Can't Get No Satisfaction? Answers To Job Fulfillment

Editor's Note: Steve Lindsey is director of the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles. CFWLA recently hosted its 2018 conference: God@Work (See photo of panelists during one of the sessions below). For more information about future events and classes: faithandworkLA.com.Piggybacking on a thoughtful blog recently posted by Hugh Whelchel titled Can Work be Truly Meaningful?, I’d like to explore how people seek satisfaction in their Jobs. There are apparently only 19 percent of the adult workforce that claim that they are extremely satisfied by their work (Barna Group research in 2014).

By STEVE LINDSEY

I’ve noticed that today there are many approaches being offered by businesses for those seeking to find deeper fulfillment and satisfaction in whatever their “work” might be. With so many options available, why is it that deep satisfaction is still so illusory?In their very helpful book, Business for the Common Good, Kenman Wong and Scott Rae survey this range of options which people in business pursue to further the notion that their business provides a “social good.” The contribution of this social good is also designed to help them give the leaders, employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders in the business a reason to feel a stronger sense of purpose and meaning in their work.The Bible gives many examples of private business owners being encouraged to serve public needs from their work, not the least of which were the Old Testament “gleaning” principles required of farmers to leave some of their field’s harvest for the poor and needy (ref. Leviticus 19:9-10).

Models for Responsible Businesses

Historically, Rae and Wong point to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) where businesses defined their responsibilities in terms of either “doing no harm” to their stakeholders or communities in their regular course of business, or they added a charitable giving component. We often referred to as “community give-back” during my career in large aero-space companies. Expanded versions of this seek to incorporate “multiple bottom lines” to make their company objectives more comprehensive and explicitly more socially responsible.For example, McDonald’s large market to children led to their development and sponsorship of Ronald McDonald houses near hospitals to care for the families of children with serious illnesses. They also began to shift their product offerings to more healthy versions due to internal and external pressure to lessen the burden of childhood obesity from the influence of unhealthy fast food.

Multiple Bottom Lines

Multiple-bottom lines has expanded to concerns such as the effect of business on the environment, the working conditions of out-sourced manufacturing, and inclusion and promotion of neglected or marginalized groups of people within the company itself. These concerns have fostered the growth of many newer business models which Wong and Rae highlight. The BOP (Bottom or Base of the Pyramid) movement among larger corporations promotes selling to poorer customers through “culturally sensitive, environmentally sustainable, and economically profitable ways.”Social Enterprises are the very trendy business models for smaller and mid-size businesses which Wong and Rae describe as seeking to “make business an even more direct and proactive partner in solving social problems.” This model expands the concept of social goods and services from being only the responsibility of churches, non-profit charities, NGOs (Non-government Organizations) or government agencies. Social entrepreneurs are “driven by a double bottom line, a virtual blend of financial and social returns.” Profits are not the only or even main goal of the business and they are intentionally reinvested in the “social good” goal and not just distributed to traditional stakeholders and owners.Microfinance, Business as Mission and several other categories and their variants with more socially conscious business models also have been innovated and are continuing to emerge.

Today’s Emerging Workforce

All these models demonstrate a growing sense of responsibility and hunger among the millennials and even younger generations to contribute and invest themselves in their life’s work in ways that deeply resonate with the clear messages they were brought up with. “You need to creatively follow your dream and passion and make the world a better place in whatever you do.” I’m always amazed and inspired by both Christians and non-Christians at their passion and willingness to sacrifice to achieve these ends. In many ways they make me feel like a corporate curmudgeon and challenge me to take more risks and consider new approaches to business.In fact I had lunch recently with just such a wonderful and passionate young Christian woman who is dedicating her career to helping social entrepreneurs create successful businesses and better understand the benefits of socially responsible work.

