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. 

 

 

 

 

Heroes don't wear capes; Zeroes sometimes wear uniforms

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” Joseph Campbell

  He was named after a preacher-evangelist, George W. Truett, and taught a teen boys’ Sunday School class for more than fifty years. He was married to his wife, Jeanette, for sixty-five years. He once wisely said, “I see no conflict whatsoever between Christianity and good business practices. People say you can’t mix business with religion. I say there’s no other way.  People appreciate you being consistent with your faith. It’s a silent witness to the Lord when people go into shopping malls, and everyone is bustling, and you see that Chick-fil-A is closed.”

  On September 8^th, an American hero died. Truett Cathy was the founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurants. One of my favorite Truett Cathy stories is from 2008. A pair of pre-teen girls broke into his vacation home in Florida, vandalized it and causing some thirty thousand dollars in damage. But it was the words they left behind that bothered Mr. Cathy the most. They had scribbled filthy language on the walls. But Mr. Cathy asked the police to not prosecute those young vandals. He feared a criminal record might tarnish their lives. So instead of jail, Mr. Cathy worked out a deal with their parents. The girls had to write, “I will not vandalize other people's property” 1,000 times, they were banned from watching TV and playing video games, and were to read a good book.

  There aren’t a lot of heroes in corporate America. It’s a sad day that there aren’t many on the world’s stage that you’d want to imitate or have your children imitate. There aren’t a lot of celebrities or professional athletes that are worthy of being followed, and are truly “heroes.” Just because someone can make a lot of money, throw a ball, has talent or is just very attractive – that doesn’t make them a hero. Those traits are “natural” and have nothing to do with character and who they really are.

  Over the past few weeks, we’ve watched the saga with Baltimore Raven’s running back, Ray Rice, unfold. Personally, I don’t believe that he ought to just be indefinitely suspended from play from the NFL, he ought to be banned for life and go to prison. If he wasn’t rich and famous, he would. And Raven fans could send a powerful message by bringing jerseys with his name on them down to the M & T Bank Stadium and burning them.

  Do I believe in forgiveness? Yes. But while God forgives, the courts of our land are to dispense out justice and have a responsibility to punish evildoers. Justice is to be blind and treat the famous, infamous and unknown the same.

  Ray Rice’s violent actions are irreprehensible and inexcusable. Just because you’re famous or have ability shouldn’t mean you get a pass. Too often there’s a double standard in our judicial system and even in the court of public opinion, just because someone is a “celebrity.” Too many professional athletes and celebrities are profligates and moral zeroes. They use their fame and money to take advantage of those who are less fortunate or who are enamored with their status. Too often, they’re not even nice, much less “heroes.”  

  Character, morality, selflessness and sacrifice are what make someone a “hero.” Even in the Church, we need to be careful that we don’t hold someone up as an model just because they’re rich or famous, or a talented musician or have a large church.

  Personally, I probably won’t get excited about the Brewers again until Ryan Braun has either been traded or retired. It wasn’t until he was caught the second time for doping that he finally came clean and apologized. Yet, Braun used his fame and ability to throw an innocent man, Dino Laurenzi, under the bus. Laurenzi became Public Enemy #1, even receiving death threats, just for doing his job and doing a drug test on Ryan Braun. But Braun ruined his life just because he could, to save his own skin and career.

  None of us can even begin to imagine the pressure professional athletes like Ryan Braun are under to perform and win. While he was wrong for doping, most of us can understand the pressure and caving to that temptation. But there is no justification for destroying someone else’s life when you know you’re guilty, just because you have the means to do it.

  As Christians, we need to be careful that we honor and commend those who meet the standards of a biblical worldview. Do we really want to emulate someone just because they have natural ability, even if they lack a moral compass or values? Is that what we want to hold up before our children as a “hero”? Are the abilities we most want our children to have – athletic, mental or even financial? Do we really want them to be popular? And at what cost? Will that help them please God and be godly? Will that help them be a better husband or wife? Will it help them be a better parent of our future grandchildren?

  Too often our conversations focus on what the Apostle Paul called “wood, hay, straw” (1 Corinthians 3:12) – stuff that’s just going to burn up in the real world. Instead we need to focus on that which has lasting and eternal value. We must be wise and careful when we talk about externals.  Sure, it’s fine to tell someone that they look nice. Isn’t it better though to tell someone that they acted nice? That they were kind and thoughtful? That they were Christlike even when they were mistreated?

  You get what you honor. Our temporal, fickle world is enamored with externalism. It worships at the altar of American idols. The Miley Cyruses, Lindsay Lohans, Justin Biebers and Macaulay Culkins are potent warnings that fame, wealth and talent are as lasting and satisfying as cotton candy.

  Do you want heroes for your children to emulate? Look to those who teach adult and children’s classes at Grace. Look at the ones who work in the nursery, or usher or are part of the worship team. You’ll find them serving the Lord at the AV table and other places, often behind the scenes.

  These godly heroes and heroines go to work every day, love their spouses and children, and most of all, they love Jesus! They’re not famous or even overly talented. They’re just seeking to be faithful in the place God has called them to and to serve the Lord with the abilities He’s given them. They’ll probably never make the local news or walk down a red carpet. No one asks for their autograph. But someday the One who sees all and knows all, will welcome them Home with, “Well done good and faithful servant!” Those are heroes. Sometimes you have to look for them but they’re there.

  Are you holding them up in front of your children as examples? Are you following them as they follow Jesus?