Kruse Kronicle

Calmly Considered: How The Church Fails Businesspeople

Last week, I participated with Allan Bevere in a discussion centered on John Knapp's book "How The Church Fails Businesspeople (And What Can Be Done About It)." Discussion focuses on integrating our faith and working lives, with reflection on why that integration is so challenging.

Index: How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it)

Over the past month, I did a book discussion series on John Knapp's, How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it.). Each post was originally posted on Scot McKnight's Jesus Creed blog, and then I reposted each entry here at the Kruse Kronicle. Here is an index to the series for those who may be interested:

Jesus Creed

Business People 1

Business People 2

Business People 3

Business People 4

Business People 5

Business People 6

Business People 7

Business People 8

Kruse Kronicle

How the Church Fails Businesspeople 1

How the Church Fails Businesspeople 2

How the Church Fails Businesspeople 3

How the Church Fails Businesspeople 4

How the Church Fails Businesspeople 5

How the Church Fails Businesspeople 6

How the Church Fails Businesspeople 7

How the Church Fails Businesspeople 8

How the Church Fails Businesspeople - 8

(This is a cross-post with a post done earlier today at Jesus Creed.) (Minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar edits, June 23, 2023.)

WWJD – What would Jesus do? Most people are familiar with the popular Evangelical movement that sprang up in the '90s, inviting people to ask this question about daily life decisions. Many people know that this movement was rooted in Charles Sheldon's best-selling novel, "In His Steps," written in 1896, featuring a minister encouraging parishioners to ask this question throughout their daily lives for a year. What many may not be aware of is the event that transformed Sheldon's life and led him to write the book.

Today we continue with the eighth and final chapter of John Knapp's, How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it), titled "The Church's Potential." Knapp summarizes for us what he thinks our next steps are. He begins by recounting the events that shaped Charles Sheldon's life.

Knapp explains that Charles Sheldon was a minister in Topeka, KS, in 1889. He wanted to make his ministry relevant to the everyday lives of his parishioners. He asked to be relieved of all but his preaching duties for twelve weeks. He spent those twelve weeks going to every part of town to learn how people lived and made a living. He spent a week as a homeless person looking for work. He hung out with streetcar workers on the job. He attended classes at the local college. He spent time in the African American part of town. He lived with railroad workers, firemen, brakemen, switchmen, yardmen, and engineers. He spent time with lawyers and doctors. He spent time with businessmen in real estate, accounting, dry goods, hardware, and other fields. He ran a printing press.

Sheldon credited this experience with helping him see the reality of his parishioners and made him better able to preach and minister to his congregation. And I love this story Knapp tells:

"Lest we underestimate the impact of Sheldon's project, consider this. Upon learning that black children were woefully behind their white peers in academic achievement, partly because many of their mothers worked during the day to help support their families, Sheldon set out to establish the first African-American kindergarten west of the Mississippi to provide early-childhood care and better education. Among its graduates was Elisha Scott, who went on to law school with Sheldon's help and later gave the name Charles Sheldon Scott to his son, a future lawyer who in 1954 successfully argued the Brown vs. Board of Education case before the United States Supreme Court, effectively ending school segregation in America." (149)

[Note: Sheldon's 1890, Andover Review article, "Practical Sociological Studies," the source of Knapp's discussion, can be found here. On a related note, I recommend Alain de Botton's, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, (a philosophical rather than theological work), a travelogue through several modern professions that is both humorous and moving.]

Knapp is not suggesting that each minister must take a similar three-month sabbatical, but he does suggest that pastors try to get into the workplace and talk to people about their work lives. For several years I've sensed that until people see a profound connection between their daily work and God's Kingdom, the church will always be something supplemental to "real life." I strongly identify with Knapp's speculation that "A serious emphasis on faith at work may actually be a catalyst for the church's larger mission." (150) So where should the church begin?

Knapp points us back to earlier chapters. We need churches to consider how they can enliven the moral dimensions he highlighted in Chapter 6: Moral discernment, moral discourse, moral influence, moral encouragement, and moral example. But beyond that, he points us to four essentials to consider.

Collaborative Leadership

"We have seen what lay leaders can accomplish by pouring their energies into ministries outside their own churches. If the culture of the institution is to change, lay leadership will be indispensable in helping the clergy rethink some of the timeworn ecclesiastical assumptions about the priorities of ministry. … The credibility and insights of lay leadership in faith-at-work ministries cannot be underestimated." (150-151)

Courageous Conversations

We need space for conversations we all know need to happen but are not happening. The church doesn't talk about vocation, business, or money. These conversations are going to make pastors and businesspeople alike uncomfortable. Included in these conversations will be how people handle their own money as well as how the church handles its own business practices.

Once the church begins to learn how to handle the internal dialog, it will need to engage the community. Knapp lifts up Redeemer Presbyterian Church's (in New York City) Center for Faith and Work as one model. The Center offers forums for dialog on being a Christian in a variety of industries. Through their Gotham Fellowship, they offer a nine-month training program helping young adults integrate work and life in a variety of fields.

Relevant Worship

The images, rituals, and language of worship are disconnected from the reality of work life. We (particularly pastors) have to intentionally tear down the dualities we have created between work and worship. Knapp reminds us about the possibility of commissioning services. Sermons, prayers, and hymns that incorporate an integrated perspective need to be brought into worship.

A More Inclusive Narrative

What is the church's narrative of itself? Visit a congregation's website. You will find pictures of people in worship, attending bible studies, youth groups, mission trips, pastors, and possibly a mission worker or two. What you will not find are pictures of people at work!

Personally, I think folks should do as I did (though not on purpose) and read the "King Jesus Gospel" and Knapp's book together. Our work is a central expression of living as citizens of the Kingdom of God.

Finally, at the closing of the book, he writes about young adults:

"… for the millennials are far less willing than their predecessors to divide their lives into two worlds. "Many millennials see their careers and personal life as one," writes Ron Alsop in his book The Trophy Kids Grow Up. "They don't talk about balancing work and life but rather about blending them." (155)

Curiously, the failure of congregations and denominations to nurture integrated lives may lead to fragmented lives and the demise of the very structures that have ignored this reality.

Concluding Thoughts

Because of my work in the hierarchy of the PCUSA, I have been a party to many conversations about the status of the church (the PCUSA being one expression) in our culture and the church's future. If there is one thing I keep returning to, it is the presence of two disconnects.

First is the disconnect people feel between their daily lives and the mission of God. Knapp has focused on businesspeople. While most of us may not be businesspeople with a capital "B," most of us do work in business settings where integration of work with faith is a challenge. Knapp's concerns and suggested responses can be pressed in other vocational directions as well.

Second is the disconnect in the institutions of the church about the work and faith disconnection! Knapp nails it with this quote I included in the previous post.