Cautions

While the new trends and creative work being done is exciting and inspiring, all of the models described above have much good to offer. Yet each model can be also fraught with its own pitfalls. Context and careful application of biblical principles are very important in discerning where and how one model is most helpful or whether the opportunities are a “good fit” for the business.We want to avoid, as Wong and Rae point out, the business models that are used less to promote true social responsibility and more to advance a public relations campaign. For example, a company with a focus on establishing a “presence in poor or underserved communities” sometimes end up exploiting the resources and neglecting the real needs of these communities. This is done while promoting the “mirage” of a good corporate image.We must also consider that not everyone is an entrepreneur. Most of us will not create start-ups, join small creative businesses with innovative models for addressing social ills, or be part of the non-profit world. Nor should we feel we need to in order to “really make a difference.” We have to be careful not to be unintentionally setting up yet another unbiblical hierarchy of work when we’ve gone to such great lengths in the faith and work movement to break down these unhealthy secular vs. sacred distinctions and hierarchies.Another caution is to consider the complexity of many of the social problems we face and not minimize the work required and skill needed to understand the root causes and best solutions to mitigating the ills and suffering in our cities. We want to avoid unintended consequences of our actions and study cases such as the Tom’s shoes controversy and many others which offer helpful insights to consider when promoting new socially responsible businesses.

The Best Bottom Line

As we reflect on what makes our work significant, we are reminded that any business model can provide an opportunity to produce significant social goods and promote better practices. Yet true satisfaction comes by not just considering the opportunities at hand, but rather seeking the source of true satisfaction. As Hugh Whelchel points out, we must ask ourselves better questions about what makes our jobs satisfying or meaningful. “Meaningful to whom?” Is our pursuit of significant work trapping us in the illusion that some specific category of work or business model is more spiritual or intrinsically more valuable than others? Whelchel poignantly states:

For the Christian, life without work is meaningless, but work must never become the meaning of one’s life. We must find our identity in Christ, not in our work.Our union with Christ transforms our hearts and gives us the desire to serve him out of gratitude as we engage the world through our work.This is where we find meaning, because through our role as God’s image bearers we are to bring him glory regardless of what type of work we do. All of our work is meant to glorify God and serve the common good.

Our work in any business model or institution gives us a concrete way to glorify God by fulfilling his purposes for us and giving expression to his love for all of creation. Blessed be the worker who finds, in whatever type of work they serve, that their work is not the source of identity, but rather a very tangible expression of their identity in Christ.

The Sacred Ordinary

In getting a string of CFWLA (Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles) activities lined up for the year I’ve found myself recently buried in a long string of emails, phone calls, lists of details to follow up on, and scheduling coordination. On any given day I might finish a few of these or spend several hours doing tedious editing on a section of curriculum for one of our programs. The sense of God’s favor and concern over the “administrivia” of my daily grind so easily escapes me even as the main theme of CFWLA is the restoration of all of our work for God’s glory and purposes. A book I read over the holiday had a chapter that caught my eye and was a welcome return to the goodness of even our daily tasks of minutiae.The Sacred OrdinaryTish Harrison Warren’s recent The Liturgy of the Ordinary does a wonderful job capturing how the regular rhythms of our lives are rich with opportunity to experience God’s presence. Related to the more mundane chores of our vocational tasking she writes,

At times, this big vision of the missio Dei [mission of God] can make its way, very obviously, into our mission and purpose statement, our life goals and vision, but it can easily get lost in the daily grind. For me, being a “blessed and sent” one on God’s mission seems distant and inscrutable in the annoying task of email.1

I remember my life of management in aerospace, facing dozens of new email each day and if I went on vacation and resisted staying connected to the office, sometimes hundreds would be waiting for my arrival. I could feel the dread of return build towards the close of these times away from work. But I knew this was not the whole truth of these tasks as Warren continues,

Yet each message in my inbox, in some way, touches on my vocation, or rather, vocations. Each email has to do with my professional, family, and civic life.

We know as believers that instinctively, every act should be integral to serving and loving God or Scripture quickly loses its coherency.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him… Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. - Col 3:17, 23

Holy Email?But how do we begin to see the perfunctory details of our lives as significant with a kingdom vision? Warren recounted a friend’s reply regarding his work.

