The Gospel and the Ethics of Work
“The topic of workplace ethics necessarily covers more than just the way in which we treat the people that we work with, but our entire goal in what we are trying to accomplish and the way in which we go about making it happen.”
A question has been rolling around inside my head recently. Is it possible to be a good employee but not necessarily good at your job? And for a Christian, what does it mean to be good at a job?
I have been privileged to work for the same company for the last 11 years. I was hired as an intern while still in college, and that internship turned into a full-time job upon my graduation, and that job has since led to a couple of promotions. What is even more incredible to me is the flexibility that my company has given to me. For the last 5 years, I’ve been enrolled in seminary, pursuing a Master’s degree in all of my spare time. The program is at a small school that has only offered a limited number of classes at certain times during the week, with few online or evening options available to a guy like me who is working a career job. For whatever reason, even though it has been of no advantage to my employer, they have allowed me to work flexible or reduced schedules in order to allow me to be in class in the middle of the work day during the week.
It is a tremendous blessing that I thank them for regularly. I don’t really understand why they have been so generous with me in this situation. I am particularly uneasy about the arrangement because, frankly, I don’t think I am that good at my job. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that I am terrible at what I do, but most days I think I am serviceable at best. I am certainly no superstar. So why are my bosses willing to be so accommodating?
The answer that I have come up with is simply that I am a good employee. Considering what I just said above, does that sound strange or contradictory? That is the thought that I have been wrestling with. Is it possible to be a good employee but not necessarily good at your job? And for a Christian, what does it mean to be good at a job?
It got me thinking about the way I conduct myself at work. As Christians, we are probably very familiar with the Greatest Commandment: love God, love people. And if you are like me, that is how you try to operate on an inter-personal level with those around you, including your coworkers and bosses. Which is probably why (I hope) I am a good employee, because I try to be kind and respectful and do what I am asked to do without giving my employer a lot of grief.
But what about how I actually do my job? I have been challenged to think about how the Greatest Commandment extends beyond the way I conduct myself in the office, how it touches down in the way I perform my job. That’s a new idea for me. What does it look like to love God and love people in the way in which I go about my business? In the way in which I get tasks done? In the way in which I work big picture on a project? For a Christian, our concern in our workplace has to be more than just being the “nice guy” in the office. The topic of workplace ethics necessarily covers more than just the way in which we treat the people that we work with, but our entire goal in what we are trying to accomplish and the way in which we go about making it happen.
Let me try to explain. I work for a construction company that is owned by a real estate development and property management firm. It is said that there are three elements of construction (timeliness, quality, and cost), and when you hire a contractor, you can count on getting two of the three elements, but never all three. You can have your project completed on time and on budget, but the quality will suffer. Or, you can have a high quality project, but it will either run over schedule or over budget. If you have ever hired a contractor, you may know what I am talking about.
Now, as an employee of a contractor, I have to say that I hate this perception. I won’t try to refute it here, but I highlight it in order to point to the essence of what my job is. I am responsible for managing projects to completion in such a way that they are done on time, on budget, and with the highest quality. That is my objective, and it probably isn’t too different from a lot of other people’s jobs. The question is, why do I strive to meet the objective, and how do I go about doing it? What motivates my job performance, and what informs that performance? These questions are what Christian workplace ethics seek to answer. Is my motivation man-centered? Do I work in such a way to either avoid getting fired or to earn the praise of my employer? Is it self-centered? Do I work in such a way that is the least taxing on me or puts extra burden on my co-workers? Or, is it God-centered? Do I strive for excellence in accomplishing my objective as a manifestation of my love for Him and for others?
Working for an in-house contractor, I often have a benefit that others do not have in their jobs: I know who my end-user is. For example, I recently completed a renovation of an on-site management office at one of my company’s properties. I know the three ladies who work out of that office very well, because we are all part of the same company and work together on other projects. At various points in the project when the job got stressful (and they always do), I had to ask myself these questions: Am I going to do what is easiest for me and just “get the job done?” Am I going to seek to make myself look as good as I can so that either the praise or blame for the finished product lands in my favor? Or, am I going to love my co-workers well by doing what I need to in order to deliver a good product for them? After all, they have their own budgets to meet, schedules to maintain, and jobs to perform, and what I was doing in the middle of my own project would have direct ramifications on their ability to do theirs for years to come.
The gospel speaks to our workplace ethics directly, and it gives radically different answers to these questions than any other worldview. The example above is admittedly simple and the challenges we face in our jobs can become incredibly complex. Thankfully, we have a gospel that is more than capable of meeting these challenges for us.
