Professionalism/ Work Ethic —How to Make Ministry Experience Matter in Any Job
By Jeff Eads, Co-Executive Director of Muncie Fellows
Part 7 of 9 of a series about workplace competencies. Read Part 1 here.
Transferable Skill #6- Professionalism/ Work Ethic
Professionalism/Work Ethic: Demonstrate personal accountability and effective work habits, e.g., punctuality, working productively with others, and time workload management, and understand the impact of non-verbal communication on professional work image. The individual demonstrates integrity and ethical behavior, acts responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind, and is able to learn from his/her mistakes. (Source)
When I was in college, I spent a summer with a campus ministry in Myrtle Beach for a leadership training program. The program had a partnership with a grocery store chain that allowed us to supply their seasonal staffing needs.
On the first day of the program, the campus ministry staff met with the several hundred students attending the program and laid out some guidelines regarding our work expectations, and then collected our applications for employment. The talk, in part, went something like this.
“This grocery franchise partners with us because we provide them with quality employees. This is because as Christians we believe that we should be the best employees that they hire. This is because we work for an audience of one, God* [Col. 3:17]. This means we don’t steal a single paper clip, or pen, and we don’t steal time. If our shift ends at 5 p.m., we do not leave the floor until 5 p.m. We do not line up at the time clock 15 minutes before 5 p.m. waiting to clock out. That’s their time. They are paying you to work.”
There was more to it, but this is the part that I remember. I had just started following Jesus, and it was a foundational message to me. “Your beliefs should impact your work.” We learned a lot of lessons that summer through weekly meetings and beach outreaches, but over 20 years later, this is the lesson that I remember.
As a result of that basic introduction to a Christian perspective of work, I have always been perplexed when others don’t see it that way. I am most discouraged when people use the idea of Christian liberty as a license to do whatever they want or to treat people however they want. Or when Christian students say things like, “Well, that business was all about money. Clearly, I didn’t want to work at a place like that, so I walked out.”
I believe this is a misuse of Christian liberty. Sure, it is for freedom that Christ set us free (Galatians 5:1), but not in order for us to do whatever we want (Romans 6:1). Jesus was the most differentiated person that ever walked the earth. He was freed by the absolute understanding of His own identity as a child of God and His purpose on this earth. But, He did not hold that over anyone’s head. He showed unprecedented humility and served others (Phil. 2:1–11).
Look again at the description above that NACE provides for Professionalism/ Work Ethic. Is there anyone on the planet that this should resonate with more than people who follow the teachings of Jesus?
Christians should not be in the game of separating out “spiritual” work and “secular” work and then making judgments on how they should approach it. ALL work is sacred. God provided mankind with the joy of work from before the fall. And as we read Jeremiah’s exhortation to exiled Israel in Jeremiah 29:4–7, we find that there is no deviation from the cultural mandate of Genesis 1:28. We have excellent examples, like that of Joseph and Daniel, of working unto God in “secular” organizations.
Christians should not be in the game of separating out “spiritual” work and “secular” work and then making judgments on how they should approach it.
As someone who has worked with many college students, I believe this same professionalism should be applied to school. It is the ideal practice field for developing a good work ethic. Unfortunately, the predominant attitude among many college students is, “this is just college.” As if college is some middle world between being a kid and being an adult.
Perhaps we forget that the Josephs and Daniels of scripture were likely college-age. I supposed the difference is that you are paying for college rather than being paid. However, as a consumer, we are typically pretty adamant about getting what we pay for. (If you order an 8 piece nugget and receive only 7, someone needs to make it right.) College is expensive. Why do we treat it differently? (Full disclosure: I was in college. I treated it differently too.)
If you want to get the most bang for your buck and REALLY prepare yourself for the world of work, treat school like it’s something you are called to rather than a pit stop on the way to your calling. Your education is sacred work too, done for an audience of One.
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