The Glory Of Grace At Work
The Glory Of Grace At Work
The Glory Of Grace At Work
The Glory Of Grace At Work
Work is about people. Yet, too often, we get tricked into believing that work is about the numbers, strategy, accomplishments, and tasks. These lies place excellence in organizational and individual accomplishments ahead of grace toward the people we work with and for — including those the organization aims to serve.
I used to think the purpose of work was about achieving goals and making money, but now I know the purpose of work is to love people.
It was a mistake — a big mistake. The way-too-young executive had not calculated the quarterly marketing spending correctly. He was off by over a million dollars, and this big of a miscalculation meant the company needed to let Wall Street analysts and investors know that earnings would be lower than previously forecasted.
It’s been over twenty five years since that mistake, but what I remember most about that situation was not the detail of my error as much as the backing I received from my bosses.
The executive meeting the week of my mistake was not pretty. A couple of the senior executives criticized me sharply. Yet my boss, Gee Gee, the company’s president, vigorously defended me, blaming it on our rapid growth and our willingness to try new things. Telling the others if they were aggressively experimenting as we were, they’d be making mistakes too — all the while letting me know he was proud of the work we were doing, and he was behind me and with me. The CEO, Terrell, quickly agreed and voiced the same support.
Somehow, my biggest mistake had turned into the biggest affirmation of my work. I have not made a budget mistake like that again, but more importantly, I’ll never forget what it feels like to have the complete support of the people you work for. Those two amazing leaders changed my approach to work forever by caring for me as a person over the business results
A False Dichotomy
Work is about people. Yet, too often, we get tricked into believing that work is about the numbers, strategy, accomplishments, and tasks. These lies place excellence in organizational and individual accomplishments ahead of grace toward the people we work with and for — including those the organization aims to serve.
Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life says, “Work is never about the task, it’s always about the person.” Of course, this is much easier said than done because incentive systems within organizations don’t always properly award caring for customers and fellow employees.
It’s a false dichotomy to believe that excellence in the workplace and caring for people are at odds with each other. Great work is full of love and grace. As one of today’s best champions of big ideas, Bob Goff is a great example of how excellence in the way work is done and the way people are treated are synonymous.
Love Does
Bob knows that life and work are about loving others because Bob’s life was changed dramatically by someone who stood with him. In the beginning of his bestselling book Love Does, Bob tells the compelling tale of how it happened. Bob was planning on quitting high school as a junior, but one guy, Randy, stayed with him. Randy sacrificed himself and his time as a newlywed with his wife to make sure Bob knew someone cared for him. Bob tells part of the story of why Randy did this for him.
“It was because Randy loved me. He saw the need and he did something about it. He didn’t just say he was for me or with me. He was actually present with me.
What I learned from Randy changed my view permanently about what it meant to have a friendship with Jesus. I learned that faith isn’t about knowing all of the right stuff or obeying a list of rules. It’s something more, something more costly because it involves being present and making a sacrifice. Perhaps that’s why Jesus is sometimes called Immanuel —“God with us.” I think that’s what God had in mind, for Jesus to be present, to just be with us. It’s also what He has in mind for us when it comes to other people.
The world can make you think that love can be picked up at a garage sale or enveloped in a Hallmark card. But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence. It’s a love that operates more like a sign language than being spoken outright. What I learned from Randy about the brand of love Jesus offers is that it’s more about presence than undertaking a project. It’s a brand of love that doesn’t just think about good things, or agree with them, or talk about them. What I learned from Randy reinforced the simple truth that continues to weave itself into the tapestry of every great story: Love does.
Since that time, Bob has committed his life to loving others like Randy loved him, and the results are as astounding as they are encouraging. Bob is a bestselling author whose books have reached millions of people. And his nonprofit, Love Does, provides childhood victims of human trafficking with the education and resources to heal from and overcome their trauma. Love Does currently operates in 9 countries.
The Most Excellent Worker
Jesus — the world’s greatest leader and most excellent worker — always prioritized people ahead of tasks. This is the way Jesus fulfilled His purpose and gave glory to the Father.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14
The Gospel of John goes on to reference how Jesus worked another 27 times. For example, Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working,” (John 5:17). The purpose of His work was to glorify God by making a way for us to be reconciled to God through His own blood shed on the cross (Colossians 1:20).
