If you are like most people, you probably want clarity in some aspect of your life.
But maybe you shouldn’t, unless you spend time answering two questions.
Do not pray for clarity
I think there is a healthy skepticism of businesses that go to market as a faith-based or social cause. It can feel like a rubber stamp: “We care about causes you care about. Buy our shoes.”
The late comedian Tim Wilson said it also can feel like cover. He described a contractor who “had one of them Jesus fishes on his truck so you could forgive him when he was screwing you” (I’m paraphrasing).
Now that I’ve given the disclaimer, let me share about one of those businesses.
I blog reader (thanks, Allen!) recently introduced me to the Betenbough Companies, a public benefit corporation that started in Texas with homebuilding but has since expanded to a total of six different businesses with “priorities beyond profit.”
Last year, the president of their homebuilding division shared a story about how Mother Teresa refused to pray for a man to have clarity. Instead, she would pray he had trust.
The president’s words are a thought-provoking meditation on how Christians are to trust God’s provision–not take the reins and do it ourselves–in all areas of life, let alone business. Clarity is not the goal.
What do we mean by “clarity?”
But as a coach, I’m paid to help people gain clarity and take action. That’s why our motto is, “Wrestle and grow.” At Hip Socket, once you’ve wrestled with some ancient wisdom, you gain insight and are able to do something. But Mother Teresa said she had never had clarity–she laughed at the very concept.
So, would mother Teresa want you to get coached? Should you really be seeking clarity?
As with so many things, we must first define our terms. What do we mean by clarity?
If clarity is having our future mapped out, all risks accounted for, all paths forward addressed … then no, clarity is an unhealthy goal. In fact, it is an impossible goal.
But if clarity is having the knowledge of who you are and who God is … then it is the thing that allows you to trust and move forward.
First identity, then activity.
The examples of this are right in the president’s article. His company is based on the idea that Christians are placed in the world to serve. So they view their jobs in the marketplace as sacred. That impacts how they pay and engage their employees, and what they do with the profits.
First identity, then activity.
Mother Teresa followed similar insights which led her to caring for and living with the poor.
In both examples, there was clarity about vocation. We get that word from the Latin for “call.” If you know who you are (identity), you know what you’re supposed to do (activity).
How to get the right kind of clarity
In fact, this vocational clarity applies to me as well.
I believe God has called me to glorify him in the marketplace. Specifically, I’m helping people wrestle and grow more organized, confident and influential using the ancient classical education methods. By calling people back to this ancient wisdom, I think it’s possible that, as businesses embrace these “old roads,” we just might see a turnaround in so many of our current issues: family disintegration, employee disengagement, public incivility, inability to reach across the aisle and more.
This is why I consult and coach!
So I feel called to end on this note: If these ideas on clarity resonate with you, I suggest there are two questions you must ask yourself.
- Who am I called to be?
- If that’s true, what should I be doing with my time?
The first question typically takes more work. With exercises, journaling and classical “dialectic,” I and other coaches help people walk through answering these questions over the course of a weekend retreat or a yearlong coaching relationship.
But they are questions for a lifetime. We are continually wrestling and growing.
So today, make plans to get clarity. Just make sure it’s the right kind of clarity.