by Matt Rusten

Big data has revealed a shocking finding regarding the American dream: you have a better chance of achieving it if you don’t live in America. We Americans generally think of our country as the land of opportunity, that no matter where you’ve come from, you can improve your station in life through hard work.  But research by Raj Chetty at Stanford University reveals that for large swaths of people, they’d have a better chance of reaching the American Dream if they grew up in Canada. Or Great Britain. Or Denmark. In other words, America is no longer the leading candidate for the title, “The Land of Opportunity.”

A growing number of leading scholars and thinkers have revealed that economic opportunity is on the downswing in America. Whether it is Robert Putnam in Our Kids, Raj Chetty at the Equality of Opportunity Project, or Charles Murray in Coming Apart, a shift has occurred in our society. As David Brooks has written, “Equal opportunity, once core to the nation’s identity, is now a tertiary concern.”

This trend should concern a broad range of people across the ideological and partisan spectrum. In particular, Christ followers are motivated to care for the vulnerable and help those in need because of its prominent emphasis throughout the Bible. The Torah, historical books, wisdom literature, the Prophets, Gospels, epistles and pastoral letters all include injunctions to care for the poor. City governments, business owners, non-profit leaders, and those across the political spectrum all come to this issue with similar concerns, even if underlying motivations or strategies to address it might vary.

If this concern is shared so widely among leaders in a community, an important question follows: What would a city-wide movement to address the opportunity gap look like? What could happen if individual people, faith communities, government leaders, non-profit leaders, and for-profit business owners were “all in” to expand opportunity in their communities? What could each groups’ contribution look like in pursuing this shared goal?

Individuals could begin to envision generosity not only as sacrificial giving, but also as sacrificial hiring. This is in line with the gleaning laws given in Leviticus, and modeled in the book of Ruth. Those who farmed land were to purposefully leave grain along the edges of their fields– work that could have been done– in order to provide opportunity to those who were willing to work to gather it for food. A modern day gleaning movement might look like individual households leaving meaningful work undone and instead hiring workers to clean the house, mow the yard, or paint rooms.

The gleaning laws in the Old Testament were often geared to help immigrants and widows. And who are the people in our context who are often in the house cleaning, yard work, manual labor business?  Our generosity, if we are biblical, ought to include hiring as well as giving–offering opportunity to those in our communities who are willing to work.

What about churches? A church might see its physical building as an economic asset, offering office space for aspiring entrepreneurs looking for an affordable place to start their business, like Rose City Church, in Pasadena, CA. They might use church building projects as opportunities to hire those in need of work in their communities, like Hope Community Church in Woodlawn, IL, who hired 50 workers off the streets over the course of two years. It might look like a church who identified an at risk population in those leaving the foster care system, and started a cafe business to hire them, give them training and meaningful work, and a chance to grow skills that will serve them for years to come.

What about city governments? Might they find ways to expand opportunity to those on the margins? Richard Berry, the mayor of Albuquerque, NM, saw a panhandler with a sign that read, “Want a job…anything helps,” and responded by creating a program called “There’s a Better Way,” which provides panhandlers the opportunity to work to beautify the city. And what was the outcome?

In less than a year since its start, the program has given out 932 jobs clearing 69,601 pounds of litter and weeds from 196 city blocks. And more than 100 people have been connected to permanent employment.

Or perhaps a city government might work with the business community and offer a summer jobs program for youth at risk of committing violent crimes. When Chicago tried the experiment in 2014, research from the University of Chicago revealed that the mere fact of a summer job reduced violent crime arrests among participants by 43%. Later, Chicago city leaders would remark, “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.” Expanding opportunity for some led to a safer community for all.

What about businesses? Perhaps they might consider expanding opportunity for groups of people who have often been left on the margins of the job market. That’s what Weifield Group Electrical Contracting decided to do. They started a 4-year apprenticeship program (the time it takes in the electrical trade to become a journeyman and electrician) and partnered with non-profits in Denver to offer opportunity to those who may have struggled to find a job because of past mistakes like a felony or drug addiction. The result has been a team of workers who have experienced dignity and healing through meaningful work.

