Workplace Lessons

by Charles R. Swindoll

Mark 2

While traveling across northern California several years ago, I tuned in a radio talk show where the host had just conducted a poll of his listeners regarding job satisfaction. Some sort of questionnaire had been mailed to folks within a broad radius of several cities along the San Francisco peninsula and East Bay region. The show's host had gathered and compiled the answers and was, that day, announcing the results.

To his surprise (and mine) he discovered that well over 80 percent who responded were dissatisfied with their occupations, and when he tabulated the results by cities, some were as high as 84 percent. And the unhappiness he discovered in the workplace was not passive, meek, and mild. Some even responded with intense words like "despise . . . resent . . . dread."

The average worker in the 1940s and 1950s was a male breadwinner with a wife and a houseful of kids to support. He worked full-time and long hours either in an office or a factory—mainly a factory since America was still an industrial society. He was a member of a union, motivated by job security and steady pay, and he looked forward to retirement at age sixty-five. His work was his world.How things have changed!

Among other changes, today's "average worker" does not belong to a union and would not consider joining one, plans to work past retirement age (many work well into their seventies), and is willing to accept a certain amount of insecurity in exchange for the possibility of being rewarded for superior performance. Maybe that explains why one-third of Americans switch jobs each year.

What's true for the "average worker" in the workplace may also be true for the "average worshiper" in the churchplace, where things are also surprisingly different than in the 1940s and 1950s.

I wonder how many churchgoers, if polled, would be honest enough to admit that frustration mixed with mediocrity also abounds on Sunday. If they had a chance to say so, I wonder if some would respond with intense words like "despise . . . resent . . . dread." And if they did, I wonder if many in the church would care enough to listen or to change.

Be honest now . . . would you?

Not all change is good, but not to change can be bad.

On Patting Birds
by Charles R. Swindoll
Hebrews 6:10

In a cartoon strip some years ago a little guy was taking heat from his sister and friends for a newly found "calling"—patting birds on the head. The distressed birds would approach, lower their little feathered pates to be patted, sigh deeply, and walk away satisfied. It brought him no end of fulfillment—in spite of the teasing he took from others. "What's wrong with patting birds on the head?" he wanted to know. "What's wrong with it?" his embarrassed friends replied, "No one else does it!"

If your niche is encouraging, please don't stop. If it is embracing, demonstrating warmth, compassion, and mercy to feathers that have been ruffled by offense and bruised by adversity, for goodness' sake, keep stroking. Don't quit, whatever you do.
I think many Christians are dying on the vine for lack of encouragement from other believers. Proverbs 15:23 says, "A man has joy in an apt answer, And how delightful is a timely word!" Isn't that true? It's a delightful thing to receive a good word just at your time of need. Encourage someone today.

If God made you a "patter," then keep on patting to the glory of God.

Worth Your Time
by Charles R. Swindoll
Revelation 1:1-3; 3:11-12
It was Ernest Hemingway who once said, "Time is the least thing we have of." And he was right. How quickly time passes—and how often we lament this. If only we could tack an extra twenty-five or thirty years on to the usual span. There is so much more we want to see, to celebrate, to do. So many places to go, so much to enjoy, to feel, to read, to talk about, to participate in, to encounter. Yet, for each of us, this thing called time is in such short supply.

Our frustration is only compounded by the numerous unimportant, dumb things that steal our minutes and siphon the significance out of our hours. You know what I mean. Stuff like getting gas or a haircut, standing in the eternal line at the DMV, doing the laundry, washing all the dishes after every meal, mowing the lawn, and a dozen other time-consuming things that have to be done but keep you from doing the things that make life so invigorating and fulfilling.

Since "time is the least thing we have of" and since there is no way we're going to escape all the stupid time-traps that accompany our earthly existence, seems to me that we're left with two choices: Either we can fuss and whine about not having enough time, or we can take the time we've got left and spend it wisely. I mean really wisely, with our priorities in the right order.

