Church employment has often seemed a satisfying avenue for some Adventists to earn a living and be actively engaged in work that promotes the church's mission. But a growing number of Adventist professionals are re-imagining their "secular" workplaces as places of sharing and outreach, though often in nontraditional ways. Here are two such approaches-one from a communication consultant, the other from an engineer-that illustrate the changing face of Adventist work and witness.-Editors.

BY DeLONA LANG BELL

ER VOICE LACKED ITS USUAL CONFIDENCE when she called me that afternoon. It was the end of the week, and I would have been happy if it had been a routine client request that could be handled and checked off the list.

But as she talked, I could see that something deeper was at stake. Listen, DeLona, the voice in my soul said. She is in the midst of a spiritual struggle.

There I was, in one of the hundreds of moments of decision we all face every day. Would I respond to the prompting of the Spirit, or would my own focus for the day prohibit me from listening, really listening, to a colleague who was deeply troubled?

I realized that the best gift I could offer her was the gift of my presence-my complete and attentive presence at that moment. Never mind your own goals for the day; make yourself available to her. As I did so, she began to open up to me. I realized that she was in the valley of despair over complex personal issues and business challenges. "Just once," she said, "I wish that every day wasn't such a struggle."

Her words struck me with new force, as I realized how much opportunity for extending the "healing" ministry of Christ we face in business each day-and how many times we miss those opportunities for lack of our own spiritual attentiveness.

Our conversation reminded me of just how much need there is in the business world for carrying out the ministry of Christ, and how important it is that we as Christians stay tuned in to this work-a work that is just as important as any mission work.

A Different Kind of Jungle
Some of us will be called to be missionaries in other countries. But for some of us, our mission field will be characterized by suits, laptops, Palm Pilots, and deadlines-the mission field of corporate America. What we will find in this modern-day mission field are a plethora of needs-needs that are often buried under the required mask of self-sufficiency demanded in this fast-paced world.

Through our business dealings we will have the chance to reach out to people who quite possibly will never set foot in a church. We will be asked to remove our blinders and open our hearts to the promptings of the Spirit. Where we once saw a successful young corporate vice president as a client, we now will see a person struggling with their own spiritual journey. Where we once saw a seemingly invincible young entrepreneur, we now see a soul shut off from a faith community. By giving way to the work of the Spirit, our eyes can be opened, and we can see what Jesus sees: a world in need. It is then that we can do our real work of tending the human soul, and respond to God's leading us in ways that offer hope.

Practicing the Presence of God: When Work and Faith Become One
It was Brother Lawrence, a humble monk, who changed my view of work. He wrote simply and eloquently about "practicing the presence of God" in work-however humble or distinctive the task would be. For him, the lines between sacred and secular blurred, and as he performed the most menial of tasks he learned to do it in the name of Jesus.

Brother Lawrence helped me move from seeing work as a livelihood to work as a path to ministry. Where I once separated my life into work and faith, I now see a convergence of the two. I now see more clearly the sacredness of work as a holy venue for carrying out the work of Christ.

Creating Sanctuaries Within the Workplace
The human desire for spiritual sanctuaries is not new, but it is in need of repackaging. The idea of "sanctuary" can become a reality in a Christian workplace, as we find new ways to create places where people can find safety, fairness, and nurture.

The business world is ripe with opportunity and begging for visionary leadership that can create workplaces that minister to their employees and customers. Many spend more time at work than they do with their families during the week. On this weekly canvas of time the Christian leader will have the chance to paint experiences that restore hope, infuse meaning, and model principles that stand to change the lives of those around them. It may be in creating practices within the company that ensure fairness and equity. It may be in offering a word of hope to a discouraged heart. But all of these types of work are holy, because they offer the chance to impact the life of another.

A look at the life of Jesus will see that this, indeed, was His model of work. His vocation was a means to reaching people at a deeper level, a door that brought Him into places of need.

The impact of this intentional, purposeful approach to work and faith will touch those in our circle of influence, as well as ourselves. When we do cross the bridge to understanding that our work is sacred, we begin to create wholeness in our own lives-and in the lives of those around us.

The Quiet Model of a Faithful Worker
I have had the good fortune to be in the company of Christian businesspeople who have taught me far more through their quiet, faithful actions than anything I've read in a business journal.

Their daily decisions and wise handling of issues of money, politics, and people showed me how to live in a secular world. They taught me how to be relevant, yet faithful; integrated, yet unswerving in principle. By watching them I was forever inspired to raise the bar higher in my own work and life.

