ESSENCE:  People are more “fully human” when engaged in meaningful work that unleashes their God-given productivity and creativity in a culture of Shalom built on Biblical principles of relationships, community and human dignity.  People are more “fully human” when their identity is rooted in Imago Dei, their purpose is aligned with human flourishing, and their work culture treats them with dignity and prioritizes connection.  RESTORE is the fourth and final step in the path of Integriosity.^®  It is about seeing the bigger WHY’s of work and business materialize and manifest in an organization that has been RE-IMAGINED and RE-ALIGNED with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities based upon a RENEWED understanding of God’s purpose for work and business.  One of those bigger WHY’s is Humanizing People. The fruit of faithfully “doing right” through business a better way–the fruit of Integriosity–is to bring people closer to the humanity God intended by bringing work closer to the blessing God intended.

Our last three posts were looking at how faithfully “doing right” through business a better way RESTORES People, RESTORES Organizations and RESTORES Work Relationships. RESTORING People is healing the brokenness of “work as usual“, RESTORING Organizations is eliminating the aspects of business as usual that prevent people from fulfilling the Creation Mandate, and RESTORING Work Relationships is re-establishing relationships broken by the Fall by creating a culture in which people can reconnect their work with God, their co-workers, creation and work itself.  But we have gone even further in prior posts to suggest that faithfully “doing right” through business a better way actually Humanizes people.   In fact, we believe that one of the bigger WHY’s of work and business in God’s design is to Humanize People.  What does that even mean?

RESTORE: Do People Need to Be “Humanized”?

You might be asking, “I was born a human and have always been a human–what does it even mean to be Humanized?”  We were certainly created by God to be human–creations uniquely brought to life with divine breath (no other aspect of creation received divine breath) in the image of a creative, productive and relational God, made for a purpose (Creation Mandate) and deserving of dignity and respect because we were created in God’s image.  It is “who we really are“, but not necessarily how we are living and working in broken workplaces that are part of a broken world.

Becoming (More) Human.  Our friend Dr. Skip Moen argues that “humanness” is something we must choose to move toward in our lives:

We become human when we act as the Creator acts.  We earn humanity over the course of our lives.

He writes that “becoming human” is an act of free will.  We are born with everything we need to truly become who God created us to be, but being “human” means working toward reflecting our God-given characteristics in a broken world that is dehumanizing (emphasis added):

If I am going to become human, I must move in the direction of the divine design in me.  That does not happen by random chance or automatic pilot.  I must decide to become human.  That is essentially what it means to have free will, to be able to choose.  I can move toward God’s design innately implanted in me, or I can move away from His design, forging a self-made creature fashioned by lesser purposes.  I am equipped to manifest God’s design.  He has insured that I lack nothing necessary for this project.  But accomplishing the task of becoming human requires a continual connection to the Maker. . . .  The systems of this world are designed to remove your humanity because they are designed to remove you from a relationship with your Creator.  Whatever is self-driven leads to inhuman behavior.  True humanity is found in humble submission to the Creator.

Because we were created by God to reflect God’s image through work (post #048-Work Is Good), working in the way God intended actually moves us in the direction of becoming more fully human.  Consider these observations by Skip and Jeff Van Duzer:

 You see, when I align my deepest need to create with the gentle restraint of God, He and I produce something fabulous, something that glorifies Him and blesses others.  In the process, I experience who I really am and I am flooded with joy (who He really is).  (Dr. Skip Moen)

When humans engage in creative, meaningful work that grows out of relationships and gives back to the community they become more deeply human. (Jeff Van Duzer)

The Dehumanizing Impact of Business as Usual and Work as Usual.  In our early posts, we explained ways in which business as usual and work as usual actually undermine key aspects of our intended humanness–working against God’s design for work and for us.

• Identity:  Business as usual and work as usual contribute to our work coming to define “who” we are, rather than being a place to express “who” we are (post #020-Work As Usual–An Idol and Identity).  How someone sees their primary identity will also impact which “kingdom” they prioritize building–theirs or God’s.  Skip Moen warns:

[W]hen I let my ferocious energy serve myself, when I use it to acquire my own destiny, then something disastrous occurs.  I create without God – and the result can only be unholy.