"Diehl, Hammond, Butt, and others like them erected a platform of ideas that has allowed a multifaceted movement to thrive through the initiative and leadership of laypeople. The institutional church, meanwhile, has been less than enthusiastic about these ideas, preferring to redefine lay ministry as more active involvement in existing church programs. 'Whether church professionals never fully absorbed that, by definition, the location of lay ministry was extrinsic to the gathered church or whether they were threatened by a loss of power and control is open to debate,' writes [David] Miller." (125)

My experience is that when I share my concerns about the lack of integration in our daily lives with working people, I frequently see a hunger to learn more. There is an eruption of both excitement and frustration. When I talk with church professionals, I sense that I might as well be speaking Martian. Sometimes there is a head nod toward the issue. Sometimes there is patient listening. But in the end, the critical issues on the agenda are how to improve the worship service, the youth programs, sharing of faith stories, summer mission trips, compassionate ministries, and justice advocacy efforts. Surely if we just did these things better, more people would come.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there is no merit to wrestling with these programmatic issues. There is. I'm saying that focusing on these issues to the exclusion of nurturing people to live integrated lives as citizens of God's Kingdom is pure folly. The image of a failing car company obsessing over body design, airbag safety, and suspension systems for vehicles with no engines pops into mind. Until these changes, the steady stream of people out the back door of our churches into the ranks of the "religious but unchurched" will not stem, and young adults will, at best, see the church as an interesting anachronism.

I'm hitting the institutional church pretty hard. I don't want to be unfair. I do see a pastor here and there in my own PCUSA tribe who is deeply wrestling with this stuff. I encounter an occasional denominational official who gets these issues. They span a range of political and theological leanings. I'm personally grateful to have a pastor who is tuned into these issues, deeply rethinking his role, and continues to gently nudge our congregation in new ways of thinking and being. I don't think it is fair to paint a monolithic picture of despair among my tribe or the tribes of others, but the challenges are big.

I will offer one last concern. I'm all for para-church organizations. They play an indispensable role. Still, worshiping communities are an essential expression of the Kingdom of God. A central feature of baptism is making a visible identification with the community that God has gathered to give witness to his Kingdom.

I'm uneasy with how disconnected some expressions of the faith at work movement are from worshiping communities. There is a danger of setting up yet another dualism. We can end up having a para-church community of like-minded people for support at work and a worshiping community that supplies us with a range of religiosity goods. That conveniently insulates our like-minded community from having to reflect on challenges that those outside our community might raise, while freeing us from the honest conversations that need to be had so that people within the worshiping community may learn from us. It becomes just one more exercise in compartmentalization. Knapp has pointed us in some directions for finding coherence, not just as individuals, but for the church. We will need winsome advocates from the business community who will actively engage in the patient work of reintegration into the institutional church, even as they are open to being transformed by God through the church.

There you have it. Now would be a good time if you haven't bought the book. ;-) My thanks to Scot for making Jesus Creed available for this discussion. My thanks to John Knapp for having written such an important conversation starter. And thanks to all of you for the conversation throughout this series.

How could your local church better help people connect the worlds of faith and work? Are there things being done in your congregation or other congregations that we all might learn from? What obstacles do you see in having the courageous conversations Knapp describes? What thoughts do you have about how we might create congregations with a more inclusive narrative? This being the last post, what do you make of Knapp's thesis for this book?

[Series Index]

How the Church Fails Businesspeople - 7

(This is a cross-post with a post done earlier today at Jesus Creed.) (Minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar edits, June 23, 2023.)

How do we create coherence between faith and work? John Knapp has explained how important rethinking vocation is and how important it is that we carefully consider a moral theology of work. Today, in Chapter 7 of How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it), Knapp describes a workplace awakening.

Knapp suggests that an awakening to faith and work issues has emerged in the past ten to twenty years. But even before that, some people were surfacing the issues. Lutheran steel company executive William Diehl was writing books on this topic in the 1980s. Peter Hammond, connected with Diehl, became influential in Intervarsity with their Ministry in Daily Life work. There were people like Howard E. Butt, Jr., originally connected with the Billy Graham Crusades, who founded the Laity Lodge and an online ministry to businesspeople called TheHighCalling.org.

Knapp lays out several ways people are trying to integrate faith and work. Which ones do you find hopeful and which ones give you concern? Why? Are there other avenues of finding coherence that you did not see mentioned here? What do you think the institutional church might learn from the faith-at- work movement?

My sense is that a move toward more serious theological reflection began about this time. Miroslav Volf published “Work in the Spirit: Toward a Theology of Work,” in 1991, David Krueger published “Keeping Faith at Work,” in 1994, and R. Paul Stevens began publishing a string of books on work and faith, most notably for me, “The Other Six Days: Vocation Work and Ministry in Biblical Perspective,” in 1999. Other authors have emerged in the past decade, but I still have the sense that interest in this topic in the theological academy is relegated to a small minority. The real change has been coming from Christians outside the institutions of the church.

Knapp highlights some examples of lay-led ministries that have emerged to hold conferences and retreats, offer resources, and create networking opportunities. He mentions Kevin Latty’s Souly Business, Chuck Proudfit’s At Work on Purpose, Aric Renicke’s Christian Business Roundtable and Christian Professionals Worldwide, and Richard Boxx’s Integrity Resource Center. There are countless websites and social media initiatives from a variety of organizations.

Also emerging are attempts by Christians to form groups that meet for study and prayer within the workplace. This is easier within private companies, but some public companies accommodate this, and even some government entities permit this as well. Knapp devotes a section of the chapter to pointing out that this is not without controversy. EEOC requirements and concerns about creating a hostile work environment for non-Christians are a challenge. Yet the walls between work and private life have been lowering, and many employees want more integrated lives, whether Christians or people of other faiths. Knapp sees this as an area that will likely lead to more controversy, and the business world is not ready to reckon with it.

Another response to the faith and work divide has been for companies to embrace faith openly. There has been a rise in the number of “Christian-based companies,” firms that have a Christian vision as part of their business plan. Interstate Batteries, Hobby Lobby, Chic-fil-A, ServiceMaster, Amway, and Covenant Transport are a few prominent examples of a growing trend. Many of these businesses network through organizations like the Fellowship of Companies in Christ (FCCI).

Another growing phenomenon is the idea of corporate and industrial chaplaincies. Companies employ or contract with chaplains to be onsite and available for employees. Businesses have organized to provide these chaplains, the most prominent being Marketplace Chaplains USA, with 2,400 chaplains serving 418 companies. There is formal and ongoing training required to qualify as a chaplain. Chaplains are not involved in overt evangelism but rather offer spiritual support, hospital visitation, and possibly an occasional funeral or wedding.

Finally, there is Business as Mission or BAM. Here, businesses are established (usually in emerging nations) to evangelize, create jobs, and apply profits to various types of community development. Traditional mission models are often not welcomed in some regions of the world and are harder to sustain. BAM has somewhat of a tent-making quality while being more agreeable to authorities and with the additional benefit of sometimes creating jobs.

What Knapp is pointing to in this chapter is an explosion in the effort by businesspeople to make the connection between public life in the business world and faith. For a more comprehensive look that reviews the past century of faith and work developments, read David Miller’s God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement, published in 2007.

