I love my job?

 

“Learn to love your work and you'll never have to ‘work’ again.  

                                                                            S. Truett Cathy

  Chick-fil-A is my favorite fast food restaurant. It has been nearly all of my life. If you Google their history, you’ll find that the first Chick-fil-A was opened at Greenbriar Shopping Mall in Atlanta, which was less than four miles from my home. It was the go-to place when I was a kid. I’d even ride my bike to the mall to meet friends and eat at Chick-fil-A. 

  Truett Cathy was the founder of Chick-fil-A. He was widely known as a godly man of character. Like begets like. That’s why this story about Truett’s son, Dan Cathy, didn’t surprise me. Pastor Rick Warren shared about a trip he made with Dan, the President of Chick-fil-A. Warren shared that they’d been out visiting some ministry sites. When it became lunchtime, they stopped at a Taco Bell. But before eating they freshened up in the men’s room. Rick Warren said that before they left the bathroom, Cathy took down extra paper towels and cleaned the sinks! Warren acknowledged the powerful impression that left. The President of a massive fast food chain quietly cleaning the bathroom of a competitor. “We teach our staff to try to leave every situation they encounter better than they found it.” Dan Cathy walks the talk. He learned it from his Dad.

  I love reading leadership autobiographies, often about someone who started a business or company. Yet, you’ll often find a sad chapter in these histories of business leaders about halfway through the book. Too often you’ll come to a section where the author says something like “about this time I went through my first divorce.” If you’re familiar with successful business leaders, it’s common. It seems many successful leaders make a choice – to focus on their marriage or to focus on their business. In nearly every situation where the marriage failed, it was because it couldn’t compete with the business.

  What an example Truett Cathy was! Not only was he able to build a remarkable business, but he also kept his marriage healthy and raised a family that loved Jesus. It’s inspiring to me when the positive values of the business match the positive values of the person.

  Yet, Truett Cathy didn’t have an individualistic faith. He believed in the importance of community and the local church. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Georgia and taught a boys’ Sunday School class there for more than 50 years. He said that the Bible was his guidebook for life. Because of his strong religious beliefs, all of Chick-fil-A’s locations, whether company-owned or franchised, are closed on Sundays to allow its employees to attend church and to spend time with their families. The policy began when Truett was working six days a week and multiple shifts. He decided to close on Sundays.

  I saw this firsthand. His daughter, Trudy Cathy-White, is a few years older than I am and was a cheerleader at the high school I attended during my freshman and sophomore years. Like her father, Trudy, is a beloved leader, communicator, and entrepreneur. When she was just 19 years old, she began working for the family business and became an operator of a new Chick-fil-A restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama - making her the youngest Operator at that time. Though she’d just finished her freshman year at Samford University, Truett believed in his daughter and handed her the keys. She took a year off from school to run the restaurant and, in that time, hired fellow Samford student, John White. “When he came in, I knew I needed to hire him. It didn’t hurt that he was good-looking,” Trudy laughs. They’ve been together ever since.

  Throughout their marriage, Trudy and John White have actively sought opportunities to connect with and invest in others’ lives. They served for 20 years in missions. For ten of those years, they served as missionaries in Brazil.  “When I think back on my time as an international missionary,” Trudy explains, “I remember these words my Dad said to me: ‘If you help enough other people get what they want in life you’ll eventually get what you want out of life.’ Today, I know that true happiness is less about me and more about others. That's what brings me real joy.”

  Most of us spend 40+ hours a week in the workplace. One of our greatest places of influence and opportunity to serve Jesus is at work. A lost world desperately needs Christians who don’t hide their faith, who don’t just talk about their faith – they actually live out their faith. There are many biblical truths that we could highlight about the workplace, let me focus on one.

  Be excited about your job. Last year the church office received a call from an area employer. They mentioned the person’s name and then said,  “__________ is such a great employee. We’re looking to hire and wondered if your church had more individuals like this.” That individual was truly living out what it means to be a Christ-follower at work!

  Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.  You are serving the Lord Christ.” As Christians, while we have employers who sign our paychecks, we must remember that we have a higher reporting chain. Higher than our boss is the One we must work heartily for—the Lord. While our boss might decide our salary, the Lord is capable of giving us a much greater reward.

  What does that look like in practice? Well, here’s something that will please both the Lord and your employer. When people are standing around grumbling about the boss, management, and so on, do your work! Instead of joining in the pity party, do your job.

  In your work, always keep this in mind – Jesus never took the easy way out. He was God manifest in the flesh, and still worked as a carpenter for decades. Jesus never cut corners, produced shoddy output, or complained about the people He worked for. Furthermore, He didn’t miraculously turn wood into structures—He did the work with His own two hands!  

  If you’re going to have a Christ-honoring testimony in the workplace, your work ethic absolutely matters. Your co-workers, managers, peers, and subordinates will take notice. If you’re a Christian, you’d better believe that folks are taking notes! Yet, far more important than the note-takers, your Heavenly Father will take notice. He’s taking notes, too, and the stakes are much higher! Give Him the place and honor He deserves, and serve Him as you serve others on the job. And now it’s time for some waffle fries. Writing this made me hungry!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.