In a world of corporate upheaval and scandal there is something we can do to restore hope. We can live our lives with purpose and integrity, which will create a higher standard in the workplace.

My Mission Is Here and Now
On those days when I am tempted to feel despair about the scope of human need and my own inability to make an impact of any significant size, I am reminded that my mission for this moment is my circle of influence-my clients, my suppliers, my employees, my family, my immediate neighbors. This is where I am called to serve-at least for today. My job is to make myself available to the work of Jesus, set aside my own agenda, and move in harmony with the quiet nudgings in my soul.

When I do that, I find that He is present. Like a silent business partner, He motions to me to set aside my plans and listen-really listen-to an employee's personal struggle. To offer a word of encouragement to a client who is harried, tired, and empty. To create words that heal and inspire, instead of destroy. To be generous with someone in need.

By entering your workday-whatever it is-with a centered and quieted soul, God will provide you with opportunities to relieve human suffering. Sometimes you will see the results, and sometimes you will not. But always there will be opportunity if you quiet yourself to receive it.

_________________________
DeLona Lang Bell and her husband, Michael, are entrepreneurs in Walla Walla, Washington.
 
 
 

Adventist Review associate editor Bill Knott recently spent an hour with longtime friend Ralph Gifford, of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Gifford, 46, is an engineer now developing a new software product in a company he founded. The two talked of how work and witness intersect both inside and outside of church employ.

BK: Some business pundits have been describing what they call a "discovery of values" in the business culture of America in the past few years-and they're using language that sounds highly moral, even spiritual. Have you seen that kind of shift occurring in the business environments you move in?
RG: I think there's definitely some of that. In the nineties we all watched the great triumphs of MCI WorldCom, Enron, and others. They appeared to be spectacularly successful, but now their failures are out and are equally spectacular. But for every one of those there are many, many successful businesses that are built on solid values. And they're not collapsing. They're weathering the storm because they have values, because they have a solid foundation. And so people are saying, "Wait a second. We might have got caught up in the heady environment of profit, but now we're coming back." It's not so much that American business is discovering the importance of moral values as it is returning to them.

Does that shift make it easier to be an Adventist Christian and talk about your faith in the workplace?
In some ways yes; in some no. Many of my colleagues in the workplace may be ready to talk about values, but not ready to talk about overt spirituality or organized religion. For many educated people religion seems to put up an immediate barrier: they've been taught that religion leads to wars; religion leads to moralizing; religion leads to judgments about other people and to a lot of sloppy thinking. I've found that many of my colleagues won't engage in a conversation that is overtly about the specifics of a given faith, but they will talk about how their own lives or how the culture of the company reflects basic moral values of right and wrong.

How long have you worked in that business culture now?
Almost 23 years now-six years for my first employer; two and a half years for my second. I spent my longest block-13 years-working for yet another corporation. I haven't worked for a huge number. (some people, you know, change jobs every two or three years-like pastors!) And then I launched my own venture in October 2001 to bring a new product to market.

In those 23 years, then, you never worked for the Adventist Church-
I always worked for the church.

Good point. You worked for the church, but you weren't employed by the church. You've lived all those years in a community with a large number of Adventists; you've educated your kids in Adventist institutions; I know you regularly teach a Sabbath school class at church. You've had a chance to see how the value system you employ in your profession compares with the corporate culture of the church in what some would call an "Adventist town." What do you think the church needs to learn from Adventists who are working in so-called secular firms?
Honesty. That would be the first thing that comes to my mind. I've discovered in the corporate world-and there are obviously exceptions to the rule-I've found people that I work with more willing to be honest about problems, honest about failings, honest about opportunities, being direct with people, holding people accountable, holding themselves accountable, not trying to hide things, allowing criticism.

That's all under the term honesty?
That's all part of it. Not only allowing but actually encouraging criticism. Not thinking that you have all the answers. And these are the things that I sometimes find lacking in the church culture I also live in. I care deeply about the Adventist institutions in this town-the schools, the administrative offices, the churches-and I'm in love with the work that they do. But I'm also close enough as a result to also see the differences compared to the business culture I spend my weekdays in. We Adventists tend to be very concerned about caution, and not taking risks, and not even telling all we know about a given situation.

Why do you think that is? What is it about the culture of church employment that somehow keeps people from the level of candor and accountability that you've described?
I think that by its very nature organized religion tends to promote a notion of getting things right. Am I doing the right things? Do I have the right beliefs? Am I exhibiting the right behavior? Correctness tends to become the highest value. And wherever correctness moves to the top of the value list, people get careful, guarded, tight with information.