This all brings us to an important question. Can disparate groups work together for the common good? John Inazu, in his book, Confident Pluralism, has argued that while we might not all be able to agree on what the common good is, we can at least find common ground. And when it comes to expanding opportunity for the vulnerable in our communities, that may be one area where we can all agree.

thanks to Daniel Tseng for his cover photo

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Whether it is in personal relationships, marriage, or business, being equally yoked with other Christ followers is highly preferable. 

This issue can be very, very important in the life of an entrepreneur, so in this episode Henry, Rusty, and William share their own views and experiences on partnership and doing business with people that don’t yet have the same worldview.

Show Notes for Episode 13

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by Johnny Shiu

This week’s episode

Whether it is in personal relationships, marriage, or business, being equally yoked with other Christ followers is highly preferable.  Scripture encourages us, if not commands us in this direction.  In 2 Corinthians 6:14, the Apostle Paul said, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

While this passage is historically viewed Paul’s warning against idolatry (as verses 7-18 seem to support), we believe that this Scripture also instructs us about business relationships when it comes to working with those who may not be Christ followers.

This issue can be very, very important in the life of an entrepreneur, so in this episode Henry, Rusty, and William share their own views and experiences on partnership and doing business with people that don’t yet have the same worldview.

— Show Notes —

Henry starts off by providing the evolution in his own thinking about the subject matter.  Initially, Henry was focused on hiring or partnering the most qualified and best person for the job regardless of the person’s faith. Over time, he began to see that going through the hills and valleys of business, the person whom you are yoked with is incredibly important.  If the person whom you are joined does not share your convictions, faith, and beliefs there may come a time when the institution/business enterprise may be compromised.

Rusty observes that it is often very difficult to hire someone who is equally yoked with you.  In high level positions, there may be more opportunity to engage in executive searches and networks to identify those individuals.  As a whole, given the size of the marketplace it may not possible to be yoked with a fellow Christian.  Frequently, one may come into a business headed by non-believers.

Interestingly, the Apostle Paul addresses this scenario in the context of husband and wife.  In sum, if a husband joins with an unbelieving wife, or vice-versa, Paul warns that you must not divorce. (1 Cor. 7:12-16)  The point is we do not know if the unbelieving spouse would actually be saved through the believing spouse.  Similarly, in business God can work through the believer and sanctify those who may not believe.

At Snocap, Rusty ended up working with a great person, Mr. Ali Aydar.  While Mr. Aydar’s beliefs were not readily known at the time, Rusty built a relationship with him.  Mr. Aydar now goes to church where Rusty goes; in fact, Rusty teaches Aydar’s kids in Sunday school.  No matter the circumstances God seems to be able to work through it for his glory.

From William’s perspective, he comes back to his “why.”  He adds that we are guided by God’s word.  We need to use discernment.  William makes sure he shares his why with others in any venture when possible.  In fact, it’s important for your potential business partner to know everything that makes you tick.  It is an opportunity to be authentic.

To be clear, Henry, Rusty and William all agree that employers in the United States must abide by all employment laws.  And as faith driven entrepreneurs, we arguably may be held to even a higher self-imposed standard.  We are by no means endorsing any type of discrimination in hiring practices.

As with many issues, we are in the world but not of the world.  As faith driven entrepreneurs, we are in the world but not of the world.  In business, we are confronted with issues that come with a spectrum of possibilities, i.e., gray area. Through thorough and honest vetting, prospective business partners may opt out if they do not share our convictions. Weaving together William’s point about sharing our “why,” and Rusty’s comment on how the hiring process can be a self selection process, prospects have ample opportunity to pursue the business opportunity or to pass.

In the end, as Christian entrepreneurs we not only abide by the law of the land, but also the word of our God.  In the multiplicity of business scenarios, we can be authentic, faithful, and integrous in our work.

by Henry Kaestner

I’ve enjoyed the concept of starting off the week with a blog highlighting a good video that sets the right tone for the next 5 days.  In that spirit, here’s a 2 and a half minute video from our friends at the DePree Center for Leadership at Fuller.

