Who's doing the transforming?
- First, as a continuation of last week's question about Philip Morris, I saw several (all?) cartons of cigarettes in Ireland with a huge warning in big black letters (probably took up 25% of the front of the packaging) saying simply: "SMOKING KILLS."
- Second, on the flight to Dublin, we boarded the flight (2 hours delayed) and then were delayed another hour and a half due to a "problem with the generator." Many of the passengers on the flight were connecting in Chicago to London. After the generator delay, a flight attendant announced that all of the London passengers would miss their connection and they had been rebooked on a flight for Saturday (this was Thursday). When one passenger asked whether American Airlines would reimburse him for having to stay in Chicago for two nights, the flight attendant said, "No, I'm sorry, we don't reimburse for weather delays." That just straight hacked me off. We were clearly delayed by the malfunctioning generator and American Airlines' policy is to compensate for inconveniences caused by mechanical problems. The problem was, I used to travel for a living so I knew the policy -- the passenger asking the question clearly was flying for the first time so he was going to get screwed.
- Third, at the Avis desk, the agent asked the customer in line in front of me whether he wanted the "gas option." This essentially means "Do you want to pay for a full tank of gas now?" In other words, it's a total rip off disguised as convenience ("You can just return the car...don't worry about filling it up") -- the only way you even break even is if you return the car completely empty (and often their price per gallon is higher than average). Again, I knew this because of my job but I'm sure many unsuspecting tourists buy into the "convenience" pitch and throw away money. And companies like Avis are happy to take that money.
So my question is this: what happens to people when they become employees that they cease being human beings and morph into revenue-generating/cost-cutting robots with no love for their brothers and sisters?
This is probably a better way to ask the question I was attempting to ask last week. I realize that my previous question (and others before that) pointed more toward action than heart, suggesting that a line can be drawn between "good" and "bad" actions. Even if a line can be drawn (the law) that is not the message of Jesus. Let's talk about motivation, about a heart that is being sanctified to become more like Jesus. How can we reconcile the call to conform to the character of Jesus with motivation of companies like the ones highlighted above?
This is not theoretical -- if you're like me, you face this conflict every day.
posted by Matthew at 7:16 PM
7 Comments:
It would seem that our ability to divorce ethics from our business practices proportionally rises as the chance of ever meeting the client you are profiting from decreases.
What if the church were to transform the Philip Morris' of the world or the Frito Lays' of the world not by infiltrating their ranks but by living out a communal counter-option? Is our goal that either company would become "christian?" Do we even know what that would look like? If we achieved success, then we would end up standing back and praising a company for their good morals or ethical leadership. Dont get me wrong, encouraging ethical standards for large corporations should happen. However, what if we as the church committed more aggressively to local economies by investing in them directly?
I guess what I'm suggesting is that if the church is going to smoke, we should roll our own cigarettes or buy the ones our friends make. We should fry our own chips or buy the local brand. And if these seem impractical or extremist we should at least allow our imaginations the opportunity to ponder what faithfulness might lead us towards...
I think a counter-question could be "should the church even bother attempting to transform big business?" Is that really our call? We cannot ever presume that Jesus' context when He called us "salt" and "light" was that of big business so lets not too quickly go "there."
Dave,
I love your comment about distance between us and clients/customers/employees. Dan made a similar point on the last post we ought to discuss...
On this vein, however, I struggle with the question of pursuing ministry by "infiltrating their ranks" vs. "living out a communal counter-option." First, are the two entirely mutually exclusive? Second, is this perspective too "us vs. them?" We are all in need of the gospel. And third, what are we to do with Scripture like Matthew 10:16 where Jesus is sending out the disciples, saying "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
The struggle in my own heart is whether I can accept the yoke of Big Business' authority while maintaining true to the character of God...but I don't wrestle with whether to live with or separate from "wolves." One of the points I was trying to convey in this post was that Big Business is just a bunch of people...and yes, I think we are called to take the Good News to even these. From God's first interaction with mankind to Jesus' presence on earth to the Holy Spirit's work today, I don't see how we can see being "separate" as a Biblically-consistent option. I'm not sure that's what you're suggesting so I wanted to clarify...
Matt:
Some thoughts embedded in your thoughts...dont read the caps as yelling, just as voice change.
You wrote:
I struggle with the question of pursuing ministry by "infiltrating their ranks" vs. "living out a communal counter-option." First, are the two entirely mutually exclusive?
I THINK THAT IT IS POSSIBLE THAT ITS NOT AN EITHER/OR BUT A BOTH/AND. COULD IT BE THAT WE ARE TO BE IN AND NOT OF (EMPHASIS ON THE "AND", MEANING "AT THE SAME TIME") THE WORLD? SOMEHOW WE ARE TO DO THE WORK OF CHRIST IN THE WAY OF CHRIST...NOT COMPRIMISING EITHER.
Second, is this perspective too "us vs. them?" We are all in need of the gospel.
