Working Out Our Integrity (Sep 14, 08)
Message: Work M2 September 14, 2008
Title: Working Out Our Integrity
Ken Shigematsu and Jennifer Tong
Text: Col. 3:22-24; Daniel 1:1-16, Daniel 6:1-11
Big Idea: Work shapes who we are and who we are will last on into the world to come.
When I was in high school I played quarterback on the football team.
(I know I don’t look like a typical football player—but the pads make you look a little bigger and the black ink under your eyes can make look a little meaner).
When I was in high school, the game was played differently than today. As a quarterback, I was able to call about 90% of my own plays. I think today most of the offensive calls are made by the coach, but back in the 1980s when I was in high school, I was making most of the calls on the field. In the huddle there were always suggestions, of course, from my teammates as to what play to call--usually a play that would involve them getting the ball. So I would lean into the huddle, listen to the chatter for a moment, and then call the play, usually a 44 power dive because we had a great running back that could gain 4-6 yards a pop on that play.
During that year of football, not only did I enjoy the game, but I also learned some lessons about making decisions in a limited time frame when there were many voices. I learned something about managing the expectations of teammates. About noticing when they did well or could have done something better. I didn’t do this by any means perfectly--I made lots of mistakes that season, but I also learned a lot.
One of the great values of sports (and of course other extra-curricular activities like music or art) is that it gives you, not just a literal playing field, but a metaphorical playing field to learn to work with others and to develop your character.
We began a series here last week on how our faith relates to our work. Last Sunday we talked about how our work can become truly fulfilling when we understand that through our work, we are co-creating the things that God intended to bring into the world.
Today we are going to look at how work can be a playing field for us to grow our character so that we reflect more of the character of God.
We are not static beings—we become who we are as a result of our work. And who we are lasts on into eternity. If you work day after day as a plumber or a publisher that shapes who you are—and who you are will last on into eternity.
Last week we talked about how God uses us to get his work done.
Today we’re going to look how God uses work to get us done.
Work shapes who we are and who we will last on into the world to come.
Today we’re going to see how this was true in Daniel’s life.
Daniel was a character in the Bible who was a man of remarkable integrity, courage, and wisdom. He’s described in the Bible as a man with an excellent spirit. What a wonderful thing to have said of you by God, “You have an excellent spirit.”
If we were to think of a modern equivalent to Daniel—we might think of Nelson Mandela. Mandela has integrity, courage, wisdom and is a member of an oppressed people group.
Daniel is a great spiritual athlete.
How did he become this way?
As far as we know, Daniel was single and never had any children of his own (so he doesn’t have refining fire in that marriage and children can be in a person’s life).
Daniel becomes a great spiritual athlete in part because of the challenges he faces as a student and as working person.
Let me give you a little more background on Daniel, as he may be new to some of you.
As a young man Daniel’s homeland of Judah (the southern state of Israel) was besieged by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. In about the year 600 BC Daniel and a number of his contemporaries were deported from Judah (the southern state of Israel) to Babylon.
He was brought to Babylon as a potential leader in the Babylonian Empire. He was sent to the best university in his new realm. We have UBC here; they had UB, the University of Babylon.
While at the University of Babylon, Daniel and his Hebrew friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were seen as such great potential leaders that they had great privileges, much like a star football player might have at the USC or a star basketball player might have at Duke. When they were given some sumptuous meals to eat as part of the full-ride they were receiving at UB, the text tells us in verse 8 that Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
The likely reason why Daniel likely refused the food from the king’s table was that the sumptuous food that he and his classmates were being offered had first been offered to the Babylonian gods, and for Daniel to eat that food would have violated his conscience.
It may also have been that eating food from the king’s table was a sign in Daniel’s culture that he was accepting the lordship of the King Nebuchadnezzar. By refusing the food, Daniel refuses to acknowledge the king as a lord over him, and instead is able to demonstrate through his actions that the Lord God is his God.
Daniel and his three Hebrew friends courageously refused on eat at the King’s table and instead ate a simple diet of vegetables to eat and water to drink (and ended up, with God’s help being healthier and better nourished than any of the other young men who ate the royal food).
This challenging trial no doubt strengthened Daniels spiritual muscles as an athlete for God.