— Brittany Norman

“We don’t really do play dates.”…  “Your child is measuring 2 sizes bigger than his current shoes.”…  “The nanny will be here with them (my son and your child).”…  “She’s not my mom, she’s my nanny.”…..  If you are a working mom, the list could go on, right?  And so can the guilt. 

When I co- founded my company, I didn’t even have kids.  My company “was” my first child and I could work as much as I wanted and when I wanted and all that I wanted.  The only person to coordinate with was my husband, who was in law school so as you can imagine, he was busy on his own.  So the life of an entrepreneur and being a mom had yet to collide.  But it did. 

Our son was born during the second year of my company, and since I was “efficient and organized and scheduled”, so was he (he was born to a Type A mom).  I had read lots of books and talked to friends and I had a plan.  And the blessing was that with some diligence, he fell very easily into a routine. That worked for both of us.  He ate, had waketime, and napped every 3 hours like clockwork and he was sleeping through the night by 8-10 weeks. Since I was working for myself (and my partners), I never took “maternity” leave and didn’t really skip much of a beat in my work life.  I had a home office so I could have him in a bouncing seat or be bobbing up and down with him while on a phone call with someone.  We were side-by-side all day and all night, whether at my desk at home or in my office in a meeting or traveling (yes, he and the ones after him would spend a lot of their early lives traveling with me).  I nursed so even feeding him was free and portable. It was easy. 

Then came the toddler years.  And some of the guilt-speak. I could no longer just have him sitting and playing quietly next to me.  So we went through a stretch of looking for and finding nannies and housekeepers because, as all women business owners or employees know, just because you have a job that pays you outside of the home, doesn’t mean that someone else does all that you have to do at home.  That’s one of the huge challenges, right?  You and your husband may both work for pay, but as the wife, you still feel responsible for the full-time job of running and maintaining the household even if your husband is sharing much of the labor (which mine was/does).  So you actually have two full-time jobs.  (more on this topic in another blog)

We lived in a neighborhood with young families, on a street with young moms and babies, toddlers and preschoolers. For some women, this would have been a dream come true: people in the same boat as you, kids and moms at the same stage, built-in distractions and therapy outlets.  But not for me.  Because I worked.  I wanted to work. I liked working. I believed it was my calling from the Lord. I was good at it. 

But I felt bad.  I (almost) always said no to play dates (and didn’t really enjoy them when we went because I was so “different” from the other moms and/or in a hurry to leave so I could get back to work). We didn’t spend afternoons at the children’s museum or at the park or in someone’s living room or backyard chatting and watching all our kids play together.  I felt like I was always running and juggling.  I enrolled my 18 month old in “school” because I needed the hours while other moms were contemplating home schooling or looking forward to 2-3 more years with their baby at home before kindergarten.  Guilt, guilt, guilt. 

Twenty-one years ago, I would have given you very prompt responses to questions about the rights, wrongs, betters, and “never would consider” options for education, schooling, childcare, working and juggling being a wife, mom, and business owner.  But today I will tell you that there aren’t nearly as many absolutes as I once believed.  Wisdom, time, age, pain, struggle, life and many family choices later, I tell my kids (I have 5 now) that the absolutes and forevers are salvation through Jesus Christ and hopefully marriage.  The rest of the choices life brings simply come with different outcomes. 

You may feel called to be a paid-working mom and wife—and that will bring challenges, choices, costs and benefits that a home-working mom and wife won’t face.   You may feel called to do paid-work for a stretch of your children’s lives and then stop for a while.  You may feel called to always be in the paid-working world and be intentional about the support staff that you hire to help pull that off (nannies and housekeepers, etc.).   What you have to hear and believe is that there isn’t a right and wrong answer to that dilemma.  In our culture, depending on which part of the U.S. you live in, there may be more or different social norms that you violate no matter what you choose. 

The key is, what has God called you and your family to?   Are you and your spouse in agreement?  Are you seeking the Lord in all that you are called to do?  Do you believe that He is the one calling, giving you the gifts, talents, abilities, opportunities, and desires that have you where you are? 