He’s doing good work and making an impact through his career. But when you ask him what he does for a living, he answers, “If you ask my kids, they’d tell you that I check emails and go to meetings.” This kingdom vision— our identity as those blessed and sent— must work itself out in the small routines of our daily work and vocation, as we go to meetings, check our email, make our children dinner, or mow the lawn.

It appears that God cares about what I often refuse to care about in my small and seemingly insignificant but faithful efforts. Martin Luther, the Reformation giant, once said that “God himself will milk the cows through him whose vocation it is.” Warren reflects,

But could God himself check email through me? Could he balance the family budget and fold the laundry through me? Could he fill out bureaucratic work forms through me? Does he care about any of this?

Connecting the DotsShe answers her and my question in realizing that what makes us and our work holy is not the abstract concept of some distant impact or significance we assign it but rather the intimate involvement with our Creator in the act of work itself.

My identity as one who is “blessed and sent” must be embraced and enfleshed, even in these hours of email as I seek to form better habits of responsibility and discipline. These are the small tasks in which we live out God’s blessing and into which we are sent; we are blessed and sent into the real ways that we spend our hours.

We must resist the temptation to make certain types of work or career paths more noble or holy as this pushes God away from our present moment.This new year, let’s invite our Lord into the small things and remember his promise to those who invest care in the small stuff of life.

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt. 25:21)

-------1 Warren, Tish Harrison. Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (pp. 92-93). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.Steve Lindsey's post above was originally published on the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles Blog.

6 Week Faith & Work Course by Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles - REGISTER

7 Key Principles For Getting Things Done

As a pastor, you need to be able to put together projects efficiently and effectively. Whether you are starting a new church, planning a new ministry, opening a new building, or just preparing for next weekend’s services, you need to mobilize people around a common task. That’s leadership in a nutshell.When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to help rebuild the city’s wall, he had a monster project on his hands. How he tackled that project provides us with seven key principles for getting things done.

1. The Principle of Simplification

Nehemiah kept his plan simple. He didn’t randomly assign jobs, he didn’t create a whole new organization, and he didn’t force any complex charts.He organized around groups already associating together, such as the priests, the men of Jericho, and the sons of Hassenaah. The point is: Don’t create an organization if you don’t need it. If an organization already naturally exists, try to work through it and with it.Sometimes a new leader comes into a situation, and the first thing he does is start changing the whole organization. Think: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Strong organizations are often the simplest ones.

2. The Principle of Participation

It’s a pretty simple rule: Work with those who want to work. Amazingly, a lot of leaders never learn this principle. They spend all their time trying to corral the lazy and the apathetic, instead of working with those who want to work. I call that corralling goats.Nehemiah got almost everybody involved in the building of the wall. He had the clerics, the goldsmiths, the perfume makers—men and women, city and country folk. Everybody was moving bricks and making mortar.But there was one exception. “Next were the people from Tekoa, though their leaders refused to help” (Nehemiah 3:5 NLT). Nehemiah’s response was to ignore the shirkers.In every situation you’re going to have workers and shirkers. Nehemiah just ignored the latter and focused on those who were willing to work. He didn’t lose sleep, get bitter, or waste time trying to corral them. If you’re a leader, don’t worry about people who don’t want to get involved. Focus on those people who do want to get involved.

READ: 8 Reasons the Church is the Greatest Force on Earth

3. The Principle of Delegation

When you’re organizing, you should make specific assignments. Think about what would have happened if, once Nehemiah got everyone excited, he said, “Just go start working wherever you want to work.”Instead, Nehemiah divided the wall into sections when he did his midnight ride. He kept it simple, and then he delegated specific assignments.When you delegate:

• Break down major goals into smaller tasks. When we started Saddleback, I made everybody a committee of one. Each of us had assignments. One person managed the printing of the bulletins while another set up the nursery.
• Develop clear job descriptions. Your workers deserve to know what is expected.
• Match the right person with the right task. The wrong person in the wrong task creates chaos. It causes all kinds of motivational problems. Delegating is more than just passing off work. You need to understand what the task is all about and what the person is good at, and that will help you get the right person with the right task.
• Everybody’s responsibility is nobody’s responsibility. Every task needs a specific person assigned to it; otherwise, things will fall through the cracks because everyone will think someone else is doing certain tasks.