Some Thoughts

Whether reading Knapp or Miller, I have a conflicted response of both hope and disquiet. The hopeful part is that people are working at finding coherence in their lives. Hundreds of organizations are rising as Christians help each other navigate the challenges. That is a good thing, and there is a role for this type of service.

But the disturbing reality is this. We already have thousands of communities nationwide that should already be offering the kind of integration and support these disciples are craving. They are called congregations! From what I can tell, virtually none of the ministries being described are congregation-based or are about equipping congregations to be more effective at addressing the faith and work divide. Concerning the movement to address the divide, Knapp writes:

“… Today the movement is flourishing, aided greatly by social media and globally networked organizations, yet without much involvement by the institutional church. Indeed, many of today’s most successful work-related ministries were born out of frustration with the church and its failure to respond to and obvious need and opportunity.

The rise of this trend is well-documented by Princeton University’s David W. Miller in his book God at Work. He concludes, “The church and the theological academy have a choice: they can sit on the sidelines, ignore the movement, and let it pass them by, or they can learn from it, engage it, and help shape the theology and practice of faith at work.” (123)

A few paragraphs later, Knapp writes:

“Diehl, Hammond, Butt, and others like them erected a platform of ideas that has allowed a multifaceted movement to thrive through the initiative and leadership of laypeople. The institutional church, meanwhile, has been less than enthusiastic about these ideas, preferring to redefine lay ministry as more active involvement in existing church programs. ‘Whether church professionals never fully absorbed that, by definition, the location of lay ministry was extrinsic to the gathered church or whether they were threatened by a loss of power and control is open to debate,’ writes Miller.”

As someone from a Mainline Protestant perspective, I confess that many sectors of the movement are not all that comfortable for me. It often feels very white, male, and Republican and deeply entrenched in conservative Evangelical and Pentecostal milieus. I worry that some of what I see too heavily equates Christian faith with patriotic American civil religion. The theological reflection, at times, strikes me as much less than adequate.

Still, these folks are making the effort to find coherence, even if the effort is being made from outside the institutional church. The Mainline churches have vacated the arena altogether. In fact, I sometimes wonder if rather than seeing the daily world of business as something that needs attention from Mainline theology and institutions, there isn’t an ethos that says that business is “conservative,” and that isn’t what we do. With so many people in Mainline pews from business backgrounds and with declining numbers of people involved in these denominations, it is quite remarkable to me that the movement to find coherence between work and faith is virtually nonexistent in Mainline tribes, except possibly in the case of a few isolated congregations here and there.

[Series Index]

How the Church Fails Businesspeople - 6

(This is a cross-post with a post done earlier today at Jesus Creed.) (Minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar edits, June 19, 2023.)

Today we continue with John Knapp’s How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it). We turn now to Chapter 6, “A Moral Theology of Work.”

The business environment can often present significant ethical challenges. Where might we begin as we think about ethical behavior? Knapp suggests a good place to start is with Micah 6:8:

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?”

Is it possible to be competitive in business while loving justice and kindness, and walking humbly with God, while grounded in love and responsibility?

What would it take to create the five-fold moral community Knapp describes?

Is Micah and the Jesus Creed the place to ground our ethical reflection or would you frame things differently?

Grounded in Love

Knapp says this definition of what is good is grounded in the Jesus Creed: Love God, love neighbor. What would it mean to respond to others out of this ethic in business? Knapp writes:

“An ethic of love goes beyond both duty (keeping promises, telling the truth, doing a job well) and compliance (with civil law, contractual requirements, or employment policies), both of which are necessary in the workplace. Love recognizes that every person is unique and must be cared for individually, whether or not a rule mandates it. This requires us to take the time and effort to discover what actually meets the other’s need.” (101)

To Do Justice

Business people are to be advocates for justice within their sphere of influence. It goes beyond just upholding the law. It is about pursuing more just structures and behaviors. Sadly, Knapp writes:

“Paul Camenisch, a theologian with expertise in business ethics, believes that the church has failed to convey to believers their personal responsibilities for doing justice at work. In a critique of Protestant policy statements on economic justice, he writes, “Seldom if ever are Christians addressed as influential actors responsible in their vocations for seeing that, within their power, justice is done. They are not seriously challenged to ask questions  about the human impact of their actions as workers, managers, consumers, and owners on their fellows …” As we have discussed, church pronouncements on economics tend to critique the macroeconomic system with little or no thought to the difficulties faced by individuals or organizations within the system.” (103)

To Love Kindness

We are not just to do kind things but to love kindness. We might easily see the natural application of this to our coworkers or customers. How about to our personal rivals or the competition?

To Walk Humbly

“It is easy fall prey to an illusion of becoming self-sufficient through the accumulation of material wealth.” (106) And with this sense of self-sufficiency can come a sense of entitlement. That entitlement can be evidenced as smug condescension or even envy of others for what should “rightfully” be one’s own. For Christians, there is a danger of self-righteousness as we strive to be more “Christ-like” than others. I’m inclined to think that walking humbly may be the slipperiest of all. Knapp sees it as the precondition for the first two.

Responsibility

Central to living out this ethic is an embrace of responsibility. Knapp writes:

“This [human] potential includes the capacity for genuine responsiveness in all relationships, for authentic discipleship is a process of learning to enact Christian love in every circumstance. H. Richard Niebuhr … proposes that responsibility is defined chiefly by how we respond to others including God. This concept of responsibility as response-ability may be a better way to think about ethics than adherence to abstract more principles, compliance with rules, or even achievement of good outcomes. The responsible Christian must be fully attentive to the “decisive present” and the possibilities of God’s activity through the lives of others.” (109)

With the response-ability we have, we are to make “fitting responses” based on God’s justice.

Referring back to the survey results mentioned in the first post in this series (where people from all walks of life considered an ethical dilemma they had once faced), Knapp writes:

“Few of the dilemmas reported by our research subjects could be reduced to neat choices of right over wrong, good over bad. Nor were they problems where rules could determine the best course of action. The inherent difficulty in most of the cases involved conflicting values and priorities.” (111)

In short, ethical decisions are frequently messy. Two legitimate, ethical concerns may be in competition with each other. On top of this, we are frequently distracted by competing demands and time pressures. All this requires conscious effort to be truly present in our decisions.

Questions to guide us

Knapp offers a list of questions we might ask ourselves when we face difficult questions with justice, kindness, and humility grounded in love and responsibility (His questions with my summary sentence):

• What’s really going on here? – Apply careful thought and investigation.
• What makes this decision difficult? – What is the crux of the ethical challenge?
• Who has a legitimate stake in how this matter is resolved? – Especially keep in mind those with less power or influence.
• Am I acting in humility, or are my own interests crowding out the interests of others? – Look at things from the position of others.
• To whom and to what am I responsible? – Be clear about our responsibilities and particularly our primary vocation of serving God.
• What options are available, and what outcomes may result from each? – Be sure to consider long-term and broader consequences.
• Have I sought God’s will? – Prayer, Scripture, and the discernment of other believers are important means of seeking God’s will.

The Necessary Role of the Church

Knapp closes the chapter with an important section called “The Necessary Role of the Church.” He lists five facets of faith community that should be present to equip and support people in the workplace. (The short summaries of each listing are mine, not Knapp’s.)