That doesn't sound like a very appealing kind of witness.
The most doctrinally correct people of Jesus' time were the Pharisees. And Jesus dismissed their brand of correctness. He told us that our righteousness had to exceed theirs. Which is why our usual emphasis on doctrinal correctness, I think, undermines our outreach. When I meet a business colleague who seems open to spiritual things, I try to start, first and foremost, with listening, not telling. Ultimately, it's not the telling that matters to them-it's the showing. How do I respond to situations on the job? I'm very human: at times I say things that I regret. I try to admit my mistake-to apologize and say, "You know, I'm a real person. I don't have all the answers. I'm searching." And I think that's what people respond to. They feel more comfortable-safer-around someone who can admit he doesn't have all the answers.

That sounds like a very patient way of being a witness.
From what I've learned, the vast majority of people who attend a church don't do so just because of the theology or the doctrine or the belief system. They attend those churches because of friendships and relationships. I'm convinced that the thing to do is to try to get the relationships right, and let the doctrinal information come in as it feeds and enhances the relationships-not the other way around. It's certainly taken me a while to figure this out: there were times I was intent on sharing my "truth" with people who were really just looking for a friendship-a relationship-with a Christian. Now I'm trying to understand the role that God intends for me in a given relationship. Sometimes I'm tempted to think that it's my job to "move" a colleague along a doctrinal path from "here" to "here" to "here." But God's will for me is often just one piece of that relationship-maybe planting the seed, or doing some watering, or maybe even being the fortunate one involved in the harvest. Very rarely am I going to be the one doing the whole thing.

You expect, then, that these business colleagues you're sharing with are going to remain your friends for a long time, don't you?
That's right-and I'm grateful they do. I've had people come back to me years later and say, "You know, you probably don't remember this, but when you said this, or when you did this, it stuck with me for years and years and years." And I'm always amazed: I had no idea that it was sinking in way back then. I didn't do or say what I did because I was trying to move them along an informational path.

Tell me about a time when some aspect of your Adventist faith or lifestyle was either challenged or didn't fit in with the work culture or the social environment of your business colleagues. What did you do then?
Well, quite frankly, I had to learn how to be with people in a bar on a Friday evening. That was certainly a challenge for me, but I've done it. We had an event that was happening in Chicago, and required me being there for a whole week, including a weekend. I didn't work on Sabbath-would not work on Sabbath. Everybody in the organization knew that. But that meant spending a lot of time by myself in a hotel room. The guys from work invited me to come down and join them at the bar. They all knew I didn't drink. Everybody knew that. But then I thought, What did the Pharisees criticize Jesus for? They criticized Jesus for spending time with publicans and sinners. The fact that Jesus was with them where they were. And I thought, I could be more effective down in that bar with the guys-

Than preserving your righteousness in your hotel room?
Exactly! So I went down. And we had a great conversation in that bar with the music going, and the TVs. And you know, they were surprised-they didn't really expect that I would join them, and that got us into a conversation. "So what made you come down?" they asked. And I told them, "It's because you guys are more important to me than following my usual practice. It's about you: it's about our relationships." Somewhere in their lives I know they'll remember that night. Was I comfortable about being out of my natural environment? Certainly not-especially on a Friday night. But our faith wasn't designed for just safe moments. People see you under duress in unusual circumstances, and that's when they'll remember who you really are. If you're always just in your own territory, they don't trust you fully, because they don't know what you'd do in the kind of situations they find themselves in.

Have you ever had a regret for not being more direct about what you believe-a time when you wished you had said more?
I'm sure that I have, though it's more often that I wish I had said less. When I've been patient enough to focus on the friendship, and put my real emphasis there, it's been rewarding to see how naturally their interest develops in the kinds of spiritual commitments-the beliefs-that I'm committed to as an Adventist Christian. When you have a friend, you get to know the friend. As time goes on, you understand more and more how that friend will react, what that friend likes, what that friend doesn't like, where that friend is at. And you value that. You learn what things that friend will find interesting and provocative in a positive sense; and then, what things will be jarring or discordant. That's highly complex, subjective, almost mystical-and I think that in some ways it describes our relationship with God. The best I can say is-and it's not a logical thing, it's an instinct-it comes from really knowing somebody. You follow the prompts the Holy Spirit gives, and you try to be faithful when the right moment comes along.