How to survive at work

So like nearly everyone out there, I work in an organization that is not openly Christian. This includes pretty most all workplaces except churches, Christian schools, and the occasional bookstore. How do we make it through the day, hold fast to our faith, and yet maintain the impartiality that is required for our career?

I will admit to often having a hard time with this. Where I work we have a tight-knit group, folks that I really consider friends, not just co-workers. So, we tend to have some conversations that go well past the weather and the latest ludicrous decisions of those running our organization. (Although management bashing is a fun pastime, isn't it?) When the discussion gets to religion, as it often does, I am the token Christian in the group, and expected to provide many answers to some difficult questions. I work among scientists who tend towards atheism, although many are "practicing" Jews and Muslims. I say "practicing" because there is clearly no faith, only tradition and behaviors. (This they openly admit.) How do I explain faith to scientists? Faith is this thing you can never see, never prove, only sometimes feel, and yet you always have. Just typing that out almost confuses me.

I struggle the most with defending my beliefs when confronted by the strongest objectors to religion. Like when people make absolute claims such as "there is no God." They don't seem to understand that making such a statement requires as much or more faith in science than any Christian has in God.

Mostly I live by the overused motto that actions speak louder than words. It does no good to get angry or defensive. To scientists who need to see to believe, I try my best to show them what faith can do. I can't describe this very well other than to say that it is simply an attitude I try to exhibit every day, all the time, an attitude the I hope Jesus approves of. Peace (shalom, really). Turning the other cheek. Self-sacrifice. Genuine care and concern for others. It's all there in the Bible. Do I always succeed? It would be arrogant to say yes. Do I always try my best? Yes, it is the least I can do compared to Jesus who did so much for me and you.

Do you share some of these struggles? How do you overcome them?

Shalom.

Shalom

Why "shalom" as a sign-off? Shalom is Hebrew for something like "peace unto you." But I think it is more than we typically mean when we would say that in English. (At least American English, apologies to my friends across the pond.)

In English, peace generally means an absence of war. The first three definitions of peace from www.thefreedictionary.com are:

1. The absence of war or other hostilities.

2. An agreement or a treaty to end hostilities.

3. Freedom from quarrels and disagreement; harmonious relations.


Shalom conveys a much deeper experience. Shalom is the peace of God that envelopes and surrounds you. It isn't that you are not at war with your neighbor, but rather that you are at peace with yourself and with God. I can't say it any better than this:

Saying shalom purposefully means to offer a peace treaty, a pledge to live for the other’s well-being, a covenant to desire and seek the good life of God’s favor together. (1)

So be at peace, and of course, Shalom!


(1) Metzler, James E. From Saigon to Shalom. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1985. Found in an article by Peter Kroeker on www.directionjournal.org

The Power of Media

I just finished a book called "The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture" by Shane Hipps. The subtitle of this is How media shapes faith, the gospel, and church. The book relies heavily on the writings of a prolific philosopher-author name Marshall McCluhan. If you had to summarize the book in five words, it would be The Medium is the Message.

While this observation is hardly new, Hipps lays out the evolution of modern communication systems and constantly comes back to the Church whenever an application or example is useful. I use the capitalized "Church" on purpose here, because many of the issues need to be applied to we the Church, the body of Christ, as well as individual churches and congregations.

The fundamental risk we take when introducing technology into the Church, whether into the actual worship service or elsewhere, is this: it is extremely challenging to avoid changing the message - the Gospel - when presenting that message using new technology. Hipps is not a Luddite, so we shouldn't discount this as someone who simply objects to a projection screen in the sanctuary. But we should recognize that once we have the ability to project videos with high quality sound, we have to make sure that the message is not contradicted by the very technology we apply. The best (really the worst) example of this is on p 151. A pastor preaches on the importance of emphasizing character over talent. The well-rehearsed, dramatic, message was being broadcast live to satellite congregations at two "off campus" locations. The impersonal performance experienced by the remote groups precisely contradicted the message itself.

There are a few other fascinating tidbits in this book. One I have to highlight is the concept of church governance by consensus. The idea here is that big decisions are brought before the entire congregation and and a unanimous vote is required for passage. This has the remarkable effect of distributing the power to all the people and simultaneously concentrating all the power in every person. I can't convince you that this is every going to work without retyping several pages of the book, so this will have to do (p136):

The effect is a paradoxical one. Each person in the room is given the full power and authority to stop a decision or action being taken by the congregation. Because everyone in the room has all the power, no one is jockeying for power - they already have it. In an unexpected way this nurtures caution and humility in the people. It minimizes hidden agendas and breeds a deep commitment to unity.

There are examples that follow of some amazing consequences and results from this method.

Overall, this was a really good read. There are a lot of issues here that everyone in any modern church setting needs to consider - especially those involved in leading worship.

Thanks for stopping by. Shalom.

The Internet

This is just for internet geeks. Here is a really cool map of the way that IP addresses are distributed both numerically and geographically. I'll admit I like maps, and just like all good maps, you can stare at this one anytime and learn something new about something. In this case, among other things, you will be reminded that the US has a lot of control of the internet, or at least we did in the beginning. A small handful of major US high-tech firms have more addressing capability the the entire third world combined.

I guess things are OK for now. That is, until I can't get an IP address for my toaster.