In May 2019 the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry was interviewed by Harvard Business Review. The focus of the interview was Bishop Curry’s consistent message of love and unity at a time of deep division.
His message about dealing with people in our daily lives – particularly in our workplaces – speaks to the vocation of being a Christian – walking our talk. He champions servant leadership in a time when polarization and self-dealing seem to have become routinely expected.
Interviewer Ania G. Wieckowski: How do you encourage people to bring love into their workplaces?
Bishop Curry: In the past couple years I’ve started thinking of love less as a sentiment and more as a commitment to a way of being with others. As a sentiment, love is more about what I’m getting out of it than what you’re getting out of it. But as a commitment, love means I’m seeking your self-interest as well as my own—and maybe above and beyond mine. That kind of unselfishness is actually how Jesus talked about love most of the time in the New Testament—the Greek word that’s used is agape. That’s the kind of love you see in a person who has done something selfless for you and affected your life for the good: a parent, teacher, Scout leader, or coach. Take that further and you realize that there has been no social good that’s been intentionally done apart from this kind of love. We don’t give people Nobel Peace prizes for selfishness. We recognize those people because they’ve given of themselves without counting the cost to themselves. So, I’ve been playing with the mantra: Is the action I’m contemplating selfish or selfless? I invite folks to just ask that question throughout the day: Selfish or selfless?
Bishop Curry invites us to a simple practice of examining our behavior by asking ourselves whose Way are we walking? What does our baptism really mean? Are we being loving, liberating, and life-giving? Selfish or selfless?
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