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27: Courage to Serve · 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 Meaningful Work, Calling, Formation,
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  Service, and Love.
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  A couple of months ago, I stumbled across
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  this hilarious meme.
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  It's a picture of a 20-something white
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  -collar professional.
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  He's got his Apple AirPod in his ear,
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  and he's just kind of pondering.
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  He's like, hmm, what do I do about
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  this?
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  And the text of the meme is, said,
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  almost done on the project update, then opened
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  the dock for the first time and got
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  hit with a request access screen.
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  Okay, so if for some reason in your
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  work environment you never deal with request access
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  screens, there are digital files, right, documents, project
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  documents, that are restricted to different specific users.
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  And so behind this meme, what's going on
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  is this young worker said that he was
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  almost done with a project.
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  In fact, he had never even opened the
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  document, and now when he tries to open
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  the document, he doesn't have access, which means
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  he has to request access probably from his
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  boss, the person who he just told he
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  was almost done with the project, right?
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  So basically, his little lie will come to
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  light.
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  And I love this meme because it captures
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  something about our own duplicitousness in the workplace.
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  I've definitely done this.
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  Have you ever done this, where you're just
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  a little bit dishonest about how far ahead
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  you are on a project?
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  For me, I might not say, oh, I'm
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  almost done, but I might say something like,
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  oh, I haven't finished that yet, whereas the
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  truth is, I haven't started that yet.
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  And the question is, what's going on here,
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  right?
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  Well, it's pretty obvious.
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  We care about our reputation.
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  We care about how others think of us.
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  We don't want to look like we're irresponsible,
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  even when we have been irresponsible.
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  That's the catch, right, is we don't want
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  to be honest about the fact that we
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  haven't started the project yet.
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  And so we just, you know, swerve the
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  truth a little bit.
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  We spin it.
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  We try and make ourselves look better than
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  we are.
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  As we've been talking about in this series,
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  that's one example of what we might call
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  the false self, this kind of inflated version
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  of us that's better than we really are.
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  And as we think about how humility and
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  service are kind of these antidotes to the
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  false self, I want to press into the
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  idea of service as it relates to courage
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  for honesty.
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  OK, so service is good for the virtue
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  of humility, right?
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  It's also good for the virtue of courage.
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  And one way to press into this kind
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  of courage is by practicing honesty that requires
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  humility, by approaching things in order to serve
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  others rather than to get ahead.
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  OK, so in order to kind of keep
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  all these things straight, I think it's helpful
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  to just have a couple kind of guiding
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  questions.
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  So this is, again, from a couple episodes
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  ago.
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  You can ask the question, how can I
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  get ahead?
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  Or you can ask the question, how can
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  I help?
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  And the question, how can I help, is
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  what leads us to adopting a servant attitude,
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  an attitude more like that of Jesus, like
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  we saw in Philippians 2, an attitude more
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  like what we were designed to do as
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  human beings, that we are meant to serve.
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  And so when we ask, how can I
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  help?
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  We actually get closer to being the kind
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  of human beings we were meant to be
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  in our workplaces.
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  But how does this relate to courage?
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  Well, I want you to think about kind
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  of a high stakes scenario, right?
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  So we looked at a relatively low stakes
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  scenario, like are you being honest or not
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  with your boss about the fact that you
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  haven't started a project?
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  That requires a certain measure of courage.
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  But what about a higher stakes scenario, like
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  where you might lose your job?
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  Let me tell the story of an acquaintance
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  of mine.
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  He was working at a genetic information company,
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  so a company that collects people's genetic information.
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  You know, there's a variety of these out
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  there right now.
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  And he was looking at the kind of
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  the confidentiality agreements that go with sharing the
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  genetic information.
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  And he was looking at the business model
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  and things just weren't adding up.
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  And so he went to his boss and
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  he said, is this what I think it
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  is?
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  Like, does it look like we're going to
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  monetize selling people's genetic information, even though we
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  haven't told anybody about that?
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  And his boss kind of like was like,
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  you know, don't worry about it.
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  He ended up going to a more senior
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  group of leaders about it and was basically
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  forced out of the company because he was
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  right.
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  Like the actual plan, even though this was
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  not how they were marketing themselves, was to
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  sell people's genetic information to third parties and
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  to make money that way.
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  OK, so so for him, pressing into that
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  question cost him his job.
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  Wow.
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  He could have when his boss said, don't
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  worry about it, just said, OK, he could
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  have said, I'm not going to worry about
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  that.
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  I'm not going to put my nose where
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  it doesn't belong.
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  But he had this this sense of conscience
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  of, no, if I'm going to be working
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  for this company, I need to know how
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  we're making money.
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  I need to know what what the real
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  end game is here.
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  And that was that was a higher stakes
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  decision for him because it meant sacrificing what
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  was a well-paying job for him.
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  I'm really inspired by that example of courage.
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  And it brings to mind for me an
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  example from the Bible, too, which is an
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  example from the book of Esther.
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  So I want to go to Timothy Keller's
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  book, Every Good Endeavor.
