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Business as Mission Network:: Turn Good Business and Missions into Great Ministry: When Work Becomes Deadening - Finding Meaning in the Drudgery and Deadness of Work
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Business as Mission Network:: Turn Good Business and Missions into Great MinistryTurn Good Business and Missions into Great Ministry with News, Resources, and Tools from the leading businesss leaders, authors, pastors around the world
When Work Becomes Deadening - Finding Meaning in the Drudgery and Deadness of Work
I arrived at 1 a.m. in Buenos Aires last week, tired from a long trip upended by flight cancellations and delays, got my suitcase off the conveyor belt, and went to the ATM machine to extract some Argentine pesos. The ATM machine swallowed my card but didn’t spit it back out. I grabbed the cash and forgot the card inside the machine.
Seven hours later, I woke up at a small hotel, ate breakfast, and then realized that I didn’t have my card. I soon learned that, in less than an hour, sophisticated thieves had managed to siphon a couple of grand from my account. How they obtained my PIN and rigged the machine to hold my card is still a mystery.
My card’s fraud department said that I should make a formal report at the nearest police station. I had been feeling sorry for myself until I arrived at the station inside the airport. But my attitude changed as I spent the next two hours watching about 20 police officers perform dreary, lifeless work.
The station was in a back corner of the airport. Two private security guards were sitting on metal chairs without cushions and smoking cigarettes, half asleep. Stale fluorescent lighting illuminated the smoke-filled room. The walls were painted a drab, neutral gray. A small painting of a Greek villa overlooking the ocean was the only decoration; it seemed like a cruel reminder of life beyond the windowless police station.
Although each officer had a sidearm and heavy black boots, their actual work only involved stapling documents, shuffling paper from one file to another, rubber stamping official forms, and entering data on old computers. This movement was salted by officers singing little ditties in Spanish, telling jokes about the new woman in the office, and smoking.
After two hours of waiting, the officer who had typed out my denuncia couldn’t get the printer to work. In fact, none of the printers at the station were working. After 30 minutes of failed attempts, he took a pen drive to another location in the airport, borrowed a computer, and finally came back with the official document for my case. As we both signed the papers, he apologized for the problems. I smiled, told him not to worry, and thanked him for his perseverance. He still seemed embarrassed, saying “This is Argentina, you know.”
His daily struggle with mundane work, of course, is not limited to his country. Argentina is a vibrant, culturally rich nation with an amazing history. It’s possible that more people in developing countries have to endure mundane work than people in wealthier nations, but the problem has deeper roots than just the economics of a nation. Mundane, banal work is the result of a spiritual breakdown. Underneath the surface, I think those police officers realized that they were designed for more fulfilling and meaningful work. This is just the start to a GREAT article from the guys at InsideWork, to read the rest of it, visit their site.
Launching this network has been made possible by partnering with several ministries. If you're interested in information on how to be a featured business or ministry send us an email by clicking here.
Socially Responsible: The underlying goal is not pure profit, but rather a transformational business. Income-Producing Businesses: These are authentic businesses that create value-added products or services and are not sustained by donations. Managed by Kingdom Leaders: Critical decision-makers are Kingdom leaders who seek to reflect Jesus's teachings. Committed to The Local Church: The business supports partnership with the indigenous church in the community. Glorifying to God: The name of God is the ultimate object of praise, not the name of the business.
About the Network
For far too long I believe that as Christians we have assumed that a marketplace vocation and a passion for Jesus are mutually exclusive. Yet the Bible is full of people like Joseph who used their skills in administration and business to meet needs and be a light for God's kingdom.
As a business student preparing to graduate from Baylor University, I was faced with this age old assumption. It was one of those fork in the road moments. I had a passion for serving God but I also had a passion for business. Down one road lay the "American Dream" and the comfortable, defined path that corporate America had to offer. On the other hand was an opportunity to fuse a passion for business with ministry and live that life of adventure.
Since joining the team at BluefishTV and The RightNow Campaign in 2002, I've loved every moment of using an entrepreneurial drive and passion for business to further God's kingdom across the country and around the world.
As Vice President of Sales and Strategic Partnerships, I have the privilege of spending my time leading our team in ministering to over 93,000 churches that have used one of our small group studies through both Bluefish TV and The RightNow Campaign. I also have the great opportunity to facilitate partnerships with some amazing ministries and missions organizations who share a passion to help people teach.
With a passion to connect more people to the growing movement of Business as Mission this Network was started in early 2006. By providing news and information to over 5000 leaders on various resources and companies we hope to inspire and connect others to opportunities to get involved.
My wife, Sharee and I live in Allen, Texas and are actively involved at Allen Bible Church. We're also thrilled that we will be expecting a new addition to our family in just a couple of months.