Speaking of that, what are you doing with the rest of your life? I'm talking about cultivating relationships, building memories that will help lift the load of future trials, and the deliberate pursuit of activities that will yield eternal dividends.
Do you have a family? Rather than leaving them the leftovers and crumbs and giving your job your best hours and your most creative ideas, how about rethinking the value of strengthening those ties? And while we're at it, let's not leave out necessary time for quietness, for personal reflection and refreshment.

You say you don't have time to add another week to your squirrel-cage lifestyle. Don't kid yourself. You keep blowin' and goin' like you've been doing most of your adult life, and you'll wind up mumbling to yourself in the twilight years, wondering how you could have stayed so busy yet accomplished so little.

Hey, maybe Hemingway wasn't right after all. You and I have more time than we realize . . . once we get our priority ducks in a row.

Have you ever wondered how you can stay so busy yet accomplish so little?
Think seriously about how you can reorder those priorities.

Thinking Like a Leader

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
Romans 12:2

Some years ago a magazine pictured a man staring out of a window; the caption read: “Why does this company pay this man $100,000 to look out a window?” The answer: Because the lifeblood of any organization lies in ideas and creative thinking. Thinking is powerful. Flying a plane, air conditioning, cell phones, vaccines, the World Wide Web--without thinking, these would have been impossible. Everything begins with a simple thought.

Ideas are a great moving force of history. We are never free to do what we cannot conceive. Having a godly mind enlarges our thinking capacity. A leader’s thinking must be shaped by the following:

Vision: What is our dream? Carl Sandburg was right: “Nothing happens unless it is first a dream.” Vision is a process of the mind--it’s mental, not visual. Vision is seeing what everybody has seen but thinking what nobody has thought. What is needed to build a pyramid? One person who can think and ten thousand people who can grunt.

Values: What is important? Values have to do with how we treat people, how we do our work, what is vital to us. Values are the standards, the principles, and the code of conduct that characterize the organization. Values aren’t dreamt; they already exist. Leaders shape and form the organization’s values. Some universities decide to pour sidewalks after students have first worn a path. Where are the well-worn paths--the actions, the beliefs, the attitudes--that matter most to you? Those are your values.

Venture: What are we willing to risk? Organizations that make a difference are willing to think outside the box. For example, a company that was in the well-digging business began to think in terms of efficient and effective means of making holes, and they soon discovered that lasers dug holes better than augers. They achieved the same goal but accomplished it more efficiently.

Vehicle: What will get us there? How can we accomplish our desired outcome? A dream without a strategy is merely wishful thinking, but with a strategy it becomes powerful thinking.

Victory: What will the celebration be like? A leader thinks like a champion. The end result is to move forward, to accomplish goals, to be God’s faithful servant, to celebrate being a part of God’s kingdom.

Wake up and start thinking. Take off your nightcap and put on your thinking cap. Ask God to continually renew your mind.

Looking Ahead

The prudent understand where they are going, but fools deceive themselves.
Proverbs 14:8

Bill Walsh, the former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, was thought eccentric because of how extensively he planned his plays in advance of each game. Most coaches would wait to see how the game unfolded, then respond with plays that seemed appropriate. Walsh wanted the game to respond to him. Walsh won several Super Bowls with his “eccentric” proactive approach. He was a coach who looked into the future.

Looking ahead is the process of creating the future before it happens. People who learn to do it “understand where they are going.” Like Bill Walsh, it involves deciding your actions in advance so that your life will respond to you. What are the benefits of such a proactive pursuit?

Looking ahead gives direction. It’s like using a highlighter on a roadmap to indicate where you are, where you are going, and how you are going to get there. The highlighted roadmap not only provides information for where you are going; it also suggests where you are not going.

Looking ahead helps us to create rather than react. With each step along our journey, we are faced with a choice either to create or to react. Many people spend their entire days reacting. Like goalies in hockey, with pucks flying at us all day, we react. We react to news, cars in traffic, people, events, challenges, and obstacles. A better way involves making choices and following plans.
Looking ahead saves time. “One hour of planning saves three hours of execution.” Planning yields a savings return. We only have twenty-four hours in a day and 365 days in a year. If we don’t use them wisely by looking ahead, we will forever forfeit those gifts.

