GEO Principle Blog

Christmas, Jesus, the stable and your office

Now that December 25th has come and gone, I can finally slow down a bit and enjoy Christmas. Although the culture would have us believe the Christmas season starts well before Thanksgiving and ends on Christmas day, the real Christmas season starts with Dec. 25 and runs through the first part of January.

Christmas provides a wonderful example for us in terms of bringing God to work. The same way Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to that stable in Bethlehem, we can bring God to our place of work. A stable is an ordinary place. No one at the stable was expecting God or looking for Him. The animals there and the people that frequented the stable were just going about their business and Jesus came to them through Mary and Joseph. The place was not holy before Jesus came, but after Joseph and Mary brought Jesus there, it became a holy place.

Most offices are kind of like that stable. People in most offices are not necessarily looking for God, nor are they expecting to encounter him. The office is just an ordinary place where people are going about their business. But if you bring God there, He can make the office holy. God just needs you to bring Him there.

As you return to work after a few days off for Christmas, be sure to ask your colleagues about their Christmas break. Share with them your Christmas experience. Relay an interesting point or two from the message delivered by your pastor or minister during Christmas Mass or service. Make reference to the Christmas season extending to the arrival of the Kings (Jan. 6) or even to the Baptism of our Lord (Jan.  10).

It is easy to think of Christmas as a historical event, but it also is a current event. Sure, Jesus was born some 2000 years ago, but He is also made manifest in our world today. You can be part of that manifestation, in your home and in your place of work.

In the work world, think about what you have to offer

There are at least a couple of ways to approach the commercial arena. One way is to look at the job market and ask "What can I get?" Another way is to look at the world and ask "What can I offer?"

Most people try to figure out what they can get because the culture conditions us to approach the commercial arena with this attitude. We study in trade school or college with the idea of getting the best job possible. We write our resumes and sit for interviews in hopes of getting the best job possible. And once a job is offered, we work very hard to get the best salary, best benefits and best retirement package.

This approach accepts the world pretty much as it is, and it says "I am going to work hard to fit into that world so I can make the most for myself." I am guessing that this is what 90 percent of the workforce does, and surveys regularly tell us that as many as 70 percent of the people in the workforce dislike their jobs.

I like the "what can if offer" approach. This approach doesn't start by looking out at the job market, this approach starts by looking in at yourself. You figure out what you are good at, and what your strengths are. You figure out what you have to offer to the world. Once you figure that out, you look for ways to offer it. That may be through an existing job, but it might be through a new venture you create. This approach isn't so much about fitting into the existing job market, as it is about shaping the world according to who you are.

The "what can I offer" approach is based on a certain amount of faith in the world. You believe that the world will compensate you fairly for what you have to offer. But the focus is on what you are offering more than it is on what you are being offered.

The "what can I offer" approach is a foundation of entrepreneurship. I haven't seen any surveys on how many entrepreneurs like their work, but I would bet that is is much higher than 30 percent.

In order for the commercial arena to work properly, everyone has to give some and get some; but I think your starting point makes a big difference. The opportunity for workplace satisfaction is much greater if you start with the giving part of that equation rather than the getting part.