Business As A High and Noble Calling

By Kevin McCarthy
Jun 20, 2006, 00:50

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Kevin McCarthy

"Oh! You're in full time ministry! You're so fortunate." the CEO admires of the young man who was on staff with a ministry. The CEO laments, "I wish I could do that. I've cast my lot in this business."

This scene plays daily across desks, over meals, and, most importantly, in the minds of Christian businessmen and women. Somehow we've made business and ministry mutually exclusive and we've assigned each a comparative value. Is this an absurd notion or what! Since when does a position in "full time ministry" rate better than running or working in a business? Is our work in business really less than high and noble? No! The fact is neither position is "rated" higher nor nobler than the other is. It is never about what the job brings to us, it is always about what (and who) we bring to the job.

What's this CEO's view of his or her work... life? Isn't it implied that the CEO feels compromised by having put his or her faith and business in separate compartments? "Full time ministry" implies a higher integration of faith and service. It isn't!

As the author of The On-Purpose Person, my first book, I receive correspondence from men and women wanting to become an on-purpose person. Many are lost in jobs that are unfulfilling, stressful and off-purpose. The calls come from sales people, CEO's, managers, professionals, technical
people, and entrepreneurs. The calls also come from priests, pastors, staffers on churches and ministries, and executive directors of non-profits. The evident speaks abundantly clear: pay, position or title makes little difference in one's job satisfaction.

So why has "full time ministry" been elevated to a higher standard? Or is the better question, "Why has holding a job or running a business become viewed in many Christian circles as less than ministry?" After all, isn't salt and light, salt and light.

I must confess, I find myself going to the other extreme these days. I often question the motives of many people moving into full time ministry. Is their motive a retreat into the "protective" Christian ghetto? Are they thinking that something labeled "ministry" has a high and noble calling? Are they seeking worldly strokes in heavenly service, but still seeking worldly strokes? It takes true fortitude to excel in the world all the while excelling in one's faith. Aren't we really to be about heavenly service in worldly places all the time? We are to be "in, not of the world." Only the Levites of the tribes of Israel were set aside to serve inside the temple. The rest of us are to be out in the marketplace.

The bottom line is we are all in full time ministry - a royal priesthood. It is never about our position or our title. It is always about our heart. My wife has an expression that talks about, "blooming where we are planted." We are often exactly where God intends us to be. Will we see or act on the ministry
opportunity in our business or the cubical next to ours? Or will we retreat to the detached impersonal safety of a service project within the curb of the church rather than risk getting involved in the messiness of a relationship over time? " Business is a high and noble calling." I remember the first time I really heard those words. It was an evening in March of 1995, the next day I was to give a
speech at the National GAMA (General Agents Management Association) Convention. I had struck up a one-on-one conversation with a man named Lou DiCerbo. Little did I know then that Lou was the 1995 GAMA Hall of Fame inductee. Lou saw his success in the life insurance business as a high and noble calling. He passionately spoke of the need for men and women in his industry to see oneself as being in much more than sales. They are in a "high and noble service." We all need to learn from Lou.

Allow me to emphasize by getting personal. Ministry is all about your heart. It is about knowing the will of God for your life in very specific terms - it is knowing your purpose. Full time ministry is about you hearing the call on your life with your heart as well as your ears. Full time ministry isn't a position; it is a way of life - living every moment in high and noble service - being on-purpose. This is having Jesus as Savior (an act); and hear this, Jesus as Lord (a relationship.) And our life in business is every bit the expression of that relationship when we live it as a high and noble calling.

Imagine the impact when your work is a unique integration of faith and service; of market place excellence and an awesome ministry; and of profit making and prophet making. When your heart is with and in Christ, then your view of business will be there also. Welcome to the high and noble service of full time ministry in the world of business. Serve well and be on-purpose!

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Kevin W. McCarthy is the author of two books, The On-Purpose Person and The On-Purpose Business by Pinon Press (Navpress). He is the founder of The On-Purpose Partners, a business consulting firm. You can contact Kevin at 800 346-9497 or www.on-purpose.com.

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