Looking ahead reduces crisis. Our daily lives have two controlling influences: plans and pressures. When we look ahead and choose to plan, we take charge and control of our days. If we fail to look ahead, we will spend our days in crisis mode. We will fall into a trap of panic planning—planning on the fly with no time to effectively map out a strategy.

Looking ahead maximizes energy. Failing to look ahead, we dissipate our energy on less important matters, improper agendas, and lost crusades. We waste our time on the trivial many. But preparation often energizes us!
Be wise. Look ahead. It’s eccentric but well worth the effort.

Your Work Matters to God

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:17

Can you whistle while you work? A memorable song in Walt Disney’s animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is “Whistle While You Work,” sung by Snow White as she sweeps the dwarfs’ cottage. While that probably is the ideal of all working men and women, I have found that the opposite is often the case. Most people I know don’t like their jobs very much at all. In fact, instead of whistling, they grumble, seeing work as drudgery, a necessary evil for a paycheck.

I’ve noticed this is especially true during times of recession, when in many areas jobs seem to be scarce and people are relieved just to be employed. They aren’t worried about enjoying the job or being fulfilled. In fact, many people hate what they do for a living. This attitude is a problem when we consider how much time we spend at work, at least a third of every workday. If we spend another third sleeping, there’s only a third left for enjoyment, ministry, and meaningful activity. It’s no wonder that many people feel as though their lives are meaningless.
In the midst of all this, however, I have good news--our work matters to God. In other words, it is possible to find meaning and purpose in our jobs, even though right now they may seem to be a waste of time. I’d like to explain at least part of what I mean. At the outset, I must credit a book published by NavPress with a similar title, Your Work Matters to God, for many of these ideas.

First of all, our work matters to God because work has intrinsic value. God, himself, is a worker--he created the universe; we read in the Old Testament how he worked in history, especially in the nation of Israel; he worked in and through Christ to redeem us; and through the Holy Spirit, he works today in us. Work also has intrinsic value because God created people as workers and as his coworkers. At creation, God gave Adam and Eve work to do in the garden, tending the garden, naming the animals, ruling the earth--it was a privilege, a gift--they would be partners with God. And this work assignment came before the fall. Work is not a curse--it is a blessing. God honors us by making us coworkers with him.

Second, our work matters to God because it has instrumental value. Through work we serve people; through work we meet our own needs; through work we meet our families’ needs; through work we earn money to give to others; through work we love God. Of course there is the reality of sin--we do live in a fallen world. In fact, at the fall the ground was cursed, so work became difficult. And because of the sin nature of all human beings, there will always be struggles with selfishness, corruption, twisted values, waste, poor treatment of workers, and illegitimate or trivial jobs. But we can honor and love God through our work, even in a fallen world. Remember that your work matters to God.

Requirements for Victory
by Charles R. Swindoll
1 John 5:4-7
According to Scripture, three things are required for spiritual victory: birth, faith, and truth. In order to enter into the ranks of the victorious, we must be "born of God." It occurs when I accept Jesus Christ as Savior.

Then comes faith. I draw upon the power that is in me. I no longer operate on the basis of human strength, but by faith. I rely upon divine power.

Then is truth. Everything is made possible by the truth, by believing the truth, by living the truth. Allow the truth to invade, reshape, and cultivate your life anew.

Tell me, have you had such a birth?
If so, are you operating in faith?
And the truth—is it the truth you are claiming?

If you've answered yes to all three questions, then it's time for action. Quit hiding behind those excuses! Stop telling yourself it's too late! It is never too late to start doing what is right. Start now. Trust me, you can move from the realm of defeat and discouragement to victory and hope if you will simply take action now.

Aim high.
Go hard after God.
Press on.
Everything is made possible by the truth.