Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- The Value of Your Work Isn’t Attached to a Dollar Sign. Courtney Reissig writes “In my effort to bring value to the unpaid work of the home, I don’t want to diminish the need to pay people a fair wage for the work they do. But it is important for us to see work as a contribution, and not always with a dollar sign attached to it. We must walk a fine line between valuing unpaid work and providing people with the compensation they deserve for their work.”
- Work is Very Good. Howard Graham writes “How do you view your work? Do you see work as good, a broken mess, or an opportunity to make things better? If you are thinking “all three” you are practically and theologically correct.”
- Transformed Podcast: Tony Dungy and Lauren Dungy. Tony Dungy and Lauren Dungy join Jade McCarthy on the Transformed podcast to talk about their new book Uncommon Influence.
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- My Review of Russell Rules: 11 Lessons on Leadership from the Twentieth Century’s Greatest Winner by Bill Russell with David Falkner
- Quotes from the book You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News by Kelly Kapic
- Dave Jump, Entrepreneur: Redemptive Stewardship. On this episode of the Working with Dan Doriani podcast, Dan visits with Dave Jump, President of American Milling, an entrepreneur with a reputation for nurturing successful businesses. Through his creativity, hard work, and dignified care for and compensation of his employees, Dave is an excellent model for what it looks like to use your God-given talents, treasure, and position for the glory of God and good of neighbor.
- Recognizing the Distinction Between Vocation, Occupation, Work & Calling. Judy Allen writes “Vocation, work, occupation, and calling are related terms that refer to what we do with our lives, each from a slightly different angle. Work and occupation are day-to-day tasks, while vocation and calling are more broadly associated with what we contribute to our families, communities, and the world, the purpose for which we are on this earth. It can take a lifetime to understand the personal significance of these terms.”
- Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).
- Better Before Bigger. Clarifying the win means communicating to your team what really matters. On this episode of the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, Stanley discusses a principle that will help any organization grow.
- Shared Language & Culture Shaping. Lauren Brett writes “The shared language became a shared vision which became a shared culture. For our team, it started with reading a liturgy that reminded us that the work ahead of us was from God and for His glory. It shaped how we went about the work, but more importantly, it reminded us that God is shaping us through the work, as well.”
- Biblical Principles for New Managers. Russ Gehrlein responds to the question “I’ve recently been promoted, for which I give thanks to God, both for my abilities and my opportunities. But I’m finding the transition challenging, especially since I need to manage my former colleagues. I understand why it’s hard for them to respect me—in some cases, they know more than I do! What’s the best way to approach this?”
- Motherhood as Vocation. Kate Harris writes “Defining motherhood as a meaningful part of God’s work gives it honor.”
- Why Do You Work? Stephen Nichols writes “Our work has meaning. Our work points to the One in whose image we are made. As we work, we bring glory to God. As we work, God is delighted with us.”
- Is Motherhood Real Work? Tanner Swanson writes “Why do we expect women to take maternity leave rather than stay home when their first child is born? Whatever the reason, we tend to assume new moms will return to old jobs.”
- Where Do I Find God When I Start a New Job? Russ Gehrlein writes “What do we need to do when we arrive at a new assignment? How do we fit in? How does our family find their place in the community, in the kids’ schools, and in church? These are not easy tasks.”
- Does God Really Care About My Job? In this short video, Bryan Chapell says “God does care about your job because he cares about you, and he has given you a calling of extending his kingdom, his name, and his glory into the place that you work.”
- Your daily work is ultimately an act of worship to the God who called and equipped you to do it—no matter what kind of work it is. Tim Keller
- According to the world, leaders crave recognition and credit. In Jesus, leaders think less of themselves, and give credit to others. Scott Sauls
- Whatever business you’re in, you’re not in that business. You’re in the people business. Growing relationships with both your team members and your customers is the most important thing you’re going to do if you’re going to have a successful organization. Dee Ann Turner
- We are to see work as a way of service to God and our neighbor, and so we should both choose and conduct our work in accordance with that purpose. Tim Keller
- According to the world, what matters most are the results we produce. In Jesus, what matters most is the kind of people we are becoming. Scott Sauls
- The only Christian work is good work well done. Dorothy Sayers
- The book of Genesis leaves us with a striking truth – work was part of paradise and did not arrive with the Fall. Tim Keller
- According to the world, leaders compare and compete so they will flourish. In Jesus, leaders sacrifice and serve so others will flourish. Scott Sauls
- With respect to our work, if we understand that the things we do now could be carried over into eternity, it can radically change our attitudes and actions. Russ Gehrlein
FAITH AND WORK BOOK REVIEW:
***
Bill Russell, who died on July 31, was known as the “Greatest Winner of the 20th Century”. My favorite basketball player growing up was Wilt Chamberlain. Russell’s Boston Celtics would often dash the championship hopes of Chamberlain’s teams. Russell writes that he played basketball for twenty-one years and that the teams he played for won championships eighteen times in those years.
