Northside Church - Sydney
To Do: Your Principles at Work
We're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. It was 18 years of age when I got introduced to the Australian workforce. I just graduated from Apple Cross High School in Perth. I was 18 years of age. I had to repeat a year because I wasn't used to the co-ed system. I hadn't been that close to a girl before. Going from Sydney, Punch Bowl Boys High, so I was 18. I'd responded to an ad in the paper for a career in commerce. I was starting on this first day as a commercial cadet for BP Australia. I got appointed to what they call their property and legal department, which was a great way to start. It gave me a tremendous overview into the life of that great company, which is still a great company. I remember quite vividly noticing the differences between high school and the work environment. I'd hang out at high school with a pretty good bunch of guys, and guys using that term generically, and going to work was a bit of a shock. The language was much stronger as in terms of profanity, and what we used to call bad language. That was really strong. I remember that. Somebody mentioned about the dirty stories, but really a lot dirtier at work. I wasn't working with regular guys in this section, but that was something I really noticed. The sexism was much more pronounced. The comments that were made about the women who worked in our division were much more graphic and much more demeaning than what I've been used to in high school. The drinking culture was very, very deeply ingrained. Of course, the range of human problems that were discussed at morning tea time and at lunch time gave me a rapid entry into the complexity of human life. The stuff that these guys, most of whom were much older than me, that's the point I should have made. The boss was about 30 years older than me, and the guy who worked next to me was coming up to retirement. He was one of those guys, by the way, he was a real old school, an old union man. He would read the paper until exactly nine o'clock, and he'd neatly fold the Western Australian, and that marked the beginning of the workday. He would look five minutes before the morning tea break to get ready for that experience, and then would sort of ceremonially put his pen down, incredible, five minutes to five. The countdown would start, and we'd start to assemble all the gears at five o'clock. Wham! He was out like a bullet. Now, Neil was an interesting guy. He was a main contributor to some of these things I might add, so the right head was a wild guy. So, look, the sort of problems people talk about intimately about their sexual problems and their marital problems and their family problems, and this was all pretty new for me. I've identified this if you've recently started in the workforce. Look, at 18, I was a pretty enthusiastic Christian. I really was. I was involved in a group. We used to sometimes go street witnessing in the history mall in Perth, which was not for the faint hearted. I was never in the front row, but I was there. I was praying along in the back row, hoping none of my friends would see me. But I was part of a very strong evangelical church. I mean, I really wanted to be God's man. I really did. I didn't know. I was a pastor, but I really wanted to be God's man, and I was part of a dynamic youth group and a very, very vibrant church there at South Perth, Church of Christ. So I was determined to stand firm for my beliefs, to stand firm for what I knew Jesus Christ would want me to do. I've got to tell you, it wasn't easy. And I can identify the stuff that's been said about the churchy and the perfect Christian and all that, I went through all of that and some. And I wish we'd had a series like this one when I started out in work at 18 in B.P. Australia in Perth, because I would have received great encouragement. We didn't talk about work in those days. We talked about the figure in Daniel and the return of Jesus and what revelation was all about. That was the main topics in our church. We didn't talk about the practical things day to day, which is an aside, by the way, is why I never bought a friend in my church in all those years. Unlike some of you who bring friends all the time, because you know they're not going to be embarrassed. You know they're not going to be hit over their head with the Bible in an unpleasant or negative way. I didn't have that, unfortunately, in those years back in Perth. That's another story. But I wish we'd had a series like this because it would have provided me with a lot of inspiration and a lot of encouragement. I know that because I would have been made aware of the fact that, and this is in this week's study, followers of Jesus. I'm motivated by different virtues. That's the first thing. In life and in the workforce. I mean the main virtue that summarizes all of the great teachings of Jesus is self-giving love. The Bible calls it in the original language, agape love, a self-giving love. That's characteristic of the Christian faith. That's the love in which we say, "I love you not because I like you. I love you not because I need you. I love you because you or ever you need me." That's a self-giving love we see in the life of Jesus Christ. That's what's supposed to motivate us. That's the virtue that motivates