4. The Principle of Motivation

When you organize any project, help people “own” it. In Nehemiah, you see again and again men making repairs near their houses. If you lived in Jerusalem, where would you be most interested in building the wall? Probably by your house!Allowing for ownership in a project helps increase motivation. I think Nehemiah is also saying, “Make the work as convenient as possible.” Nehemiah allowed people to work in their area of interest. That’s a key principle of organization: Good organizations allow workers to develop their own areas.

5. The Principle of Cooperation

Cooperation is a key principle to good organization. When we cooperate together, when there is teamwork, there is great growth. Cooperation is a greater motivator than competition, and it lasts because you feel like you’re together on a winning team.Good organizations provide a supportive climate of trust and teamwork. In the Bible, when referring to Christians in the church, the phrase “one another” is used 58 times. It’s as if God is saying, “Get the message! Help each other!” We are together in this. We’re a team. There is tremendous power in cooperation.

6. The Principle of Administration

Even after you delegate, you must supervise the work. Nehemiah walked the line, inspecting the work. Tom Peters, in his book Passion for Excellence, calls it MBWA: Management By Walking Around.Nehemiah knew which part each man built because he went out, checking up on people. This also allowed him to find out what was going on. Good organizations establish clear lines of authority. People do what you inspect, not what you expect.

7. The Principle of Appreciation

Good leaders give recognition. For instance, Nehemiah knew the names of those working on the wall, and I think that’s a mark of a good leader. He even listed them in his book, so here we are thousands of years later, and pastors around the world are mispronouncing the names of Nehemiah’s helpers. He cared enough to recognize these men and women for their work.Do you know who’s doing a good job among your staff? How about among your small group leaders and volunteers?Find out who they are and start telling them they’re doing a good job.The above post was originally published at Pastors.com. 

Is Hollywood Against Christians? Depends on What You Believe, Says DeVon Franklin

DeVon Franklin, President/CEO of Franklin Entertainment, wants Christians to know that Hollywood is not a bad place.In fact, striving for a successful career within the entertainment industry can lead to a fruitful life, says Franklin, whose book, The Hollywood Commandments — A Spiritual Guide to Secular Success, comes out later this month.“Too often we say Hollywood is against Christians or Hollywood is against that,” said Franklin during a session at Proclaim 17, the NRB (National Religious Broadcasters) International Christian Media Convention in Orlando earlier this year. “Let me tell you something, if you believe that, that’s what’s going to be the reality. I don’t believe that. I believe that if God has already gone before me he’s going to make a way.”Franklin, who has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, said his desire to work in entertainment came early in his life, but words of discouragement from others, including friends and relatives were common.“You can’t go into Hollywood. Are you crazy? This is the devil’s playground,” he said, referring to what he was told. “It’s Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, get the anointing oil, we are going to pass the demon out of this boy."In his message at NRB (below), he said, “What I really want people to understand is that if God is for us who can be against us, and we have to begin to shift our mentality and know that if God gave us this ambition and this dream that we have to live it out in the authenticity in which he gave it to us as an honor to him because he is the one who gave us the desire and the gift to begin with.”

