How have you been counter-cultural?

The last time someone asked you "How are you doing?" how did you answer? I'm betting it was something like, "Man, I'm just so busy." Doesn't that offer frightening insight into our culture and ambitions?

The number of hours we work, the amount of money we make, the stuff we own have all become badges of honor we wear proudly for the world to see while they slowly eat away at us on the inside. I wonder how things would be different if we started "bragging" about different things. What if instead of "I put in 90 hours last week," I told people "I had an unbelievable weekend with my wife?" What if instead of "I bought a new 42" plasma," I told people "I just got rid of our cable?"

In the comments to last week's post, Greg said, "I am happy to say I've never missed a birthday or sonogram appointment in the 10 years I've been in consulting." Awesome. We need to hear about more men doing these kinds of things.

This forum is certainly no substitute for real, face-to-face, intimate community (I truly hope each of us is searching for Godly community at work -- I talked to a guy about praying in the office on Fridays...only took me 3 years to do that) but I do think we can accomplish some things via blog. Namely the exchange of ideas. So that's what I want to do this week -- open it up for you to offer advice/encouragement/examples of practical, counter-cultural things we can strive for at work and at home. Examples may include refusing to miss birthdays, spending more time with our families, selling our stuff and giving sacrificially to the Church and the poor. If you have done counter-cultural things at work or with your money, tell us what/how/why. Give us Scripture to think about.

I'm hoping that by knowing some of the other things you guys have done, things we should consider in our own lives, we'd be encouraged to live more obediently, more simply, more generously. An amazing result of that lifestyle would be the opportunity to then speak counter-culturally in everyday conversation.

How can we get started?

How do we forge real community at work?

I am a consultant and two of the prominent aspects of my job are 1) I work long hours and, 2) I travel. The crazy thing is, those two aspects of my job (aspects I have openly mocked and criticized) have gradually become more justifiable. I mean, everyone I work with does it and I have to pay the mortgage, right?

It amazes me how I begin to define my world by the people around me. What's right, what's true, what people are like, what God is like. It's not necessarily something I do intentionally, it just kinda happens. The people around us have an unbelievably powerful effect on shaping who we are, what we believe, and what we do.

But I see truly frightening examples of men drinking the corporate Kool-Aid and the damage that inflicts on their lives and families. And I see vulnerability in myself that I may soon follow directly in their footsteps. Take Dennis (names masked to protect the guilty). He recently missed his daughter's birthday because he was out of town. He was going to let her open her presents early the next morning after he got into town, but he had to be at a meeting early.

Or take Peter. Peter's wife is pregnant with their first child and she called him while he was traveling so he could listen to the heartbeat for the first time on his cell phone.

Now take me. I am sitting in a hotel room halfway across the country from my wife seeking to provide for her financially but reducing our daily interaction to a 30 minute phone call. When I started this job, I had all kinds of ideals that I have gradually violated, one after the other, until I feel like some aspects of my character are virtually unrecognizable. How did I get here? It was a slow process guided by the people with whom I chose to surround myself.

Last week, The Dude talked about being "the light of the world" at work, being a "city on a hill" shining our individual lights collectively into the darkness. I have friends I hang with and talk with weekly about this stuff but I think there is something different about having community with other Christians at work. And I suck immensely at intentionally seeking that community at work. Somewhere along the line I bought into the lie that I have to do the work of God at Deloitte myself, that it's up to me, that I am alone in my struggles here.

I think there are two primary reasons I personally haven't sought real, Christ-centered community at work:

1) The times I've tried, I've experienced a fellowship that is too cheeseball "Christian." It's reading a Bible passage with a bunch of people I don't know and trying to force community. Or it's sharing prayer requests over email with people I have never and probably will never meet. Maybe I'm too cynical, but those just feel so contrived...

2) When I have actually thought about my need for real, intimate community at work, I get discouraged by the thought that I don't know if there are even any other "real" Christians out there.

So how can we find this community? How can we identify other Christians at work? How can we engage in relationships based on prayer and encouragement? Really, how do we do these things? How can I do them? I can dream of a day when another dude and I will meet before work each week to pray for each other, to pray for other people in the office, to discuss our struggles, to challenge each other to invest more in our families than in our work, etc. but I feel totally lost in terms of taking that first step...please, ideas would be much appreciated.

How can we be the light of the world?

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

How many times have you heard the idea that we are called to "the light of the world"? How many times have you heard it used in terms of the workplace, i.e. "I'm just trying to be a light at the workplace"?

I generally don't like it when people say things like this. There are a few reasons:

• Jesus is talking to a group of people. He is not addressing one person.
• He references a city, which, to me, signifies a way of life, a system of smaller parts working together for a greater cause.