Some years after graduation, and now under the reign of the new king Darius, Daniel was promoted and became one of the 3 leading governors in the whole Babylonian Empire--a remarkable achievement as a member of a looked-down-upon, minority group. Daniel as I said, is described as a man having an excellent spirit with great integrity and wisdom, a leader we might associate in our own day with Nelson Mandela…
But, Daniel’s government colleagues were envious of him and tried to get some dirt on him, but they were unable to find any. So they decided to set a trap for him. They went to the king and appealed to his vanity and encouraged him by saying, in Daniel 6: “Oh, King Darius, live forever.” And then they urged him (verse 7) to pass an edict that would make it illegal for anyone to pray to any god or human being for the next 30 days, except to the king. The king was flattered by this idea and decreed the law (the punishment for breaking this law would be death at the mouths of hungry lions). When Daniel learned that this law had been published, he nonetheless went home to his upstairs room where the window was open towards Jerusalem.
We read in vs. 10: 10 Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.
And so the men who were trying to trap Daniel witnessed him praying to the living God, and brought the matter to the king. Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions, but God sent the angel of the Lord to protect him.
This past Tuesday a black bear attacked a fisherman aboard a powerboat at the Port Renfrew marina. Bruce Miller saw what was happening and sprang into action. He ran out of his boat, I grabbed his fishing gaff -- my halibut gaff--a pole with hook on it went after the bear… others came to help with gaffs, a hammer and filleting knife and the man was saved. We admire people who are willing to risk their lives to save others.
Daniel was willing to risk his life for God…
And Daniel’s courage muscles as an athlete get powerfully developed through this drama.
(Transition) It’s possible to face great challenges as a student and at our work and simply experience a meltdown. Daniel could have caved in and eaten at the king’s table or not prayed.
So what are some of practices that enable Daniel to flourish and not flop as student and worker so that he was able to become a great spiritual athlete for God?
One of the practices Daniel had that enabled him to flourish and become a spiritual athlete as a student and in the workplace was resolution before God to be a person of integrity.
In Daniel 1: 8 we read: 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
We see Daniel resolving not to defile himself with the royal food and wine that been sacrificed to the Babylonian gods.
Part of way God gets us “done” through our work is by placing in us a desire and vision to be people of integrity.
Don Flow is Christian businessman who owns some car dealerships in North Carolina, and through a self-study at their company he discovered that the Caucasian males were getting the best deals on cars and minority women the worst deals.
A study was done with people who were posing as customers at car dealerships and reported by Malcolm Gladwell who writes for the New Yorker--some white men, some white women, some black women and some black men. After lengthy negotiations the black men still ended up with a price that was nearly $800 more than what the white men were offered without having to negotiate at all!
So Don Flow realized that black men and women, many of whom were of lower income, were in effect subsidizing the car purchases of Caucasian males because they were paying more than the market value of the cars, and therefore white males could purchase the cars for less than the market value.
Don, a follower of Christ, felt convicted to stop this and fix a fair market price the cars for everyone—men, women, white, minorities. Don said, “As a Christian I believe we have to be willing to sacrifice some financial profit in order to fulfill justice.” The workers, even those who were not Christians agreed.
And they found that when they implemented this practice of a fixed price for everyone, their profits dropped by 10%, as Caucasian males tended to shop elsewhere. The employees talked about this profit loss and the same issue came up as to whether to stop this new practice of fixing prices and to go to the old system, since the new system was hurting their bottom line.
The employees agreed that what they were doing was right and began to implement best practices in terms of business and become more effective and efficient. After some months with best practices they were able to reduce their profit loss to 5%, relative to what they had before they had the policy. As far as I know, they did not completely close the gap. But the employees are proud to be part of the company, and they realize they are pressing value back into the community as people save money, and through these practices the people in the company become people of greater integrity and justice.
But this process of character change began because Don and his colleagues resolved to do what was right, even though it cost them the goodwill of certain customers and financially.
Like Daniel and Don, when we resolve to the right thing, with God’s help we can become the spiritual athletes who grow through the challenges we face at work and school.
Second, Daniel is able to flourish as a spiritual athlete and not flop because he has friends who share his values and trust in God.
When Daniel was tested at the University of Babylon by being offered the food that had been sacrificed to the gods, he consulted with his friends and they talked about it, and no doubt prayed together, and decided to band together and decline the food from the king’s table. Later in his life, when Daniel is called upon by the king to interpret the dreams of the king had that the magicians and the chanters cannot decipher, Daniel turns to his friends for support and asks then to pray.