About The Hollywood Commandments

Publicity about the book reads:You can be wildly successful without losing your faith. In fact, your secular success will strengthen your faith if you allow it. Too often we believe that success in secular environments contradicts the core principles of faith, but the opposite is true: Your faith was designed to thrive in the secular world and to transform it as a result. You may never experience the true fulfillment you were created for until you pursue the secular ambitions in your heart.New York Times bestselling author DeVon Franklin knows this to be true. In The Hollywood Commandments, the prominent Hollywood producer and spiritual success coach reveals 10 life-changing lessons picked-up from his over-twenty-year career in the entertainment business. You won’t learn these lessons in the church yet they will help you achieve an amazing life and thriving career that glorifies God. The Hollywood Commandments will help you:

• Identify how to use what makes you unique to propel your career.
• Overcome fear and build the courage to pursue new opportunities waiting for you.
• Gain the confidence to make important life decisions with greater peace and clarity.
• Negotiate the life and career advancement you deserve.
• No, you don’t have to work in Hollywood for this book to work for you, these "commandments" apply to every walk of life! If you are stuck, looking for the secrets to advance your career, or have a feeling there’s more to life, this book is for you.

On the Web: devonfranklin.com

Piles of Bureaucracy; Does God Care About Spreadsheets?

Work has always been a tricky environment for me when it comes to dealing with questions like “How does God use what I do?” or “Does what I’m doing day in and day out really matter?” or “Am I making God’s world a better place?” What I spent most of my career years doing looks nothing like the work we do at church, on mission fields, in hospitals, or in inner-city work for the poor or marginalized.Editor’s Note: Contributing writers at Pacific Crossroads Church in Los Angeles recently announced a blog series for this month that “seeks to address the struggle so many of us feel in connecting our workplace lives to our walk with Christ.” The writers state in their introduction to the series: Pacific Crossroads Church has partnered with PCC members Steve and Margaret Lindsey to start an exciting new project called the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles to minister to this need. The center will launch this month and the 1st Annual Conference is Saturday April 1st. You can find out more and register for the event by clicking www.faithandworkLA.com.Previous articles in the 4-part series can be read by clicking: The Daily Grind, Get Rich (and/or Die Trying); But What Is God’s Will? and here: ‘I May Have Carpal Tunnel and Tennis Elbow.’  Also, Together LA’s interview story on Steve Lindsey and the center is found here: Ministry Launches to Help Firmly Place Faith Alongside Your Work. 'Piles of Bureaucracy'is the final article in the series.I remember being mid-career as a systems engineer designing satellite communications electronics. As one project wound down, I transitioned to a new group to work in an unfamiliar area on a large research and development project full of future cutting-edge technology. It was an exciting challenge but a bit daunting, as there was so much to learn. I was surrounded by world-class talent, and I wondered whether this narrowly trained engineer could broaden enough to keep up. It took about two years of learning, design work, and trial and error before I saw results confirming my work was paying off. Needless to say, I was elated! My boss, a brilliant systems design engineer himself and pioneer in this field, was also pleased (though I often wondered if he inwardly smiled to himself “What took that guy so long?!”). But something bothered me. Did it really matter?I think, as Christians, many of us experience the struggle of a long-fought-for-result, pouring our life’s energy and passion into our work, feeling the hopes and fears of whether or not our labors will be accepted, and sensing the nagging concern along the way: “Does God really care about all this?” That was certainly a question I struggled with. Sure, I knew that we work in relationship with a bunch of people God loves and cares about in whatever our work context, and that God can use those relationships for his Kingdom. But what about all those thousands of hours of diligent and focused engineering, the results of which remain mostly unseen by anyone? Certainly no one would ever see the details of my contributions with hundreds of lines of simulation code, massive data files, test results, volumes of work stored on some server somewhere, backed up on another server somewhere, likely never to be accessed again. And what’s worse is all that work was likely to be repeated in the fairly near future by smarter engineers with better tools on a newer project that will outperform the best work envisioned in my project.The words of the preacher in Ecclesiastes haunted me during times like these: “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Eccles. 1:8-9)But, then again, there were also those moments... pure joy, deep satisfaction, a sense of worth and purpose, being part of a larger enterprise, building something, something new, better, more efficient, more capable, and never done before. I could have sworn that in some way God was there, he cared, and it mattered. But why would he care? Yet a gnawing sense that my contributions somehow did matter was very present and very real. Though I’m perfectly capable of regular self-aggrandizement and pride, I don’t think most of what I felt was rooted in a sense of superiority or selfishness. It’s hard to describe, but I think it was closer to a sense of deep gratitude. In some way, I wanted to thank God. To sing about it. Party over it with my believing friends, and not just the office buddies. But I didn’t feel like I should. It didn’t connect well with my concept of what God wanted from me. I didn’t have a language yet for what God thinks of the daily grind of our hard work. You know, the stuff you do when you’re not sharing the gospel, you’re not showing compassion to a colleague in need, you’re not doing some extra-curricular service project, and you’re not leading or attending a workplace Bible study. The stuff you do well when no one is looking; hours fly by and you are buried in a spreadsheet, a complex problem, or tedious piles of bureaucracy. In fact, for a lot of us these kind of efforts take up much of the best of our actual career life. Is it possible the Lord of Glory cares about this too? Is my joy somehow a sharing in his joy?I now think so, and have been on a journey exploring God’s good purposes for our work. Come share the journey with us at the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles.Note: This post originally appeared on Pacific Crossroads Church website blog.On The WebCenter for Faith + Work Los AngelesMinistry Launches to Help Firmly Place Faith Alongside Your Work