What I have learned through walking with the Father on this journey over the last twenty-one years is that His journey for me is not His journey for my neighbor or the mom at my church or the homeroom mom of the class or my sister or best friend.  It’s His journey for me.  And I can’t screw that up if I am willing to hear His voice and follow His call.  That will most certainly look different today than it will five, ten, fifteen years from now.  Don’t be afraid to walk your journey and don’t be afraid to change paths. 

My life scripture has become the passage at the end of John, when Jesus is restoring Peter and they are walking along the beach with John following behind.  In John 21:20-22, Peter asks Jesus about His calling for John.  And Jesus clearly says to Peter, “If it is my will….what is that to you? You follow me.”  That is the mantra that I have to keep before me, actively reminding myself and asking the Holy Spirit to not let me look to the right or the left and compare (Satan’s great tool for mom-guilt), but to keep my eyes fixed on Him and His call to me.  You follow me. 

Does that mean that I never again feel/felt bad about missing play dates (not a ton actually), or the fact that I missed field trips, that my child had outgrown his shoes, or that we have helpers in our household to help us keep it all going?  No, I still feel guilty when I let myself drift into looking around and making assumptions of how everyone else is “doing it all” or doing it “better”. 

But, twenty-one years and five children later, I am quicker at re-centering, recalling God’s faithfulness, and remembering that He has made me to be me, called me to a journey for my family that is not right or wrong, but it just might be different.  I have children who have had multiple passports, have a bug for “going” and doing, and are now starting to discern for themselves what God’s call on their lives might be and how that might “look different” from their peers.  And, in spite of several nannies, some shoes that were outgrown before I knew it, and missed play dates they have turned out to be amazing people and I look forward to walking alongside them as they enter the “real” world! 

Days of juggling are long; years are fast.  The path can change and that’s okay.   Stay fixed on the Father and His call for you, and do all of it as a service to Him.  Press on/in.  More to come!

…

Editor’s Note: If you liked this piece from Brittany, we encourage you to check out her other FDE blogs as well —

FDE Blog – Seasons Change…But God
FDE Blog – Yes, I have Staff And That Doesn’t Make Me Inferior

by Chris Horst 

as originally posted on Christianity Today

A “restful buying experience.”

Few American consumers would ever think to describe mattress shopping this way. In fact, if you have been mattress shopping recently, restful is probably the last word that comes to mind.

“This is one of the sleaziest industries in the world,” says business owner Ethan Rietema. “Customers are treated so poorly. Stores beat you up, trying to get as much money as they can, but they couldn’t care less if you get the right bed.”

Rietema and Steve Van Diest, both former campus ministers, are bringing rest—and integrity—back to a business largely devoid of it. Four years ago, a Christian entrepreneur invited the Colorado natives to begin deploying their relational abilities in strip malls rather than on college campuses. They now co-own three Urban Mattress stores in Denver and have franchised four more. And, they argue, their current work is just as important as their former ministry.

Neither Van Diest nor Rietema was searching for a business opportunity, and they certainly never envisioned a career in mattresses. They wondered how to live out their faith in a “secular” environment, and had pastor friends question the vibrancy of their faith when they made the leap.

But then they started learning about bed sales in the United States. On average, they learned, people spend one third of their lives asleep. They began to discover just how much a good mattress matters.

“I don’t have to do mental gymnastics with the product I sell,” Van Diest says. “It’s not a frivolous item. It’s not an image-conscious product. People come here after being worn down by horrible sleep, replete with aches and pain. If we can provide them with a small glimpse of grace for a third of their lives, that’s kingdom work. That matters to God.”

Open in fast-paced environments like Denver, Austin, and Washington, D.C., Urban Mattress serves customers desperate for a good night’s sleep. Van Diest and Rietema point to a wide swath of research illuminating how a good night’s sleep increases weight loss, decreases stress, and broadly increases well being. They note God’s institution of rest as an indicator of its importance. Since our Creator built Sabbath into his schedule, Christians should care enough to think about literal rest in a culture deprived of it.

“In our culture, a good night’s sleep is a precious commodity,” Van Diest says. “And we want to be the very best at providing it.”

