Emperor Asher
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Harris's court as part of his harem.
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Very, you know, sexist and evil system to
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begin with.
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Within that setting, she finds out about a
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plot against her fellow Jews.
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And there's an advisor to the king named
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Haman, who has essentially gotten the king's write
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off on destroying the Jews as a people,
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a kind of violent onslaught against them.
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And the king doesn't realize that Esther is
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a Jew.
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So what does Esther do?
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Esther decides to use her influence with the
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king to protect the vulnerable, to protect her
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people, even at great cost to herself.
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It's risky to talk to the king in
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the first place because he's the king.
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He's the emperor.
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He has this authority to to even kill
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people that annoy him.
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It can be that serious.
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But it's also dangerous because she's outing herself
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as a Jew.
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She's revealing that she's part of this community
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that's currently under legal threat and violent threat.
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So this is chapter seven.
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This is kind of the climax of the
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story here, starting in verse three.
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Then Queen Esther answered, if I have found
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favor in your sight, O king, and if
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it please the king, let my life be
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granted me for my wish and my people
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for my request.
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For we have been sold, I and my
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people, to be destroyed, to be killed and
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to be annihilated.
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She comes out and she says, it's me,
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it's my people.
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These are the ones who are under threat.
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She takes that risk.
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And because she takes that risk, the way
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the story turns out, those people are rescued.
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They're able to defend themselves.
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And it leads to to a kind of
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salvation moment where the faithfulness of God for
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his people is utterly clear.
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OK, what did Esther do?
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Esther did not have the authority to minimize
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the quote unquote negative externality of this action
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against the Jews.
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OK, obviously I'm stretching the sense of negative
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externality.
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Obviously, you know, violent conquest is different than,
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like, you know, polluting the atmosphere.
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But go with me here.
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Go with me here.
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OK.
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Esther is identifying this negative externality that she
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doesn't have the authority to stop, but she
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does have the authority to take a stand.
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She does have the authority to risk her
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own reputation, her own safety in order to
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influence those who do have authority.
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So I think that's that's our even more
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challenging example, is that if we're in those
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industries where there's sometimes those negative externalities, how
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can we put ourselves on the line in
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order to encourage the authorities to minimize those
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negative externalities, even if it means that the
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enterprise takes a hit?
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Might not always be popular, but that's the
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kind of biblical vision of courage that we
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are given as disciples of Jesus.
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And so I just want to leave you
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with this encouragement to follow Jesus wherever he
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leads.
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These things take discernment.
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I don't have a lickety split easy answer
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for how to handle pollution or airplane travel
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or Department of Defense contracted drone manufacturing or
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casinos donating to food banks.
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These are complex questions and the individual decisions
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have to be discerned in the moment.
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But as you do that work of discernment,
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follow Jesus wherever he leads.
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You won't regret it, even if it's risky,
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even if it's costly.
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You won't regret taking that leap of faith
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to follow Jesus.
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Lord Jesus, show us how we can follow
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you in the crux, in the moment where
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we have a chance to influence things for
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good or bad.
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Help us to take a stand that honors
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you.
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Give us wisdom about when to speak up
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and how to speak up, how to challenge
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and how to put it all on the
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line, how to swear to our own hurt
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and not change.
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Jesus, do your work in us as we
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do our work with you.
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Thanks for listening.
16:26
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16:28
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16:31
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