The work of Jesus is the most excellent work ever done — full of grace and truth. The Apostle Paul reminds us that the work of Jesus commissions us to work and do everything His Way. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him,” (Colossians 3:17).
Excellent Work Is Grace Filled
The Apostle Paul met Jesus and completely changed his purpose for work. He went from defending and murdering to protect the goals of a religious organization to surrendering his life — all because He understood grace had been extended to him and he now lacked nothing (Psalm 23:1). And, for Paul, this meant hard work day and night.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” – 1 Corinthians 15:10
Paul spent over 30 years working, preaching, teaching, and extending grace by being present with others.
U2: An Example of Excellence and Grace
U2 has accomplished as much or more than any band of our time. But, what most people don’t know is that U2’s story of success is also a story of faith. They are aware they have been given gifts and they understand the purpose of their gifts isn’t to make lots of money and make their names great, it’s to love other people by producing great music. They are not afraid to play their version of a traditional hymn, amazing grace along with one of their biggest hits. They have been blessed by God and desire others to know His amazing grace.
In a recent interview Bono quoted Patrick Kavanagh saying, “God makes all men genius, but most men do not like God’s work.” In other words, all our gifts — musical or otherwise — come from God, regardless of whether we recognize it or not. And, our genius and various gifts are truly genius only if we use them to bless others. Our genius is whether or not we use the gifts we are given for the glory of God and the benefit of others.
In the same interview, with great humility the Edge said, “It’s always been a struggle, you have to remember we were kids that came out of punk rock — we weren’t great musicians, we had our limits... Our limitations were a strength, it was never easy, and I think that is a good thing.”
U2 understands their gifts are not about them as individuals. They know they were given them to bless others, and they start with a grace-filled approach to each other. From the very beginning they split everything they did equally. No matter how much Bono is up front and public, no matter how many more songs Bono or The Edge have written, all band royalties and revenues are split equally.
U2 stays together and keeps making extraordinary music because they understand their gifts are a grace from God. So they put each other before individual recognition or revenue and they keep blessing the world with their gifts.
You Too
High excellence and high grace are synonymous. Our most excellent work is extending grace to others. Jesus’ life on earth was the perfect example of working with high excellence and high grace. Bob Goff and U2 are two modern examples of how this plays out today, and we are also called to be excellent extenders of grace as we live and work.
When we extend grace to others, we demonstrate that work is about more than money, it’s about loving others.
Resources
I used to think the purpose of work was about achieving goals and making money, but now I know the purpose of work is to love people.
It was a mistake — a big mistake. The way-too-young executive had not calculated the quarterly marketing spending correctly. He was off by over a million dollars, and this big of a miscalculation meant the company needed to let Wall Street analysts and investors know that earnings would be lower than previously forecasted.
It’s been over twenty five years since that mistake, but what I remember most about that situation was not the detail of my error as much as the backing I received from my bosses.
The executive meeting the week of my mistake was not pretty. A couple of the senior executives criticized me sharply. Yet my boss, Gee Gee, the company’s president, vigorously defended me, blaming it on our rapid growth and our willingness to try new things. Telling the others if they were aggressively experimenting as we were, they’d be making mistakes too — all the while letting me know he was proud of the work we were doing, and he was behind me and with me. The CEO, Terrell, quickly agreed and voiced the same support.
Somehow, my biggest mistake had turned into the biggest affirmation of my work. I have not made a budget mistake like that again, but more importantly, I’ll never forget what it feels like to have the complete support of the people you work for. Those two amazing leaders changed my approach to work forever by caring for me as a person over the business results
A False Dichotomy
Work is about people. Yet, too often, we get tricked into believing that work is about the numbers, strategy, accomplishments, and tasks. These lies place excellence in organizational and individual accomplishments ahead of grace toward the people we work with and for — including those the organization aims to serve.
Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life says, “Work is never about the task, it’s always about the person.” Of course, this is much easier said than done because incentive systems within organizations don’t always properly award caring for customers and fellow employees.
It’s a false dichotomy to believe that excellence in the workplace and caring for people are at odds with each other. Great work is full of love and grace. As one of today’s best champions of big ideas, Bob Goff is a great example of how excellence in the way work is done and the way people are treated are synonymous.