They often find their values challenged. Chief among their concerns are the many ways that consumers are swindled by industry leaders. It is normative, they state, for mattress companies to create unique product names for each store franchise, a tactic that prohibits consumers from comparison shopping. Mattress stores also consistently raise prices substantially before holiday weekends, then offer “blowout sales” that simply bring prices back to normal. And the typical sales approach is to badger consumers into buying as expensive a mattress as quickly as possible, with little regard to what the consumer wants or needs.

Urban Mattress, by contrast, offers consistent and fair prices that promote transparency and honesty. While Urban Mattress customers won’t experience a “massive clearance” sale, they will find a fair-priced bed within their desired budget.

An elderly customer named Zoe, for example, came to their Denver store a few years ago in the midst of several debilitating health issues. Rietema sold her a bed while adhering to the Urban Mattress values. A few months later, Zoe returned to the store.

“She said, ‘You treated me so kindly and with such dignity when I was sick, I’m putting you in my will,'” Rietema recounted. “She felt that because we treated her with such respect, she wanted to include us in her estate planning.”

When Van Diest and Rietema entered business together, they were unsure how their careers in ministry would transfer. Their former job meant seeking out significant conversations with college students. What they found in their new career surprised them.

“The number one reason you walk into a mattress store is because you’ve experience a major life event. Perhaps it’s a divorce or separation,” Ethan shared. “Or, you’re getting married, having a kid, sending a kid to college, moving, or someone close to you has died. I’ve been shocked at how often I have incredibly rich conversations with our customers and am given the privilege to enter their lives.”

That’s exactly what Kenn Kelly found when he walked into Urban Mattress. Cofounder of Never Settle IT, a custom software solutions company, Kelly and his fiancée (now wife) recently visited four other mattress stores before landing on Urban Mattress. Kelly suffers from substantial back pain, so the purchase was an important one.

“Even if we had to pay more at Urban Mattress—and we ultimately didn’t—we would have done it because the service was so exceptional,” Kelly says. “It was such a different experience from the other stores. It was like the service you receive at a fine restaurant. They served us based on our needs, gave us freedom to make our decision, and sold us a high-quality product. I’ve already told all my friends about it.”

Employees also stand to gain from the Urban Mattress approach. From the moment a new employee joins the organization, Rietema and Van Diest give an enormous amount of leadership to their employees, expecting that “they will make our company better,” Rietema says. “I don’t need ‘yes sir, no sir’ employees. I need people who are going to make our company better by identifying and solving problems.”

Eleven employees run their three stores, and over 30 employees work in the eight stores in the franchise. They invest daily in their employees—during what they’ve dubbed “Urban Mattress grad school”—and help apprentices launch their own franchises in their respective communities. This year alone, the apprentices—some Christians, some not—have launched new Urban Mattress stores in Austin, Washington, D.C., and Aurora, Colorado.

In 2009, Adam came on as a salesman. A self-described nomad who had spent the previous eight years working as a raft guide, Callaway came to Urban Mattress looking for a new opportunity. And he flourished, quickly building rapport with customers and championing the Urban Mattress values. This fall, Adam became an Urban Mattress franchisee; his first store opens this Christmas in Austin, Texas.

“I’ve always loved adventure. But I never would have expected to be an entrepreneur,” says Callaway. “Four years ago, everything I owned fit into a Subaru. Now I own a business. We are really excited to bless our new community here in Austin.”

Meanwhile, Van Diest and Rietema plan to launch eight more franchisees over the next two years. Their vision is to see these entrepreneurs become leaders in their communities by selling beds in a way that honors God and serves employees and customers alike. One bed at a time, Urban Mattress brings a restful shopping experience to an industry and consumer that needs it.

Editor’s Note:  I came to know Chris during the time that I was on the Hope International Board.  He does an awesome job as their Director of Development, fully embodying the attributes that J Paul Friedenmaker talks about in our “Spirituality of Fundraising” Podcast.  If you like Chris’ writing (and I love it….he’s one of my favorite bloggers), then you can get more at his blog website: Smorgasblurb