Latest / Finding God at Work / 1: Whole-Hearted

Transcript

1: Whole-Hearted · Finding God at Work

• 0:05
  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work.
• 0:14
  Hi there.
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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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  It was a dull, rainy morning.
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  My alarm went off, and inwardly I just
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  groaned.
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  I tried not to groan too loudly so
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  I wouldn't wake up Katie.
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  I shuffled through my morning routine, breakfast, shower,
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  maybe taking some vitamin D pills because it
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  was a rainy day, drove down to the
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  mortgage company, booted up my computer, and while
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  it was booting up, I just looked out
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  the window at the rain coming down.
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  I just thought, like, that is me today.
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  I've got rain on the inside, too.
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  And a co-worker said, oh, hi, good
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  morning, Chris.
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  And I kind of missed a beat, and
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  I was like, oh, yeah, hi, hi.
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  And just had that little awkward moment of,
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  like, oh, hi.
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  I just missed, like, a very basic social
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  cue, you know, because I was so mentally
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  distracted and in such a funk.
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  And I just had this sense of, like,
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  that's not who I want to be.
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  I don't want to be the kind of
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  person who can't say good morning naturally to
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  somebody else.
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  I want out of this rainy day experience
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  that I'm having.
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  There was a lot going on for me
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  in that moment.
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  Part of what was going on, as I
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  now understand, is I was experiencing depression, and
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  I already had some things helping me, like,
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  I knew to take my vitamin D pills,
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  but since then I've gotten better treatment, better
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  medication, and I handle rainy days a lot
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  differently now with those helps that I didn't
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  have at the time.
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  And looking backwards at myself on that rainy
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  day, I have a lot of compassion for
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  that, Chris.
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  I'm like, you didn't even have good medication.
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  You're dealing with depression.
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  Of course, you're gonna miss some social cues
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  sometime.
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  Like, that is not all on you.
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  Like, you're okay, man.
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  You're gonna make it.
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  I want to time travel and just be
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  like, hang in there, man, and maybe also
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  check out Prozac a couple years earlier.
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  But in the moment, it didn't feel like
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  that.
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  In the moment, it felt like shame.
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  In the moment, it felt like I'm just
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  not who I want to be.
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  Now, the obvious implication is there is a
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  version of myself that I want to be.
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  I think for all of us, we have
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  a deep longing to be a certain kind
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  of person, a certain version of ourselves, someone
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  who's whole, someone who's healthy.
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  And because I'm a disciple of Jesus, that
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  longing to be a certain kind of myself,
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  a certain version of myself, is inextricably intertwined
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  with my desire to follow Jesus.
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  My sense of, I want to be like
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  him.
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  I want to be the kind of human
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  being that Jesus was and is.
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  If that's possible, I want to be that
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  version of myself.
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  And that longing to become a kind of
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  specific version of ourselves leads us to a
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  kind of paradox, right?
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  And it's a paradox that I've been on
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  both sides of, definitely, in my life.
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  And that's, how can we both aspire to
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  something specific without always beating ourselves up and
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  being motivated by shame, right?
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  Like when we're in a moment of depression,
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  for example, it's not really helpful to beat
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  yourself up about it.
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  It's not really helpful to say like, I
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  just got to pull myself together and do
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  the right thing.
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  And that's often been my approach for a
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  long time before I got guidance and better
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  counseling and better treatment.
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  That was my approach, just white knuckle it.
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  Try and will yourself to do what you
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  know is right, regardless of how you feel.
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  And the tough thing is, it's like sometimes
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  you just don't have it.
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  Sometimes your will just runs out.
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  And then what do you do?
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  The other side of the paradox, though, is
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  a kind of therapeutic, so to speak, approach
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  that actually does not allow for any kind
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  of genuine self-critique.
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  So somebody who has a poor performance review
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  at work and they go home and they
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  just say their affirmations to themselves.
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  Like even though you had this poor performance
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  review, like, you are awesome, you rock, you're
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  amazing, right?
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  This is a practice, a mental health practice
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  that some people have of like affirming themselves.
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  And if their performance was deeply attached to
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  their sense of self-worth, then yeah, like
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  creating some space there between your sense of
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  self-worth and your sense of performance is
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  really important.
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  Like, yes, your intrinsic value as a human
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  being totally unaffected by this poor performance at
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  work.
