Q&A with Derick Masengale
Author of “Business as a Calling: Bringing your Whole Self (Body, Soul, and Spirit) to Work”
Q: What motivated you to write this book, and who will benefit most from reading it?
A: I struggled to understand how my role as a leader in business served God. Was I spending my time and energy in something that was meaningless to God? What is my ministry? Is it just as a church greeter on Sundays or is there something bigger? I knew it was clearly different than a pastoral, teaching, or evangelical ministry, but I didn’t see clear examples of ministry in the business world that I could model and apply to my environment. After continuing to seek and study the Bible, God showed me that ministry simply meant “to serve” and that insight cleared up a lot of confusion and gave me a much clearer vision of what a ministry in business looks like. I am motivated to share with professionals what I have learned and tell them how important it is to bring your spiritual self to any profession and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance and leadership in any professional career. God will use us to minister (to serve) others in whatever role He places us in, and He is looking for more Christians to step into roles as “business ministers” to serve and bless our colleagues, companies, communities, and customers with impact.
Q: If people serve in positions they consider laborious or mundane, how should they view their work as serving God?
A: God tells us in scripture to do our work as if we are doing it unto Him. When done in this fashion, the consistency of excellence and attitude brought to the role is noticed by others. People will wonder how an employee can perform the same tasks day-after-day with excellence and a great attitude. People will notice there is something different in how that employee works, and it provides a platform (based on respect) to powerfully share their faith in God. I have experienced it on a personal level. I have had junior leaders come to me and say there is something different about me, and how I navigate the challenges of the day. People notice when God’s anointing is on someone whether they recognize it for what it truly is or not. When you look at the example Joseph provided, he did his work as a slave and as a prisoner with excellence and a great attitude in horrible circumstances. His master and the prison warden both noticed that God was blessing the works of his hands. What makes that even more interesting is that neither of those individuals believed in Joseph’s God. Yet, they knew there was something else involved beyond Joseph’s natural talents and attributed it to his God. We can have the same impact in any role we are placed in.
Q: What does the Bible teach us about the value of work?
A: God’s first commandment to man was about work. God created man in His own image. That being the case, His nature should be our nature. God has equipped man with his nature, an aspect of which is creativity and the desire to create. Our work is the avenue available to us to express that creativity. In Genesis 1:28, we see God give man (and woman) a job – to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it using all its vast resources in the service of God and man. We are commanded to take our God-given talent in combination with the earth’s resources and produce products and services that provide for the needs of others and to do it in a way that blesses God. God highly values work and our work, if properly focused, can be a major channel that God uses to bless others.
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Q: What is the difference between someone who has a strong work ethic and someone who is a workaholic?
A: God says His blessings come without sorrows. If a person’s work is causing them to neglect their health, family, friends, and quiet time with God then they are out of balance, and we know that is not of God and He cannot bless it. A fundamental question for the individual to consider is this: “Is my success based on God’s blessing of my work or is it based on my efforts?” I would submit that a workaholic believes that the answer is the latter. I was given a nice piece of wisdom many years ago, “If the enemy can’t slow you down, he will try and speed you up.” It is important to know that God cares about how we apply the talents He gives us and that we can seek guidance from the Holy Spirit to find that right balance — in fact — it is the only place to find it. It takes God’s wisdom to understand when you need to “burn the candle hot” for a period of time versus when you need to “slow your roll.” God’s wisdom and the leading of the Holy Spirit provides the insight we need to manage and prioritize the many demands we are faced with each day.
Q: How should a Christian handle a situation of unethical behavior in the workplace?
A: The question for the Christian is: Do you have peace about what is being asked? Are you being asked to do something that may not be considered unethical by your employer, but you have a check in your spirit about? This is why it is so important to bring your whole self—body, soul and spirit— to your work. Knowledge of God’s word, seeking his wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit is paramount to being able to navigate these types of situations. In some cases, people’s jobs depend on their participation. Realizing that God is your source and that your job is just a channel He is using to bless you will help you should this circumstance arise. God will honor you for standing in faith. I was fortunate in my career to not find unethical behavior practiced by my teams or organization. However, I did encounter it from teaming partners and vendors. In those situations, I made decisions not to continue to work with those firms and I made sure everyone understood how we were going to operate as a team. I also found that the questionable activities were often not brought to me, but instead they were presented to my staff. I believe that was done because individuals knew I would not allow it. They knew not to put questionable options on my desk because of the way I conducted myself in the workplace.
Q: If someone feels stuck in a job they may not enjoy, what is your best advice for them?
A: This played out dramatically for me early in my career. I was ready to move on from my role and I sent out resumes to many potential employers and received a couple of interviews out of state. I was excited, did the interviews, and got a job offer. I told the company I needed a couple of days to think about it. I was going to uproot my family and move 850 miles away from our families and any support system we had, but I was ready to move on to the next opportunity. However, I wanted to be sure it was God’s will to move at that time. I got before the Lord late one night and prayed a very simple prayer, “Lord I need to know if this is what you want me to do, if not I need you to have them rescind the offer because I want to do your will and I see this as an open door.” The next day I got a call from HR letting me know they were rescinding my offer. On the one hand, I was disappointed because I was ready to leave. On the other hand, I felt at peace knowing it was God’s will. One year later, I got the right offer and we moved, but during that time I was given a special project to work on that actually provided the experience I needed to qualify for and land the new job. At that time, I didn’t know how to hear from the Holy Spirit like I do today. God has a plan for each of us—a good plan—and we can find it through prayer and seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit. Just because someone is not currently happy with their situation that does not mean it is time to move on. There may be skills one is learning and/or experience one is obtaining that will be needed in the next position God has for them. If you truly want to do God’s will, He will show you and He will help you recover from any misstep. We’ve all missed it at times, but God is faithful and merciful. He looks at your heart and knows if you are seeking to do His will. We only need to trust His leading.
