04 Sep #240 – Integrity Idea 059: Recognize “AvoDay” (Not Labor Day)
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.
“Recognize AvoDay (Not Labor Day)” is an Overt action that fits into the “if it’s a good fit” category. It is a simple action that can reinforce a culture of business a better way.
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: Recognize “AvoDay” (Not Labor Day)
This week the United States recognized the national holiday of Labor Day. According to Wikipedia, Labor Day arose out of the trade union and labor movements in the 19th century. When it became a federal holiday in 1894 for federal employees, it was already being officially celebrated in thirty states. It is now a legal holiday in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
“Recognize AvoDay (Not Labor Day)” is about using the U.S. national holiday of Labor Day as an opportunity to speak life into work by referencing the work-affirming word “Avodah” rather than the work-devaluing word “Labor”. It recognizes that words are important and powerful. Some words can inspire and speak life. Other words can devalue and speak death.
Refresher: The Power of Words
The Bible is clear about the power of words. God created the universe by speaking, and Satan tried to tempt Jesus by twisting God’s word.
The Bible tells us that words have the power to create (Genesis 1:3; Hebrews 11:3), to effect change (Mark 11:23), to give life or bring death (Proverbs 18:21), to build up or corrupt (Ephesians 4:29), to bring health (Proverbs 16:24), and to destroy (Proverbs 11:9; Matthew 12:36-37).
In prior posts, we have shown how the culture of the world is filled with words that blind us to God’s purpose for work and business. For example, the concepts of “retirement” and “work/life balance”.
In the words of Tom Stoppard:
Words are sacred. If you get the right ones in the right order you can nudge the world a little.
The right words can nudge the world a little toward beauty–toward God’s design for His Kingdom. The wrong words can lead us to settle for “good” at the expense of God’s “best”, and at worst, can nudge the world a little toward ugliness–away from God’s design for His Kingdom.
Labor vs Avodah
The word “Labor” emphasizes the toil aspect of work that resulted from the Fall. Merriam-Webster defines “Labor” as, most relevantly for our purposes:
Noun: Expenditure of physical or mental effort especially when difficult or compulsory.
Verb: To exert one’s powers of body or mind especially with painful or strenuous effort.
Work is hard. Some work is physically strenuous, some work is mentally challenging, and some work is emotionally draining. But we believe “labor” unnecessarily focuses people on the punishment of Genesis 3:17-19 when God told Adam (as punishment for disobeying God and eating from the Tree of Knowledge):
Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground.
Referring to work as “labor” can lead people to believe work itself is a curse–a necessary evil. It serves to reinforce the fact that, under business as usual and the kingdom of world, work barely resembles the work God designed to bring life. Work has become a burden, rather than the blessing God intended. Because work has become all-consuming and spiritually unfulfilling, we see it as something that keeps us from life–an oppositional force–when God designed it as an integral part of life as humans made in God’s image.
By contrast, the Hebrew word avodah means work (Genesis 2:15), worship (Exodus 8:1) and service (Joshua 24:15). It reinforces that:
(i) God created “work” as something “good” before the Fall as an aspect of Imago Dei, putting us into the Garden to “work and keep it” (Genesis 2:15);
(ii) God made the world perfectly imperfect to need our work (Genesis 2:5);
(iii) God commanded us through the Creation Mandate to work to steward and cultivate His creation (Genesis 1:28); and
(iv) we are to glorify God in all we do (1 Corinthians 10:31) because it is WHY we were created (Isaiah 43:7).
It reminds people that work is a vehicle for becoming more fully human by living out the commandments to love God and love your neighbor.
The fruit of leading faithfully through business a better way–the fruit of Integriosity–is to bring people closer to the humanity God intended through Imago Dei by bringing work closer to the blessing God intended. Indeed, we believe humanizing people is one of the three bigger WHY’s of business.
For a faithful leader seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, “Recognize AvoDay (Not Labor Day)” is a simple but potentially profound way to tell employees that their work is sacred and matters to God. It is a way to say, “we are different”. In the words of Dr. Skip Moen:
God saved you for something more than being a good person. He saved you so that you could become a light on the hill, a lamp on the post, a living witness to a different way—His way.
