Business or Personal?
I watched the movie "American Gangster" last evening. It is not suitable for all audiences. It is a violent (and at times graphic) portrayal of the life of 1970's Harlem drug-lord, Frank Lucas and his rise to power and eventual fall. Frank Lucas, according to the amazing portrayal, by Denzel Washington, was a man who cherished his family but was ruthless in business. He abused his own brothers and cousins, murdered a rival in the street in front of hundreds, and treated his employees with little mercy. For him the bottom line was selling drugs and providing a life for his mother that would keep her comfortable in her old age.
Frank Lucas had a way of separating business and personal life that was uncanny. He took his mother to church every Sunday, tithed, and gave away large sums of money and food to the poor of Harlem. He did all of this while hurting the people of Harlem with pure heroin that addicted and enslaved them. While having no mercy in business, Frank Lucas said grace at the family dinner and hosted huge family gatherings.
His life was juxtaposed against the life of Rich Roberts, the police officer who eventually brought his drug empire down. Roberts, in a great performance by Russell Crowe, was well known for daliance with women, heavy drinking, having a friend with mob ties, ignoring his child, missing child support payments and generally having a personal life that was out of control. Roberts was also well known for finding a million dollars of unmarked currency and turning it in while other cops who were corrupt wanted him to keep it and split it with them. His burning fight for justice was central to his pursuit of Lucas and made him a good cop. No family values were evident as they were in the life of Frank Lucas, but justice and seeking the truth was evident.
I have often encountered colleagues who have used the phrase when dealing with people in a harsh manner, "This is business, not personal." As a follower of Jesus, I am not sure how we separate the two. Abuse in the name of correction is often evident, as those of us who are employers or leaders treat those under our influence with little mercy. We also have times in our lives when our business dealings in the church no way mirror what we claim to be in our personal lives.
We may pray. We may know scripture. We may hold our family in high esteem. We can even be very firm. I think the line gets crossed sometimes, because we work in a culture where there seems little accountability, by those of us who call ourselves leaders to those who we shepherd or attempt to lead.
I believe when the Kingdom comes in our lives, our business and personal decisions are informed by a theology of grace and compassion, which does not mean we let everything slide. When the Kingdom is evident in our lives, we cannot separate our business and personal lives. That is because we will live like Jesus, who saw His mission and life as one and the same.
Not only will we make decisions that will be compassionate, but when the Kingdom comes, we will also treat our world with grace. We will be conscious of our carbon footprint and our stewardship of the resources He gives us. In short, we will treat everything we do as sacred and sacremental.
Lucas could not do that. Roberts could not either. They found their way by keeping business and personal dealings as far away from each other as they could. I wonder if we can make our business and personal lives the same, because they are based on Kingdom values, not just the bottom line or our own agenda.
What do you think?
Frank Lucas had a way of separating business and personal life that was uncanny. He took his mother to church every Sunday, tithed, and gave away large sums of money and food to the poor of Harlem. He did all of this while hurting the people of Harlem with pure heroin that addicted and enslaved them. While having no mercy in business, Frank Lucas said grace at the family dinner and hosted huge family gatherings.
His life was juxtaposed against the life of Rich Roberts, the police officer who eventually brought his drug empire down. Roberts, in a great performance by Russell Crowe, was well known for daliance with women, heavy drinking, having a friend with mob ties, ignoring his child, missing child support payments and generally having a personal life that was out of control. Roberts was also well known for finding a million dollars of unmarked currency and turning it in while other cops who were corrupt wanted him to keep it and split it with them. His burning fight for justice was central to his pursuit of Lucas and made him a good cop. No family values were evident as they were in the life of Frank Lucas, but justice and seeking the truth was evident.
I have often encountered colleagues who have used the phrase when dealing with people in a harsh manner, "This is business, not personal." As a follower of Jesus, I am not sure how we separate the two. Abuse in the name of correction is often evident, as those of us who are employers or leaders treat those under our influence with little mercy. We also have times in our lives when our business dealings in the church no way mirror what we claim to be in our personal lives.
We may pray. We may know scripture. We may hold our family in high esteem. We can even be very firm. I think the line gets crossed sometimes, because we work in a culture where there seems little accountability, by those of us who call ourselves leaders to those who we shepherd or attempt to lead.
I believe when the Kingdom comes in our lives, our business and personal decisions are informed by a theology of grace and compassion, which does not mean we let everything slide. When the Kingdom is evident in our lives, we cannot separate our business and personal lives. That is because we will live like Jesus, who saw His mission and life as one and the same.
Not only will we make decisions that will be compassionate, but when the Kingdom comes, we will also treat our world with grace. We will be conscious of our carbon footprint and our stewardship of the resources He gives us. In short, we will treat everything we do as sacred and sacremental.
Lucas could not do that. Roberts could not either. They found their way by keeping business and personal dealings as far away from each other as they could. I wonder if we can make our business and personal lives the same, because they are based on Kingdom values, not just the bottom line or our own agenda.
What do you think?
posted by Larry at 8:16 PM
5 Comments:
Here’s another relationship to add to the equation; pastor to staff.
Why is it that pastors (officers) so often don’t see their staff as flock, but as staff? I even had a pastor once tell me, upon hiring me, that he didn’t have time to baby sit me. Mind you, he wasn’t speaking of showing me how to do my job, he was telling me this in relation to pastoring me. He was letting me know that, because I was staff, I was expected to look after myself rather than calling on him for pastoral support.
I know that that sounds extreme, but I promise you that I’ve seen it countless times, in and outside of the Army. I’ve counselled countless numbers of our youth ministers through this kind of relationship, both in the States and in the UK. My wife has come to the conclusion that, once you’re on staff, you no longer have a pastor unless you can find somebody outside of that particular local church who will pastor you.
We ask a lot of our officers, so I want to acknowledge that here, but I’ve always believed that if I took care of my youth workers (around the city of London), they’ll take care of discipling their young people. Surely a local pastor should recognize that too?
Business begins as personal. It has to align itself with personal, and personal has to align itself with business.
I know this won't sound like elevated intellectual stature when I quote Nora Ephron's movie You've Got Mail, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. But it is VERY true.
Irritated at the position other people take when it comes to the realm of business behavior, the character Kathleen Kelly hits the proverbial nail on the head:
Joe Fox: It wasn't... personal. Kathleen Kelly: What is that supposed to mean? I am so sick of that. All that means is that it wasn't personal to you. But it was personal to me. It's "personal" to a lot of people. And what's so wrong with being personal, anyway?
Joe Fox: Uh, nothing.
Kathleen Kelly: Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.
Nothing makes relationships more strained than when you are not able to be yourself, or others are not concerned about the manner in which they treat you.
The way some people have treated me in the "business" realm has underscored for me that I am wary to even try to know them in the "personal" realm.
Whatever else anything is, is needs to start out as personal.
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"although he is regularly asked to do so, Jesus makes it his business to be personal" (anon)
I have had personal experience within the last few days of the "it's business not personal" style of leadership. Can I tell you, I am in the "business" of being personal. If I do not have integrity in dealing with my people on all levels...then who am I to call people to a standard I am not willing to demonstrate myself. I was spoken to and addressed in ways I have NEVER (even in secular careers) have been spoken to before. Are we immune or even above the simplest of commands given by Christ? Love your neighbor as yourself...that means everyone has value. Therefore, in a round about way I say...no, as Christians regardless of what your "business" is....it should be personal (b/c we are to give EVERYTHING to the glory of God).
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