As a new parent I was a little disturbed to come across this finding. According to research cited by Judith Harris in her book, The Nurture Assumption, the peer group, more than the parents, of a child is the most important shaper of his or her psyche. She says for example, children of immigrants learn the language of their home country with ease and speak with the accent of their peers rather than of their parents. Children identify with more their classmates and playmates and their peers, rather than their parents, and modify their behaviour to fit the peer group. This ultimately shapes the character of the individual. Harris is not saying that parents don’t matter, but the peers exercise more influence over a child’s development than a parent. We may not agree with her thesis, but we know that our peers have a powerful influence on who we are.
Part of the way we grow as people is by having friends who can walk with us in the journey of integrity and growth in character as we face challenges in school and the work place.
Third, we see Daniel flourishing as a spiritual athlete because he experiences the life giving power of God as he prays.
In chapter 6, even though it could very well cost him his life, he prays 3 times a day in a place that is visible to others. Through the book of Daniel we see him praying for wisdom to interpret dreams, for courage.
Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
God gets us “done” in our workplace as we resolve to be people of integrity, as we walk with friends who can encourage us in our journey, and as we pray and receive the life of God. We may pray before our meals, but do we pray before we face decisions at work? Before we engage in a business negotiation? Before we care for a patient? Do we pray and seek the aid of the living God?
How can people, who resolve to be people of integrity, have friends who encourage us on the journey and receive life of God through prayer.
This happens as we give every of part us that we know to every part of Christ that we know.
I’ve talked before about how my friend Charlie Olcott was faced with a very difficult situation. As a chief financial officer of a major fast food company, he was asked to exaggerate the potential future earnings of the company to inflate the stock price so that the company could be sold off in a way that the executives could reap a financial windfall.
Charlie had just entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ and he did not know what to do. He spent the whole night in the hotel, before he was scheduled to make a presentation on the future earnings of this major fast food chain, praying for guidance to Jesus. He was convinced Jesus led him to make the right decision—to tell the truth, even though that decision cost him 7 figures of income.
At this time I am going to invite Jennifer, who along with her husband Andrew and their young son Daniel , are a part of Tenth Avenue Church, to share about how her experience in her field of work as a medical doctor has shaped who she is.
As is the case with anyone who speaks here, you may not agree with all that she says, and if you find yourself objecting to certain perspectives, please raise those issues with me. I am grateful for the courage that she has demonstrated in being willing to come up and talk about her work.
Testimony/interview with Jennifer Tong
Sep
Title: Working Out Our Integrity
Ken Shigematsu and Jennifer Tong
Text: Col. 3:22-24; Daniel 1:1-16, Daniel 6:1-11
Big Idea: Work shapes who we are and who we are will last on into the world to come.
When I was in high school I played quarterback on the football team.
(I know I don’t look like a typical football player—but the pads make you look a little bigger and the black ink under your eyes can make look a little meaner).
When I was in high school, the game was played differently than today. As a quarterback, I was able to call about 90% of my own plays. I think today most of the offensive calls are made by the coach, but back in the 1980s when I was in high school, I was making most of the calls on the field. In the huddle there were always suggestions, of course, from my teammates as to what play to call--usually a play that would involve them getting the ball. So I would lean into the huddle, listen to the chatter for a moment, and then call the play, usually a 44 power dive because we had a great running back that could gain 4-6 yards a pop on that play.
During that year of football, not only did I enjoy the game, but I also learned some lessons about making decisions in a limited time frame when there were many voices. I learned something about managing the expectations of teammates. About noticing when they did well or could have done something better. I didn’t do this by any means perfectly--I made lots of mistakes that season, but I also learned a lot.
One of the great values of sports (and of course other extra-curricular activities like music or art) is that it gives you, not just a literal playing field, but a metaphorical playing field to learn to work with others and to develop your character.
We began a series here last week on how our faith relates to our work. Last Sunday we talked about how our work can become truly fulfilling when we understand that through our work, we are co-creating the things that God intended to bring into the world.
Today we are going to look at how work can be a playing field for us to grow our character so that we reflect more of the character of God.
We are not static beings—we become who we are as a result of our work. And who we are lasts on into eternity. If you work day after day as a plumber or a publisher that shapes who you are—and who you are will last on into eternity.
Last week we talked about how God uses us to get his work done.
Today we’re going to look how God uses work to get us done.
Work shapes who we are and who we will last on into the world to come.
Today we’re going to see how this was true in Daniel’s life.
Daniel was a character in the Bible who was a man of remarkable integrity, courage, and wisdom. He’s described in the Bible as a man with an excellent spirit. What a wonderful thing to have said of you by God, “You have an excellent spirit.”
