Decompartmentalizing Your Purpose & Your Business: Integration of Faith and Work

Our Round Tables discussed how to live life as an authentic Christian at work and at home.  Each Round Table discussion is unique with a different approach to the topic.

Pursue Virtue
One member commented, “If we are here to be the best we can be, for customers, employees, and our families and community, we must pursue virtue in all aspects of our lives.  Be the best person, the best version of yourself every day, and seek a purpose that demonstrates that you live a virtuous life and pursue virtue at every turn.  Let that be your standard, in your career, your personal development, sports, and family.”

Boundaries
There should be no difference between how we behave and how we believe in a work setting, family setting, and church setting.  However, there are boundaries we need to be aware of.  It would be nice to have areas bracketed, here is how far you can go at work, here is how far you can go in the home.  One Round Table participant has Jewish family members, so he does not invite them to join him at a Christian Church.  That’s a boundary.

One business leader acknowledged that we must present our authentic selves, but sometimes, depending on our environment, we have to change a little bit.  He was with a company and received backlash for proselytizing.  Now this business owner has more leeway to do what he wants.

Actions Speak Volumes
The key is how you present yourself.  You don’t have to tell everyone what you believe all the time.  Live your life in a manner that they know what you believe.  Our belief system guides our actions.  

Several business leaders are asked for advice.  One member has an employee with many difficulties.  When the employee shared his burdens with this leader, he shared his solution.  He says, “That’s who I am.  If someone comes to me and they want to talk about a problem, I must give them the solution.  I can’t try to anesthetize a situation apart from Christ.”  If an employee is going to share their burdens, then he will share what he believes is the solution, otherwise, he is not telling the truth.  Also, he can’t suddenly make up a solution that is not the solution that he uses.

One leader noted:  People want religion but not the religions that exist.  They think it is so easy for believers.  It’s not, we all struggle with our faith, but our relationship with Christ makes the difference.

Many today have a void they are trying to fill.  They take a cause that they believe in strongly and make a religion out of it, climate faith, spiritualism, or pride faith. That’s why others are pushing these belief systems on you.  They want to talk about their religion, which explains why their beliefs are at the forefront right now.

We cannot compartmentalize our beliefs now and then wonder why people are pushing these belief systems on us.  Christ is the solution to feeling better.  Just talk about it.

One leader summed it up: “It’s meeting people where they are.  Our faith is based on love.  That’s all it is.  My grandmother told me once, the beautiful thing about the Church is the depth of the theology.  But the reality is, it is simple as one statement, love each other as I have loved you.  All that other stuff is fine, but it is one statement, love.  If we just remember that, with every approach to the human beings we interact with, wherever we are.  The template we have is in Corinthians.  It’s love, it’s simple.  I always thought it was complex and studied theology so I could argue my faith with anybody.  None of those matters.  What matters is how we treat people.  They will know we are Christians by our love.”

Upcoming Events
Please mark your calendar for our Birmingham Leadership Event featuring Adam Baron, COO of SEND International, on Friday, July 21 from 8-9:30 am at the Birmingham Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan.  Enjoy breakfast, networking, and interactive discussion.