A Community of Moral Discernment – Rarely are any of us capable of answering the above questions on our own. Including people who know us, love us, share our commitment to God, and/or may have special insight into how to process some of these questions are essential to sound discipleship.

A Community of Moral Discourse – People within a faith community often don’t agree with each other on particular problems, but it is often the civil debate about a problem that helps us individually to come to better conclusions. The church needs to be a place for honest questions.

A Community of Moral Influence – Individuals often find they are powerless alone to address injustices that emerge in the work world. Congregations and denominational bodies are needed to support efforts to reduce injustice and support businesspeople needing to take difficult stands.

A Community of Moral Encouragement – The business world is frequently messy. Rather than casting businesspeople as tainted Christians, we need to pray for them and support them as they work to integrate their work and faith (even as we help build the expectation that they should do so. )

A Community of Moral Example – The church needs to engage in just employment and financial practices if it expects the broader world to give any heed.

Concluding thoughts

This concludes the summary of Chapter 6. I’m not sure I’ve done it justice. I hope folks will read the book. But this chapter raised two issues for me that I want to mention … one economic and the other theological briefly.

I love using the Micah passage grounded in love and responsibility as a starting point for ethical reflection. And Knapp is exactly right that love is not about having warm fuzzy sentiments but rather about knowing individuals and seeking their good. Knapp calls us to look at the neglected realm of everyday micro-economic business decisions and gives us tools to live out our calling in that context. But as we move to the meso and macro levels of economics, to decisions that deal with large firms and interactions beyond the firm, I think applying the “love” principle meaningfully becomes impossible.

A signature feature of advanced market economies is the ability of firms to gather and coordinate large numbers of people. Markets create vast webs of interconnection among people (who will likely never meet each other), allowing us to benefit from specialization and exchange with countless strangers. It is impossible for a businessperson to “love” hundreds/thousands of others in a businessperson’s own firm, much less those outside the firm, in the sense we have described above. Theologian Economist Paul Heyne wrote in an essay (“Morality of Labor Unions.” Chapter 24 in Are Economists Basically Immoral?):

“What does justice mean in this world of completely impersonal transactions? If we take the most general definition of justice – giving to each their due – how do we decide what each is due? In such a world the Golden Rule is simply irrelevant. Social transactions in a market-coordinated economy cannot be governed by the principle “Do for others what you would like them to do for you.” The appropriate rule is what someone has called the Silver Rule: “Do not do to others anything that you would consider unfair if they did it to you.” (429)

I do not want to minimize the important framing that Knapp has offered here. Rather, I want to emphasize that as we move much outside the sphere of face-to-face community, we encounter inescapable sociological realities that may require a different kind of ethical analysis. We can’t simply deal with larger institutions as a family (or face-to-face community) writ large. All the more reason why we need communities of disciples to help us work our way through ethical thickets.

The theological thought I had goes directly to Scot’s King Jesus Gospel. Scot rejects the Evangelical tendency to collapse “gospel” into “salvation.” The King Jesus Gospel is about Jesus’s completion of the story of Israel, and that story is rooted in the creation story, including the first great commission of exercising dominion over creation and the redemption of that mission. But I don’t think it is just the Evangelical world in Protestantism that needs rethinking.

In my Mainline PCUSA world, the gospel is typically about rectifying wrong via compassion or justice advocacy. If Evangelicals have a “salvation gospel,” as Scot says, then my tribe has a bias toward a “justice gospel.” Just as the King Jesus Gospel includes salvation, it also includes justice, but the “gospel” cannot be collapsed into salvation, justice, or their combination. The King Jesus Gospel includes (among many other things) redemption of the first great commission. Neither the salvation gospel nor the justice gospel will do. Without the King Jesus Gospel there is no reason to give focused attention to the issues Knapp is raising. Work is peripheral to the “real” issues of either salvation or justice. The real starting place for a moral theology of work must likely begin with our understanding of gospel.

[Series Index]

Samford professor's book says church fails many workers

al.com: Samford professor's book says church fails many workers

HOMEWOOD, Alabama -- A pastor once asked a professor for advice on how to handle a controversy in his church. The largest financial supporter of a Bap­tist church was nominated to the board of deacons. He happened to be the owner of a busy liquor store.

No one ever complained about his large donations to the church, but his nom­ination to the deacon board aroused a furor.

That's one of the scenar­ios addressed in a new book by Samford Univer­sity professor John C. Knapp, founding director of Samford's Francis Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership. ...

... Many times there is an implied devaluation of any work that is not Christian ministry, he said.

"We will go to great lengths to set aside time to pray for people going to do a short-term mission project in Mexico; this is seen as doing the Lord's work," Knapp said. "Do we take time to pray for a person who is starting a new job? Do we pray for new college students looking for a career? Do we commission them for discipleship in those contexts?" ...

... There is reasonable caution about blatant evangelism in the workplace, he said.

"It's not about evangelizing the workplace," Knapp said. "It's about how do you find meaning in your work." ...

... The church needs a doctrine of vocation -- calling to be disciples in whatever their line of work -- and a moral theology of work, Knapp said. ...

I'm presently doing a chapter-by-chapter review of the book at Jesus Creed. I'm also posting the reviews here at the Kruse Kronicle. Chapter Six will be posted tomorrow. Here are links to each of the first five entries at Jesus Creed. There are three more to come, and the series will be complete next week:

• First
• Second
• Third
• Fourth
• Fifth

How the Church Fails Businesspeople - 5

(This is a cross-post with a post done earlier today at Jesus Creed.) (Minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar edits, June 19, 2023.)

Real estate people say real estate is about three things: location, location, location. Well, I suspect integrating business and faith is also about three things: vocation, vocation, vocation. “Vocation” comes from the Latin vocare meaning “to call.” “God calls each of us into the divine relationship, and we respond to this call through the living of our lives, including our work lives.” (89) You might say that vocation helps us understand our location within God’s mission.

Today we move to the second part of John Knapp’s How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it). The first four chapters have explored the nature of the divide between work and faith. The last four chapters invite us to think about how we might find coherence. Chapter 5, “Rethinking Christian Vocation” is the topic for today.

Does Knapp’s description of vocation match your understanding of the term? What impact does this understanding of vocation have for the sacred/secular, eternal/temporal, and public/private dualities we discussed last week? What do you think about the Naaman story and the idea that we can be whole working in a less than perfect business?

Knapp opens with a story about a man who told him that “God called me out of AT&T” into a “business as mission” enterprise that would aid the poor in emerging nations. I’ve heard many similar stories myself. But Knapp wants to know, is it possible that God calls some people into AT&T and to remain there? Do we have a theology that would support this idea?