A question has been rolling around inside my head recently. Is it possible to be a good employee but not necessarily good at your job? And for a Christian, what does it mean to be good at a job?
I have been privileged to work for the same company for the last 11 years. I was hired as an intern while still in college, and that internship turned into a full-time job upon my graduation, and that job has since led to a couple of promotions. What is even more incredible to me is the flexibility that my company has given to me. For the last 5 years, I’ve been enrolled in seminary, pursuing a Master’s degree in all of my spare time. The program is at a small school that has only offered a limited number of classes at certain times during the week, with few online or evening options available to a guy like me who is working a career job. For whatever reason, even though it has been of no advantage to my employer, they have allowed me to work flexible or reduced schedules in order to allow me to be in class in the middle of the work day during the week.
It is a tremendous blessing that I thank them for regularly. I don’t really understand why they have been so generous with me in this situation. I am particularly uneasy about the arrangement because, frankly, I don’t think I am that good at my job. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that I am terrible at what I do, but most days I think I am serviceable at best. I am certainly no superstar. So why are my bosses willing to be so accommodating?
The answer that I have come up with is simply that I am a good employee. Considering what I just said above, does that sound strange or contradictory? That is the thought that I have been wrestling with. Is it possible to be a good employee but not necessarily good at your job? And for a Christian, what does it mean to be good at a job?
It got me thinking about the way I conduct myself at work. As Christians, we are probably very familiar with the Greatest Commandment: love God, love people. And if you are like me, that is how you try to operate on an inter-personal level with those around you, including your coworkers and bosses. Which is probably why (I hope) I am a good employee, because I try to be kind and respectful and do what I am asked to do without giving my employer a lot of grief.
But what about how I actually do my job? I have been challenged to think about how the Greatest Commandment extends beyond the way I conduct myself in the office, how it touches down in the way I perform my job. That’s a new idea for me. What does it look like to love God and love people in the way in which I go about my business? In the way in which I get tasks done? In the way in which I work big picture on a project? For a Christian, our concern in our workplace has to be more than just being the “nice guy” in the office. The topic of workplace ethics necessarily covers more than just the way in which we treat the people that we work with, but our entire goal in what we are trying to accomplish and the way in which we go about making it happen.
Let me try to explain. I work for a construction company that is owned by a real estate development and property management firm. It is said that there are three elements of construction (timeliness, quality, and cost), and when you hire a contractor, you can count on getting two of the three elements, but never all three. You can have your project completed on time and on budget, but the quality will suffer. Or, you can have a high quality project, but it will either run over schedule or over budget. If you have ever hired a contractor, you may know what I am talking about.
Now, as an employee of a contractor, I have to say that I hate this perception. I won’t try to refute it here, but I highlight it in order to point to the essence of what my job is. I am responsible for managing projects to completion in such a way that they are done on time, on budget, and with the highest quality. That is my objective, and it probably isn’t too different from a lot of other people’s jobs. The question is, why do I strive to meet the objective, and how do I go about doing it? What motivates my job performance, and what informs that performance? These questions are what Christian workplace ethics seek to answer. Is my motivation man-centered? Do I work in such a way to either avoid getting fired or to earn the praise of my employer? Is it self-centered? Do I work in such a way that is the least taxing on me or puts extra burden on my co-workers? Or, is it God-centered? Do I strive for excellence in accomplishing my objective as a manifestation of my love for Him and for others?
Working for an in-house contractor, I often have a benefit that others do not have in their jobs: I know who my end-user is. For example, I recently completed a renovation of an on-site management office at one of my company’s properties. I know the three ladies who work out of that office very well, because we are all part of the same company and work together on other projects. At various points in the project when the job got stressful (and they always do), I had to ask myself these questions: Am I going to do what is easiest for me and just “get the job done?” Am I going to seek to make myself look as good as I can so that either the praise or blame for the finished product lands in my favor? Or, am I going to love my co-workers well by doing what I need to in order to deliver a good product for them? After all, they have their own budgets to meet, schedules to maintain, and jobs to perform, and what I was doing in the middle of my own project would have direct ramifications on their ability to do theirs for years to come.
The gospel speaks to our workplace ethics directly, and it gives radically different answers to these questions than any other worldview. The example above is admittedly simple and the challenges we face in our jobs can become incredibly complex. Thankfully, we have a gospel that is more than capable of meeting these challenges for us.