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  Amen.
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  And that can be really hard to believe.
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  So that's something to lean into and to
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  use practices for.
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  But if you stop there and then you
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  just like ignore everything in the performance review,
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  you're unwilling to try and grow in the
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  areas that the performance review identified.
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  Like if it was fair and it was
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  well done, it's like this is an area
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  of growth for you.
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  That's not healthy either.
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  I'm happy where I am and I don't
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  need to grow.
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  I don't need to change.
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  I'm good.
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  We know intuitively, like that's not what human
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  beings are meant to do either.
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  Human beings are dynamic.
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  We're meant to develop.
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  We're meant to struggle with the darkness, even
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  the darkness in ourselves and somehow triumph over
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  it and get through to something better and
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  more beautiful over time.
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  Okay, so how do we do that?
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  How do we both aim for a better,
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  more beautiful version of ourselves but not do
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  that in a way that's really rooted in
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  shame and self-condemnation and ends up doing
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  more harm than good?
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  How do we both have self-acceptance and
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  a radical commitment to growth and change over
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  time?
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  And specifically in the Christian world, this could
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  be phrased like this.
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  How can I become a better Christian without
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  becoming a worse human being?
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  Because sometimes, that white-knuckling version of it,
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  you can apply that to the idea of
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  what's called sanctification or spiritual growth.
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  Like, I am just gonna force myself to
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  be more like Jesus.
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  Yes!
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  And in the process, you find that you're
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  getting impatient with people and you're angry and
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  you aren't able to be gentle and it's
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  like you actually, even in your attempt to
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  white-knuckle your way towards being like Jesus,
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  you're becoming less and less like Jesus.
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  You're becoming less of the human being that
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  Jesus intends for you to be.
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  So, how do we become better Christians without
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  becoming worse human beings?
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  If Jesus' vision for our life makes any
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  sense at all, somehow becoming a better Christian
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  has got to go hand-in-hand with
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  becoming a better human being.
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  Okay, so this is the paradox.
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  This is the two sides that we're going
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  to try and look at together in this
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  new series that we're launching with this episode.
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  So, the new series is called, Wholehearted Becoming
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  Healthier Christians at Work.
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  Now, right there even in the title, right,
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  Becoming Healthier Christians at Work, I've tried to
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  capture that paradox that like we're trying to
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  be Christians, we're trying to become more like
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  Jesus, but we're trying to do that in
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  a healthy way.
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  So, one way we could think about this
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  is like a Venn diagram.
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  On the left side of the Venn diagram,
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  we've got spiritual growth, Bible and theology, spiritual
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  practices, all those good things that kind of
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  help us understand what it means to follow
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  Jesus.
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  And then on the right side of the
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  Venn diagram, we've got mental health, psychological research,
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  insights from the social sciences, things that can
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  help us learn what it means to be
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  a healthy human being.
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  And so, this series is an attempt to
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  kind of hit that intersection place of the
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  Venn diagram and say, how can we become
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  healthier Christians at work?
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  How can we become more whole and more
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  healthy all the way around in a way
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  that's part of our life with God and
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  in a way that takes the realities of
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  mental health seriously?
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  Okay, so the structure of this series is
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  going to be those two sections as well.
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  So, we're going to start on that left
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  hand side.
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  We're going to start with what we could
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  call theological anthropology.
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  So, that's the nerdy phrase for it.
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  A way that might be easier to think
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  of it is that Jesus is an anthropologist.
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  Jesus has things to say about humanity.
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  And so, this is something that philosophers and
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  others have explored for centuries, right?
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  Confucius had ideas about human nature.
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  Aristotle and Plato had ideas about human nature.
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  The Islamic philosophers of the Middle Ages had
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  ideas about human nature.
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  The Enlightenment philosophers had ideas about human nature.
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  Well, Jesus also has specific ideas about human
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  nature and we can go read them in
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  the New Testament.
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  And that's really helpful.
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  So, if we're students of Jesus, we're letting
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  Jesus be our anthropologist or letting Jesus tell
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  us how humanity works.
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  And so, we're going to kind of come
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  back to that just a little bit at
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  the end of this episode and look at
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  a specific passage where Jesus lays that out.
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  But that's kind of the first chunk of
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  this podcast series is going to be a
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  theological anthropology.
