Taking Your Soul to Work ? Neighbour Love (Chapter 25)

Neighbour-love: Experiencing the ability to meet the needs of others and to contribute to their well-being

Neighbour love brings to a conclusion this trilogy of thoughts from Stevens and Ung. ?We’ve looked at the soul-sapping struggle of envy?and it’s corollary, the life giving fruit of the Spirit, kindness.

Now we turn to the outcome that characterises a life where kindness has overcome envy in the daily machinations of workplace life – neighbour-love.

Here’s a challenging question posed by the authors: “Wouldn’t it make a huge difference in my workplace if I made it my goal to find creative ways to love and bless my co-workers, bosses, and staff on a daily basis?” [Read more…] about Taking Your Soul to Work ? Neighbour Love (Chapter 25)

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Kindness: Putting others at ease (Chapter 16)

Kindness ? Putting others at ease by rejoicing in their gifts and achievements

?”Envy (which we looked at in the last post) causes us to feel terrible when someone else is happy; kindness causes us to rejoice at the achievements of others. ?Envy seeks to pull people down; kindness builds people up,” (p.107)

As a Christ-follower, our desire and motivation to demonstrate kindness in the workplace must be rooted in the Gospel. ?Kindness cannot be legislated or commanded. ?Authentic kindness comes as a result of understanding and appreciating the kindness that God has shown to us in Jesus: ?“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:2)

What might kindness look like in the workplace? ?Here’s some suggestions from Stevens and Ung:

Changed attitudes: Taking the initiative in demonstrating kindness rather than waiting for others to take the first step; listening attentively and being sensitive to unspoken needs; actively and intentionally practicing ‘random acts of kindness’; celebrating the achievements, big or small, of fellow workers rather than looking for recognition of our own endeavours. ? [Read more…] about Taking Your Soul to Work ? Kindness: Putting others at ease (Chapter 16)

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Envy: the pain of another’s advancement (Chapter 7)

Envy – feeling pain at someone else’s advancement and possessions

Where does envy hit you in the workplace?

Someone else gets a promotion you were after (or perhaps even a position you did not even apply for!)
A colleague is applauded for work on a project and your contribution was not noticed or recognised
You feel that you have been treated unfairly compared to how another person in your workplace has been looked after
A workmate gets allocated a better office, desk, stapler, bonus, stapler …

I think I have been guilty of all of those and could easily add a few more. ?The Apostle James makes this observation:?‘For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there your find disorder and every evil practice.’ (3:16, NIV)

Envy is worse than anger according to Proverbs: ‘We’re blasted by anger and swamped by rage, but who can survive jealousy.’ (27:4, The Message). [Read more…] about Taking Your Soul to Work ? Envy: the pain of another’s advancement (Chapter 7)

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Faithfulness: Workplace Integrity (Chapter 15)

Faithfulness: Workplace Integrity – persisting in important work with utter reliability

Last week we looked at the?sloth?- the sixth deadly workplace sin which Ung and Stevens describe as working too little or alternatively too much.

The test of integrity is always what we do, how we behave, when no one is looking. The faithful worker continues to focus on the important matters when the boss is away, when the customer is not there to check the quality of the service being provided or the widget being produced.

Faithfulness of course is fundamental to the character of our God and indeed his Son, Jesus:

For this reason he [Jesus] had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and?faithful?high?priest?in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17)

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Life Giving Rhythms (Chapter 24)

Life-Giving Rhythms: Experiencing a pattern of life that produces excellent work without being consumed by it ?(Chapter 24)

Over the last two weeks, we have looked at the sloth?and faithfulness. Sloth is described as the sixth deadly workplace sin by Ung and Stevens which they explain is working too little or alternatively too much. The alternative they propose is faithfulness – experiencing a pattern of life that produces excellent work without being consumed by it.

As someone who has regularly been consumed by work over the years, I faced this chapter with both anticipation and fear – anticipation of the insights that the authors would provide but fear that I would be challenged to change some deep and unhelpful routines and habits that I had developed over 40+ years in work settings. ?

I was not disappointed! [Read more…] about Taking Your Soul to Work ? Life Giving Rhythms (Chapter 24)

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Sloth: Pathological Busyness (Chapter 6)

Sloth: Doing minimal or the least important work and loving ease.

What a different take on sloth Stevens and Ung present in this Chapter 9! ?

What comes to your mind when you hear the word sloth? Here’s my list:

Lying on the couch taking in mindless hours of blokes kicking footballs (any code will do)
Burying myself in a book and ignoring whatever is going on around me
Procrastinating about those many small tasks around the house and office that could be done in 5 minutes but get put off for another day
Seeing and knowing I should take some action or speak to someone but just not making it happen – more procrastination

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Surrendered Contentment (Chapter 23)

Surrendered Contentment: Experiencing the satisfaction of who you are, what you have, and what you do.

?In chapter 23, Stevens and Ung conclude their discussion of anger (the desire to control) and gentleness (the strength of meekness) by considering surrendered contentment – the outcome of a spirit-led life in the workplace.

How contented are you with the current state of your working life?

Is you job providing you with satisfaction and fulfilment?
Does the salary match the expectations of the organisation?
How about your relationship with your colleagues or boss?

When our answers to these question are not positive, we often lapse into a complaining attitude – the outworking of a lack of contentment. As Ung points out:

‘It’s hard to be satisfied with what we have. However, as Christians, we are called to live a surrendered life. ?Such a surrendered life need not be a weakness but can be a position of strength. We are imitating the Lord Jesus, who demonstrated inner strength by walking resolutely toward the cross because he had surrendered his will to his loving Father.’

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Gentleness: The strength of meekness (Chapter 14)

Gentleness: Empowering others by renouncing personal agendas and expressing meekness.

Is there a place for the quality of gentleness in the ?world of the modern business – ?a world often described as competitive, cut-throat and hard-nosed and where the agenda of the strong and powerful dominates?

After a round of golf this week, I was chatting with a former student who had moved from the world of education to real estate sales. ?”It’s a tough business, ” he explained, “There are a lot of deceitful people out there.” ?While as far as I know my golfing companion is not a Christian, I could sense his struggle to remain true to his principles in the face of a culture where it is very much the ‘survival of the fittest’.

So, is it possible for a Christian to survive let alone thrive in such an environment? ?Stevens and Ung suggest that, “…it is in the shark-infested waters of the business world that the godly qualities of gentleness are most needed.”

The Greek word for gentleness speaks of the bridled horse – a horse that has learnt to accept discipline and respond to the bidding of its master. ?Moses, described as ‘more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth’ (Numbers 12:3) was such a person. ?At Christmas, we sing of Jesus as ‘meek and mild’ (Matt 11:29). ?Paul writing to the Philippians urged his readers to let their gentleness be evident to all (4:5). ?