Christ in the Marketplace
When I was the Chief Operating Officer of a small start-up publishing company, I spent a good part of my day dealing with employee issues, whether it was job dissatisfaction, job performance, or personal difficulties. Most of the time, it seemed like there was an endless stream of folks who needed to talk with me each day.
I really resented that, thinking that it was keeping me from my real work--until an employee walked in who had obviously been crying. It turns out that this woman's friend had been missing for a few days. The night before she had received a phone call from the police asking her to come down and identify a body. Her friend had committed suicide and she was the only one who could give a positive ID. Naturally, this woman was devastated--I was amazed that she even made it in to work at all.
We talked for quite a while--which mostly meant that I listened as she poured out all of the things that were on her heart. Now, I am not blessed with the charism of encouragement, but I did my best to really be present to her. She was an athiest--and a pretty wild one at that, but while she spoke I had a sense that she was searching for meaning in her friend's death. The only thing I could offer her was my presence--and somehow, for that moment, it was enough. There in my office, I had a sense that, through my willingness to listen, through the offering of my broken and limited gifts, that Christ Himself was present, listening and weeping and holding this woman in His arms.
At the end of our talk, I asked her if she would mind if I prayed for her and her friend. To my surprise, she said "yes." When this woman finally left my office, she still struggled with grief and devastation over her friend's death--but I know that she received some healing and peace in that encounter with Christ.
The whole experience brought me to my knees.
I began to understand that rather than being an interruption in my workday, dealing with the problems of my employees was perhaps my most authentic vocation. God had put me, in that company in that time and that place for a purpose. I began to see my employees as persons whom God had asked me to love and look out for, called to work for what was authentically human and good in their lives. That included making sure the business was healthy and strong.
Each day I sat in the parking lot in my car praying for the company and for each individual employee (we only had about 20). I've never looked at management the same since.
Christ in the marketplace.
How do you reflect the love and presence of Christ at work?
What are the difficulties in doing so?
posted by Keith Strohm @ 6:36 AM
4 Comments
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4 Comments:
Yes. I've had similar experiences taking classified advertising over the phone, selling to business people over the phone, and in teaching. A great part of our task is doing what we were hired to do well, but we must also be present with our whole person as a disciple of Christ.
One difficulty here is that the boss may reduce things to a short-sighted 'bottom line.' Another difficulty is that the call of Christ at times conflicts with one's job description (and one has to choose which master to follow). Even if there is no direct conflict, the presence of Christ can cause certain uneasiness or resentment among co-workers or bosses.
One difficulty is seeking the esteem of the world instead of Christ; another difficulty is a fear that engaging the world will contaminate you. This fear came out strongly in the memoir, Father Joe. Hendra's greatest obstacle to being a good husband, father, and worker was an inner monk who held himself above his circumstances.
Fred
I worked as a telemarketing manager for awhile when I was young. many of the women who worked for me were single mothers, former recipients of welfare holding the first job they had ever had that didn't involve the words "would you like to super size that."
I what I truly enjoyed about that job (and there wasn't much) was have my monthly conferences with each employee, asking them questions about what their dreams and goals were. For some they had never thought about much more than that day's survival. others had never dared to voice the dream of getting their GED and going to college.
The ministry of presence is definitely the most important ministry in the workplace.
Keith,
It occurs to me also that the Church only becomes present in the workplace through the unity of the baptized. As Christians, we bear the koinonia (partership) of Christ: we are co-heirs of His presence.
I remember many times working with other Catholics, but in most cases we kept to ourselves with regard to the essential things in life. In the workplace, Catholics tend to be much more individualistic than Protestants. We say that Holy Communion makes us one body with each other, but in general that one body remains within the parish walls and does not penetrate the office.
There was one time when several Catholics at work discussed contraception in response to a question posed by an Evangelical woman. We each answered her in a different way: there was no common way of looking at things (and we ourselves had never even spoken to each other about anything pertaining to the faith).
It is all right to speak of the Catholic difference, but this difference in practice seems to be mainly a liturgical, or doctrinal, or devotional one. When it comes to living, Catholics (sadly, myself included) live according to their own conscience. This is a direct consequence of lack of unity in the lived environment.
Fred
Fred,
I can second your experience as well. I think that lack of unity in the workplace is a symptom of the lack of deepening sacramental grace in our lives--a lack of the deepening of our communion.
In fact, the only time that I can think of that Catholics stood together in the workplace was when someone (usually a well meaning protestant man or woman) misrepresented the Catholic faith.
Often, the only way you can tell who is Catholic in your workplace is to wait until Ash Wednesday and see who has a smudge on their forehead.
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