First, I think that we need to recognize that I am not the light of the world, and YOU are not the light of the world, but rather WE are the light of the world. It is in this WE-ness that the light of the world is actually shown to men. Second, and connected to the first point, is that Jesus' reference to a 'city' is not to be taken as just a good metaphor. I think we need to be thinking of the Kingdom of God, the city in the Book of Revelation that descends from heaven to earth. And, like I said, a city is a place where people INTERACT with each other and have a certain way of life.

So what's my point? Well, we are called to be the 'light of the world.' And we are called to be 'light' in the workplace. But we cannot do that alone because one man does not make a city. So being the 'light' implies doing life with other Christians in a way that can be displayed for all to see. And the city we are is a city that lives under the rule of God. So at work, are you in relationships that display who God is? Relationships that show care for each other, involvement in each other's lives, sacrificial living on behalf of each other? Relationships that, like the city of God, are under God's rule and care that allow us to point to something greater than ourselves?

What are other people saying about this stuff?

I have run across several articles recently that made me think of you guys and the blog:

• USA Today: "Generation Y's goal? Wealth and fame"
  The most important life goal for 18-25 year olds is to be rich (81%). Second most important is to be famous (51%). Last is to become more spiritual (10%). 30% of this group also said money/debt is their biggest problem. In 1967, the most popular life goal was "developing a meaningful philosophy of life."
• EthicsDaily.com: "Baptist Pastoral Letter Calls Wal-Mart to be 'Golden Rule' Company"
  In December, a group of Baptist pastors and leaders wrote a letter challenging Wal-Mart to to become a "Golden Rule" company, saying the company's practices conflict with "pro-family values like justice and responsibility." The pastors say that responsibility includes:
  -- Fair-living wages, not poverty-level wages.
  -- Generous health care benefits, not eliminating low-deductible health care plans.
  -- Decent places to work that treat women with dignity and equality.
  -- Respectful schedules for children in school.
  -- Good benefits for sound retirements.
  PS -- there was an interesting article on Wal-Mart's new labor scheduling software in last week's Wall Street Journal
• CNN: "Christian CEO brings faith into workplace"
  A blog entry by Anderson Cooper about the environment created by an overtly evangelical guy who is the CEO of a construction company in Tampa, Florida. The comments below the blog post are amazing.
• LetJusticeRoll.org: Website dedicated to providing workers with a "living wage"
  This website, sponsored in part by Sojourners, discusses the necessity for raising the minimum wage. Apparently the House passed an increase today.

Disclaimer: don't assume I/we agree with everything in these articles or on these websites. I'm linking them for their relevance more than their position.

More articles and/or opinions are certainly welcome…

How are we oppressing the poor and giving to the rich?

He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth
and he who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.
Proverbs 22:16

A simple statement that begs simple questions and demands simple answers.

1. Are you oppressing the poor to increase your wealth?
2. Are you giving gifts to the rich?

Some of our conversations about fair-trade coffee, local produce, and global economies have brought to our attention the ways in which we might be implicated in oppressive economic practices. I think that we must take these questions seriously in both our behavior as businessmen and also as consumers in our American economic system. Too many of us, myself being guiltier than most, have blindly followed our culture in deciding how to do business, what to buy, and what to care about. By not being Christians first--that is, putting the cross of Christ at the center of what we do while looking forward with hope towards the resurrected Jesus--we have compromised ourselves for the sake of security, nationalism, wealth, celebrity, etc. We must seriously question our economic practices while living in the midst of a culture blind to the suffering in the world.

As for question number 2, "Am I giving gifts to the rich?", I want to use this to question our motives for business. What is my business for? What is its purpose? Personally, I think business should exist to fill the real needs of a community. I don't think we should be creating needs, like fashion trends for example, in order to succeed at the business of selling clothes. Nor do I think we should we tell children what makes them cool and profit off of the sale of goods to them. My gifts as a human being should be used to work for the sustainability and preservation of the community I am a member of. So am I giving my gifts to the rich? This one is hard for me to deal with because much of the business I used to be a part of was appeasing already wealthy clients in order to keep business strong (hopefully every time they drink out of their PricewaterhouseCoopers coffee mug they will think to call upon that great professional advisory firm for all their business consulting needs). But more than that, what about my own gifts as a creature of God? Am I using my economic brilliance (I am of course not speaking of myself here) to put money in the pockets of already wealthy executives? Or am I using that God-given gift to subvert the system and empower the poor?

While not trying to be dogmatic about any of the proverbs we must still take them seriously and try to listen to their wisdom. The writer warns us that both of the above practices will lead to poverty. What kind of poverty? How are we to think through this as Christians in business?