Light Service Sermons for the Month
Jesus on the Job
"The Secret to Job Satisfaction"
DATE: May 3, 1998
TEXT: Matthew 28:20b
Sally is a supermarket clerk. She works with cash all day long. Occasionally, when her own personal finances are short, she feels the urge to borrow some from the store.
One day Sally was waiting on a wealthy elderly woman. The woman used what she thought was a $20 bill to pay for her groceries. However, what she handed Sally was a $50 bill. Sally gave the woman change based on a $20 and pocketed the rest herself.
For three days Sally was tormented by what she had done. She was unable to sleep. She tried to justify what she had done by convincing herself the woman was wealthy and didn't need the other $30 anyway. Finally, out of guilt, she promised herself to never do it again.
Four days later an elderly man handed her a $20 thinking it was a $10. Sally politely pointed out his mistake and gave him the proper change.
Lest we be too hard on Sally, we all need to admit that from time to time in our jobs we find our integrity challenged. For instance, what do you do when your boss asks you to make promises about a product that the product cannot deliver?
What do you do when someone tells an off-color deaming or dirty joke, and it's funny and you want to laugh even though you also find it offensive and don't want to promote such stuff?
What do you do when, at lunch, someone starts ripping a co-worker, and if you don't join in the ripping, you know you'll be ostracized from the group?
What do you do when you just don't feel like going to work but you're not sick?
What do you do when your manager tells you to tell a client that the job is almost done when you know it hasn't even been started yet?
What do you do when your job demands you to do something you know is unethical if not illegal?
Day after day all across this country people like you and me struggle with little and big issues of integrity on the job. Some of those issues may be easy to deal with. But some of them can put us in a very difficult spot, forcing us to choose between our jobs and what's right, between acceptance by other employees and alienation.
If some of the latest research is any indication, it seems that we're losing the battle of integrity. According to one survey, half of all workers admit to calling in sick when they're not sick, and doing it regularly. A large percentage admit to goofing off on the job approximately 7 hours out of each 40 hour work week--meaning many are actually putting in a four-day work week while being paid for five.
One in four admit to compromising their beliefs in order to get ahead in their jobs.
According to the same survey the top five crimes are:
- Taking office supplies and equipment
- Lying to a boss or co-worker
- Stealing company funds
- Having an affair with a boss or co-worker
- Taking credit for work not done
None of us are immune to the overwhelming pressures of the job that entice us to compromise our integrity. And none of us are immune to the guilt and other consequences that come when we give in to the temptation.
Yet I believe most of us want to be people of integrity. We want to do the best job we can in the most honest way possible. We want to be able to sleep in peace at night. We want the security that integrity can give.
I believe God desires the same thing. And he not only invites us to be people of integrity, but be also give us the power to be people of integrity.
Today I want to share with you four keys that can help you enjoy your job by maintaining your integrity. But before we talk about it, let's pray together.
Dear Jesus: When the owner of the vineyard sent those workers into the vineyard, he paid them with generosity, from the first to the last. He paid them for their labor. He rewarded them for their work. Bless the work we do honestly. For with your blessing we can sleep in peace. AMEN
1) The first key to maintaining our integrity on the job is to ask the right questions: questions that can help us decide what we should and should not do.
A) The first question is: Is it legal? Some of us, due to the nature of our jobs, face this question day after day. When we find ourselves feeling uneasy about a certain task, we need to ask, is it legal? Can I get myself or the company into trouble?
To take it a step further you might also want to ask: Is it ethical? Some of you may remember the Cleveland "Black on Black Crime" Committee that was inadvertently wired a huge chunk of money from the city. Probably the first question, they should have asked themselves was "Is it ethical to spend this money not knowing where it came from and for what purpose it was intended?"
B) The second questions to ask is: Will I feel better about myself? Can I live with myself? Will I be able to sleep at night?
C) And the final question is: "Would I like it make public? Would I like my spouse, children, or friends to know what I had done?
