Faith and Business

Rich Karlgaard, publisher for Forbes Magazine wrote an article in the April 23, 2007 edition of Forbes titled Godly Work in which he asks why so many people of faith have an improper perspective about business and the pursuit of excellence in the business world. His article is nothing short of an outstanding essay on this issue that continues to plague the faith based community in many circles.

My father, being a minister for over 30 years, has addressed this issue as well.  He has a positive world view of business and the positive effects it can have on communities. He is a vocal supporter that everyone should work hard, achieve excellence in their field of study, and then use that as a platform to make a difference in the world. After all this is the biblical mandate. We are commanded to pursue excellence in all we do and to make a difference in the world by our efforts. Having come across many segments of society that still have a negative view of wealth and the accumulation thereof he was led to write a book about it.

His book titled, The Biblical Perspective of Wealth looks at this issue from a faith based perspective and shows all the examples from the Bible that support wealth creation how it should be used for good in the world. It is very ironic that Rich is such a strong supporter of this topic. This has been a very passionate argument my father has had for quite some time. I have posted Rich's article below. For those of you who do not already do so I highly encourage you to follow commentary from Rich Karlgaard.

Godly Work by Rich Karlgaard, Publisher Forbes Magazine (April 23, 2007)

"Work is about the creation of value." this is a nice quote. If pressed, you might guess it was a pet phrase of Peter Drucker or Jim Collins or some other famous business guru. But it was popularized by Dallas Willard, a philosophy professor. Willard taught at the University of Wisconsin and later ran the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California during the early 1980s. He is on sabbatical now and spends most of his time writing and occasionally lecturing on a vexing subject: How should people who call themselves Christians conduct their lives in the secular world? This is a good question and a very serious matter for people of any faith.

Most pastors, priests, rabbis and imams who speak about faith and work make a terrible hash of it. Listening to them is like hearing a eunuch lecture on sex: He may have studied the topic but really knows little about the mechanics. Worse, I have run into countless clergy across all faiths who actually despise business. They think businesspeople--with all their buying, selling and profiting--have ineluctably compromised their souls, if they haven't yet sold them to the Devil. A religious leader's snipes are familiar to anyone who has spent time in a church, synagogue or mosque: Businesses exploit the weak. They are driven by greed. Their advertisements inflame our baser instincts, such as pride, lust, envy and greed.

This is the same kind of crankiness you might hear from a liberal arts professor who also hates business. But while it's easy to laugh at a Marxist-spouting professor, it's painful for a God believer to dismiss his trusted godly adviser as a crank. It feels almost blasphemous. So we don't argue the point when we should.

Not long ago I heard a surprisingly good sermon, called "Jesus and Your Job," given by Nancy Ortberg of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, Calif. (For non-Christian readers, just substitute the name Jesus with that of your preferred Higher Power and proceed.)

"No matter what your job is," Ortberg said, "you have an opportunity to live that out every day. Work gives you an opportunity to make a meaningful and significant contribution to the world. Unlike being in church, work gives you an opportunity to live out what it means when Jesus says, 'You are salt, and you are light.'"

Ortberg's connection between faith and work is similar to what James Madison had to say about government in the Federalist papers. Madison wrote: "What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Similarly, commerce, in Madison's eyes, led to civic, or republican, virtue. Shopkeepers had to act fairly and civilly to attract customers. In her sermon Nancy Ortberg said, "In organizations, I love how people, when they're well led, not only accomplish great things but become better people in the process. I believe that's the kind of redemption that is available in our work. God gave work to Adam and Eve before the Fall. Work is not the result of sin. It is another way in which you and I can work out the image of God that resides in us."

"His Name is Carlos"

 As a FORBES reader, the odds are you have a great job. You manage or influence lots of people. Herein lies a problem facing every manager. Not all employees like their jobs. How do you lead them?

Ortberg spoke of how her mentor, Max De Pree, former CEO of Herman Miller (nasdaq: MLHR - news - people ), engaged his workers. "Max had a rule for his leadership team. Every Wednesday they were to bring a brown-bag lunch and go down to the factory floor, where the furniture was being made, to eat. They were to sit and listen for an hour to get to know the names of the workers on the floor and to learn about the obstacles workers were facing as they did their jobs, as well as to hear about the ideas they had for future designs."

Ortberg herself was at one time an emergency room nurse. One night she witnessed an astonishing leadership act: "It was about 10:30 p.m. The room was a mess. I was finishing up some work on the chart before going home. The doctor with whom I loved working was debriefing a new doctor, who had done a very respectable, competent job, telling him what he'd done well and what he could have done differently.

"Then he put his hand on the young doctor's shoulder and said, 'When you finished, did you notice the young man from housekeeping who came in to clean the room?' There was a completely blank look on the young doctor's face.

"The older doctor said, 'His name is Carlos. He's been here for three years. He does a fabulous job. When he comes in he gets the room turned around so fast that you and I can get our next patients in quickly. His wife's name is Maria. They have four children.' Then he named each of the four children and gave each child's age.

"The older doctor went on to say, 'He lives in a rented house about three blocks from here, in Santa Ana. They've been up from Mexico for about five years. His name is Carlos,' he repeated. Then he said, 'Next week I would like you to tell me something about Carlos that I don't already know. Okay? Now, let's go check on the rest of the patients.'"

Ortberg recalls: "I remember standing there writing my nursing notes--stunned--and thinking, I have just witnessed breathtaking leadership."

Go out and commit breathtaking leadership yourself.  If you have questions, contact me at RobertDickieIII or via e-mail at [email protected]

Comments

[Bob]

Daniel,

You pose some insightful questions that many people have pondered. One thing to remember is the Bible says the "Love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." Notice it does not say money is evil. The key is to have proper balence in everything we do in life. You sound like you want to make a difference in the world, to help others, etc. I commend you for that. No matter what your financial means or background anyone can make a difference in the world. Those with greater means have greater responsibility and if used properly can make a greater difference in the world. Look at what Bill Gates has been able to do with all his charitable foundations to aid those in need. Remember some of the greatest hero's of the Bible where men of great wealth. With that wealth they were expected to do good. There is always the temptation to get side tracked but no matter what your financial situation you will have temptation. You can't hide from it. The key is to be content with what you have been blessed with and to always work hard to make a difference in the world. If you keep a biblical perspective on things and strive to honor God in all that you do I believe you will find that just like the parable of the talents that you will be blessed with greater means to help those around you. Just remember that with great blessing comes great responsibility but the Bible says that the Lord will never give you more than you can handle.

Great question.

[Daniel]

Regarding faith and business,
I've listened to one of your CDs on Christian thinking and making money. I agree with many of your thoughts and ideas and I'd like to hear more of your thoughts and opinions.

Will my dreams of helping others and staying home with my kids somehow help me fight against the temptation of loving money?
How will I recognize the difference between ambition and greed?

As the CEO of a huge organization, do you face different temptations than before? Does money and choices enable the principalities to assault you any differently or with more zeal than before?

I still struggle with the question, how do we avoid loving money, while fighting for our goals and dreams of becoming financially free and beyond that. The verse below brings more questions than anwsers. I feel like it would be better that I stay poor and learn to be content than to fight the unknown temptations of money, choices, and power, sort of the whole "better to cut off your hand" philosophy.

I suspect that the long hard road to one's God-given dreams allows and enables us to fight back with renewed confidence and self-control, but I want to know and understand it from your perspective or from anyone's perspective that has acheived wealth.

Thank you very much for standing up for what you believe and may God bless you.
Daniel

1 Timothy 6:6-10 NIV "6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."