Knapp reminds us that:

“The Scriptures affirm even the most basic forms of work, not necessarily because they yield individual wealth or even happiness, but because they nourish life and prevent suffering (e.g., Gen 3:19; Prov. 14:23; Prov. 20:13; Eccles. 9:10; 2 Thess. 3:10-11).” (88)

Calvin believed that everyone must work. Work is part of the mission to which God has called us. We demonstrate we are part of the elect partly through our work. I’m not sure most of us are ready to go that path with Calvin, but the positive legacy of the Reformation was in realizing, as Knapp says, “…that work is not merely a means of survival but is a service to God in the ongoing process of creating and ordering the world.” Work is not primarily about personal gain but about seeking the welfare of others as we serve God.

Knapp points us to a helpful distinction between primary and secondary calling. We all have a primary calling to follow Christ and a secondary calling to do so in a particular context. Our primary call becomes particularized in a secondary call. We are called to a particular family, a community, and a particular work. Our identity is in Christ, but we are commissioned to serve in particular ways.

Knapp raises an issue that called to my mind the oft-repeated Frederick Buechner quote, ‘Vocation is where our greatest passion meets the world’s greatest need.’ It is indeed special when someone can find employment that matches some great passion. My experience is that this is not the case for most of us. Work is more typically about providing for our own needs, serving others through our work, and serving family and friends with the wealth we create. It is about service to God in both good and difficult circumstances. I’m reminded that it is possible even for a slave to live out their primary vocation in work:

“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.” Col 3:22-25

Knapp suggests that “We are to be as faithful as possible within the confines and limitations of our own situations, whatever and whenever they may be.” (90)

He goes on to say:

“Certainly we should seek God’s guidance when considering career choices, but Christians would do well to give much more attention to discerning God’s will in their current situation. Are our lives the sum of random experiences, or has God’s hand and providence brought us to a place where we may serve here and now?” (91)

Now Knapp points out that this “serve where you are” idea can be taken too far. Luther believed that based on 1 Cor. 7:17 (“each of you should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him”), each person should stay in the station to which they had been born. Many have also concluded that this means there is only one occupation to which God calls each of us and that if we want to find God’s will, we must discern what that call is. This is a misreading of the passage. Paul was making the case that new Christians need not alter their status, including work, as a result of their newfound faith. Unfortunately, this “one true calling” idea is widely shared and the source of considerable anxiety for some Christians. A false sense of “higher callings” or anxiety about missing the one true job may take us away from where we might best serve.

In essence, I read Knapp to say that it is not so much what we do for an occupation but whether we are serving Christ in that occupation. But it is not true that every expression of work is as legitimate as any other. Most Christians would agree that a pornography store is not a legitimate business. Other examples are not so clear. How about working for a cable company that includes pornographic programming? Should a Christian work for a military contractor (particularly if you are a pacifist)? What about a bank that exploits low-income borrowers? Knapp writes:

“How, then, can a Christian know when to leave a job for moral or spiritual reasons? Sometimes the answer is obvious, as when some activity risks criminal liability. At other times it’s a matter of gauging one’s potential for changing things for the better.” (95)

And later:

“To be sure Christians should be unwilling to participate in some activities or even to hold certain jobs, but leaving a situation must always be weighed against the potential of staying for the benefit of others. Although either decision may be difficult, the latter usually takes an extra measure of courage and spiritual stamina.” (97)

There is no simple formula.

I particularly appreciated Knapp’s reflection on the story of Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:1-19). (You may recall that Naaman is one the gentiles of great faith Jesus mentions at the announcement of his ministry in Luke 4:27.) Naaman was the commanding officer over the Syrian army, Israel’s enemy. He discovers he has leprosy. A servant girl tells him of a prophet that can heal him. He gets permission from his King to visit Israel. He goes first to the King of Israel to request permission to see the prophet. The King of Israel is suspicious and will not see him but sends him on to Elisha. Elisha also refuses to see him but sends out his servant to tell Naaman to wash in the Jordan seven times. A bit insulted, Naaman hesitates but finally decides to go wash in the river, and he is healed. Naaman credits God and declares there is no other God but the God of Israel.

But now he must go back to Syria and return to his command. That will mean kneeling to pagan gods, an act of blasphemy against the one true God. As Knapp says, “His public actions in the workplace will conflict with his personal faith.” (96) He is deeply concerned about having Elisha intercede with God on his behalf so that he may be forgiven of his inevitable transgressions. Elisha simply instructs him, “Go in peace.” The prophet pronounces God’s blessing with the assurance that it is possible for Naaman to be whole and undivided in his workplace.” (97) Finding that sense of wholeness seems to be the key.

Knapp is suggesting that we need to revisit and rethink the idea of vocation. Doing so has two important implications. First, it communicates that what I do in my daily work life matters greatly to God. It integrates my life with God’s mission. Second, because my life is integrated, it communicates that what I do in my daily life is subject to Christian ethical reflection. So recovering a sense of vocation is the first piece in addressing “what can be done about it.” Maybe the first place pastors and church leaders can start is to cultivate a greater awareness of vocation and how our work is connected to God’s mission in the world.

[Series Index]

How the Church Fails Business People - 4

(This is a cross-post with a post done earlier today at Jesus Creed.) (Minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar edits, (June 19, 2023.)

The Godfather movie trilogy has one of my favorite takes on ethics with business: (insert best Brando voice here), “It’s not personal. It’s business.” And then there is the infamous tell-all Mayflower Madam from the 1980s, Sydney Biddle Barrows, who said, “I ran the wrong kind of business, but I did it with integrity.” We chuckle at such rationalizations, but it isn’t only mafiosos and madams that feel the need to compartmentalize. Many people in business feel the same pressure.

Have you ever experienced role strain in your work life? Have you ever caught yourself justifying questionable behavior by convincing yourself you were “playing by the rules?” Is there some sense in which ethics might play out differently in work environments versus other contexts?

What impact, for good or ill, has your work life had on shaping your identity?

We continue today with John Knapp’s How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it). The first two chapters looked at how both business and the church contribute to the faith and work divide. The third chapter looked at the church’s ambivalence about money. Chapter four, “Divided Worlds, Divided Lives,” rounds out the first part of the book, where Knapp describes how faith and work became worlds apart. The final four chapters will explore ways we might move toward coherence. The challenge explored today is how to live as if Jesus is Lord in a compartmentalized world.

A central aspect of Modernism was faith that we can find unity in broadly shared values. The Christian narrative and the secular modernist narrative battled to gain preeminence. But now, faith in any broad narrative has collapsed. In postmodernism, there is no overarching narrative. Societal institutions have become independent, developing their own rules and norms. As Peter Baelz says, “… individuals and groups fashion their own ideals, and society is held together by a minimal morality which is sufficient to make life in society possible.” (70)

Knapp writes:

“Where the self of modernity was vaunted as a locus of rationality, autonomy, and individual freedom, the de-centered and splintered self of postmodernity is described by Anthony C. Thiselton as no longer “regarding itself as an active agent carving out any possibility with the aid of natural and social sciences, but as an opaque product of variable roles and performances which have been imposed upon it by the constraints of society and by its own inner drives and conflicts.” (71)

While we may have many roles, we tend to gravitate to the roles that give us the most status and satisfaction. The work role is often dominant for many, particularly for skilled professionals. Absent any overarching ethic, we convince ourselves that as long as we live within the rules for our role, we behave morally. Conforming to the rules begins to mold us so that our identity becomes integrated with the role. The role provides our meaning in the absence of a broader narrative. Adherence to the rules, a type of legalism, becomes our comfort and gives a sense of order. Conscious reflection on relationships and the greater purposes to which God has called us is crowded out.

