Latest / Finding God at Work / Episode 4: Power

Transcript

Episode 4: Power · Finding God at Work

• 0:06
  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
• 0:07
  This is Finding God at Work.
• 0:13
  We're continuing our series, Imagining Work, and we've
• 0:17
  gotten to story number four of four about
• 0:20
  work, because we've been asking this question, what
• 0:22
  story about work am I living in?
• 0:25
  And today we're going to talk about power,
• 0:27
  the power story about work.
• 0:30
  And then starting with our next episode, we're
• 0:31
  going to pivot and start looking at what
• 0:33
  are those images from scripture that can provide
• 0:35
  us better reference points than these stories for
• 0:38
  our imagination about work.
• 0:41
  But first we got to talk about power.
• 0:46
  So in the power story about work, the
• 0:49
  icon, the figure that our mind goes toward
• 0:52
  is the hard driving corporate CEO.
• 0:54
  And so I've got a quote from a
• 0:56
  CEO.
• 0:57
  His name is Tim Allen.
• 0:58
  He's a CEO of Care.com and just
• 1:01
  for a few of you who might be
• 1:03
  thinking of a different Tim Allen, who was
• 1:04
  an actor on a show called Home Improvement
• 1:06
  a few decades ago.
• 1:07
  Not same guy, just the same name, but
• 1:09
  Tim Allen, he's the head of this company
• 1:11
  that's about helping families find care.
• 1:14
  It's a family oriented company.
• 1:16
  But he himself, in doing that work, felt
• 1:19
  this profound conflict between his own family life
• 1:22
  and his work responsibilities.
• 1:25
  Tim says, the day my twin sons were
• 1:27
  born was the happiest of my life.
• 1:30
  There's one thing I regret, though.
• 1:31
  The conference call I was wrapping up with
• 1:33
  my executive team as I raced through the
• 1:35
  hospital doors.
• 1:37
  I wish I could take that call back.
• 1:39
  But as a CEO, I felt an external
• 1:41
  responsibility to be available no matter what.
• 1:45
  That's from an article Tim shared in a
• 1:48
  Harvard Business Review back in 2020.
• 1:51
  And I just really actually identify with Tim's
• 1:55
  honesty and vulnerability here, where he's rushing into
• 1:59
  a really important family moment, but he just
• 2:00
  can't hang up the phone.
• 2:02
  Because I have been there, just that sense
• 2:04
  of, I know I should be present to
• 2:06
  this moment, but I've got to finish this
• 2:08
  task.
• 2:08
  I've got to get one more email out
• 2:11
  the door, but I can't hang up the
• 2:13
  phone.
• 2:14
  And I don't know if that connects with
• 2:15
  you.
• 2:15
  But in the power story about work, it's
• 2:18
  like we can't say no to work.
• 2:21
  We've struck a deal with work and we're
• 2:22
  so anxious to adhere to our side of
• 2:25
  the contract that we're willing to make sacrifices
• 2:28
  that really we shouldn't in order to keep
• 2:30
  the deal in place because we so value
• 2:33
  what work gives us.
• 2:36
  And so the question is, what is it
• 2:38
  that work gives us?
• 2:39
  What is it that we're so desperate to
• 2:40
  latch onto and to feel like is there
• 2:44
  for us?
• 2:46
  Well, there's a lot of different things that
• 2:47
  could fall into this category.
• 2:49
  But I would say that one word that
• 2:51
  captures it is security.
• 2:54
  We feel secure in some way when our
• 2:58
  work is in a good place.
• 3:00
  And that's why we keep giving more and
• 3:01
  more and more to work because we want
• 3:03
  the security that work is going to give
• 3:05
  us.
• 3:05
  We don't want to feel threatened.
• 3:07
  We don't want to feel fragile.
• 3:09
  We don't want to feel vulnerable.
• 3:11
  We want to feel secure.
• 3:12
  We want to feel safe, steady, have things
• 3:14
  locked down.