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  A vision of what it means to be
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  human that comes out of the Bible, out
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  of good Christian theology, out of the teaching
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  of Jesus himself.
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  In case you really like knowing what's coming,
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  we're going to have seven subparts to that
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  part.
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  Seven subparts to the Theological Anthropology section.
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  So, we're going to look at our thoughts,
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  our feelings, our will or heart, our body,
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  and then our soul in three different ways.
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  So, our soul as a relater, our soul
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  as an integrator, and our soul as a
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  receiver.
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  Okay, you don't need to remember that.
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  We'll go one step at a time through
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  the series.
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  Now, the right hand side of the Venn
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  diagram, that mental health side, we're going to
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  look at that in the second half of
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  the series and we're going to look specifically
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  at different mental health challenges.
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  So, we're going to look at depression and
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  anxiety, both of which I can speak to
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  from personal experience, and then we're going to
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  draw on other people's experiences and good Christian
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  psychologists and other researchers and talk about also
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  trauma, addiction, and neurodiversity.
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  Okay, so this is probably the most ambitious
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  podcast series we've done yet.
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  We're trying to cover a lot of ground
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  in terms of the depth and breadth of
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  what we're doing, but to me it feels
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  necessary to look at all of these topics.
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  Because for me, even on just one single
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  day of work, I have thoughts, I have
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  feelings, I have a will and choices that
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  I'm making, I have my body and whatever
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  I'm going through, I have my soul and
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  how it's relating and integrating and receiving or
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  not in a given moment, and I'm dealing
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  with my own depression, and sometimes my own
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  anxiety, and other people's anxiety too, and the
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  people around me that I interact with in
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  the workplace, they have trauma, and they have
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  addictions, and they're neurodivergent, and all of us
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  have different brains, and it's like, just to
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  do a single day of work, we have
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  to have some way to navigate all of
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  this ground.
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  We are already navigating all of this ground
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  in our life in some way, so how
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  about we let Jesus help us navigate this
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  ground?
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  How about we let his teachings guide us
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  and let him be the anthropologist that we
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  rely on as we think about what it
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  means to be a healthy human being and
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  a healthy Christian in the workplace.
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  Okay, so that's a little bit of what
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  we're going to try and do in this
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  series.
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  Now I want to look at the Gospel
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  of Luke, chapter 10, when Jesus gives us
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  a little bit of his theological anthropology.
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  So this is starting in verse 25.
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  On one occasion, an expert in the law
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  stood up to test Jesus.
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  Teacher, he asked, what must I do to
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  inherit eternal life?
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  Okay, let's pause right there.
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  So this teacher of the law is trying
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  to trip Jesus up.
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  He's not asking this question in good faith,
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  but even though he's not asking this question
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  in good faith, it is a really good
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  question.
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  It is a question that could be asked
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  in good faith and that we can ask
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  in good faith.
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  Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal
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  life?
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  In a previous episode, we looked at John
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  chapter 17 verse 3, where Jesus gives his
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  definition of eternal life, where he says, this
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  is eternal life, that they, my disciples, would
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  know you, the only true God, and Jesus
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  Christ, whom you have sent.
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  So that's Jesus's short definition of eternal life,
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  to know God and to know Jesus Christ,
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  whom God has sent.
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  So it's a relational different, relational definition of
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  eternal life.
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  It's not just about your life never ending.
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  It's not just a quantitative idea of life.
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  It's a different kind of life, the life
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  of being alive to God, receiving life from
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  God, interacting with God.
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  So think about that definition of eternal life
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  as we think about this question.
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  Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal
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  life?
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  What is written in the law?
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  Jesus replied, how do you read it?
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  He answered, love the Lord your God with
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  all your heart, and with all your soul,
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  and with all your strength, and with all
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  your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
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  You have answered correctly, Jesus replied.
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  Do this, and you will live.
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  Okay, so this skeptical questioner, he somehow still
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  pulls out these two commands from the Torah
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  and says these are the ones that matter.
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  And Jesus is like, you got it, 100
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  % correct.
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  It's about loving God and loving neighbor.
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  But he doesn't just say loving God and
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  loving neighbor.
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  What is the command fully?
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  It's to love the Lord your God with
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  these four different aspects of who you are,
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  with all your heart, with all your soul,
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  with all your strength, with all your mind.
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  So this is Jesus's anthropologist.