But as Christians, we at least assent to the idea that Jesus is Lord of all, and that God’s ethics apply to all of life. I sense that much of what passes as ethical behavior in most businesses in most industries is not in accord with ethical Christian living. The two worlds are not wholly antithetical. But what is our response in the significant number of cases where Christian ethics and the “rules and norms” of a business don’t mesh? What is our response when our career comes to define our very identity? We experience what is known in sociology as role strain. One response, Knapp writes, is:

“To avoid self-condemnation and to lessen role strain, we may allow ourselves to accept that what counts as moral or immoral, as important or unimportant, is relative to the situation or role in which the distinction is made.” (76)

He continues:

“The irony of this should not be lost on Christians. The more we wish to think of ourselves as faithful and moral people, the more prone we may be to rely on self-deception to maintain this preferred belief in the face of our own shortcomings. We may amplify anything that confirms a desired view of ourselves while giving little weight to evidence that we are falling short.” (76)

Knapp reminds us that the church sometimes has even unwittingly abetted role-based compartmentalization with things like misreading Luther’s “two kingdoms” doctrine. But surely the bigger challenge today is the church’s inability to articulate a narrative that shapes discipleship outside our private lives in a fragmented postmodern world. (Stay tuned.)

Finally, Knapp includes a quote in footnote 10 from Stanley Hauerwas’ A Community of Character:

“Christians are forbidden to despair in the face of dividedness of the world. On the contrary, we are commanded to witness to others that there is a God that overcomes our differences by making them serve his Kingdom. The task of the Christian is not to defeat relativism by argument but to witness to a God who requires confrontation.” (73)

As I read this footnote, a couple of things occurred to me. I think many church leaders have correctly seen an uncritical accommodation of the church to society. Too often, the church’s mission has collapsed into being a provider of religiosity services focused on therapeutic self-improvement. Thinkers like Hauerwas have called us back to a robust witness of Christ’s reign and Lordship. No argument there. But just how does this witness manifest itself?

Here is what I think I see emerging in my Mainline Presbyterian world. I see a new generation of pastors committed to challenging accommodation and being bold witnesses for Christ. If older generations have been accommodationists, the new generation will work for social justice. The energy now is toward churches creating programs and networks devoted to any number of justice concerns.

Still lost in all of this is that a significant majority of us spend most of our waking hours in some business environment. Switching the church’s identity from being a religiosity market to a social justice outpost does nothing toward reintegrating daily life with the missio dei … the mission of God. Both are exercises in extracting people from the primary locus of their vocation and diverting them to other tasks. Both send the subtle message that “real ministry” is what happens apart from our daily life. Both effectively leave the church as something supplemental to our “real lives.” Hauerwas’ charge is left unheeded in precisely the area where individual Christians have the greatest opportunity to fulfill it.

I’m not dismissing collective efforts to work for justice. They are essential. But to elevate justice work to the detriment of faith and work integration, of equipping people for the practice of everyday living, of sending disciples forth into their work environments, strikes me as “supplying” a religiosity product “marketed” to a new generation that has a “demand” for social action. Daily work life remains neatly in its own compartment, untouched by the Kingdom of God.

This concludes the first part of the book. In the next post, we will begin to examine some ideas Knapp has about how we can work toward coherence in our lives.

 [Series Index]

How the Church Fails Business People - 3

(This is a cross-post with a post done earlier today at Jesus Creed.) (Minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar edits, June 19, 2023.)

Henri Nouwen once observed that when people came to him for counseling, most of them would open up and readily discuss the most intimate details of their sex lives. But when he began probing about personal finances, body postures became closed, and people would want to know why he was getting so personal. Money is important to us.

Today we continue our discussion of John Knapp’s How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it). We are looking at Chapter Three, “Uneasy Bedfellows: Money and the Church.”

How do you reconcile the historic ambiguity about wealth and money? Going back to at least Calvin we have the realization that we are not in a zero-sum game but that wealth can be grown. Does this matter for how we see wealth? Why do you think we in the church find it so hard to wrestle theologically with money and wealth?

Dr. Knapp believes the divide between businesspeople and the church is rooted in a related issue: the Christian community’s longstanding ambivalence toward money. This is important because work and money are inextricably connected in our culture. Money and wealth are the means by which we “keep score” in our society, not just in terms of how we rate possessions but, unfortunately, too often, it is how we value people. From the start, money and wealth have been a central concern of Judeo-Christian ethical teaching. In this chapter, Knapp briefly surveys “Money and the Church” over the ages.

The Bible

Frankly, the Bible offers us a seemingly conflicted perspective. Wealth is presented as a blessing on some occasions, while on other occasions, we are warned not to desire wealth, even to renounce it. Knapp recounts several passages dealing with wealth in the Old Testament and sees three common themes:

• All wealth belongs to the sovereign God, whose purposes are not necessarily ours.
• There is spiritual danger in seeking after money or property for oneself, as this turns us away from our proper dependence upon God.
• Financial prosperity may indeed be a blessing, but a willingness to renounce wealth indicates that one is fit to be entrusted with it. (48)

As we come to the New Testament, things become more challenging. An ethic of selflessness, of taking care of other members of the Christian community, is central. There is teaching about forgiving debts. Jesus says that money may have spiritual power over us. We are told that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. How does one reconcile a modern pursuit of profit and loaning at interest with the Bible?

The Early Church: A Community of Sharing and Sacrifice

Knapp gives a quick sampling of teaching on money from the time of the New Testament to Constantine and Augustine of Hippo. There is some diversity of opinion, but Knapp sees four common themes:

• Christians are required to give generously, even sacrificially, to ensure that the needs of others are met.
• Responsible ownership of private property is permissible, but all wealth is intended by God to be used for the good of all.
• It is wrong to charge interest on loaned money, and even more so if the borrower is poor.
• A desire for wealth indicates a sinful heart and endangers the soul. (57)

The Middle Ages: Greater Accommodation to Wealth

Knapp sees greater accommodation to wealth in the millennium between Augustine and Luther. Pope Gregory I, in his Book of Pastoral Rule (a work that guided bishops for centuries), suggests that the rich not be condemned simply for being rich. He generalizes the rich man in the “eye of the needle” parable to mean any proud person. The medieval church relaxed restrictions on money lending. Care for the poor was reduced to almsgiving.

At the same time, the church was becoming a major multinational entity, owning as much as one-third of the developed land in Europe by 900. By the thirteenth century, the church was making loans, often with ruthless enforcement. Knapp concludes:

“Medieval teachings on money were limited almost exclusively to individual practice (micro-economics in today’s terminology). It is fair to say that the church had not developed a theology capable of informing its own exercise of vast institutional and macro-economic responsibilities.” (60)

The Reformation: Rethinking Work and Its Monetary Rewards

Concern about financial behavior of the church was one of the sparks of the Protestant Reformation. Selling of indulgences was of particular concern. Knapp notes that many of the reformers, including Luther and Calvin, were revisiting theology and ethics in light of the rise of a mercantile economy.