CONTINUUM: Practices
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.
“Recognize AvoDay (Not Labor Day)” is on the Practices Continuum. It involves practices the organization can adopt to affirm its commitment to Biblical flourishing and the Biblical principles of Imago Dei and love your neighbor, to reflect and reinforce its purpose and values, and the bigger WHYs of Humanizing People, Beautifying the World and Glorifying God.
COVERT-OVERT RATING: Highly Covert
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. “Recognize AvoDay (Not Labor Day)” is Overt (An overtly faith-based action known generally within the organization) because its power come in explaining the Biblical significance of the word “Avodah”. It can also be Very Overt (An overtly faith-based action involving suppliers, vendors or customers) or even Highly Overt (An overtly faith-based action involving community, website, sales/marketing materials), depending upon how widely faithful leaders decide to disseminate information about their organization’s unique holiday.
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.
“Recognize AvoDay (Not Labor Day)” principally serves Employees by reminding them of the sacred nature and importance of their work.
Words are sacred. If you get the right ones in the right order you can nudge the world a little. (Tom Stoppard)
IMPLEMENTATION
Some Integrity Ideas are complicated to implement. Some Integrity Ideas are expensive to implement. “Recognize Avoday (Not Labor Day)” is neither. It is pretty simple and costs nothing. But it does take courage.
“Recognize Avoday (Not Labor Day)” is simple because it comes down to using a different label for the national holiday that falls on the first Monday of September (you could call it “Avodah Day” but that didn’t have the same rhythm).
“Recognize Avoday (Not Labor Day)” takes courage because it is at the Overt end of the Covert-Overt Continuums. Telling employees that in your organization the first Monday of September is called AvoDay requires explaining why you are calling it something that nobody else calls it. The biggest question for faithful leaders implementing “Recognize Avoday (Not Labor Day)” is how to explain it and how broadly to announce it–whether it is Overt, Very Overt or Highly Overt.
“Recognize Avoday (Not Labor Day)” takes courage because it is counter cultural. James Hunter warns: “To enact a vision of human flourishing based in the qualities of life that Jesus modeled will invariably challenge the given structures of the social order. In this light, there is no true leadership without putting at risk one’s time, wealth, reputation, and position.”
Like all Integrity Ideas, “Recognize Avoday (Not Labor Day)” should only be undertaken after prayerful discernment by faithful leaders. If after prayer a faithful leader thinks it is silly, then it is probably not an Integrity Idea for them to implement. If undertaken, it is a simple way to live out the proclamation and command in Matthew 5:14-16 by saying “we are different” and inviting others to ask “Why?”:
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
PERSONAL NOTE (from PM): When I was young, I used to cry every Labor Day. It wasn’t because of “work” or because it meant summer was over and school started the next day. It was because Labor Day meant the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon was on television. I always cried at the end when Jerry sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. Even today writing this post, I think about those Monday nights long ago as the Telethon and summer drew to a close. If you remember the song (or if you don’t), below is a link to hear Jerry tell why he closed every Telethon with this song.
ESSENCE: Integrity Ideas are specific practical actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.
INTEGRITY IDEA: Recognize “AvoDay” (not Labor Day)
COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices
COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Overt
STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees
“Recognize AvoDay (Not Labor Day)” is about using the U.S. national holiday of Labor Day as an opportunity to speak life into work by referencing the work-affirming word “Avodah” rather than the work-devaluing word “Labor”. It recognizes that words are important and powerful. Some words can inspire and speak life. Other words can devalue and speak death. The word “Labor” emphasizes the toil aspect of work that resulted from the Fall. The Hebrew word “Avodah”, which means work, worship and service, reminds people that God created “work” as something “good” before the Fall and that work is a vehicle for becoming more fully human by living out the commandments to love God and love your neighbor. For a faithful leader seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, “Recognize AvoDay (Not Labor Day)” is a simple but potentially profound way to tell employees that their work is sacred and matters to God. It is a way to say, “we are different”.
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