Case Studies
THE CASE OF THE CHRISTIAN GHETTO
Lion’s Den Situation:
I work as a media production coordinator for a Christian ministry. Lately I’ve been feeling frustrated in my work because the quality standards (not to mention the production budgets) in Christian organizations are so much lower than they are in secular companies. As a Christian, I feel that what I’m doing here is important. But as a craftsperson, I feel that I am compromising my abilities and failing to live up to my full potential.
Would I be wrong to leave this ministry and try my wings in a secular company? My colleagues feel that this would be "selling out"—many have told me that my work would no longer "count for God."
—J.M.
Christian Solution:
Our first reply comes from the lateTully Fletcher, who, at the time this article was written was President of American International Furniture in Durham, NC. Mr. Fletcher spent the early years of his working life with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
First of all, I’m not so sure that there’s a necessary connection between low budgets and poor quality. If you want to stay with this ministry, you need to learn to do a good job within their limitations. It’s more challenging to be creative and do good work with less than to have resources ad infinitum tossed in your lap. Perhaps you could cut down on quantity in order to put what little money you have into quality.
If that’s not realistic, however, then I would advise you to work creatively with the people there to see how you can raise more money to do your work properly. Whatever you do, don’t sit idly by—take the initiative and do something to improve your situation.
Having said that, however, I don’t think for one minute that your craft would be any less honoring to God if it were practiced within a secular organization. The world doesn’t revolve around evangelical Christians—the entire human race was created in the image of God. And any work that serves humanity is honoring to Him.
If you look at your work from this larger perspective, you’ll realize that you can experience a sense of mission and fulfillment by serving humanity at large, in a way that transcends our traditional ideas of what constitutes a "ministry."
For example, my company sells furniture, and one of my duties is very much like yours—overseeing an advertising production budget of around half a million dollars. But I don’t feel that this activity is un-Christian—in fact, I derive great satisfaction from knowing that what I’m selling improves the quality of people’s lives.
A word of warning though. Not all secular vocations are created equal. There are some that are truly detrimental to humanity and would definitely not "count for God." If I were you, for example, I would never put my media production skills to work for a cigarette company, or a brewery, or a questionable magazine, etc.
Finally, if you do decide to leave your ministry, please don’t abandon your religious service work altogether. While some in the church are "called to be evangelists" some are also called to be craftspeople—and your gift is particularly valuable to the modern church as it struggles to communicate in a high-tech age. So perhaps you could continue to make your services available to churches and ministries whenever you can, on a freelance basis.
Our next reply comes from Ginnie Tiffan, who, at the time this article was written, was an Order Support Clerk, with Sun Data computer company in Atlanta. Previously, Ms. Tiffan spend several years with a prominent parachurch organization.
Not all Christian ministries have low standards. In fact, secular companies are beginning to acknowledge that they have much to learn from non-profit ministries, such as learning how to spend within their budgets. It’s encouraging to know the Christian voice is being heard.
However, there are places of ministry, like yours, where the standards are indeed sub-normal. The first question you raise is one of integrity and personal responsibility to your "craft."
What comes to mind are the many scriptures which have to do with things like loving God with our whole being (not compromising), investing/increasing our talents (full potential), and basically living life to the hilt (abundantly).
How this transfers to the workplace is obvious. Any environment that subtracts from these principles is unbiblical, because it forces us to live a life that is not abundant. Any workplace (even a Christian one) that accepts mediocrity without confrontation, for instance, represents a movement away from God, or what God wants for us—i.e. moving away from doing work that is "good." (Genesis 1)
A Christian world view as it relates to the workplace, in other words, is one that causes movement towards God.... in ability, integrity, and responsibility. It’s a place of ministry, whether explicitly Christian or not. The Gospel pushes and pulls us to be the best we can be without compromise. The next obvious question if whether or not the secular workplace can be a context for the Christian’s growth or whether it is just a sell-out, not counting for God. Based on your work description, it seems that you are already "selling out" and doing work that might not be counting for God (however important) if it is compromised and not up to your full potential.
To try your wings in a secular company could lead to more significant ministry, if, in fact, it allows you to meet your full potential both professionally and spiritually. By being expected to perform well, often against exacting standards, you will undoubtedly be in touch with the struggles not only of your craft but of your mind, attitudes, emotions and values. In wrestling with who you are and what you believe, you have the potential to model Jesus in ways you might not have experienced elsewhere. Is this not what it means to be salt and light?
If Jesus had disdained to mingle with the marketplace, living a life of power and authority (which every believer has), one could wonder if His work would have "counted for God." Christ didn’t sell out or compromise; He lived to His full potential. And He continues to call others to take up their cross and follow him. I suspect you are one who has heard His call. And just as Jesus stood up to the Pharisees, you must find the courage to confront colleagues who may never have ears to hear.
In The Lions Den, Marketplace Networks, Fall 1989, pages 4, 5
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