YES. I HOPE IT IS ENOUGH "US VS THEM" THAT THE GOSPEL WILL STILL BE GOOD NEWS AND THAT THE CHURCH WILL BE RECOGNIZABLY "OTHER" THAN THE WORLD. OF COURSE THE "VS" COMES WITH A HOST OF JUNK ATTACHED. NOT A VIOLENT OR HATEFUL "OTHER THAN" BUT A REFRESHING, HOPEFUL "OTHER THAN" THE WORLD.
And third, what are we to do with Scripture like Matthew 10:16 where Jesus is sending out the disciples, saying "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
COULD WISDOM REQUIRE HOLDING FIRM TO OUR IDENTITY BY A STRONG COMMITMENT TO AND ALLEGIENCE WITH THE CHURCH? HE SENT THEM WITHOUT SHOES OR BELONGINGS INTO THE CENTER OF TOWN AND SAID THAT THEY SHOULD STAY WITH THOSE WHO RECEIVE THEM (IN SPITE OF THEIR DRESS AS BEGGARS). THEY WERE SENT AS HE WAS SENT, WITHOUT WORLDLY ATTRACTION. I TRULY DONT KNOW HOW WE ARE TO RECONCILE THIS WITH LIFE IN THE MARKETPLACE. I THINK WE NEED TO BE WILLING TO TAKE OFF WESTERN LENSES AND TO SUBMIT OURSELVES TO THE COMMUNAL AND IMAGINATIVE DISCERNMENT OF THOSE JOURNEYING WITH US IN THE CHURCH.
The struggle in my own heart is whether I can accept the yoke of Big Business' authority while maintaining true to the character of God...but I don't wrestle with whether to live with or separate from "wolves." One of the points I was trying to convey in this post was that Big Business is just a bunch of people...and yes, I think we are called to take the Good News to even these.
YES...UNLESS THE GOOD NEWS HAPPENS TO SPEAK DIRECTLY AGAINST THE GOALS OF BIG BUSINESS, IN WHICH CASE, IM NOT SURE IF YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU PROPOSE WITHOUT BEING FIRED.
From God's first interaction with mankind to Jesus' presence on earth to the Holy Spirit's work today, I don't see how we can see being "separate" as a Biblically-consistent option. I'm not sure that's what you're suggesting so I wanted to clarify...
YES...IF SEPARATE MEANS "IN HIDING." HOWEVER, IF SEPARATE MEANS "HOLY, SET APART..." THAN THE SCRIPTURES AFFIRM NOTHING SHORT OF THIS. CREATION AFFIRMS MANKIND'S UNIQUE RELATION TO GOD, SO UNIQUE THAT OUR ARROGANCE COULD BREAK THE MAN/GOD RELATIONSHIP. GOD'S REDEMPTIVE STRATEGY THROUGHOUT THE SCRIPTURES, CHRIST INCLUDED, WAS TO SELECT SOME, AND SET THEM APART, SO THAT ALL THE OTHERS WOULD BE BLESSED (ISRAEL THEN, THE CHURCH NOW). I THINK THE REAL TASK IS TO REDEFINE SEPARATE IN A WAY THAT IS NOT SO "IN HIDING'.
THOUGHTS?
are dave and dhh the same person?
i agree with dhh (and dave?) about the idea of separateness, us vs. them, and 'being in but not of'. We tend to think far too simplistically about these sorts of things. Everyone's first reaction is typically to bring up the sectarian temptation. And it is very real. But if we are missionally focused and open to the creative power of the Spirit, hopefully we can overcome this temptation--along with the temptations of power, control, and violence.
I completely agree. Living in the South, I hear too many stories of Christians destroying others with their self-righteous attitude. Two different people recently told me similar stories of being invited to church, choosing not to go, and being subsequently shunned by that "Christian." In both cases, this experience left deep wounds that still haven't healed. Maybe everyone reading this blog agrees that "us vs. them" represents a call to lead by grace-filled holiness, but I'm afraid many of us -- certainly me -- perpetuate the self-righteous stereotype that belittles God and cripples others.
Both dhh and the dude noted the creativity and imaginative discernment that ought to come with intimacy with the Spirit and community. I would be interested to hear examples of how that has played out in your lives -- maybe seeing some examples that contrast our "western lenses" would help us to be more imaginative in our own communities.
Dave is dhh. That may or may not be cleared up by this post.
Examples...gosh I do a whole lot more pontificating about this than living it.
I would say that we are on a trajectory towards community living. Whether that means shared space or just proximity / shared neighborhood, that is to be determined. However, having the ability to share life, things, thoughts without "making plans" seems to be a foreign thing in our current culture.
Living in a city, I am amazed at how many people I have close proximity to but how few I have intimacy with.
From that place, a place of connectedness, and to some degree covenanted-ness (word?) I hope that we could imagine together invite our neighborhood to taste and experience the way of the kingdom with us.
I saw this article recently about community gardens and thought it was a cool, very practical way for us to initiate the kind of connectedness Dave discusses.
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