us. Here's the thing also, followers of Jesus are lifted by a different view of humanity. I mean, people are not to be exploited, that's a Christian's perspective. There aren't just pawns on the corporate and industrial chess board to be moved around mercilessly in pursuit of prophets. That's not the way it's meant to be done if you're a Christian. Christians believe that people everywhere are people of worth and dignity with incredible intrinsic value and much more eternal value. That's what we believe as Christians. Followers of Jesus are guided by a different source of wisdom. We are not guided by worldly wisdom, which sometimes figures in business, like do others before they do you, and whatever it takes, whatever it takes, just do it and get the business, whatever it takes. Sell your soul if you have to. That can be the kind of thinking in some forms of business. No, no, we follow Jesus who said it's more blessed to give than receive. We follow Jesus who said that those who saved their life will lose it, those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Now this can put us in sharp conflict with some, not all, with some of the current thinking that's out there in corporate and in business life. Also followers of Jesus are responding to a different audience. And Sam took us through this one the last week of the week before in a very brilliant way. I mean, we're not just working to please the boss. We're not just working to please our colleagues. We are working primarily for an audience of one. God our heavenly father through Jesus Christ is the one ultimately whom we are working for. We're working to a very different audience to what most people are working for if they're not in tune with the life changing message of Jesus. So given all of this as a background, here's another question which you don't have to answer by the way, not not verbally. What will be different about the way we act at work? If all of this is the backdrop to being a Christian in the workplace, different virtues, different audience, what will be the difference in the way we act at work? What if anything will distinguish us from the others? And let me say this, it's not as obvious as you might think. It's not as obvious as you might think. I mean, some of you are thinking merely of external behavior or we should be the ones who are really punctual, really curious, really honest, really loyal. I think that's a given in a work situation. Christians haven't got exclusive rights to those things, no way. And they're sort of, they're givens that any employer should be able to expect from the people whom they are paying to do a job. So that's not where the difference lies. We as Christians, I mean, we can and we should be leading the way in these areas. I mean, we shouldn't be tardy. We shouldn't be slack in these areas. But that's not the point of distinction, because you work with people, as I've worked with people who really shine in these areas and they're out now at atheists. I mean, that's not the point of distinction. Our point of distinction is at a much deeper level. And guys, I would put it to us that the clue is in what Jesus said in that reading. And I'm thinking particularly of Matthew five, verse 16, your life must shine before people so they will see the good things you do and praise your father in heaven. Now, here's the rub. What's expected of us at work as Christians is no different to what's expected of us in all areas of our life. We're meant to shine as lights. And so, in that sense, the work situation just becomes an extension, a natural extension of life as it is in general, if we're living in Jesus Christ. Our primary aim is to help people see the love of God as expressed through Jesus Christ. Now, how we do that is where effectiveness as a Christian comes in. You don't do that by getting up on the desk and start preaching. That's the ultimate aim. The ultimate aim is to help people in your workplace and in every area of life, the places where you buy coffee, the places where you hang out, the places where you buy dinner, the places where you buy petrol, wherever you've got a relationship, an ongoing relationship, the idea is to help people see something of God's love and grace and justice and forgiveness through your life so that when they find out you're a Christian, they're not going to be surprised. They're not going to see any disconnect. We are bearers of the light of God's love and we are commissioned by Jesus himself to ensure that light is held high and to make sure that it's shining brightly. I mean, when we enter the work environment, the Holy Spirit doesn't say, "Okay, listen, I'll see you next Sunday. I know the environment you're going into, it's very hostile and I know you'll have to compromise heaps and you'll probably get a bit embarrassed if I hang around until you're long." So, look, I'll see you at Connection Group, maybe, and then certainly next Sunday. I mean, the Holy Spirit doesn't act like that and it's crazy to even think that way. I think some Christians though, I think some Christians inadvertently do act as though that's the case, that in some way we sort of blend in and, you know, "Oh, don't be too... Let's not be too distinctive out there." They get caught up in some of the less than desirable aspects of Aussie