• 3:15
  And so work is what gives us that
• 3:17
  security.
• 3:19
  And we can see this lived out in
• 3:21
  different dimensions, in different career paths that people
• 3:24
  may choose.
• 3:26
  A thought leader about work in general from
• 3:29
  a Christian worldview perspective is the scholar Lee
• 3:32
  Hardy.
• 3:33
  And in his book, The Fabric of This
• 3:34
  World, he talks about this exact dynamic.
• 3:38
  He talks about how we might first assume
• 3:39
  that people who are really dedicated to their
• 3:41
  work are motivated by greed.
• 3:43
  And that is a possibility.
• 3:46
  But he says this.
• 3:47
  He says, while the desire for more may
• 3:50
  motivate many to invest a disproportionate amount of
• 3:53
  time in their work, there is often something
• 3:55
  else at stake for the bona fide workaholic.
• 3:59
  In his portrayal of what life is really
• 4:01
  like in the high profile professions, Glenn Kaplan
• 4:03
  notes that for many of us, getting rich
• 4:06
  is not enough.
• 4:07
  We want to get rich in the most
• 4:08
  spectacular and comprehensive way.
• 4:10
  Our labors must bring us not just money,
• 4:12
  but also power, prestige and fulfillment.
• 4:17
  Lee Hardy continues, many of those passionately devoted
• 4:20
  to their careers are not just out to
• 4:23
  get rich.
• 4:24
  They have, it seems, an insatiable need for
• 4:27
  challenge, accomplishment and public recognition.
• 4:31
  It is not so much the God of
• 4:32
  gain they serve as the God of glory,
• 4:35
  and they are willing to render their lives
• 4:37
  a living sacrifice on the altar of their
• 4:39
  chosen profession.
• 4:41
  So their God may grant what they so
• 4:43
  desperately desire.
• 4:46
  OK, that's that's an intense image, isn't it?
• 4:49
  Seeing this altar in front of you and
• 4:51
  you're making a sacrifice to the God of
• 4:54
  work.
• 4:55
  Right.
• 4:56
  And he says this is the God of
• 4:57
  glory.
• 4:58
  You're seeking a certain kind of prestige, a
• 5:00
  certain kind of fame.
• 5:01
  There's some overlap here with the do what
• 5:04
  you love story that we talked about earlier.
• 5:06
  But I think also these things are a
• 5:08
  form of security, even if it's psychological security.
• 5:12
  It's I'm going to have a certain kind
• 5:13
  of reputation and I just wouldn't feel safe.
• 5:16
  I wouldn't feel right if I didn't have
• 5:18
  that kind of reputation.
• 5:19
  I'm going to have a certain kind of
• 5:21
  lifestyle.
• 5:22
  And oh, my goodness, I would feel so
• 5:23
  threatened if I didn't have that kind of
• 5:25
  lifestyle.
• 5:26
  And so people want security and they're willing
• 5:29
  to do anything.
• 5:30
  They're willing to sacrifice anything on this altar
• 5:32
  to the God of work because of that.
• 5:36
  So when we view work as security, when
• 5:39
  that's the story we're living inside of, how
• 5:41
  do we live it out?
• 5:42
  Well, I would say a good word is
• 5:44
  that we slave for work.
• 5:47
  We talked about literal slaves, people who were
• 5:49
  enslaved in the first century when we looked
• 5:51
  at the lifestyle story about work.
• 5:54
  But we can have a spiritual slavery to
• 5:57
  our work when we live inside the power
• 5:59
  narrative.
• 5:59
  We can't say no to work.
• 6:02
  So work bosses us around.
• 6:04
  And sometimes it's the most successful people who
• 6:07
  are the most in bondage to their work.
• 6:10
  But while we can kind of look at
• 6:12
  these high profile professions or iconic people and
• 6:16
  figures like corporate CEOs, the power story about
• 6:19
  work is also relevant way down the corporate
• 6:21
  ladder and much humbler and less impressive jobs.