I was able to see Russell speak at my local university in the late 1970’s, and had previously read his book Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend, about his longtime coach Red Auerbach. To honor Russell, no NBA player in the future will ever again wear his number 6.
In this book, Russell shares the principles and values that went into winning eleven NBA Championships in thirteen years. The book is about the skill sets, mostly mental and emotional, necessary for winning. Each chapter of the book is devoted to a lesson (eleven in all), that is essential to winning. Within each chapter are three rules that will help you with your leadership skills.
Russell describes “Celtic Pride” as a culture. He tells us that it is not only a way you see yourself, it is a way you want others to see you. Celtic Pride is what he has tried to spell out in practical terms in this book. He wrote the book to help make sure others could see how to emulate the success he and the Celtics enjoyed.
I enjoyed the stories Russell told in the book, most of which, were about basketball. I was pleasantly surprised to read that he and Chamberlain, though fierce competitors on the court, were very good friends until Chamberlain’s death in 1999.
Here are the eleven principles that Russell shares, along with a few quotes about each principle:
LESSON ONE: COMMITMENT BEGINS WITH CURIOSITY
- Commitment in my mind is the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live their lives regretting the opportunities they have squandered.
- As long as you have a willingness to accept adversity and do something about it, you give yourself the chance to win. When your curiosity asks you to take risks, take them.
LESSON TWO: EGO = MC2
- Ego is about using yourself to your own best advantage, getting the most out of yourself and your abilities, but only in the context of your team’s ability to win.
LESSON THREE: LISTENING IS NEVER CASUAL
- The most important thing any business leader needs to know about listening is that there is a difference between hearing and listening.
- Listening is a leadership skill that has to be developed. It is about respecting others and yourself enough so that you can put yourself, your company, your family, in position to win.
LESSON FOUR: TOUGHNESS OR TENDERNESS: CREATING YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE
- Great leaders in my opinion possess three flexible skills: toughness, tenderness, and the ability to know when is the right time to use one or the other. This is one of the most valuable skills any leader can gain.
- The choice of how to lead is more than a skill. It is a reflection of both the leader himself and of the culture he or she has created for the company.
LESSON FIVE: INVISIBLE MAN
- Use invisibility to shape how others see you. Create perceptions, don’t just rely on them.
LESSON SIX: CRAFTSMANSHIP
- The better you are at what you do, the more you set an example without words or memos for others to see and follow.
- Learning should be a daily experience and a lifetime mission.
LESSON SEVEN: PERSONAL INTEGRITY
- Integrity is your guide. It will permit you to act and to live as a winner, no matter what your station in life.
LESSON EIGHT: REBOUNDING, OR HOW TO CHANGE THE FLOW OF THE GAME
- Rebounding from both victory and defeat requires a great deal of self-knowledge, but I think rebounding from victory is much harder.
- Build resilience both as a winner and in defeat.
LESSON NINE: IMAGINATION, OR SEEING THE UNSEEABLE
- Seeing all possibilities, seeing all that can be done, even if it has never been achieved, marks the power of imagination.
LESSON TEN: DISCIPLINE, DELEGATION, AND DECISION-MAKING
- Delegating authority in decision-making can only take place successfully when there is absolute confidence in those to whom power is given.
- Active listening allows you to hear what isn’t being said as much as what is being said.
LESSON ELEVEN: EVERYONE CAN WIN
- Take the first step to winning today. Make sure that you start from where you happen to find yourself.
- Success is never a destination and always a journey.
Faith and Work Book Club – Won’t you read along with us?
Rather than sharing better time-management tips to squeeze more hours out of the day, Kelly Kapic takes a different approach in You’re Only Human. He offers a better way to make peace with the fact that God didn’t create us to do it all.
Kapic explores the theology behind seeing our human limitations as a gift rather than a deficiency. He lays out a path to holistic living with healthy self-understanding, life-giving relationships, and meaningful contributions to the world. He frees us from confusing our limitations with sin and instead invites us to rest in the joy and relief of knowing that God can use our limitations to foster freedom, joy, growth, and community.
Readers will emerge better equipped to cultivate a life that fosters gratitude, rest, and faithful service to God.
This week we look at the first part of Chapter 6: Have We Misunderstood Humility? Joyful Realism. Here are a few quotes from the chapter:
- Within a Christian view of the world, humility consists in recognizing that our limitations do not threaten us but liberate us both to worship God and to cherish others.
- If you don’t see your own finitude as a gift and a way of appreciating the gifts of others, then all you see in others will be their problems and the ways they could be better.
- True Christian humility does not simply bow down and worship our triune God; it also elevates others and gives us an appropriate assessment of ourselves.
- Humility is a distinctly biblical virtue because it begins with the knowledge that there is a good Creator Lord and we are the finite creatures he made to live in fellowship with him.
- Humility consists in a recognition of (and a rejoicing in) the good limitations that God has given us; it is not a regrettable necessity, nor simply a later addition responding to sinful disorders.
- Simply put, pride ignores God as the giver of one’s mind and skills, while humility gratefully employs these gifts as an expression of worship and as a way to help others.