You don’t have to leave the country to make disciples of all nations. You don’t have to stand on a street corner with a megaphone, go door to door, or organize bible studies. All these things can be good, but you can fulfill the Great Commission by how you live your life, at home, in your neighborhood, and yes, at work.
Welcome to the ninth episode of By Your Life. Thank you for joining me. If you haven’t already, please subscribe at the bottom of the page so I can send you notifications when each new episode is posted.
My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular, business world. It is my desire to help you live your Catholic faith in the marketplace, and to trust that it is good for business. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.
In this edition, we reflect on the readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.
In the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, DT 4:32-34, 39-40, Moses is reminding the Israelites of all God has done for them and then says, “know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.”
“Know and fix in your heart” is that transition from head (an intellectual understanding) to heart (a belief.) The second part of that statement is just as important: The Lord is God “in the heavens above and on the earth below.” In other words, here and now, not just in eternity. Is the Lord the God of your entire life, including your work life?
For the longest time, I found it easier to turn over my spiritual life, my family life, and my health, but when it came to work and finances, I kept a tight hold on those parts of my life. I didn’t think it was right to pray about success in business. I found it easier to pray about everything but decisions impacting my work, concerns about projects, or how to handle situations involving co-workers. I certainly didn’t discuss God with customers or clients. I kept my faith and my work separate.
Let’s face it. We are told to do that. The separation of Church and State has worked its way into our businesses and conditioned us to refrain from merging the two. But you don’t have to preach your faith to practice it, and practicing it is good for business. As Moses said, “keep his statutes and commandments which I command you today, that you and your children after you may prosper.”
You don’t have to preach your faith to practice it at work, and practicing it is good for business.The commandments are: Love the Lord your God and have no other God before him. Do not take his name in vain. Keep holy the Sabbath. Honor your mother and father. Do not kill, commit adultery, or steal. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor, nor covet his house or his wife. These are the commandments and if you honor them, you may prosper.
Certainly, behaviors that reflect the opposite of these commandments are not exactly behaviors that are good for business. When you think of a toxic work environment, what do you think of? Greed? Selfishness? Pride? Envy? Lust? Laziness? Lies? Jealousy? Overworked employees? Swearing? Disrespect? Violence? Our workplaces are filled with these sins because our workplaces are filled with people and we all sin.
My work is based on helping people become better at their businesses because they become better selves. Today, in my line of work, a little human failing is good for business!
What is the antidote to these sins that lead to a toxic work environment? The truth is, to put God first, but I can’t go into most clients and preach the Gospel by citing chapter and verse. However, I can help my clients practice the Gospel message. Putting God first, in practice means that you are not putting yourself first. “Do unto others” and “Whatever you do to the least of these” are Gospel messages and they can be the basis for considering how your behavior impacts others for better or worse.
In the second reading from Saint Paul, we are reminded of the Spirit of God we received in our baptism, confirmation, last week at Pentecost, and every Sunday. This Spirit is not “a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.” Yet, fear still holds us back. What are you afraid of when it comes to practicing your faith in the workplace?
I know for me, there are two things that I’m afraid of and they are found in the Gospel reading. Mt 28:16-20
First, I can relate to how “they worshiped, but they doubted.” How often do you listen to the Word of God and think it is meant for someone else? Do you listen as an outsider to a story where Jesus is talking to 12 guys 2000 years ago or maybe to 500 or 5,000, but not to you and not today? I know I do. But this spoke to me.
Maybe they weren’t doubting Jesus as Lord. Maybe they were doubting themselves. Maybe it’s not our lack of trust in the Lord, but a lack of trust in ourselves to be able to live up to the commandments that he gave us. Maybe the reason we are afraid to share our faith is because we don’t want to be hypocrites for not living up to it? How can we share what we don’t fully practice? How can we share when we doubt?
The second fear is how to live the Great Commission. Jesus was not only sending his disciples, he is sending us today to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” I have always been challenged by this “Great Commission.” Although I have participated in one mission trip to Panama, I’ve always felt that traveling to other nations to make disciples is someone else’s job. I don’t want to think that he is talking to me when he said that, but, he was, and he is, and he’s calling you too.
The good news is that you don’t have to leave the country. You don’t have to stand on a street corner with a megaphone. You don’t have to go door to door and hand out brochures. You don’t have to organize bible studies in the conference room. All these things can be good, but they are only some of the ways we are called to fulfill the Great Commission. You have the opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission by how you live your life, at home, in your neighborhood, and yes, at work.
It makes me sad to think about how separating God from business leads to so much pain in the world. People compartmentalize by thinking “this is business” and “everyone else does it this way” and “if I’m soft, I might be taken advantage of” as if somehow their business would suffer by treating people fairly or with respect.
Others look at competition in the marketplace from a scarcity perspective instead of mindset of abundance. If you win, somehow it means that I lose. Even worse, in many companies, the greatest threat from competition is inside.
I have a client where several members of the leadership team are challenged to get along. When there is a breakdown in their operational processes, they each focus on the problems it causes for their own area and they blame the others for causing the problems. When that happens, the others get defensive and attack back. They seem to lack the ability to recognize that fixing process problems isn’t a win / lose proposition. In fact, if instead of investing energy in the blaming and defending game they invested energy in fixing the processes, they might find they all are better off. I’m constantly reminding these managers that the competition is outside their organization, so they should stop pointing their arrows inward.
Last week, I mentioned Stephen R Covey’s book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and the 5th Habit – Seek first to understand. Covey’s Habit #4 is Think Win-Win. According to Covey, this habit is a mindset based on these characteristics:
- Integrity: sticking with your true feelings, values, and commitments
- Maturity: expressing your ideas and feelings with courage and consideration for the ideas and feelings of others
- Abundance Mentality: believing there is plenty for everyone
An abundance mentality means that we believe, as Moses said, “that you and your children after you may prosper.” Doing the right thing, honoring your values, keeping commitments, being authentic, being considerate of others, are only possible if you begin with a mindset that everyone can win.
“I win, and you lose, or “you win, and I lose,” are short-lived propositions. Eventually the solution breaks down. The only lasting solutions are win-win solutions. Do you doubt that this is true? Or, do you believe that it is true, but fail to practice the underlying principles that make it true? Keep the commandments, and you will prosper. It was true in the time of Moses. It was true in the time of the first apostles. It is true today and it is good for business.
I win, and you lose, or “you win, and I lose,” are short-lived propositions. The only lasting solutions are win-win.You don’t have to preach to practice your faith. And, when you practice, when you observe all that he has commanded you, you are teaching others too. You will be teaching them to observe all that he has commanded you by example.
Let us ask the Holy Spirit himself to bear witness with our spirit that we are children of God, so that we may make disciples by our example.
May God bless you abundantly and may you glorify him by your life. Amen
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Many thanks to Fr. Stan Fortuna for his musical gifts, especially the traditional and contemporary versions of Come Holy Ghost (Come Holy Spirit) that you hear in this podcast. You can find more from Fr. Stan at http://www.francescoproductions.com/ or on Facebook.