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  We've quoted from this book a lot in
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  this series, but he goes to the story
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  of Esther in what I think is a
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  really helpful way.
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  And he specifically talks about how this servant
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  dynamic is in the mix there with courageous
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  decisions.
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  So this is from Timothy Keller, his summary
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  of the Esther story.
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  At the beginning of the fourth chapter of
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  the book of Esther, the start of act
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  two, in a sense, we learn that Haman,
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  a high official, has convinced the king that
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  the Jews are a danger to the empire
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  and has secured a royal decree that on
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  a future date, neighbors of Jewish families throughout
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  the realm will be free to kill them
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  and plunder their wealth.
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  Esther's relative Mordecai, a Jewish leader, contacts Esther
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  and tells her she must use her place
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  in the palace to avert this danger.
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  This is a huge request.
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  Here, a believer in God whose place of
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  power in the public sphere is tenuous is
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  being called to use her personal and cultural
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  capital to bring about a more just social
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  order.
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  Who knows, Mordecai says to her, but that
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  you have come to your royal position for
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  such a time as this.
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  OK, so pausing there, if you need a
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  refresher on the Esther story, Esther is Jewish,
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  but she's become Queen Esther in this pagan
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  court of King Artaxerxes.
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  And this is the context in which this
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  king has authorized the destruction of the Jews.
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  Meanwhile, he doesn't know that Esther is Jewish.
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  That's a secret.
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  So she's in this incredibly high stakes situation.
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  On the one hand, she could advocate for
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  her people to choose.
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  On the other hand, by doing so, she
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  would expose herself to this threat.
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  Her very life could be in danger here.
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  And yet her counselor, her confidant, her friend,
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  her relative Mordecai is saying, who knows, but
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  that you have come to your royal position
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  for such a time as this.
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  Implicitly, maybe God is at work here.
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  OK, let's continue on with Timothy Keller.
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  Don't be too quick to miss the connection
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  between Esther and us.
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  I remember some years ago hearing a Hispanic
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  pastor preaching on the book of Esther.
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  Many of his older church members had been
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  immigrants and had little money or clout.
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  But many of the younger generation had gone
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  to college and had become professionals.
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  The preacher told them that even though they
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  didn't see it, they were in the palace.
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  They had more financial and cultural capital than
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  they realized.
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  And he said in no uncertain terms, many
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  of them were using that capital to feather
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  their own nests and move ahead in their
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  own careers rather than leveraging it for others.
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  He reminded them that there were poorer people
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  across the city who needed their connections and
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  talents.
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  He said that inside their circles of influence
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  and fields of work, there was corruption that
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  needed their attention.
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  He admitted that if his listeners conducted themselves
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  in that way, they might make less money
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  or move up the ladder slower or run
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  into conflict that could hurt their careers.
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  But that doesn't matter, he said.
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  Don't just get into the palace and bend
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  every rule you can to stay there.
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  Serve.
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  You have come to your royal position for
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  such a time as this.
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  Isn't that isn't that powerful?
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  What what Tim Keller is saying, inciting this
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  this unnamed Hispanic pastor, what the preacher was
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  saying is that we are all like Esther
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  in our workplaces.
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  If we're in workplaces where we have some
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  level of wealth, some level of influence, we
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  have power just like Esther had power.
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  And yet like Esther, we have this choice.
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  How are we going to use that power?
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  Are we going to stay quiet even when
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  other people are in danger and we could
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  advocate for them?
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  Or are we going to take the risk
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  of speaking out and advocating for others?
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  Are we going to use our influence such
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  as it is to serve?
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  So you see how adopting a servant mindset
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  requires courage.
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  It requires courage to make sacrifices.
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  And of course, that's exactly what we saw
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  in Philippians two.
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  Jesus took on the very nature of a
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  servant.
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  But then he also went to his death
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  on the cross.
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  Jesus had the courage to face death.
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  OK, so this could be a little abstract.
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  Let's let's take some time to think about
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  what this could look like in your work
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  situation.
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  Again, one obvious case would be if there's
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  something nefarious going on at your workplace.
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  That was the Esther situation.
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  That was the situation with my friend where
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  you realize there's some sort of injustice that's
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  baked into what's being done right here.
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  Is that true in your workplace and can
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  you confront it in some way?
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  If so, that will probably take courage.
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  And yet it will probably be of service
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  to whoever is on the short end of
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  the stick of that injustice.
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  So that's one way to think about your
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  work as service is to be willing to
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  confront corruption where it exists.
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  OK, but it may not always be that
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  clear cut, right?
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  Like we might be working for workplaces where
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  there are injustices and the bigger systems they're
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  connected to.
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  But there's not like some concrete nefarious thing
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  for us to confront with our bosses or
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  our managers.
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  And so what about those lower stakes situations?
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  Because I think we're going to run into
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  those more often.
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  Well, what I want to point out is
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  that it's actually the same pattern, right?
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  The honesty that it takes to say, hey,
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  that's unjust is in a smaller way.
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  It's the same honesty that it takes to
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  say, hey, I haven't even started this project
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  yet, right?
