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"Businesses
that build foundations on faith"
The story ran on January 24, 2000, in The
Christian Science Monitor
American
business people are getting religion. And this time, it has
nothing to do with a management fad. It's the real thing.
The
Bible and prayer are making a comeback in the workplace. Deeply
religious executives, once quiet about their faith, are speaking
up about where they stand.
"Ten
years ago, if I would have brought out any of these topics,
certainly in the Northeast, I would have been laughed at,"
says David Miller, a former investment banker and now president
of the Avodah Institute, a Princeton, N.J., organization helping
people integrate faith and work. "But now it's not at
all embarrassing to talk about God questions."
"No
one knows whether there are more Christian executives in the
late 1990s than there were 10 years ago or 20 years ago,"
writes Perry Pascarella, former editor in chief of Industry
Week magazine, "but more and more leaders are openly
expressing their beliefs and striving to follow biblical principles
as they lead their companies.... I believe that the next Reformation
will be led, in large part, by the business community."
The
signs are telling. In the past three years, high-profile executives
including Amway President Dick DeVos and ServiceMaster chairman
William Pollard have published books on the subject. Mr. Pascarella's
own book, "Christ Centered Leadership: Thriving in Business
by Putting God in Charge," has just appeared. Groups
like the Christian Businessmen's Committee and the Fellowship
of Companies for Christ International report growing memberships.
These
individuals and groups offer a remarkably similar message:
Faith and business are not separate. They're inextricably
linked.
"Christianity
is not a faith where you drop out and the world looks like
a Hallmark card and you can find God in the sunset,"
says Michael Prewitt, chairman of a marketing-communications
firm in Hopewell, N.J., and a 1999 graduate of Princeton Theological
Seminary. "There's a lot about business that's sticky
and messy and not easy. And Christianity calls us to be right
back in the center of all that."
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SENDING
A MESSAGE: George Seaberg (r.) is one of several CEOs
who apply religious principles to their business practices.
He runs Seaberg Industries in Rock Island, Ill. with
vice president Craig Kinzer.
DAN VIDETICH/SPECIAL TO THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
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The
principles of Christian behavior are not sectarian, these
executives argue. Employees can buy into them no matter what
their religion. "It's actually quite easy to institute
and promote biblical principles without having to be religious,"
says Mirko Vukovich, president of a Littleton, Colo., company,
that owns and runs 35 mobile-home parks around the country.
"We can't function as a society without some rules of
cooperation."
Within
the next three months, he plans to post a copy of the Ten
Commandments in the offices and club houses of all his mobile-home
parks.
"I
go around and pray with employees," says George Seaberg,
chairman and chief executive of Seaberg Industries, a metalworking
company in Rock Island, Ill. "It works. It really works!"
Soon
after launching his company in 1973, Mr. Seaberg was driving
to Peoria when he noticed a hitchhiker by the side of the
road. "He just gave me the most forlorn look. I almost
pulled over at the next exit and went back for him,"
he recalls. Instead, he promised God he would pick up the
next hitchhiker he saw. There was none during the rest of
that trip. But the next day, less than two blocks from his
office, he saw a young man trying to catch a ride, sporting
a ponytail, dirty Levi's, a dingy T-shirt, and a cynical look
on his face.
"I
automatically pulled over because that's what I told the Lord
I would do." The man turned out to be a college dropout
but mathematical whiz, whom Seaberg soon hired. Today, he's
the company's vice president.
"The
key is to be willing to follow God's nudging," he explains.
"And the blessings flow."
Promoting
'good'
Christian
business people try to walk a careful line between being open
about their faith and banging people over the head with it.
"We
are not promoting religion," says Scott Morrison, president
of The Power of One, an Orem, Utah, company that creates T-shirts
with uplifting messages. "What we want to promote are
the principles of good."
Many
Christ-professing executives say that much of their ministry
at work is listening, not preaching. "I don't think this
movement is about running about the office place with slogans,"
says Mr. Miller, the former investment banker. "If anything,
it's refreshingly open-minded."
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AT
YOUR SERVICE: A statue portraying Jesus washing a disciple's
feet stands in front of ServiceMaster's corporate headquarters
in Downers Grove, Ill. The company provides services for
the home and business.
TODD BUCHANAN/SPECIAL TO THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
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On
the other hand, these executives aren't wishy-washy. They
set rules and hold their employees accountable. If they don't
perform, they're fired. "I think that's the justice side
of God's love," says Mr. Vukovich. "If anyone's
surprised they're being fired, then you've failed. Usually
they fire themselves."
Religious
resistance
Nevertheless,
using Christian language in business makes many people cringe,
these executives admit. Shortly before writing his book, "The
Soul of the Firm," Mr. Pollard of ServiceMaster had a
shareholder publicly challenge the idea that a for-profit
service should call itself a vehicle for God's work.
While
respectful of that opinion, Pollard sticks to his guns.
At
its headquarters in suburban Chicago, the company (owner of
Terminix, TruGreen-ChemLawn, and other services) has erected
a marble statue of Jesus washing a disciple's feet. But it's
careful to call it a representation of an historic act rather
than solely a religious symbol.
In
1992, employees of a St. Paul, Minn., manufacturing firm struggled
for months to revise the company's direction statement. Eventually,
the company dropped a reference to the "will of God"
although it still refers to "God's purpose" and
"Judeo-Christian values."
Why
the sensitivity? "It's the hypocrisy," author Pascarella
says. Too many people have seen Christians use such language
on Sundays but do something quite different Monday through
Friday, he adds. Others blame televangelists for the general
skepticism.
Still
others point to fundamentalists. "The Christian right
has somehow made such an indelible impression on society in
its bold, partisan use of Christ and the Bible that when we
hear that language from another quarter we're often confused,"
says Mr. Prewitt, the New Jersey marketer.
In
fact, the Christ-in-business movement represents a broad spectrum
of Christian thought and has sprung up independently of any
church. "Many of these leaders with whom I've talked
lamented that they hadn't received much help from their churches,"
Pascarella says. "So often the word from the church is:
'It's evil out there.' "
Christ-professing
executives say just the opposite. "More than 50 percent
of our waking life is at work; we spend less than 2 percent
in the pew," says Mr. Miller of the newly formed Avodah
Institute. "My guess is that God is interested in where
we're spending the majority of our time." (Avodah means
both "work" and "worship" in Old Testament
Hebrew.)
A
prayerful turnaround
In
1992, his metal-working business foundering, Seaberg watched
his net worth sag to a negative $389,000. The bank wanted
him to repay his $1 million note in 30 days. Creditors called
so often he found it hard to concentrate on anything else.
"Lord, let me do one thing today," he recalls praying
before starting work. "I was given peace of mind. I'd
get some work just when I needed it."
By
the end of the year, the bank had forgiven $153,000 of the
loan and Seaberg was through the crisis. Today, his net worth
is into seven figures.
The
point isn't the money, he's quick to add. "That's the
biggest myth there is." But prayer does lead to spiritual
growth, which is far more important.
Prayer
"is a lot bigger than 'Make this happen' or 'Please,
God, make that happen,' " says Prewitt. "It's about
watching God at work in much bigger ways than we imagine."
This
article first appeared in The Christian Science Monitor on
January 24, 2000, and is reproduced with permission. Copyright
2000, The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights
reserved.
http://www.csmonitor.com.
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