Ministry Launches to Help Firmly Place Faith Alongside Your Work

God cares for every area of your life, and although it may seem obvious, He cares about how you live out your faith at work and inside the workplace. That's an area of our lives that could use more attention from churches, said Steve Lindsey, who is the visionary behind the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles (CFWLA).CFWLA is a gospel-centered non-profit dedicated to transforming our relationship to work, fostering human flourishing, and renewing Los Angeles, states the organization. Lindsey recently shared his vision with Together LA, and about the group's first conference to be held in Santa Monica on April 1. The CFWLA is partnered with Pacific Crossroads Church for "cultural renewal to equip, connect and mobilize the church, sent out to care for the world of work."Lindsey's answers to four questions about CFWLA from TLA are below.TLA: What inspired you to start this ministry?Steve Lindsey: My interest in integrating faith with vocational life goes back to the '80s (though I'm not really that old). I loved early exposure to Francis Schaeffer’s teachings that God cares about every area of life. Yet my vocational work seemed under-addressed in church contexts and ministry, and felt lacking any ultimate value or purpose to God beyond providing for my family and church or being a platform for evangelism. After much reading, prayer, research, and discovering the pioneering work of the Center for Faith and Work in NYC at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (Tim Keller's vision), my wife Margaret and I saw that such a center located in Los Angeles could be just such a catalyst for transforming our view of work and it's pivotal place in God's kingdom.TLA: How is the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles unique?Lindsey: CFWLA is unique in its addressing the needs of working believers in three primary ways: 1) In-depth theological and spiritual formation tailored to our vocational calls, within a rich and transformative community environment, 2) Envisioning God's redemptive purposes for our life's work inclusive of our vocational careers, and 3) Enabling the initiation of concrete expressions of social, cultural, and spiritual renewal in our city through our world of work.TLA: What is the most important thing people interested in attending your conference need to know?Lindsey: Come prepared to be fully engaged and receive an exciting vision for your vocational world and the future vision of CFWLA! Also, our website www.faithandworkLA.com is designed to make information and access simple to all of our events and offerings.TLA: How can Christians in LA come together to love on the city in terms of CFWLA goals?Lindsey: Loving the city well involves seeing God's love for all of creation more clearly. Our cities, communities and places of work are all extensions of God's creative work in the world. But so much has been broken and lost and in need of His restoration and redemption at the individual, social, and institutional levels. At the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles we believe that the gospel affects everything, and as Chuck Colson once said, "Transformed people transform culture." Anyone longing to see God's hand more tangibly at work through their vocational contexts is encouraged to seek us out.