• 6:24
  And I just want to share a story
• 6:25
  from my own life in the first full
• 6:27
  time job I had out of college, not
• 6:29
  a super high power job.
• 6:31
  I was working at my church.
• 6:32
  I was coordinating volunteer teams on Sunday morning.
• 6:36
  And yet the power story was really at
• 6:39
  work for me in that moment in my
• 6:41
  life.
• 6:42
  One of the volunteer roles that I helped
• 6:44
  coordinate was an emergency response team member.
• 6:47
  So we had a large enough congregation that
• 6:48
  we had a dedicated volunteer to be in
• 6:50
  the sanctuary should a medical emergency arise and
• 6:52
  they would go to the person if something
• 6:54
  was going on, make the decision to call
• 6:56
  911 if needed, administer first aid for less
• 6:59
  serious things and so on.
• 7:02
  And my work week ran Sunday through Thursday.
• 7:04
  So my goal each week was to have
• 7:06
  all of the critical spots for Sunday filled
• 7:08
  by Thursday.
• 7:09
  I would know the person who was going
• 7:11
  to fill it.
• 7:11
  They'd have an email with their call time.
• 7:14
  I'd have their cell phone number.
• 7:15
  All the pieces were all in place so
• 7:18
  that I would be able to go enjoy
• 7:20
  my Friday, Saturday weekend without worrying about work.
• 7:24
  And for me, that plan, that all the
• 7:27
  ducks are in a row plan being set
• 7:28
  on Thursday was part of my deal with
• 7:31
  work.
• 7:31
  It was part of security.
• 7:33
  It was part of that sense of I'm
• 7:35
  going to get what I want out of
• 7:36
  this deal and so I have to make
• 7:38
  sure this happens.
• 7:40
  And it happened to be Cinco de Mayo
• 7:42
  and my wife Katie and I had been
• 7:44
  invited to a Cinco de Mayo party with
• 7:46
  friends and she had made this delicious bowl
• 7:48
  of guacamole and I was carrying a bag
• 7:50
  of tortilla chips and we were about to
• 7:53
  walk out the door when I get a
• 7:55
  text.
• 7:56
  And I checked the text and it's the
• 7:57
  team member for the emergency response team position
• 8:00
  for Sunday.
• 8:00
  They've canceled.
• 8:01
  They said, I can't make it this Sunday.
• 8:04
  And without even thinking, I'm immediately texting the
• 8:06
  next alternate person opening a spreadsheet on my
• 8:09
  laptop, trying to figure out, okay, how do
• 8:11
  we make sure this roll is filled?
• 8:12
  While Katie's holding the bowl of guac by
• 8:14
  the front door and she's like, what are
• 8:16
  you doing?
• 8:17
  We're going to this party, right?
• 8:18
  It's like, what's the deal?
• 8:20
  And I'm just like, I have to do
• 8:21
  this, right?
• 8:22
  And she's like, do you have to do
• 8:23
  it right now?
• 8:23
  And I'm like, yes.
• 8:24
  She's like, why?
• 8:25
  And I'm like, it's a life or death
• 8:27
  situation.
• 8:28
  It's the emergency response team member.
• 8:32
  And now I can just laugh at my
• 8:34
  response.
• 8:35
  It's obviously not a life or death situation,
• 8:37
  but I was looking for some sort of
• 8:39
  excuse, some sort of compelling reason to justify
• 8:43
  the way I was slaving at work.
• 8:45
  The fact that I couldn't say no to
• 8:46
  work long enough even to go to the
• 8:48
  Cinco de Mayo party.
• 8:50
  I had to have the ducks in a
• 8:51
  row.
• 8:51
  I had to have things under control.
• 8:53
  I had to have things locked down to
• 8:55
  feel that security.
• 8:58
  And all of us do this in different
• 9:00
  ways when we live inside the power story.
• 9:02
  There's something that we feel like if it's
• 9:04
  not right, we just have to make it
• 9:07
  right.
