Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization.  We believe some are critical (and necessary) steps in the RENEW/RE-ALIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RESTORE process.  Others are just ideas to be considered if they feel like a good fit based on what leaders prayerfully discern is best for stewarding the organization toward its WHY.

“Close the Gaps” falls into the “if it fits” category because it is overt and likely to be embraced principally by employees who already profess a Biblical faith.

Integrity Ideas are specific actions a leader can consider during the Re-Align step of Integriosity^®–actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  You can find more Integrity Ideas at Integrous | Integrity Ideas (integriosity.com)

INTEGRITY IDEA: Close the Gaps

“Close the Gaps” is about organizing or facilitating study groups, or making available resources, that help employees get across the three “gaps” that can keep them from experiencing work as God intended it and that can make it more difficult for faithful leaders to cultivate a on organizational culture of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.

“Close the Gaps” recognizes that moving across the “Sunday/Monday Gap”, the “Sacred/Secular Gap” and the “Knowing/Doing Gap” equips a person to see their work, their organization and all the people it touches in the light of a bigger WHY, and to live out Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities in all they do at work.

In his book Great Work, David Sturt writes:

To reframe one’s job is to make a mental connection with a grander purpose . . . . Thinking of the good our work can do, beyond our daily to-do list, helps us change how we relate to our work.

When a person’s WHY for their work is aligned with God’s WHY for work, the work becomes the person’s ministry, the person’s ministry becomes the work, and the person becomes more fully “human”. When that happens in an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way through Biblical flourishing, people are Humanized, the world is Beautified and God is Glorified.

Refresher: The “Gaps”

There is much talk about the intersection of “work” and “ministry” but the relationship between those two concepts gets described in different ways.   We like a quote by A.W. Tozer:

Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it.

The brilliant and famous Tozer asserts that our work can be “as sacred as the work of the ministry”.  That’s an exciting idea—it suggests our work can be our ministry. He also says what matters is “WHY” we do our job.

In 2019, a representative of a faith and work organization mentioned that they and another organization had conducted surveys of workers in an effort to ascertain whether Evangelical Christians understood that all of their work was a sacred activity.  Based on those surveys, these groups concluded that only 5-9% of the workers who self-identified as Evangelical Christians had a Biblical understanding of work as a sacred activity and a calling.

We have devoted a few posts to the three gaps that keep people from that understanding.

• “Sunday/Monday”: this gap is crossed when you understand that what you do Monday-Friday is not disconnected from the faith you practice on Sunday–you should bring your whole self (including your faith) to work.

• “Sacred/Secular”: this gap is crossed when you understand that your work itself has intrinsic value in God’s Kingdom–your work is a sacred vocational calling and a form of worship (you have probably heard that the Hebrew word avodah means work, worship and service). As Tozer says, what matters is the WHY behind your work.

• “Knowing/Doing”: this gap is crossed by taking those understandings and implementing change through deeds. Although Tozer says what you “do” doesn’t matter, he does not mean you don’t need to “do” anything—deeds do matter, but they must come from the right WHY behind your work.

That survey of Evangelical Christians asked people when they thought they were living out their faith at work.  Some did not feel their work had anything to do with their faith (still stuck behind the Sunday/Monday gap), and others cited only the times they were doing things like attending Bible studies or prayer groups or praying for co-workers (still stuck behind the Sacred/Secular gap).  We believe God intended more for us as humans made in His image.

Toward Fuller “Humanness”

In a talk to Christian Union in 2018, author Os Guinness declared: “We need to reintroduce a powerful view of humanness in our daily lives.”

“Close the Gaps” is one way of implementing what we described in post#132 as providing “Humanity Resources”–helping employees restore the fullness of their humanity that God intended at work.  It aligns with a purpose of maximizing Biblical flourishing.

But becoming fully human–flourishing as a human–doesn’t just happen.  In the words of Dr. Skip Moen:

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.

“Close the Gaps” is about providing employees with faith-centered resources for their humanity–resources to help them flourish by “moving in the direction of the divine design” within them and living more fully at work.

“Close the Gaps” involves faithful leaders equipping people to move in that direction by helping them understand work as God’s creation and gift for living out Imago Dei, the creation mandate in Genesis 1:28 (be fruitful and multiply), and the commandments to love God and love your neighbor through the work itself, through the products and services it creates, and through the wealth it generates.

In doing so, faithful leaders are also equipping their employees to be engaged more fully in the organizational culture change needed to pursue faithful integrity through business a better way toward the bigger WHY’s of Humanizing People, Beautifying the World and, in the process, Glorifying God.

In his book For Goodness Sake, Chris Houston rightly declares:

A healthy culture cannot fruitfully emerge until business leaders can discover and tap into their employees’ aspirations to do something meaningful through their work.

Like so many Integrity Ideas, “Close the Gaps” embodies the second great commandment to love your neighbor.  In providing faith-centered resources for crossing the three gaps, it also reflects the great commission to make disciples as we go.

CONTINUUM: People

The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums.  There is nothing magic about these categories, but we believe they are helpful in thinking about practical execution of a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture.  The Continuums are Prayer, Proclamation, Policies, Practices, Products, People.

