CNN Talks About Faith in the Workplace

March 11th, 2008 | writing

In an article that reads a bit like a who’s who in the faith and work movement, CNN tells us what happens “When God goes to the office.”

Here are the high points:

Prayer has become more common in the workplace
Critics say religion is too personal and emotional for office
Lawsuits over workplace religious discrimination increasing

I also like this quote toward the end of the article. “Human resources consultant David Tulin thinks that’s good for business. Respectful employers often will retain the ‘best and the brightest’ workers, says Tulin, principal of Cincinnati-based Global Lead Management Consulting.”

With all of the God Delusion talk and God is not Great stuff–it’s nice to hear someone assume that the best and the brightest might also be people of faith.

Ironically, this article falls into the trap of thinking faith is all about regular church-y stuff. For people to take their faith to work, they have to be meeting in prayer groups or Bible studies or visiting the office chaplain or the company meditation room.

Can I get on a soapbox for a minute here? That’s where TheHighCalling.org and Christianity Today’s FaithInTheWorkplace.com really differ. We believe that taking your faith to work is more about your approach to work than any particular church activity you may carry with you to the office.

Which is easier–putting up crosses and verses in my work station? Or loving my coworkers as I love myself?

Viewing 7 Comments

Karl Edwards 7 months ago 1 point
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You know how frustrated I get by the prerequisite on the explicit use of bible-words or church-type activities at work in order to feel we have taken our "faith to the workplace."

Work itself is the topic. How we work. Why we work. To what ends we work. With whom do we work? etc. etc.

These questions address the core issue of the stewardship of our lives. A freedom and responsibility shared by every one of us.

The questions far out-number the answers.

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http://www.boldenterprises.com/

spaghettipie 7 months ago 1 point
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Thanks for linking to that article. As a former HR employee at Texas Instruments, I always found faith issues sticky. When faith is an integral part of your life, you can't check it at the door to your office. We can't expect our employees to separate their faith (and whatever actions that involves) from their work, yet at the same time, you can't have employees allowing their "faith" to distract them from completing their work tasks. That's why I love being associated with High Calling and your philosophy of work and faith.

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Marcus 7 months ago 1 point
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Karl, good to hear from you, man! Great post about Gutenberg over at Bold Enterprises.

Spaghettipie, I always enjoy hearing from you too. HR at TI, huh? That sounds very interesting. Your comment reminds me of a comment I read at Jesus Creed this morning from John Frye: We in the evangelical camp have turned witness into â€œteller of all things Gospel.â€ I believe witness is the â€œstoryâ€ we have about meeting God through Jesus. In many ways, John is beginning to get at something very important to TheHighCalling.org. Witness has as much to do with the quality of our work as it does the quantity of our Jesus talk. Maybe more.

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Marcus 7 months ago 1 point
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Also, spaghettipie mentioned "High Calling and your philosophy of work and faith." I wanted to clarify that philosophy originated with our President Howard Butt, Jr. I'm just glad that I got pulled into serving his vision.

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Heather Goodman 7 months ago 1 point
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Good stuff here. Again, I'll diatribe on the fallout of a separation of the spiritual and the physical. Oy vey.
Which is why I love what The High Calling does. It breaks down those barriers. Faith is physical. It's not something that can be relegated to any corner. If that's so, why did Jesus heal the sick? Why did he eat with the lonely? Why did he feed the hungry? Why on earth (yes, I use that phrase purposefully) did he physically raise from the dead? Jesus models a life of faith that is holistic.
Okay, done with diatribe #4,782. I'll let you have your soapbox back.

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Marcus 7 months ago 1 point
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Heather, you said, "Why on earth... did he physically raise from the dead?" So now, I'm wondering why I've never really asked that question. Why did the resurrection need to be physical?

You know, this is one of the reasons I love zombies. Not that Jesus was a zombie mind you, but the inversion of resurrection helps clarify the idea of resurrection.

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David Rupert 6 months ago 1 point
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This CNN piece actually missed the boat. It was about accomodation -- which is really at he bottom of my 'faith at work' thinking.

I blogged about it at:
http://redletterbelievers.blogspot.com/2008/03/...

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