Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4:28
“I’m not driven to make money. I am called to help others through my business endeavors, through my giving, and by the very fact that my service centers provide jobs. We teach our team members vital life skills. They learn to listen to customers, how to recover from setbacks, how to work with others, how to exceed expectations, and how to be empathetic. We impart positive work attitudes and habits. We try to provide our team with a university of life.”
Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy, The Generosity Factor: Discover the Joy of Giving Your Time, Talent, and Treasure (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002) 83-84. S. Truett Cathy was the founder of the Chick-Fil-A fast food chain.
A friend recently emailed me struggling linked to work. My friend’s supervisors and co-workers appear to be motivated by greed and “value extraction” (getting for self) rather than generosity and “value creation” (giving to others). Sound familiar? Perhaps you have been or are in a similar situation.
I gave four words of advice in reply: (1) Pray for the ungenerous people in your life to realize all Christ has done for them (this is a vital first step to shifting perspectives). (2) Discipline yourself to model in various ways the generosity you want others to exhibit. (3) Tell stories of generous business operators (Leaders at Chick-Fil-A attest that generosity is not just God’s design for us; it’s good business!). (4) Ask God to either deliver you from your situation or give you grace to endure it.
In Apostle Paul’s day, the financial capital of the ancient world was Ephesus. It’s not surprising that many people in that city worked for personal gain. Many did this despite the fact that value extraction for self was considered “stealing” in the ancient economic mindset. He wanted them to think and act differently, so he made it very clear saying that the purpose of work in God’s economy is not for getting, but for giving, or literally, to have something “to share with those in need.”
Though the modern cultural mindset says, “I earned the money, it’s mine.” God’s Word teaches us the opposite. Everything belongs to God and is entrusted to us as stewards to accomplish God’s purposes. Only when we abandon the world’s way of thinking (value extraction) and take hold of God’s design for us (value creation) do we become generous business operators and generous workers in God’s world.