work culture and there are some less than desirable aspects of Aussie work culture, like rock up when you feel like it and rock off when you feel like it. Like dipping into the work stationery, like, you know, heading off without any thought of giving word as to where you're heading and driving bosses crazy, wondering where you are, using the computer and the phone to maintain your private life, like everybody does that. That's, you know, that's part of the Aussie culture. Well, that's the kind of thing that bosses get pretty irritated about and it need not be part of the Aussie work culture for somebody who's really trying to make a difference for Jesus. These are practical behaviors where we can shine, we need to shine as Christians. One of my sources, by the way, of motivation, and some of you know this, one of my sources of motivation to work as hard as I do in ministry is because I'm aware of so many of you who do what you do for God totally outside of your work environment. You make the calls outside of your work environment. You send the emails outside of your work environment. You rock up to our meetings. You serve. You go to connection group. You serve in our various avenues of ministry and I admire you for that and I want my voluntary company component as it were in my work to be as high as any of you because I get inspired by the way so many of you come off a very busy work day to step into another very busy night or weekend or whatever it is. We on the ministry team, that does not go unnoticed and we thank and praise God for you guys every day who are in that sort of mode because it's all voluntary and we try to build that component into our own work as well. I'm getting paid to do this work, I'm getting paid by you and that really gives me a heightened level of responsibility and accountability, always has in ministry. But now back to allowing our light to shine, the big difference between turning on a lamp and shining a torch in somebody's face, there's a big difference between turning on a lamp to eliminate a room and running around a dark room with a torch and shining into people's faces. Let me give you an illustration. Let me tell you a bit about my working life, my working Lisa hot crayon, come on mate, your working life, it's a cloister sort of life isn't it, when you're working with wonderful people like Sam and Sarah and Michael and Patricia, I mean you've got a great team, I mean there's no duty stories there, no language there and that's right, there's not. How close does that, but you know what, I'm at a big disadvantage in a lot of circles because I am a professional Christian and we all feel that on the ministry team because I've shared with some of you before, like when I, in those moments when I eventually have to disclose what I do and I mix fairly widely in some secular circles, in those moments when you've got to disclose what you do eventually I try to sort of lead up to it, what do you do Graham? Well, I'm coming public relations actually, they say really well what's at a big company, it's a pretty big organization, yeah, it's worldwide, big boss, well yeah it's a very big boss, it's a lot of shareholders, you know, it's kind of easy to, you know, finally you've got to come up, I'm a minister. Now what often happens is, oh well, you're a minister, oh look, I'm giving this up, I hardly ever touch these and as to this, look I'm really, I'm really working to give this up, look mate, just relax, just relax, just be yourself for goodness sake, you know, and then they think about all the stories if I just told, what language do I just use, you know, so I'm a bit of a very good, people don't relax around ministers generally, right? So let me tell you about a couple of times and I've worked for secular, secular organizations, you see, I've worked for BP Australia, during my college days I worked for a furniture company in Melbourne, they had a string of stores all across Melbourne, very prestige high-end furniture, great way to, to earn some extra money, I used to work Friday nights and, and all day Saturday and also they used to put me on during the holidays, I was a four years full-time student and that was a great way of hoping to pay my fees through college. And during the 90s and into the early 2000s I worked for somebody else, I worked for Australia's largest speakers bureau, it was called the Saxton Speakers Bureau, I haven't got time to tell you how I got into that, into that whole field but at the time I was the only minister who was on the corporate speaking scene in any kind of regular way, it was a great honour, great privilege, never missed a beat with ministry just by the grace of God, did lots of interesting things but I was working for a secular organization and I was speaking for secular groups and it introduced me to a whole new world that I thoroughly enjoy but it was a world where I could probably identify more with what some of you are experiencing. Let me tell you about a couple of instances, one was where I spoke for an insurance company in the early days of my speaking career with Saxton Speakers agency and I was debriefing with the state manager, I remember that and a guy came up to me and I can only tell you how it happened, he was pretty fired up, he said I have a word with you and I remember