• 9:08
  No matter what else we have to sacrifice
• 9:10
  in order to get that feeling of, okay,
• 9:14
  I'm going to be okay.
• 9:16
  But the problem is work can just ratchet
• 9:18
  that expectation up and up and up to
• 9:20
  the extent that it's very hard to protect
• 9:22
  anything in our lives.
• 9:24
  And one thing we've been looking at in
• 9:27
  this series so far is what do each
• 9:30
  of these stories cut us off from?
• 9:32
  What do they alienate us from?
• 9:34
  And I would say that in the power
• 9:35
  story, we're alienated from the rest of life.
• 9:40
  Everything besides work.
• 9:42
  But intentional double meaning to that phrase, we're
• 9:44
  also alienated from the rest of life.
• 9:47
  The ability to rest, the ability to take
• 9:49
  Sabbath, the ability to say no to work
• 9:52
  even for a short period of time.
• 9:56
  And so how do we step out of
• 9:57
  this?
• 9:58
  If we're stuck inside of the power story,
• 10:00
  how do we break out?
• 10:01
  How do we find something different?
• 10:02
  Well, obviously it's Jesus who leads the way.
• 10:05
  And the heart issue for us is we
• 10:08
  do have a need for security.
• 10:10
  We do have a need to know that
• 10:11
  we'll be taken care of.
• 10:13
  We do have a need to know that
• 10:14
  things are not just going to totally fall
• 10:16
  apart on us.
• 10:17
  And Jesus speaks to that need of ours
• 10:19
  very specifically.
• 10:20
  And he relates it to the subject of
• 10:22
  work in his teaching in the Sermon on
• 10:24
  the Mount.
• 10:25
  So this is chapters five, six, and seven
• 10:27
  of Matthew, kind of the core of Jesus's
• 10:29
  main teaching as it's presented in summary form
• 10:32
  in the gospel of Matthew.
• 10:34
  And there's this beautiful passage about anxiety and
• 10:36
  worry that you've probably heard before.
• 10:38
  You might not have thought about that passage
• 10:40
  in terms of the implications about work though.
• 10:42
  It's gonna read some verses from it.
• 10:44
  This is from chapter six, starting in verse
• 10:46
  25.
• 11:10
  Jesus says, Okay, so what's Jesus doing here?
• 11:20
  Well, it's really interesting.
• 11:21
  He's saying we're tempted to worry and we're
• 11:23
  tempted to worry about really basic things.
• 11:25
  Like, are we gonna eat?
• 11:26
  Are we gonna drink?
• 11:27
  I would think of these as security type
• 11:29
  things.
• 11:29
  We even use that word food insecurity in
• 11:32
  our context.
• 11:33
  If you don't know where your food is
• 11:34
  going to come from, you're food insecure.
• 11:37
  Whereas if you do know where your food
• 11:38
  is going to come from, you have security.
• 11:41
  And so these basic needs are security needs
• 11:44
  for us.
• 11:45
  But Jesus says, look at the birds of
• 11:47
  the air.
• 11:49
  What does he say about the birds of
• 11:50
  the air?
• 11:50
  He says, they do not sow or reap
• 11:52
  or store away in barns.
• 11:55
  Birds don't work.
• 11:57
  Okay, now, you know, bird scientist, I'm lacking
• 12:03
  the appropriate phrase for a bird scientist.
• 12:05
  I'm sure somebody can correct me and tell
• 12:07
  me what a bird scientist is called.
• 12:10
  But you know, somebody like Audubon, they might
• 12:11
  observe birds in the wild and say like,
• 12:13
  you know, Jesus, birds actually do work.
• 12:15
  They just work in a bird-like way
• 12:16
  and not a human-like way.
• 12:18
  But Jesus is using a rhetorical image to
• 12:19
  make a point, right?
• 12:21
  And he's saying, these birds, they're not sowing
• 12:24
  seeds.
• 12:24
  They're not growing crops.