In finding our way through the integrity maze on the job, we need to ask the right questions.
2) Secondly, we need to be faithful in the small things. If we're faithful there, we're more likely to be faithful in the large things. If we're unfaithful in the small things, we're more likely to be unfaithful in the large things.
In a July 26, 1993 edition of Time Magazine, they included a survey of 401 executives, half of whom agreed that:
"The way a person plays golf is very similar to how he or she conducts business affairs. At least some were speaking from self-knowledge: 55% admitted cheating at golf at least once. The offenses included moving the ball to get a better lie, not counting a missed tap-in, taking an extra tee shot, intentionally miscounting strokes, and secretly producing a fresh ball while pretending to look for a wayward one in the woods. Such behavior has dire implications for the Better Business Bureaus, since one third of those who confessed to cheating on the links also admitted to pulling fast ones on the job."
Another study of 200 managers says that people change their ethical standards between home and work. Two thirds of them used a different set of moral decision making standards at home than on the job.
Maintaining our integrity means we'll be faithful and consistent in the small things, giving us the foundation we need to be consistent and faithful in the large things.
3) A third key to maintaining our integrity is to let Jesus shape our character.
There's a legend about the son of a great Indian chief who, though strong and handsome, did not exhibit the same leadership qualities as his dad. While people admired the chief, they had doubts about his son. And the son knew it. He wanted to be like his dad but he just wasn't wired the same way.
One day he went to his dad and poured out his heart. He shared his dreams of how he wanted to be great leader, but how those dreams were continually squelched by his fears.
His father listened quietly and said, "Son, when I was your age, I had the same struggles. It was like two dogs warring within me. The good dog made me feel like I could do anything. The bad dog made me feel like a failure. It tried to convince me that I had nothing to offer. They seemed to be fighting within me all the time."
His son immediately lit up. "Father, that's exactly how I feel?" But how can I make sure the good dog wins out?"
"The answer is simple, my son." The chief replied. "The dog who wins is the dog you feed the most."
Integrity is a matter of the heart. It isn't simply a decision we make from time to time as particular circumstances confront us. Rather integrity is a character trait forged in the depths of our being. And that character trait is developed and shaped as we live in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
As we walk with him day after day his values begin to become our values. As his love captures our hearts, his mercy makes us merciful. His compassion makes us compassionate. His justice makes us just. His forgiveness makes us forgiving. Integrity is a matter of walking with one who embodies integrity. It comes from hanging around someone who draws the best out of us. And Jesus is that person. As we become friends with him and experience his life transforming power, he molds and shapes us into people of integrity.
4) The final key for maintaining your integrity on the job is to find courage in the presence of Jesus.
Harry was always getting into trouble. One morning, while waiting for the school bus, he pushed the outhouse into the bayou, then boarded the bus as if nothing had happened.
When he returned home, dad was waiting for him. "Harry, did you push the outhouse into the bayou?"
"Yes dad," replied Harry. "Like George Washington, I can not tell a lie."
"Well, son, I am going to have to punish you."
Harry was stunned. He couldn't believe it. He tried to explain to his dad that when George Washing admitted to chopping down the cherry tree, his dad didn't punish him.
(You what is coming, don't you?)
"I know son," said Harry's dad. "But George's dad wasn't in the tree."
Sometimes, being honest or doing the right thing takes courage. Because the consequences can actually be painful. For instance, do you compromise your integrity and keep your job or stand for what's right and face the possibility of losing your job?
The good news is that Jesus promises to be there with us. He promises to be our support and encouragement--the rock that keeps us secure no matter how hard the winds may blow. He tells us that he will always be with us, that he will never leave us nor forsake us. He'll give us the courage we need to stand for integrity.
So, as he builds integrity into our character, he will also walk with us and see us through no matter where our integrity leads us. And ultimately, no matter what, he will make it alright.
Today I invite you to enjoy the peace and security that comes through integrity by allowing Jesus to build integrity in you and to walk with you every day as your support and encourager.
AMEN