going, oh sure I'm Graham Egg, as I recall I don't even extend at his hand, he said I have a word with you, he said they introduced you as a minister right and that was one client who did, I said yes, he said you had those guys right there in the palm of your hand and I said oh say you enjoyed it, that was a compliment, he said no, no, no, no, he said you did not share Jesus Christ and you had him right there, I knew what I was going to say next was very important and I believe it came from God, I said you know what, I wasn't invited to share Jesus, he said what, you mean you got to be invited, I said well if I'm a guest, I was asked to come and talk about teamwork, I was introduced to the minister, the sort of the media became the message but I wasn't invited to talk about Jesus, see when you're in a work setting, we are in a sense working in an immediate sense under certain guidelines and you got to be very sensitive and very careful about how you share Jesus, now what happened was I built a bridge to that insurance company, had a chance to speak in their conferences over a number of years and several years later I conducted a wedding in a northern suburbs backyard in Adelaide for a guy who worked for that insurance company who happened to be a mate of this guy who hit me up on this particular occasion and that guy was there and we had a real good chat over the barbecue that followed and I said mate are you getting the message, I said I wouldn't be here, sharing Jesus, leading this guy in his marriage, having an opportunity to witness something, so many people I wouldn't be here if I hadn't sort of just gently turned the light on instead of running around with the torch and shining in everybody's faces and driving a mad, Phil Kleine came back and said Graham you wouldn't be getting out of the booking if you crossed the line in that area in this sort of setting, he said we've had guys do that, you know, it just doesn't go down, you've got to think of other ways, by the grace of God I thought of other ways, let me tell you about something else that happened in the same sort of work, I was having Port Lincoln once and some of you have been around church for a while you know this, many of you haven't heard this, I was doing a trade, a kind of a series of talks of a housing industry association of South Australia and this night was in Port Lincoln and my topic was customer service, I was able to talk on that because I'd been in customer service and I'd burned up on it and it was one of my, part of my, it was a talk called who cares, wins, wow, let's bring that back sometimes, great, who cares, wins, it was very nice, he said thank you, too excited, and this guy caught me at the, at the trade show afterwards and he comes to me and said hey listen, my name's so-and-so, very warm, he said I don't want to embarrass you, I don't want to kind of phase you or freak you out, he said but you would make a great preacher, the housing industry association chose not to introduce me as a minister, all right, it'd be cool with that, I was just a Dalconi instructor and member of the Saxon speakers bureau, this guy said I don't want to, but you would make a great preacher, I thought I'm going to draw this guy out, I'm going to give him, we're going to see how he can, I'll let you take this as far as he wants to, I said why do you say that, he said well look my Jesus is all about, you know, do under others, care for people as you'd like them to care for you, he said in my business I've always tried to do that, I'm a plumber, I've always tried to operate on that basis and nothing what you said tonight cut across what I believe, Jesus Christ would have me do in my business, so they want to freak you out, but you'd make a great preacher and I said well you know what, I was about ready to receive, Jesus actually was fantastic, I was about to pray, the sin is prayer, this guy was really coming on strong, so I pulled out the card, I said well does that give you a clue, great making you see your pastor and he got it, he's wife, Ethel, he is a preacher, she was excited, I know both things I've had, but you know like so guys like I mean that's, I mean the thing about that is you got it, when the light is on it's got to be consistent, it's no good turning a light on and off, on and off, that sort of doesn't illuminate a room, people get frustrated when they see a lack of consistency and nothing I ever said in the corporate speaking scene ever was in conflict with what I believe about Jesus Christ, I made sure of that, it was just affirming when people like him would note that and actually identify that, he's the third story, final story, some of you know I'm a Dal Carnegie instructor, so in that sense I'm working for a secular organization, I'm working for Dal Carnegie, I'm not there as Reverend Graham Agnew, I'm just there as Graham Agnew who just happens to be a qualified Dal Carnegie instructor, a couple of times a year I take young executives through an eight week course in the city which is basically designed to improve one's ability to be a leader and one of the tools we use to increase self-confidence is communication, every night each member of the group has to speak and I coach them and make sure they kind of do a half reasonable job, now it's imperative that on