• Purpose:  Business as usual is driven by Profit as Purpose (post #013-Business as Usual–Profit as Purpose), which leads to work as usual being driven by money and power (post #021-Work as Usual–Money and Power).
• Dignity:  Business as usual‘s focus on Profit as Purpose necessarily devalues human dignity because it reduces people to tools of production (post #017-“Profit” Problems), contributing to work as usual becoming a burden rather than a blessing (post #022-Work as Usual–Burden).
• Connection:  The Scarcity and Self-Interest assumptions that underlie business as usual do not prioritize community (post #018-“Scarcity”, “Self-Interest” and the Real Problems) and undermine relationships and connection at work (post #23-Work as Usual–Unhealthy Relationships).

RESTORE: How Integriosity Humanizes People

As we pointed out in our last few posts, the Cambridge English Dictionary defines “restore” as “to return something or someone to an earlier good condition.”  The fruit of faithfully “doing right” through business a better way–the fruit of Integriosity–is to bring people closer to the humanity God intended by bringing work closer to the blessing God intended.  Indeed, we believe that is one of the three bigger WHY’s of business.  God created work as a good thing and created people to work.

People are more “fully human” when engaged in meaningful work that unleashes their God-given productivity and creativity in a culture of Shalom built on Biblical principles of relationships, community and human dignity.  Let’s look at how an organization faithfully “doing right” through business a better way impacts the four aspects of being human:

• Identity:  Work becomes a place for people to express “who” they are–a place to exercise their God-given productivity and creativity–rather than an all-consuming identity itself (post #087-Commitment to WHO Identity).  It facilitates rather than undermines the ability of people to live out Imago Dei.
• Purpose:  As an organization embraces the bigger WHY of serving people in a way that maximizes the flourishing of all people touched by the organization rather than Profit as Purpose, work takes on that bigger WHY.  When people reflect the image of God by exercising their God-given gifts through work to serve one another, they are also living out the commandments to love God and love one another.
• Dignity:  As leaders of an organization understand Imago Dei, put profit in its proper place as a means rather an end, and embrace the organization’s role as a steward of God’s creation, they prioritize people and recognize that “caring for all God has made” must include respecting all humans God created and treating all stakeholders of the organization with dignity (owners, employees, vendors, customers, communities) (post #058-Respect and Sustainability–God’s Limits).
• Connection:  As the purpose, values and culture of an organization are Re-Imagined to prioritize people and serving others in line with God’s design (#084-Culture and People), work relationships are restored (#098-Work Relationships) and people become engaged.  A Re-Imagined Culture that prioritizes people and connection encourages healthy relationships among those people and  leads to work being experienced by its people as a blessing of flourishing to be embraced rather than a burden to be minimized.

Just as people need to be intentional about becoming more human by moving in the direction of the divine design within them, leaders of an organization of people must be intentional about moving the organization toward its collective divine design by faithfully “doing right” through business a better way so that flourishing of the people it touches is maximized.  In the words of Jonathan Pennington:

Human flourishing alone is the idea that encompasses all human activity and goals because there is nothing so natural and inescapable as the desire to live, and to live in peace, security, love, health, and happiness. These are not merely cultural values or the desire of a certain people or time period. The desire for human flourishing motivates everything humans do…. All human behavior, when analyzed deeply enough, will be found to be motivated by the desire for life and flourishing, individually and corporately.

It is time to begin executing “business a better way” in alignment with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities–it is time to begin RESTORING by faithfully “doing right” through Integriosity.^®

SPOILER ALERT:   In our next post, we will explore how faithfully “doing right” through business a better way RESTORES by Beautifying the World.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):   I think the first time I really focused on the word “human” as something other than a slightly more scientific-sounding word for a “person” was during a talk given by Erwin McManus at the 2014 New Canaan Society Washington Weekend.  McManus talked about what it meant to be “human”–to have been created in God’s image.  I can’t do it justice (particularly Erwin’s humor) in a summary.  Below is a link to the talk–it is 30 minutes that will inspire and encourage you to be more fully “human” and to lead in a way that humanizes others.

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