Audio Transcript

Brantley: On last week's podcast, we talked about purpose. Howard, please give us a quick recap of that content before we go into this week’s content on core values.

Made With Purpose

Howard: Deep down in their heart and soul, everyone knows they have a purpose. And, when we go against that purpose, it’s not helpful.

So whether someone can live by the Spirit and never write down their purpose or someone needs to write down their purpose to make it explicit, knowing and establishing your purpose so it’s ingrained in your heart — your why, why you are here — is of great importance.

And, you can know! You can know your purpose. God’s word is so clear — our purpose is to follow Him, be a witness to Him, and make all things new. That purpose not only defines reality, it also offers us all sorts of hope.

Brantley: All that is so true, and one of the things we were talking about on the last show was the importance of knowing your “why” so well that it’s something that can be written down. This makes it transparent, something that can be evaluated, something that can be discussed in community, and ultimately makes it more impactful. And, that’s the goal — to impact others with the hope and love of Christ in our city.

Howard: Yes, we need to help others know the truth and hope of God’s word, be transformed, and build up redemptive businesses for God’s kingdom.

Brantley: That’s why this week we are talking about values. Values are related to what we talked about last week — knowing your “why”.

Our first point is this: when we don’t live on purpose, when we don’t know our “why”, we live by accident.  

Howard: And, we find ourselves saying we are sorry. When we do things on accident, we apologize a lot. We don’t want to do things on accident.

Living On Purpose

We want to do things on purpose, and that requires us wrestling with why we are here and what we value.

Brantley: In our groups this week, one of the examples you gave of this was a quote from Freud.

Howard: Yes, in Victor Frankel’s book, Man’s Search For Meaning, he examines some of the philosophers of his time and shows how they were wrong. One example is Freud. Freud said man would find his purpose and contentment in pleasure. Neichte said it was all about power.

But Frankel saw people in concentration camps without pleasure and without power, and yet they had great meaning and purpose. He saw people who literally had nothing and what they did have — their own lives — were about to be taken from them, and they were able to live with hope and joy.

What Do You Value?

Brantley: I think that example gets down to what those people valued as individuals and as a community. And, on a bigger scale, what we value.

One of the ways we discussed this point was with Matthew 13:44-46, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

This example from scripture says a lot about values. This really is an example of Jesus teaching how one man’s values have been reframed to value something even more. Which makes us consider what it is that we value and how those values impact what we do every day.

Howard: Your values are set in what lasts the longest. Some companies create great purpose and value statements that last over time, and all those company statements have been outwardly focused.

But here in that parable you see that values define the kingdom of heaven. And, everything you thought was valuable up to that point are things you sell and get rid of because you’ve found real value that lasts forever.

Brantley: So in the content of thinking through values, you have 3 examples of company value statements. Which value statement from those 3 was your favorite, and can you walk us through what you like about it?

Howard: One classic example is from Jim Collins and Jerry Porris in their article from Harvard Business Review. An example from a company is Sony because, whether they are totally redemptive or not, since the end of World War 2 they’ve been trying to raise the way Japanese culture is esteemed around the world. They were just bombed and Japan was at their lowest of lows, and Sony wanted to be a part of bringing Japan up from that low.

This is something that all great value statements have — they are outwardly focused. And, guess what? There is nothing about technology in their value statement. None of the products we know Sony for are in their value statement. There is nothing about what they make or sell in their value statement. However, 20 years later, they were seen as one of the world’s most successful brands.

Brantley: It is fascinating because you see what happens when you are looking at those values blindly. Personally, I was very surprised to see technology not be a part of their statement. As a consumer, I would assume they would have that as a part of their values. I thought it would at least say something about making great products or making people’s lives easier through great products.

Purpose Is Driven By Values

This helps us transition to our second discussion theme. Which is that purpose is driven by values. In the Sony example, their values were different and they were trying to accomplish something larger than just developing great products. But in order to understand why Sony did this we first need to ask what values actually are.

Can you talk a little bit about how you define values?

Howard: I think that verse you talked about earlier defines values better than anything. In those verses, the person saw there was something  more — something to be valued greater than the rest of his stuff. So there is a comparison to make.

Some companies choose between values. For example, some choose innovation over quality. Which on the surface seems crazy. Values are things you stick to no matter what. Values help guide your life completely through circumstances. Circumstances don’t define you. The promises you make and deliver on define you.

Brantley: Right, so one thing I was thinking through today is that if values are these key tenets that endure, what are some of the values we should have in light of the Biblical passages we looked at this week? Is there a specific number of values we should have?

Howard: I don’t know if there is a specific number of values we need to have. However, what is true is this: if your purpose is not eternal, if it isn’t built on something that lasts, you will become frustrated. You will come to the end of yourself. God’s done some great things in my life when He’s helped me get to the end of my own purposes and temporary values. Paul calls those things rubbish when compared to the value of knowing Christ.