Each Continuum represents an area in which leaders can begin to think about, plan and institute Re-Alignment changes to the heart of the organization.

“Close the Gaps” is on the People Continuum. It involves the implementation of practices, but it is really about helping people come to an understanding of God’s purpose for their work and then experience the flourishing that comes from working as they were created to work by Humanizing People, Beautifying the World and Glorifying God.  It is helping them become more fully human.

COVERT-OVERT RATING: Overt

The Integriosity model breaks the Covert-Overt Continuums into six gradations–from Highly Covert to Highly Overt–that we believe are helpful in beginning to pray and think about what is most appropriate for an organization at a particular moment in time.

Most Integrity Ideas will have one place on the scale.  Some can vary depending on how they are implemented.  “Close the Gaps” is Overt (An overtly faith-based action known generally within the organization) because it involves the study and application of Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees

When we categorize faith-based actions, we also consider the stakeholders principally impacted by the action: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community and Kingdom.

“Close the Gaps” serves the Kingdom, but it is mainly about teaching, caring for, valuing, and discipling Employees.

IMPLEMENTATION

Implementing “Close the Gaps” can be easy and relatively inexpensive.  For most organizations, because “Close the Gaps” involves faith-centered resources, the use of those resources by employees must be voluntary (and whether an employee chooses to use or not to use the resources shouldn’t impact their employment).

There are various ways in which “Close the Gaps” resources can be provided.  For example:

• If the organization already has a faith-based Employee Resource Group (“ERG”), provide “Close the Gaps” resources through the ERG.

• Organize gatherings to watch and discuss “Close the Gaps” video resources, listen to and discuss “Close the Gaps” audio resources, or discuss “Close the Gaps” written materials.

• Organize trainings or host speakers on “Close the Gaps” topics.

• Distribute or make available “Close the Gaps” resources that employees can access on their own.

We encourage the creation of groups to discuss “Close the Gaps” resources rather than merely making resources available, because groups reinforce an organizational culture that values relationships and also encourage people to help each other work in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.

Some ideas for “off the shelf” resources include:

• A video-series resource developed by PRS.work that thoughtfully merges “Public Reading of Scripture” passages from PRSI.org with Bible commentaries by the Theology of Work Project. The more than 130 PRS.work videos are designed for a 60-minute group gathering in which participants listen to some Biblical passages, listen to a related commentary on how those passages relate to work, and then discuss what they have heard.

• A curated collection of videos on RightNow Media@Work.  Because RightNow Media@Work is an online library of thousands of faith-centered videos on numerous topics, “Close the Gaps” is best addressed through the organization customizing a viewing plan.

• Resources provided by Faith Driven Entrepreneur for their Foundation Groups.  These groups are organized around an eight-week study.

• Integriosity blog posts (some shameless self-promotion).

We believe “Close the Gaps” resources should be focused on helping employees understand both the WHY and HOW of their work from a Biblical perspective. The WHY relates to the Sunday/Monday and Sacred/Secular Gaps and HOW relates to the Knowing/Doing Gap.  It is about understanding the sacred nature of work and understanding practical ways in which the Bible informs the work itself.

A typical Bible study or prayer group at work does not help people “Close the Gaps” toward becoming more fully “human” because it is not focused on the WHY and HOW of work.  “Close the Gaps” is not about bringing religion into the workplace–it is about helping people live out their humanity by integrating their work into their Biblical faith.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  I am excited to share that I have joined the Board of an organization recently rebranded from Faith in Financial Services (FiFS) to Scripture@Work (S@W).  The mission of S@W is “to serve workplace communities by facilitating Biblical learning that encourages marketplace transformation”, and the vision is that “the marketplace would be redeemed by faithful workers aligning their work with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities”.  Initially, we will be encouraging and helping organizations and people in all industries and areas start Scripture@Work groups powered by the PRS.work video series.

Scripture@Work also honors the legacy and life of a dear friend, Tom Cole, who helped start FiFS with a vision of bringing a Biblical understanding of work to the financial services industry where he spent his career.

ESSENCE:  Integrity Ideas are specific practical actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.

INTEGRITY IDEA: Close the Gaps

COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  People

COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Overt

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees

“Close the Gaps” is about organizing or facilitating study groups, or making available resources, that help employees get across the three “gaps” that can keep them from experiencing work as God intended it and that can make it more difficult for the organization to operate with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing. “Close the Gaps” recognizes that moving across the Sunday/Monday Gap, the Sacred/Secular Gap and the Knowing/Doing Gap equips a person to see their work, their organization and all the people it touches in a new light, and to live out Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities in all they do at work. When a person’s WHY for their work is aligned with God’s WHY for work, the work becomes the person’s ministry, the person’s ministry becomes the work, and the person becomes more fully “human”. When that happens in an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way through Biblical flourishing, people are Humanized, the world is Beautified and God is Glorified.

Copyright © 2024 Integrous LLC.  Integriosity is a registered Service Mark of Integrous LLC.

Photo credit: Original photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash
(photo cropped)