“No longer was wealth seen as “zero-sum game” where one person’s gain was another’s loss. These theologians recognized that a growing economy could provide new financial opportunities for the poor, that almsgiving was not the only way to help them.” (61)

Luther wanted to recover the dignity of work but felt people should remain in their ordained life station. Calvin took a more radical view, seeing profits through business and investments as an opportunity to expand service. He broke with church history and encouraged people to pursue greater wealth, not for superfluous luxury but to create more to give to the poor. Economic development would give the poor “… the opportunity to work hard and to demonstrate they are among the elect.” (62) Still, even as he opened the door for capitalism (which came later), Calvin also stressed that generated wealth was to be used for the benefit of others, not self-centered pursuits.

Our Contemporary Confusion

Liberalism in the Enlightenment broke with historical Church teaching, advocating pursuit of personal enrichment without regard for the achievement of just ends. It was in stark contrast to the church’s historical teaching. That departure has certainly expanded the work and faith divide.

Knapp writes at the end of this chapter:

“So it is that some churches embrace money-talk with gusto, while others tiptoe around the subject except when necessary to raise the annual church budget. In either case, little serious attention is given to the practical concerns of working people struggling to apply their faith to questions of money in their own lives.

More often, major church bodies have taken the easier route of critiquing the macro-economic system and it injustices. They issue studies and pronouncements on economic policy, the moral shortcomings of capitalism, the effects of globalization, and other important matters that are not easily connected by Christians to their daily lives. Almost never do these pronouncements offer much help for living and working with an imperfect and frequently unjust system. Too often, these macro-economic statements suggest to individuals that the church is hostile not only to the system but also to the people who participate in it by going to work. Where the pre-Reformation church concerned itself with the economic life of the individual but had little to say about economic systems, the opposite is largely the case today.” (66)

In short, ambiguity reigns. Dr. Knapp is indeed an ambitious soul to try to capture 2,000 years of church teaching in twenty pages, but I think he gives us a useful summary.

In the next chapter, we will turn to the socio-psychological impact of the divide between faith and wealth. In succeeding chapters, we will explore Knapp’s suggestions about how we might achieve some coherence.

[Series Index]

How the Church Fails Business People - 2

(This is a cross-post with a post done earlier today at Jesus Creed.) (Minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar edits, June 19, 2023.)

The business world frequently hinders our integration of faith with work, but the church also creates its own obstacles. We continue today with John Knapp’s How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it). The previous post looked at how the business world contributes to the divide between faith and work. Now we are looking at Chapter 2, “The World of the Church.”

Knapp begins this chapter by supplementing his survey findings with other research. In short: there is a deep divide between businesspeople and the church. He finds some businesspeople have internalized the idea that Christian ethics have little to do with work life. Work is accepted as a separate sphere of life. Quoting Helmut Thielicke, Knapp describes work for many as “… a temporal sphere in which the radical commandments of the Sermon on the Mount do not seem to apply, a sphere which consequently cannot be called into question.” (27)

Still, many businesspeople do seek integration of work and faith,h but they do so apart from pastors and the church apparatus. The widespread perception is that pastors don’t know their circumstances and don’t care (or, frankly, pastors may even be hostile toward them). Furthermore, Robert Wuthnow believes that many pastors fear addressing issues because they don’t understand people’s lives or maybe because they feel that work is a “neutral zone” where they should not be meddling.

Knapp identifies three dualisms that contribute to the divide. The first is the sacred and secular split. A perceived hierarchy of occupations is pervasive in the church. At the top are sacred professions like clergy, missionaries, and church professionals. These are followed by the helping professions with nurses, teachers, and social workers. At the bottom are businesspeople and several other professionals.

Yet we find no hierarchy in the New Testament. Knapp suggests the gradation emerged in the church in the generations after the New Testament era. Greek culture elevated contemplation above physical labor. As the church became more integrated with the Greco-Roman world, a hierarchy of work took hold. The Protestant Reformation pushed back against this idea with the “priesthood of all believers” but left the idea of paid clergy as the “real” priesthood intact.

Knapp writes:

“We should ask ourselves what is being communicated when a church allots time on Sunday morning to commission a short-term mission team for ten days in Mexico, yet does nothing to commission new college graduates for their careers in business or government or education. The crippling and unambiguous message is that ten days of volunteer work are more important to the church - and, by implication, to God – than a Christian’s lifelong occupation.” (29)

(In fact, why not have periodic commissioning services for people as they take new jobs? As a bit of shameless self-promotion, I’ve written a sample commissioning liturgy for Presbyterians. Click here.)

The second duality is the eternal and temporal divide. For most of the New Testament era, Christians expected an imminent return of Christ. On balance, the New Testament is focused on how to live in the turbulent last days before Christ returns. Little focus is given to the “first great commission” of tending and caring for creation, “… real work that is at once both temporal and sacred.” (35) The bias is still in evidence today, particularly in evangelical and pietistic traditions, with an inordinate individualistic focus on personal salvation to the detriment of a more full-orbed view of mission in the world that includes the first great commission.

The third duality is the public versus private divide. Here Knapp is critiquing the reduction of the church into a refuge for therapeutic healing in our private lives with no sense of equipping people for transformative work in the world. 

Knapp rounds out the chapter with two more dynamics contributing to the work and faith divide. He points first to theological education. He includes a quote by Laura Nash and Scotty McLennan summarizing their findings from a survey of 154 seminary students from 14 diverse seminaries about their preparation to minister to members of the business community: 

“When we probed for a particularized connection between faith and work, the response showed little depth or experience. When asked what business books or journals they studied, very few had any experience at all. When asked, “Have you discussed or been given any scripture passages to study with the explicit purpose of understanding God’s message with respect to business or the responsibilities of businesspeople?” respondents offered a range of passages that tended toward  portraying bad business behavior.” (37) 

Knapp reviewed the 2008-2009 course catalogs of eighteen leading seminaries and divinity schools from across the Christian spectrum. He found:

“Only a few electives at a handful of the schools are described as addressing vocational or work-related issues. Several more focus on broader economic topics, such as social justice for the poor. Yet these institutions collectively offer dozens of courses on marriage, family, children, hospital visitation, psychological counseling, and other topics most relevant to the private sphere.” (38)

Theological scholarship, where it touches on business at all, is more oriented to macroeconomic critiques than to economic life at the micro (individual) or meso (organizational) levels. Here I would interject a quote from Miroslav Volf’s “Work in the Spirit: A Theology of Work” (1991):

“Theologians are to blame for the former negligence [of studying work]. Amazingly little theological reflection has taken place in the past about an activity that takes up so much of our time. The number of pages theologians have devoted to the question of transubstantiation – which does or does not take place on Sunday – for instance, would, I suspect, far exceed the number of pages devoted to work that fills our lives Monday through Saturday. My point is not to belittle the importance of a correct understanding of the real Presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper but to stress the proper perspective on human work is at least as important.“ (69)

While there has been improvement in the last twenty years, Volf’s critique is still substantially true.