So there are things where if you don’t have the right values, you will come to the end of them. So in defining reality and offering hope, when we use God’s word to define it, 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” These verses tell us we need to focus on what is eternal rather than what is temporary. We get caught up in all this little stuff during the day, but God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

So the first thing I want to do is make sure the values I’m choosing are eternal, and one of the inputs to that is that if it’s eternal, you cannot see it.

That just prompts more questions. I thought you would ask a question about that!

Brantley: Well, honestly, I think the foundational component is that our values should be eternal. Jesus reminds us of this in the gospels frequently. This morning I was thinking about what Jesus says in Luke 12 — the simple principle of: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. This connects what we treasure to the core of who we are as human beings, our heart.

We need to hold ourselves accountable to our values being eternal. Am I valuing what’s eternal? And, the question is how do those values get applied to our work?

Values That Last

Howard: I love what you said about the heart. That’s one of the three things that lasts forever — God, His word, and the souls of men. That’s why the heart is so important.

But as we go to the corporate example and think about employees or companies who really live out their values. One easy example is Chick-Fil-A. They decided they wouldn't be open on Sundays because being open on Sunday was opposed to what they valued. They got a lot of pushback for that decision.

Another example from Chick-Fil-A is their benefits policy. They weren’t comfortable offering certain benefits to their employees that were opposed to their values. Again, they caught a lot of pushback for that decision. The point isn’t whether or not you agree or disagree with their values. The point is their values were so ingrained that people reacted to them. Some people even protested! And, guess what? During the protests, Chick-Fil-A served the protesters free food. They kept their values and served others, even when they were threatened by them.

This brings us to an important point: people don’t buy what you do, they buy how you do it. Chick-Fil-A grew as a company after these events because they stuck to their values, not just because they make great food.

Brantley: Yeah, with the Chick-Fil-A example, over the years of our friendship, I think one of the things that we’ve agreed on is that unless there are certain principles established, it’s hard to move into how you do it. That’s one thing I’ve learned from you, and it’s something I’ve continued to do in my own work. I take a step back and examine whether I can actually align on the correct principle approach — or in this scenario value approach — because if you don’t know, it’s hard to really move forward with practical next steps.

As we approach the end of this podcast, I think that’s something I’d like to hear you touch on — the practicality of this. Our values are eternal and we are thinking through what they are. How do these values apply to our vocational contexts? We still have to get stuff done. How does this influence and impact it?

Howard: It does impact and influence what we do. Those are some of the greatest discussions we’ve had all week. Some of the other things that last are faith, hope, and love. We usually hear that at weddings. This comes from 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

So let’s just take love and knowing someone’s soul lasts forever. Loving God above all else and loving your neighbor as yourself. Rick Warren arrested me with this 20 years ago as I read his book, The Purpose Driven Life. I was quite bold. At work, this is how I conducted meetings. I examined what the people who worked for me owed me and what I owed them and focused on what we were getting done. After we finish that part, we’ll talk about how everyone’s doing.

After a while, I realized the first question needed to be, “How are you doing?”

Asking that question first changes the whole meeting. How the person spent last night and the frame of mind they are in today changes things. Even if there are really important things to get done, it’s important to know how they are doing.

Another part of your question was about the exchange of value. In order for anything to get done at work there has to be a value exchange, this is necessary to move the organization forward. However, if you put the person first, they can do much more. They may not be able to do anything on that project today, but if they are the right person in the right job, we can encourage them today. They will come back stronger and bolder than ever. The company mission will move forward if we all stay aligned.

Brantley: It’s such a great reminder because it’s so easy to get caught up in the taks, daily projects, and deliverables. And, when we do this, we forget about how we are working in a community with other people. God calls us to have real relationships with real people, but when we just focus on the task, we forget about the souls of others. Ultimately, even if you put a secular spin on it, there is more success to be found when you focus on relationships.

Howard: You’re right. Not thinking that way marks some of my biggest mistakes. On the other hand, beginning to think that way were some of the biggest turning points. It is about this person. It is about how this impacts people. It is about how it lasts. If it’s temporary, who wants it to be temporary?

Brantley: Right, and I love ending with your mistake comment because we’re human and we’re sinners. We’re messed up, and that’s one of the reasons The Center is here, to help us have these right principles, talk through them, admit where we’ve gone wrong, and collaborate to do a better job. Why we are trying to improve is for the glory of God, and we fail every day. I can name at least 3 times yesterday when I was focused on the project instead of the person.

There’s freedom in knowing we are claimed by Christ in a way that helps set the direction of what we should be doing. And, we can come to His feet and say, “Lord, I need your help to do this.”

It’s an impossible task, and we need God and His Spirit to do it correctly.

Howard: That’s true, and it doesn’t mean we slack off at work. No, no, there’s no way we can love somebody and turn something in that’s less than our best. We can’t love God and not turn in our best work. We can’t love those around us and not turn in our best. Focusing on the other person helps us do our best work and it helps them do their best.