the first night I don't get up and say by the way I'm Reverend Graham Agnew and welcome you because unfortunately in this country there's enough hang-ups about the ministry and I'm working under instructions on this point from the Carnegie organization, there's enough hang-ups about ministry that that could really do the organization unfortunately a fair bit of damage because people have you know oh gosh you know they think straight away about the minister who buried their mother and did a shocking job, they think back if they're of Catholic background perhaps you know about it, the priest who was you know inappropriate with them, so many hang-ups, so the first 20 minutes people are just working through the hang-ups while they get a handle on the back that is a preacher talking with them in a secular training session that they've paid big dollars for so we do it subtly and it usually comes with that session four halfway through the course when the assignment for the night is to present, make a presentation that touches people's emotions, we're starting to get into the real business end of the course and you've got to select an emotion, select an incident from your life one that will touch the audience at the emotional level, it might be pride, it might be grief, it might be joy, it might be a full range of emotions and so they present these talks and during the briefing I say you know what tonight we have really got into the area that really is my business, I'm dealing with emotions all the time, I'm helping to move people in a certain direction through the appropriate use of emotions, I'm a pastor and you see a few people, yep what, but it usually unlocks a whole range of conversations and never once in 25 years have I seen somebody nudge their partners like what can you believe that, that goes complete, after what he said, after what he's done, after the kind of things he's been saying has never happened, why because I won't let it happen, that's not how I see my role, I see my role as helping people to praise our heavenly Father eventually once it's a little bit, once you're able to share, once you've earned the right to share where you are really coming from, guys the point is this, sometimes you've just got to state where it's at, sometimes it's just got to come naturally, it's got to come appropriately, sometimes you've got to nail it to the mast and you might be in a situation sometimes where you've got to say you know my beliefs won't allow me to go along with this, I want to be honest with you, my beliefs won't allow me to go along with this boss, I'm just we've got to talk about this, or you might need to say look I've got strong views on this kind of behavior, or you might need to say I'm aware the consequences could be dire, however I can only say and do what I really feel in my heart, this is who I am, this is who I am and I really, and I know I've known people who've walked away from roles and walked away from jobs when the need to be as clear as that has become just that, that sharp, I went to the, I went to the football on Friday night, saw the swans defeat Carlton, that was your cue mill, you missed it, that's okay, and I was with a guy who said to me, he owned his own business and he said to me, I couldn't believe, God gave you this, I could have used other illustrations from further back but this was Friday night, he said Graham, I asked him how the business was going, he said we're doing pretty tough, he would just have to keep trusting, I said I know we've lost business in the last 12 months because we're dealing with certain ethnic groups where the expectation is that you will look after them at the personal level if you want the contract, he said I know some of my competitors will put 50 grand into private accounts of some of the guys I'm dealing with, he said I refuse to do that, I will not do that, I've never done that, I don't think it's right and I won't dishonor Jesus Christ by doing that, now there's a guy in the same breast telling he's doing it tough, now he's enjoyed a high degree of success because of his high principles and his high ethics but he knows when to draw the line and say this is me, I'm sorry, we don't do business like that, it takes courage isn't it, I get inspired by stories like that, guys in our witness in the workplace, in all areas of life the light must never be hidden, what did Jesus say, you don't light a lamp and then throw a blanket over it, we'll put a bowl over it, there are times crunch times when the light must be visible and you might just have to tell it like it is and in my experience that doesn't mean instant dismissal, it can mean modifications in the workplace, this wasn't at a full corporate level but I had a great mate in the BP office up in Brisbane because I got transferred around the place along with my dad, Perth Brisbane Melbourne spent six years with that company and I had a mate who was a great guy, we used to get on really well he sat next to me, his use, his use of the Lord's name in profanity got to a point that I just couldn't weather it any longer, like it was just so full on, you know you meet people like that where their use of the Lord's name is just so strong and said and one day we're out having coffee and he used to go and said hey Ken you know what, you were