I am having a conversation on the e mail with Jay Gary of the Christian Futures Network about blogging, faith at work, business as mission and the future of capitalism. Here it is in slightly edited format
Good to hear the "faith at work" movement is active, and self-reflective.
[MIKE REPLY:] Thanks. Blogging is a means to be self reflective in community with others. It's a great technology to connect with others and generate dialogue.
There is such a felt need by folks to recreate their lives by reinventing their work/leisure/spirituality.
[MIKE REPLY:] I agree. I think the blogosphere is a result of attempts to address this need.
Have you heard of the term “praxis”? It comes from liberation theology, it essential a process of practical wisdom where one acts reflects and acts again based on one’s reflection. It’s bringing the context (life, work, culture, environment, etc.) to the text (Bible, Principles, Seven steps to Success, etc.).
We in the West are enlightenment thinkers. We apply text to context often assuming contexts are the same over time and geographically but we don’t do a good job of reflecting on our results and wondering why things don’t turn out the way we expect them to, which is often because the contexts are very different and our abstract application of text is simply not workable or relevant.
So yes, we need a lot more reflection on our actions especially the impact of our business actions have on the community and the environment in which we exist. Blogging Faith at work can do this.
How do you factor in counter-thinking from the DVD -The corporation into this mix?
[MIKE REPLY:] Have you watched Disc 2 of the DVD? I recommend watching the various interviewees, especially
I would think the "faith at work" movement in the U.S. is as bullish on capitalism as the "business as mission" U.S. faction.
[MIKE REPLY:] I know. I have heard the quotes.
That quote is in Stephen Graves & Thomas Addington's book, The Fourth Frontier: Exploring the New World of Work. the Avodah Institute has Chapter 1 online.
Edward Simon. President of Herman Miller Company has said, "Business is the only institution that has a chance, as far as I can see, to fundamentally improve the injustice that exists in the world."
This quote is from Os Hillman's book, Faith at Work. In an upcoming book, The 9 to 5 Window; How Faith Can Transform the Workplace talks about the potential for the workplace to be the means of transforming nations.
Hillman has a list of more quotes along the same vein here.
The problem, though, is that capitalism is NOT a value neutral system which is what many Faith at Work and Business as
Do you see any potential that both these movements might become more self-reflective,
[MIKE REPLY:] Yes! I am a part of an Advisory Board for the International Coalition of Workplace Ministries. We are having a roundtable in August. These are the questions on our agenda:
□Where is the faith at work movement today?
□Workplace ministry theologies.
□The faith at work movement and the local church.
□The faith at work movement and city and nation transformation.
□Framing the faith at work movement for the media.
Also, I attended a gathering at Yale Divinity School for the Coalition for Ministry in Daily Life sponsored by the Yale Center for Faith & culture. See my previous post on the event.
Finally, I attended the 2004 Forum on World Evangelism sponsored by the Lausanne Committee. I participated in a working group on Marketplace Ministry where we are actively reflecting on these topics with 30 other leaders from 20 different countries. They will be issuing a report similar to the one done by the Business as Mission Working group.
and focus on "the great work"-- both our personal and social transformation beyond the industrial age?
[MIKE REPLY:] I think there is momentum for such change (see tomorrow's blog.)
I think the faith at work movement is positioned to address these concerns and facilitate this hope. It would be good if we could gather some of the Faith At Work leaders together with Corporate CEO's who "get it" like Ray Anderson CEO of Interface (see my movie review here) and Dennis Bakke (see tomorrow's post) and Don Flow of Flow Automotive in North Carolina (see my article on New Way to Work) and have a talk about faith at work and the future of capitalism.
What do you think?
It is a key issue we need to discuss.
[MIKE REPLY:] I agree.
I am familiar with Friere' praxis and a number of "action research" and organizational learning methodologies in use.
[MIKE REPLY:] We need a street level Faith At Work “action research” praxis.
Most Christians at work get their faith marching orders from their church’s pastor or priest. Most likely, they have no idea what it’s like at work, so at best, they get a general challenge to act ethically and be faithful at work or at worst, they get a guilt trip about tithing or witnessing to their co workers.
There is not much available for “bottom up theology” from being with, in and alongside of people of faith at work.
The Faith at Work blog is about providing this to people of faith at work and getting others to do the same. See my post on why I do a Faith at Work blog and Three ideas for Faith at work Blogging.
I have read/heard some of Ray Anderson, which has only created in me a desire to read more!
[MIKE REPLY:] You may be thinking of Ray Anderson, Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary who wrote Minding God’s Business. (Great book but it looks like it is out of print) The Ray Anderson I am mentioning is the CEO of a large company that produces commercial carpet.
Anderson, the theologian, has another good book entitled The Shape of Practical Theology. In his section on praxis, he provides a helpful quote from a James Will, author of A Christology of Peace, on the difference between praxis and practice.
"If incomplete and ideologically distorted persons nevertheless have the dignity of participation with their Creator in preservation and completion of the creation, then praxis is a necessary dimension of theology. But praxis must not be misunderstood as practice. Practice has come to mean the use of external means to attain a theoretically defined end. It suggests that finite and sinful persons may so understand the meaning of God's peace as to be able to devise economic, political, diplomatic, and even military means to attain it. The end of peace is thought to be a transcendent value that appropriate external means may effect. Praxis, on the other hand, is the dialectical process of internally related events from which a result dynamically emerges. Given the finite and ideological character of our preconceptions of peace, they cannot be treated as sufficient definitions of an eternal value to guide our practice. Rather, we need a praxis; that is, peace must be allowed to emerge from a dialogical and dialectical process that may continuously correct our ideological tendencies. Praxis is thus a process of struggle, negotiation, and dialogue toward a genuinely voluntary consensus."
I am pleased to see a thought leader like yourself in Marketplace ministries is thinking at the meso level,
[MIKE REPLY:] Thanks! Not sure though what the "meso" level is, but I suspect it is probably several levels higher than where I am. J
particularly of how to redesign business,
[MIKE REPLY:] See my post on a New Way to Work.
such that it might support quality of life and sustainability.
[MIKE REPLY:] Absolutely! Please stay tuned for my post tomorrow: "Is blogging the means to reforming the Corporation?"
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