Love Does
Bob knows that life and work are about loving others because Bob’s life was changed dramatically by someone who stood with him. In the beginning of his bestselling book Love Does, Bob tells the compelling tale of how it happened. Bob was planning on quitting high school as a junior, but one guy, Randy, stayed with him. Randy sacrificed himself and his time as a newlywed with his wife to make sure Bob knew someone cared for him. Bob tells part of the story of why Randy did this for him.
“It was because Randy loved me. He saw the need and he did something about it. He didn’t just say he was for me or with me. He was actually present with me.
What I learned from Randy changed my view permanently about what it meant to have a friendship with Jesus. I learned that faith isn’t about knowing all of the right stuff or obeying a list of rules. It’s something more, something more costly because it involves being present and making a sacrifice. Perhaps that’s why Jesus is sometimes called Immanuel —“God with us.” I think that’s what God had in mind, for Jesus to be present, to just be with us. It’s also what He has in mind for us when it comes to other people.
The world can make you think that love can be picked up at a garage sale or enveloped in a Hallmark card. But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence. It’s a love that operates more like a sign language than being spoken outright. What I learned from Randy about the brand of love Jesus offers is that it’s more about presence than undertaking a project. It’s a brand of love that doesn’t just think about good things, or agree with them, or talk about them. What I learned from Randy reinforced the simple truth that continues to weave itself into the tapestry of every great story: Love does.
Since that time, Bob has committed his life to loving others like Randy loved him, and the results are as astounding as they are encouraging. Bob is a bestselling author whose books have reached millions of people. And his nonprofit, Love Does, provides childhood victims of human trafficking with the education and resources to heal from and overcome their trauma. Love Does currently operates in 9 countries.
The Most Excellent Worker
Jesus — the world’s greatest leader and most excellent worker — always prioritized people ahead of tasks. This is the way Jesus fulfilled His purpose and gave glory to the Father.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14
The Gospel of John goes on to reference how Jesus worked another 27 times. For example, Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working,” (John 5:17). The purpose of His work was to glorify God by making a way for us to be reconciled to God through His own blood shed on the cross (Colossians 1:20).
The work of Jesus is the most excellent work ever done — full of grace and truth. The Apostle Paul reminds us that the work of Jesus commissions us to work and do everything His Way. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him,” (Colossians 3:17).
Excellent Work Is Grace Filled
The Apostle Paul met Jesus and completely changed his purpose for work. He went from defending and murdering to protect the goals of a religious organization to surrendering his life — all because He understood grace had been extended to him and he now lacked nothing (Psalm 23:1). And, for Paul, this meant hard work day and night.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” – 1 Corinthians 15:10
Paul spent over 30 years working, preaching, teaching, and extending grace by being present with others.
U2: An Example of Excellence and Grace
U2 has accomplished as much or more than any band of our time. But, what most people don’t know is that U2’s story of success is also a story of faith. They are aware they have been given gifts and they understand the purpose of their gifts isn’t to make lots of money and make their names great, it’s to love other people by producing great music. They are not afraid to play their version of a traditional hymn, amazing grace along with one of their biggest hits. They have been blessed by God and desire others to know His amazing grace.
In a recent interview Bono quoted Patrick Kavanagh saying, “God makes all men genius, but most men do not like God’s work.” In other words, all our gifts — musical or otherwise — come from God, regardless of whether we recognize it or not. And, our genius and various gifts are truly genius only if we use them to bless others. Our genius is whether or not we use the gifts we are given for the glory of God and the benefit of others.
In the same interview, with great humility the Edge said, “It’s always been a struggle, you have to remember we were kids that came out of punk rock — we weren’t great musicians, we had our limits... Our limitations were a strength, it was never easy, and I think that is a good thing.”
U2 understands their gifts are not about them as individuals. They know they were given them to bless others, and they start with a grace-filled approach to each other. From the very beginning they split everything they did equally. No matter how much Bono is up front and public, no matter how many more songs Bono or The Edge have written, all band royalties and revenues are split equally.
U2 stays together and keeps making extraordinary music because they understand their gifts are a grace from God. So they put each other before individual recognition or revenue and they keep blessing the world with their gifts.
You Too
High excellence and high grace are synonymous. Our most excellent work is extending grace to others. Jesus’ life on earth was the perfect example of working with high excellence and high grace. Bob Goff and U2 are two modern examples of how this plays out today, and we are also called to be excellent extenders of grace as we live and work.
When we extend grace to others, we demonstrate that work is about more than money, it’s about loving others.
Resources