October 2005 - Workers Without Conviction

THE CHRISTIAN WORK ETHIC NEWSLETTER
October  2005

Politicians and workers often fail in their work because they lack a rare quality directly concerned with the Christian work ethic:  CONVICTION!   This is true of management as well as employees and that includes elected officials who are employed by voters of these United States.

As I write this monthly newsletter, I am deeply saddened as I reflect on Senate Republican Majority Leader Frists' recent decision to support the financing of stem cell research using a broader range of embryonic stem cells.

Under rules set by President Bush, the federal government only finances research on cells drawn from human embryos before he announced his policy on August 9, 2001. Since the embryos already existed, it would not be immoral to use them for such research.  Mr. Bush said his goal was to allow this  to move forward without using taxpayer money to cause additional embryos to be destroyed.

As a former surgeon, Senator Frist is a surgeon has publicly stated the truth that LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION!    He is also one of several lawmakers who opposes abortion because it destorys embryos but who, under certain restrictions, favors research that entails destroying embryos.

Does that sound like DOUBLE TALK ? ?  To use clearer terminology directly from God's Word, does that sound like hypocrisy in the first degree ? ?

But, before pointing a finger at Senator Frist, you and I had better point the finger first at ourselves!

What do we really believe and practice according to our belief while in the workplace?   And, do our beliefs line up directly with the Word of God ?  Yes, we may have learned through the preacher or a Sunday School teacher that it is wrong to steal!  And, we may say that we believe it!

BUT, do we ever use our employer's equipment or take just a few office supplies from the workplace to home without permission?   Are we constantly late reporting for work and we feel we have a justification but, yet, we are stealing time from our employer?

One of the major reasons why there are so many problems in the workplace is that so many employees AND managers have no REAL convictions!  This is why the Christian work ethic is absent in the lives of many workers.  Such workers have no strong moral beliefs on which they stand as they labor.  When they go to work, their hidden motto is "Come Day Go Day God Send Sunday" and that's it!

Regardless of what you or I think of President George W. Bush, liberals and conservatives alike must agree that the man has convictions, and thus far, he has stood his ground on his convictions whether we agree with him or not!

That, my friend, is an attribute of an honest and strong leader who does not waiver because of political pressures and stands for what he believes based on moral principles as he labors for the American people!  That is refreshing because history can point to millions of politicians but few leaders!

Do not misunderstand my message!  This is not an advertisement for Mr. Bush.  It is only to show an important  distinction between a United States Senator who lacks true moral conviction and the one who was elected to the Oval Office.

The lesson for you and me as workers is very clear:  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a worker need not be ashamed, rightly divided the Word of God!  As I apply this Biblical truth to stem cell research, the following truths have become evident:

1. It is wrong to kill a life while trying to preserve another life. The Bible is clear:  Thou Shalt Not Kill!   We have already killed millions of babies because of the Supreme Court's decision on Rowe vs. Wade.  Isn't that ENOUGH for God's Sake?

2. If you understand this truth and stand by it, you do not have to be ashamed because having understood this truth, you have rightly divided the Word of God by separating RIGHT from WRONG according to God's instructions!  

Now, let us take this same truth and apply it to our lives so we can be a worker who need not be ashamed.

As for Senator Frist, SHAME ON YOU and may God help you to obtain the right conviction on this matter before you vote to to destroy more embryos for the sake of saving lives.  NO, Mr. Frist, you are advocating taking a life for a life and that is morally WRONG!

The Senator has forgotten that these embryos could become living souls and future workers for the Kingdom of God while on this planet! 

Very truly yours,

Jim Hogsett, President/Founder; Worker Ministries and Writer for Guideposts Magazine