If we were to think of a modern equivalent to Daniel—we might think of Nelson Mandela. Mandela has integrity, courage, wisdom and is a member of an oppressed people group.
Daniel is a great spiritual athlete.
How did he become this way?
As far as we know, Daniel was single and never had any children of his own (so he doesn’t have refining fire in that marriage and children can be in a person’s life).
Daniel becomes a great spiritual athlete in part because of the challenges he faces as a student and as working person.
Let me give you a little more background on Daniel, as he may be new to some of you.
As a young man Daniel’s homeland of Judah (the southern state of Israel) was besieged by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. In about the year 600 BC Daniel and a number of his contemporaries were deported from Judah (the southern state of Israel) to Babylon.
He was brought to Babylon as a potential leader in the Babylonian Empire. He was sent to the best university in his new realm. We have UBC here; they had UB, the University of Babylon.
While at the University of Babylon, Daniel and his Hebrew friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were seen as such great potential leaders that they had great privileges, much like a star football player might have at the USC or a star basketball player might have at Duke. When they were given some sumptuous meals to eat as part of the full-ride they were receiving at UB, the text tells us in verse 8 that Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
The likely reason why Daniel likely refused the food from the king’s table was that the sumptuous food that he and his classmates were being offered had first been offered to the Babylonian gods, and for Daniel to eat that food would have violated his conscience.
It may also have been that eating food from the king’s table was a sign in Daniel’s culture that he was accepting the lordship of the King Nebuchadnezzar. By refusing the food, Daniel refuses to acknowledge the king as a lord over him, and instead is able to demonstrate through his actions that the Lord God is his God.
Daniel and his three Hebrew friends courageously refused on eat at the King’s table and instead ate a simple diet of vegetables to eat and water to drink (and ended up, with God’s help being healthier and better nourished than any of the other young men who ate the royal food).
This challenging trial no doubt strengthened Daniels spiritual muscles as an athlete for God.
Some years after graduation, and now under the reign of the new king Darius, Daniel was promoted and became one of the 3 leading governors in the whole Babylonian Empire--a remarkable achievement as a member of a looked-down-upon, minority group. Daniel as I said, is described as a man having an excellent spirit with great integrity and wisdom, a leader we might associate in our own day with Nelson Mandela…
But, Daniel’s government colleagues were envious of him and tried to get some dirt on him, but they were unable to find any. So they decided to set a trap for him. They went to the king and appealed to his vanity and encouraged him by saying, in Daniel 6: “Oh, King Darius, live forever.” And then they urged him (verse 7) to pass an edict that would make it illegal for anyone to pray to any god or human being for the next 30 days, except to the king. The king was flattered by this idea and decreed the law (the punishment for breaking this law would be death at the mouths of hungry lions). When Daniel learned that this law had been published, he nonetheless went home to his upstairs room where the window was open towards Jerusalem.
We read in vs. 10: 10 Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.
And so the men who were trying to trap Daniel witnessed him praying to the living God, and brought the matter to the king. Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions, but God sent the angel of the Lord to protect him.
This past Tuesday a black bear attacked a fisherman aboard a powerboat at the Port Renfrew marina. Bruce Miller saw what was happening and sprang into action. He ran out of his boat, I grabbed his fishing gaff -- my halibut gaff--a pole with hook on it went after the bear… others came to help with gaffs, a hammer and filleting knife and the man was saved. We admire people who are willing to risk their lives to save others.
Daniel was willing to risk his life for God…
And Daniel’s courage muscles as an athlete get powerfully developed through this drama.
(Transition) It’s possible to face great challenges as a student and at our work and simply experience a meltdown. Daniel could have caved in and eaten at the king’s table or not prayed.
So what are some of practices that enable Daniel to flourish and not flop as student and worker so that he was able to become a great spiritual athlete for God?
One of the practices Daniel had that enabled him to flourish and become a spiritual athlete as a student and in the workplace was resolution before God to be a person of integrity.
In Daniel 1: 8 we read: 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
We see Daniel resolving not to defile himself with the royal food and wine that been sacrificed to the Babylonian gods.
Part of way God gets us “done” through our work is by placing in us a desire and vision to be people of integrity.
Don Flow is Christian businessman who owns some car dealerships in North Carolina, and through a self-study at their company he discovered that the Caucasian males were getting the best deals on cars and minority women the worst deals.
A study was done with people who were posing as customers at car dealerships and reported by Malcolm Gladwell who writes for the New Yorker--some white men, some white women, some black women and some black men. After lengthy negotiations the black men still ended up with a price that was nearly $800 more than what the white men were offered without having to negotiate at all!