Some folks note the rising number of second-career seminarians. Some of these people have come from business backgrounds. Might this help bridge the gap? Possibly with some, but Knapp notes that most of these folks are going into theology precisely because they disliked the business world and viewed their seminary experience as pursuing a “higher calling.”

Another alternative is for seminaries to do continuing education classes or Doctor of Ministry programs that will help pastors bridge the gap. Knapp researched this option as well. Very few seminaries offered any options dealing with work, with Columbia Seminary (Decatur, GA), where he has been an adjunct, being an exception.

A final issue Knapp raises is the way churches conduct their own business affairs.

“Whether or not we are comfortable with acknowledging it, business management is an indispensable facet of ministry. Churches hire and pay staff, own and manage property, invest money, keep accounting records, file financial reports with government agencies, hire management and fund-raising consultants, comply with employment laws, own fleets of vehicles, purchase goods and services, and advertise their own services to the marketplace.” (41)

Larger churches may own recreational facilities, childcare facilities, or even for-profit businesses. Yet studies of accounting in church organizations consistently show resistance to well-accepted business practices for non-profit organizations. Somehow, bringing these practices into the church is perceived as bringing secular influences into sacred space. Personally, I have sat in board meetings for our denominational mission board where editorial amendments were made to reports that used language like “entrepreneurial leadership” or “stakeholders,” not because people disagreed with the underlying intent of the words but because the specific words were language from the “corporate” world … they were not “spiritual” enough. And guess what each businessperson in such conversations hears indirectly (or maybe not so indirectly) being said about their work?

The net result is that businesspeople frequently see churches and church leaders who do not act with integrity and prudence with their own business affairs. Why would they seek ethical advice for their struggles from such people? Why would they take to heart whatever business/economic correction church leaders might preach to them?

A whole book could be written on portions of this chapter alone. What I present here is a condensation of an already condensed presentation of the issues. Yet taking the first two chapters together, I think Knapp has pointed us to the essence of the problem.

One thought came to my mind for further reflection. What does a healthy relationship between businesspeople and the church look like? It seems unrealistic to me that we could expect pastors to become experts in the world of business. So what is the pastor’s, or a congregation’s, role? Knapp will have more to say later, but it is a critical question.

Do you agree that Knapp’s dualisms figure prominently in the life of the church? If so, what is the antidote for escaping them? For pastors, do you sense a divide from businesspeople, or are these survey findings a surprise to you? Are there things you’ve found helpful in bridging the gap?

[Series Index]

How the Church Fails Business People - 1

(This post is a cross-post of the series I am doing at Jesus Creed. You are welcome to join the discussion there or comment here.) (Minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar edits, June 19, 2023.)

Tina Turner once asked, "What's love got to do with it?" Today, many businesspeople ask, "What's God got to do with it?" For some, the question is a facetious way of saying that God really has nothing to do with business, but for many Christians, it is a very real question … a question for which the church is of little help.

Last December, Eerdmans published a book called How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it) written by Dr. John Knapp. Dr. Knapp is the founding director of the Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership at Samford University. He has also done adjunct work at Columbia Theological Seminary. (He is also a fellow PCUSAer.) Over the next several days, I will blog my way through his book, and I invite you to join me for conversation.

A central piece of Knapp's book is a survey his doctoral students at Columbia Seminary gave to 238 people from all walks of life. There were five questions:

1. Can you describe at least one moral or ethical concern that has affected you personally in your career or work life?

2. Was the church helpful to you in addressing the concerns(s)? If so, how? If not, what might have been helpful?

3. Can you recall specific sermons, classes, or other ways the church has offered practical guidance or help in your business or professional life? Please describe these.

4. Have you ever sought advice or counsel from a pastor regarding business- or career-related concerns? If so, was it helpful? If you have not done so, what consideration might help you determine whether to seek pastoral counsel about a work-related matter?

5. On the whole, do you think the church does enough to help members integrate their faith with their lives at work? If so, how? If not, how might we do better? (166)

 Knapp writes:

"Despite a widely shared belief that faith should inform ethical decisions at work, a mere 18 of 230 respondents had ever consulted a pastor for advice about a work-related matter. Of these, six were dissatisfied with the experience, including the entrepreneur who angrily moved his church membership when a pastor made light of his concern that his product might be bad for children; nine others had sought advice only when looking for a job. More revealing were the view of more than 200 people who had never looked to a pastor for counsel in business or career matters, a reluctance we will examine in the next chapter." (12)

The results of the survey are consistent with other research. There is widespread disappointment with the church among businesspeople. Why is there such a disconnection? Knapp identifies aspects of both the business world and the world of the church as contributors to the problem. Chapter 1 looks at the world of business, and Chapter 2 (the next post) looks at the world of the church.

Throughout human history, home life and work life were tightly woven together. Over the past two hundred years, we have seen a steady separation of the two, with seemingly different sets of ethical standards emerging for each sphere. Adding to this separation has been the evolution of economics. What we typically think of as economics was studied within the context of philosophy and political economy prior to the Twentieth Century. The idea of economics as an empirically based study of human behavior free of value judgments emerged in the Twentieth Century. Along with it came the notion of homo economicus, human beings reduced in essence to rational self-interested utility calculators. Ethical considerations were pushed to the margins.

Knapp points to a Harvard Business Review article written by Albert Carr in 1969, called "Is Business Bluffing Ethical?" as emblematic of the present mindset. Carr proposed that business be seen much like a poker game with its own rules that might run contrary to traditional values in other aspects of our lives but are acceptable inside the game. University-level business ethics have tended to reinforce this perspective and have tended more toward helping students avoid creating the next Enron versus really grappling with deep moral issues. And while we have seen a move in recent decades to make the workplace more diverse along a number of demographic lines, religion in the workplace is still seen as something that should stay at home. Knapp writes: 

"Our point here is that the cultures of many workplaces effectively relegate faith to the private, off-hours sphere, contributing to the individual's inner difficulty in holding these two worlds together." (7)

Heightening the tension is a reversal in the trend of the past two centuries toward compartmentalization. Work and business lives are becoming more integrated, and there is a growing hunger to know how to integrate them. Based on what I've observed, I suspect the younger you are, the more acutely this is felt. Unfortunately, Knapp observes:

"Princeton researcher Robert Wuthnow finds that individuals' faith actually 'plays a more important role in guiding work than has generally been acknowledged,' but he sees that this influence is diminishing as Christianity becomes less a guide for living than a 'way of making us feel better about ourselves.'" (16)

On the whole, I think Knapp has summarized the landscape well. I would add nuances in places that would go beyond the book's scope. The world of business and economics creates barriers to integrating faith and work. And that sets the stage for the next chapter, "The World of the Church."

Questions:

What barriers do you see to living out your faith in the workplace? Is it unrealistic to expect that the church could aid businesspeople with the decisions they make?

[Series Index]