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  This is Jesus affirming this teaching of the
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  Torah that there's these different aspects of who
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  we are.
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  We have hearts, we have an inner spiritual
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  life that's hidden, but that determines many, many
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  things about us.
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  We have a will that can make decisions.
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  We also have a soul, we have a
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  kind of also mysterious but like integrating aspect
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  of who we are that brings us together
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  as a single person all these different aspects.
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  We have strength, we have bodily strength, we
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  have everything about our bodies that makes a
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  difference in how we experience and do life.
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  And we have our mind, we have our
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  thoughts and our feelings, all those different things
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  that express who we are and what we
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  do, sometimes in ways that we can see,
• 13:38
  sometimes in ways that we can't.
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  So Jesus says right at the heart of
• 13:42
  eternal life, right at the heart of being
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  alive to God, living life interactively with God,
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  are these different aspects of who we are
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  and they're meant to go together and they're
• 13:51
  meant to be deployed for the purpose of
• 13:54
  love.
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  So there's a couple different takeaways here from
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  what Jesus is saying.
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  One thing is that Jesus is saying it's
• 14:01
  really good to understand all the different parts
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  of who you are.
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  It's really good to know that you have
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  a heart and that you have a soul
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  and that you have strength and that you
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  have a mind.
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  We live in a century where a lot
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  of people don't know that about themselves.
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  We've lost the language of the soul, we've
• 14:17
  lost the language of the heart.
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  People are are illiterate when it comes to
• 14:21
  the idea of character and personal and spiritual
• 14:23
  growth.
• 14:24
  And so we have to recapture those things
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  with Jesus as our teacher if we're going
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  to love God the way that he says
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  we can.
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  The second thing Jesus is saying is that
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  we can love God, that we can become
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  the kind of human beings who love God
• 14:38
  with all that we are and who love
• 14:41
  our neighbors as ourselves.
• 14:42
  So right in the midst of the command
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  is this promise from Jesus.
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  He says, do this and you will live.
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  That is an incredible promise that it is
• 14:53
  possible to love God like this.
• 14:55
  It is possible to love neighbor like this
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  and we can do that and we can
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  experience life with God as we do that
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  in the workplace and everywhere else.
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  So now I want to close by just
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  giving you an idea, a meditation to take
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  with you into your work day.
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  That's the idea that God is listening for
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  every part of you.
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  God is listening for your heart.
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  God is listening for your thoughts and your
• 15:25
  feelings.
• 15:27
  God is listening for your body.
• 15:28
  God is listening for your soul.
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  So could you listen with him?
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  Could you open yourself to paying attention to
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  those movements of your experience today and share
• 15:39
  them with God as you go about your
• 15:41
  work day?
• 15:42
  As a co-worker says something to you
• 15:44
  and you have a feeling, can you pay
• 15:45
  attention to it and bring it into the
• 15:48
  presence of God?
• 15:49
  When you're working on some really difficult projects
• 15:51
  and you have thoughts of how to make
• 15:52
  it work, can you express gratitude to God
• 15:55
  for the insights that he's given you?
• 15:57
  When your body feels tired, can you rest
• 15:59
  in the presence of Jesus with you and
• 16:02
  say, Jesus, I feel tired right now and
• 16:05
  let Jesus be attentive to you in your
• 16:07
  body?
• 16:08
  Jesus is paying attention to all of who
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  you are and as you begin to pay
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  attention to all of who you are in
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  him, he'll bring those things together and deploy
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  them for love.
• 16:21
  Lord Jesus, thank you.
• 16:23
  Thank you for making us these dynamic, complex,
• 16:27
  sometimes convoluted people who have needs and who
• 16:31
  struggle and who have all these parts of
• 16:34
  ourselves and we just ask that you would
• 16:36
  help us to bring all of us to
• 16:39
  all of you, to experience that life with
• 16:43
  you that you really invite us into, of
• 16:45
  loving you with all that we are and
• 16:47
  loving our neighbors as ourselves.
• 16:49
  Jesus, do your work in us as we
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  do our work with you.
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  Thanks for listening.
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  Finding God at Work is a production of
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  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
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  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
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  life.
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  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
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  of teaching on faith and work every Tuesday
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  and Thursday.
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  To get resources to go deeper with each
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  podcast series, read our blog, and get info
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  about upcoming courses on faith in the