One of my favorite stories to tell my students involves my dad. It was a story that I didn’t hear until after God called him Home. When he died, the company my dad worked for started a leadership award in his honor. To be nominated for the award a person had to meet three criteria – criteria that defined how my dad led. They had to solve a problem, they had to involve other people in the solution, and they had to propose a solution that was systematic in nature. In other words, they had to make a difference in the company by working with other people to provide a long-term fix to a problem that repeatedly occurred.
The first recipient of the award was a woman that my dad hired. When she accepted the award, she told the story of her first few weeks on the job. Apparently there had been a mix-up with the set-up of her direct deposit and her first paycheck wasn’t going to arrive on the scheduled date. My dad got word of this and dropped by her office to chat. Knowing that bills still need to be paid even if a paycheck doesn’t come in, he asked her if she was going to be o.k. Reflecting on this story, she said, “I’m pretty sure Brad was prepared to write me a personal check.” As she shared this at the award ceremony, my mom leaned over and told me that’s exactly what my dad had planned. Although it wasn’t his fault that the check hadn’t come in, he recognized that a member of his team was in a tough situation. He had talked to my mom the evening before, and they had agreed that they would be willing to give up some of their resources to help meet any need. As his employee told the story it was clear that this incident in her first two weeks of work set the tone for how she viewed my dad as a boss, and more importantly, as a person. She knew that my dad was willing to sacrifice for the good of someone on his team.
The reason I love to tell this story is because it is reflective of who my dad was in every aspect of life. As I often say, he characterized what it means to be “a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). However, most people think this propensity to generosity is something that is reflected in one’s personal, not professional, life. Through this and other acts of selfless giving, my dad demonstrated that for the Christian, generosity belongs at work too. This simple act of kindness demonstrated to this employee and to the rest of his team that he took his faith seriously. It showed them that loving God and loving others wasn’t something that was just important to him on the weekend; it was going to impact the way that he treated them at the office. In short, it demonstrated that he took the Gospel seriously and when he was asked why he was so generous to others, it gave him the opportunity to share how much God had done for him.
When we give selflessly, we reflect the selflessness of our Savior. In the story I shared above, my dad was preparing to give of his financial resources, but there are other ways that we can sacrificially give to bless those with whom we work. We can give of our time, willing to listen to and help with their struggles rather than focusing on the challenges we face. We can give of our talents, being willing to use our gifts and abilities to help someone else. We can give of our opportunities, allowing someone else to shine instead of trying to make sure the spotlight is always on us. Regardless of the way in which we do it, when we generously sacrifice for the sake of someone else, we are modeling, in some small way, the sacrifice that Christ made for us. We are providing a foothold to the Gospel and showing those around us, whether at work or the community, that we are willing to give up what is rightfully ours that they may be blessed. We are showing we prioritize them as image bearers of God, and that because of this, we will be generous to them with what God has given us.
In a world where people often focus on what they can get rather than what they give, a Christian can make a Kingdom difference by being sacrificially generous. If this Christian is also a leader in some way, the impact can be even greater. When we give of ourselves to bless others, we are showcasing the sacrifice and love of our Savior. May our colleagues and our community increasingly think of us as those who are joyfully generous. May we lead people to Jesus by willing give of what He has graciously given to us.
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
I Timothy 6:17-19