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  Because what's the attitude of service?
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  Why is your boss asking you about the
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  status of the project?
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  Because the boss cares about whether the project
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  is going to get done on time, right?
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  The boss cares about the mission of the
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  organization, hopefully.
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  And so the boss is inquiring about the
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  status of the project.
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  So what is the most servant hearted thing
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  you can do when your boss asks you
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  about the status of a project?
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  It's to be honest about the status of
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  the project, even if it puts you in
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  a bad light.
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  You see how it's still the servant attitude
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  requires courage, even in relatively low stakes situations.
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  And so I want to comment here just
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  about the nature of courage, right?
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  This is not original to me.
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  Many people have said it, but we don't
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  want to confuse courage with fearlessness.
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  Sometimes people think that, oh, if I feel
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  scared, I'm not being courageous.
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  Whereas really, courage is being willing to do
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  the right thing, even when you feel scared
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  about it.
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  You're going to feel the stakes, whatever the
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  stakes are.
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  That's just a normal human response.
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  Like you're going to realize I might get
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  embarrassed in front of my boss.
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  I might look as irresponsible as I truly
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  am if I'm honest about this or in
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  the higher stakes situation.
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  Wow.
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  I might put my job at risk.
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  Like Esther, I might put my life at
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  risk, depending on what the courageous action that's
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  asked of you is.
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  And yet, as we have that feeling, we
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  can draw on God's grace to give us
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  the courage we need to do the right
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  thing anyways.
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  OK, now another piece that I want to
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  put in here is the idea of self
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  -deception.
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  We sometimes don't even recognize when we're trying
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  to get ahead rather than asking, how can
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  I help?
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  Right?
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  We're asking the question, how can I get
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  ahead subconsciously?
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  We're framing our image to other people automatically
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  without even realizing that that's what we're doing.
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  So sometimes it's not even as obvious as
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  lying about the status of a project.
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  It can be more subtle things.
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  And so how can we how can we
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  welcome God's grace to act courageously and honestly
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  and as servants in those places of our
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  soul that we're not even aware of?
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  Well, this is where the the discipline of
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  self-examination can be so helpful.
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  And we've talked about different practices that can
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  help with this.
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  I want to turn to a book from
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  an Anglican writer, Arthur Bennett, but inspired by
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  the work of the Puritans.
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  This is called The Valley of Vision.
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  If you've been listening to the podcast for
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  a long time, we cited this way back
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  in the series about sharing your faith at
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  work.
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  Gentle Witnesses, there it is.
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  We cited this book in the Gentle Witnesses
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  series.
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  So it's a collection of prayers.
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  And he has this prayer called Self-Knowledge.
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  Just going to read a couple of lines
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  from it.
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  It is a good day to me when
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  thou givest me a glimpse of myself.
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  Sin is my greatest evil, but thou art
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  my greatest good.
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  And skipping ahead, show me how to know
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  when a thing is evil, which I think
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  is right and good.
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  How to know when what is lawful comes
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  from an evil principle such as desire for
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  reputation or wealth by usury.
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  OK, usury, there is an old fashioned term
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  for extending a loan at interest in an
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  unjust way.
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  So basically, you know, ill-gotten wealth, greed
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  that steps on other people.
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  But you catch that prayer.
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  Show me how to know when a thing
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  is evil, which I think is right and
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  good.
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  How to know when what is lawful comes
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  from an evil principle.
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  So if I could paraphrase this, it's saying,
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  show me how to know when I think
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  that the wrong thing is the right thing.
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  But then one step further, show me how
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  to know when I'm doing the right thing
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  for the wrong reason.
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  Because a lot of these things that we
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  do to serve ourselves instead of serving others
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  to get ahead are good, right things.
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  It's performing our jobs.
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  It's getting the work done.
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  And so we need to be willing to
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  pray that prayer.
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  Show me how to know when what is
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  lawful comes from an evil principle, such as
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  a desire for reputation or wealth.
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  Show me how to know when I'm doing
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  the right thing for the wrong reasons.
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  So the practice of self-examination can be
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  as simple as praying a prayer like that.
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  Maybe at the end of your workday or
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  even at some point during your week, not
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  even every day, asking God, God, show me
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  when I did the right thing for the
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  wrong reason this week.
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  The Holy Spirit will speak to you.
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  Holy Spirit will help you begin to identify
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  those expressions of the false self that you're
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  indulging, help you to repent of them, help
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  you to become more honest, more courageous, more
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  servant hearted, not just for the small stakes
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  of today, but for the higher stakes whenever
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  they may come.
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  Lord Jesus, thank you that you went to
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  the cross, that you have experienced the highest
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  stakes there are, and you chose to do
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  what was right, to have courage, to serve,
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  to serve us.
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  So inspire us with your Holy Spirit to
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  do the same, even in small everyday ways
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  so that we can be ready for those
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  moments like Esther when you've prepared us for
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  such a time as this.
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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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  Amen.
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  Thanks for listening.
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  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 16:05
  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
• 16:08
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
• 16:11
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