• 12:25
  They're not building barns, right?
• 12:27
  They have to just receive their food as
• 12:29
  a gift from God every day.
• 12:32
  But Jesus says, they do receive their food
• 12:33
  as a gift from God every day.
• 12:36
  And then he says, are you not much
• 12:37
  more valuable than these birds?
• 12:40
  Is your heavenly father not gonna take care
• 12:42
  of you if he takes care of these
• 12:43
  birds?
• 12:45
  Jesus' teaching is all about the character of
• 12:47
  the father.
• 12:48
  It's that God is our provider.
• 12:51
  God is going to take care of us.
• 12:53
  God is going to see to it that
• 12:54
  we have what we need.
• 12:56
  We have the security that we so desperately
• 12:59
  want in God's care for us.
• 13:03
  And that's not dependent upon how well we
• 13:06
  work.
• 13:08
  Now, that might be a head-scratcher for
• 13:10
  you because you're like, well, hold on.
• 13:11
  It's not like I can just quit my
• 13:12
  job.
• 13:13
  And then suddenly, magically, I'm still gonna have
• 13:15
  everything I need because I'm not gonna have
• 13:17
  a paycheck anymore.
• 13:20
  And that's actually a really fair observation.
• 13:23
  But we have to let the words of
• 13:25
  Jesus challenge us here.
• 13:26
  Jesus is saying, your heavenly father's care for
• 13:29
  you goes beyond your ability to work.
• 13:33
  And sometimes this is proved true when somebody
• 13:35
  is unable to work or they're forced to
• 13:37
  quit their job and they have to depend
• 13:39
  on God in a different way.
• 13:41
  But it's also true for us even when
• 13:43
  we do work.
• 13:44
  God designed for us to work and to
• 13:46
  participate in how he provides for our needs.
• 13:48
  That's a good thing.
• 13:49
  It's a good thing that you can work
• 13:50
  and get a paycheck and go to the
• 13:51
  grocery store and pay your rent or your
• 13:53
  mortgage.
• 13:54
  That's not a flaw in the system.
• 13:57
  It's not a bug, it's a feature.
• 13:59
  At the same time, it's a difference of
• 14:02
  where is your heart?
• 14:03
  If your heart is on yourself, on your
• 14:06
  work, on this is what's gonna give me
• 14:07
  security and this is what's gonna provide for
• 14:09
  me, then you're stuck inside the power story.
• 14:12
  But if your heart is trusting in God
• 14:14
  and saying, God is gonna give me what
• 14:16
  I need, even if the way he gives
• 14:18
  me what I need is by giving me
• 14:19
  the energy and the wherewithal to go work
• 14:20
  and get a paycheck, that's great.
• 14:22
  But regardless, even if that doesn't prove true
• 14:25
  all the time, God is going to give
• 14:27
  me what I need because he's a good
• 14:30
  father.
• 14:32
  And when we have that heart attitude, that
• 14:34
  heart confidence in God's character and his love
• 14:36
  for us as a father, then as Jesus
• 14:38
  teaches, our anxiety begins to melt away.
• 14:42
  But also our relationship with work changes.
• 14:45
  We don't have to slave for work anymore.
• 14:48
  We can set boundaries with work.
• 14:50
  We can say no to work.
• 14:52
  We can say yes to the rest of
• 14:53
  life because we're resting in our father's care.
• 15:00
  Lord Jesus, show us how to rest in
• 15:03
  our father's care.
• 15:05
  Do your work in us and let us
• 15:07
  do our work with you.
• 15:14
  Thanks for listening.
• 15:15
  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 15:17
  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
• 15:20
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
• 15:22
  life.
• 15:23
  You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
• 15:25
  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
• 15:27
  of teaching on faith and work every Tuesday
• 15:29
  and Thursday.
• 15:30
  To get resources to go deeper with each
• 15:32
  podcast series, read our blog, and get info
• 15:35
  about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace,
• 15:37
  go to our website, missioncentral.church.