So Don Flow realized that black men and women, many of whom were of lower income, were in effect subsidizing the car purchases of Caucasian males because they were paying more than the market value of the cars, and therefore white males could purchase the cars for less than the market value.
Don, a follower of Christ, felt convicted to stop this and fix a fair market price the cars for everyone—men, women, white, minorities. Don said, “As a Christian I believe we have to be willing to sacrifice some financial profit in order to fulfill justice.” The workers, even those who were not Christians agreed.
And they found that when they implemented this practice of a fixed price for everyone, their profits dropped by 10%, as Caucasian males tended to shop elsewhere. The employees talked about this profit loss and the same issue came up as to whether to stop this new practice of fixing prices and to go to the old system, since the new system was hurting their bottom line.
The employees agreed that what they were doing was right and began to implement best practices in terms of business and become more effective and efficient. After some months with best practices they were able to reduce their profit loss to 5%, relative to what they had before they had the policy. As far as I know, they did not completely close the gap. But the employees are proud to be part of the company, and they realize they are pressing value back into the community as people save money, and through these practices the people in the company become people of greater integrity and justice.
But this process of character change began because Don and his colleagues resolved to do what was right, even though it cost them the goodwill of certain customers and financially.
Like Daniel and Don, when we resolve to the right thing, with God’s help we can become the spiritual athletes who grow through the challenges we face at work and school.
Second, Daniel is able to flourish as a spiritual athlete and not flop because he has friends who share his values and trust in God.
When Daniel was tested at the University of Babylon by being offered the food that had been sacrificed to the gods, he consulted with his friends and they talked about it, and no doubt prayed together, and decided to band together and decline the food from the king’s table. Later in his life, when Daniel is called upon by the king to interpret the dreams of the king had that the magicians and the chanters cannot decipher, Daniel turns to his friends for support and asks then to pray.
As a new parent I was a little disturbed to come across this finding. According to research cited by Judith Harris in her book, The Nurture Assumption, the peer group, more than the parents, of a child is the most important shaper of his or her psyche. She says for example, children of immigrants learn the language of their home country with ease and speak with the accent of their peers rather than of their parents. Children identify with more their classmates and playmates and their peers, rather than their parents, and modify their behaviour to fit the peer group. This ultimately shapes the character of the individual. Harris is not saying that parents don’t matter, but the peers exercise more influence over a child’s development than a parent. We may not agree with her thesis, but we know that our peers have a powerful influence on who we are.
Part of the way we grow as people is by having friends who can walk with us in the journey of integrity and growth in character as we face challenges in school and the work place.
Third, we see Daniel flourishing as a spiritual athlete because he experiences the life giving power of God as he prays.
In chapter 6, even though it could very well cost him his life, he prays 3 times a day in a place that is visible to others. Through the book of Daniel we see him praying for wisdom to interpret dreams, for courage.
Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
God gets us “done” in our workplace as we resolve to be people of integrity, as we walk with friends who can encourage us in our journey, and as we pray and receive the life of God. We may pray before our meals, but do we pray before we face decisions at work? Before we engage in a business negotiation? Before we care for a patient? Do we pray and seek the aid of the living God?
How can people, who resolve to be people of integrity, have friends who encourage us on the journey and receive life of God through prayer.
This happens as we give every of part us that we know to every part of Christ that we know.
I’ve talked before about how my friend Charlie Olcott was faced with a very difficult situation. As a chief financial officer of a major fast food company, he was asked to exaggerate the potential future earnings of the company to inflate the stock price so that the company could be sold off in a way that the executives could reap a financial windfall.
Charlie had just entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ and he did not know what to do. He spent the whole night in the hotel, before he was scheduled to make a presentation on the future earnings of this major fast food chain, praying for guidance to Jesus. He was convinced Jesus led him to make the right decision—to tell the truth, even though that decision cost him 7 figures of income.
At this time I am going to invite Jennifer, who along with her husband Andrew and their young son Daniel , are a part of Tenth Avenue Church, to share about how her experience in her field of work as a medical doctor has shaped who she is.
As is the case with anyone who speaks here, you may not agree with all that she says, and if you find yourself objecting to certain perspectives, please raise those issues with me. I am grateful for the courage that she has demonstrated in being willing to come up and talk about her work.
Testimony/interview with Jennifer Tong
Sep
posted by Shigematsu at 12:07 PM
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