talking about a friend of mine mate, can I, I don't want to, you were talking about a friend of mine, he said oh I know you've heard you, I said well I just, I just want to put it out there mate, okay, kind of hurts a bit you know, now I can't say that guy gloriously came to Jesus and you know came to the next service and I don't know what happened again but I do know that from that day on in my presence the guy didn't use the Lord's name again in vain, that was in my presence I'm not saying he didn't do it but add a respect for me, you can command all levels of respect when you're prepared to just sometime when push say look this is me, I'm not comfortable with what's happening here, I've got to pull, you get a chance to discuss it this week in your group because there's a question on that very point, okay you know what, we don't witness at work, people say oh I'm not so good at witnessing, we don't witness at work, don't ever think, you don't witness at work, you are a witness, you are a witness, there's not something you work up to, you are a witness, now you aren't be thinking guys they've been a very good one, well time to change and they still scope the change and by the grace of God you can change that situation but we are a witness, we don't, we are a witness the way we live and act, Matthew 5 is not the only passage regarding shining, Philippians chapter 2 verses 14 and 16, some of you know it's so well listen to this, do everything without complaining or arguing says Paul so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, that's where the pressure comes to be, perfect children, we get unpacked, that doesn't mean being perfect beside a heaven but who live, perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people, you must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky as you offer them the message of life, I thought we'd just put it all up on the screen in the in the message version that the Eugene Peterson version, look at this, go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air, have you seen yourself at work as a breath of fresh air, uh, Monday morning you can be a breath of fresh air, in this squalid and polluted society and sometimes for all the good in the world sometimes you do find situations in work don't you that represent squalor and and and something other than human dignity and and humans at their best, provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God, I really like that, carry the light giving message into the night, our light must shine before people so that they will what say, gee you're a good guy, I really like you, you are terrific, no no no, let your light shine so that ultimately in time when appropriate as you build the bridge people will see the light and the love of Jesus Christ, that's the ultimate goal, that's the aim, you know I've worked for many organizations, quite a surprise you tonight, not just being a minister, I've worked in many even at the recent times even two months ago, I was working for a secular organization on a Wednesday night, so I do know what that's like, I've worked for many organizations but here's the thing, here's how I see it, I've only ever worked for one boss, I've only ever worked for one boss and that's Jesus Christ, so you can work for all kinds of organizations and some of you are working for really tough organizations and you've got some real conflict and you've got a boss and you've left that in your non-Christian moments, in your non-redeem moments, keep your eyes on the big boss and increasingly press into him to give you clues on how to change or at least work with the hostile environment which you find yourself, there is no greater privilege than letting the light of Christ's love and light shine in a world of darkness, I don't have any greater privilege, it called me to do it full time, it calls all of us to do it wherever we are in whatever circumstance, some of you don't even know what this light is like, some of you haven't even turned the light on in your own life yet, you haven't even activated the power and the love of Jesus Christ, you've got a chance to do that tonight, step one, when we have our ministry time we invite you to come up with back and pray with one of us and all you'll need to say is you know what based on what was said to know what was sung and just to hold, I'd like to give my life to Christ, I've not read the Bible, maybe say my second third time here, first time here, it doesn't matter, that's step one and we'll keep you on the pathway and that's what this church is all about, helping people to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ, if you are a follower of Jesus and things are going to be a bit tardy, a bit slack at work, you've got a chance to raise the light high, don't get up on the desk, don't bring the biggest Bible you can to sort of like lay it all on my line, that may not work, I don't think it will, it's never worked for me, but start building bridges, start listening, start interacting with people and start finding out about what really makes them tick and be available when their need comes, which with that other friend was his wedding and I can talk all night about the moments I've been involved with, people have said, hey Graham, I need to talk with you, I think you can help me.