What Your Employer Can’t Afford

In the past twenty-two years I have really only worked for three companies (besides a blip on the radar) with the largest having around thirty employees. There are, however, at least two companies located in my city that are worth billions. While my employers were carefully scrutinizing the fiscal benefits of adding an employee, these behemoths were spending that amount on snacks for the employee break room. It’s staggering to think about the difference scale makes in business.

Imagine going to work for the largest company in the world. Perhaps, due to corporate culture or SEC requirements there was a lot of transparency around where the money went. Thousands of dollars going here and there for items that kind of blow your mind. You think to yourself, “There’s nothing this company can’t afford!”

But you would be wrong. There are at least two things that your company cannot afford, and every blessed person reading this has at least one of the two. The first thing the company cannot afford is your soul. Your soul is priceless. What would it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul? In other words, the collective financial holdings of every company in America would not be sufficient compensation for a single soul on planet earth.

The temptation here is to think that selling one’s soul to a corporation has all the dramatic elements of Faust when it really happens over the small things: the little lie to the client or the sudden compromise that signals the coming collapse of the dam. What is really at stake is your integrity. It’s your character. No company in the world has the means to purchase that for what it’s worth, but you might be fool enough to let it go for cheap. Just because they can’t afford it doesn’t mean a fool isn’t willing to part with it.

When I entered my present position I was introduced to the general manager of a distributor partner. He had been in the business for a quite a while and when he found out that I was a bi-vocational pastor, he made the comment, “What in the world are you doing in the lighting business? Don’t you know this is the most corrupt industry in the entire electrical world? You’re going to lose your soul doing this!” I don’t know if he is right about my particular industry, but I suspect that everyone has a chance to lose their soul for the sake of profit or advancement or even pride.

The second thing that your company cannot afford is your marriage. It seems almost a weekly occurrence that another marital catastrophe is announced in the day to day conversations of my peers, friends, and even fellow church members. Marriage is hard work and this post certainly isn’t a deep dive. I would only remind you that it is cheaper to find a new job than a new spouse, with considerable less heartache.

A change in circumstances will not fix a change in the heart, but there are times when changing a job is necessary for the sake of a marriage/family. Sometimes it is long work hours. Sometimes it is the emotional toll of a particular line of work. Sometimes it is a tempting new relationship with a co-worker that needs to be fled. I don’t recommend a haphazard change in your career unless the situation is clear and dire. But it needs to be on the table.

The Christian ethic includes working hard for an employer, doing the best job possible, and honoring Christ through your efforts. For some employers this will be more than enough. Others will demand your exclusive loyalty to them and their bottom line. About a year into my present job there was a “re-alignment” and we were all sent down to attend a big shindig in Atlanta. The event was actually very well done, full of information and motivation to work hard for this particular client. A couple of months later I was talking with my manager and she asked about it, and I could tell my response surprised here. “Listen, I believe in Jesus Christ. I’m willing to sell ____________’s product, but don’t ask me to drink their Cool-aid.” It was probably a bit over the top, but better to mark the boundary in advance.

You may be self-employed, work for a small business, or work for a large corporation. Whatever the case, be really clear about what your company can and can’t afford when it comes to you, your marriage, and your family.