Grace & Peace

In the 1st Century, there was an entrepreneur by the name of Paul. 

Paul traveled all over the Roman Empire launching cause-based nonprofits, developing leadership teams for each, and then trusting them to fulfill the mission and live their corporate values as he moved on to another city to launch another startup.

And like anyone who’s ever started something from scratch, Paul maintained his passion for the mission, his love for the city, and his desire to see his former team succeed long after he’d moved on; so, he regularly wrote letters to the people he’d left in charge.

Now, just like today, in Paul’s day, there were traditional, conventional, accepted ways of doing business, most of which had been developed, established, and practiced over several decades before being formalized and recorded by a statesman and lawyer named Cicero.

And one of these accepted business practices specifically addressed the way superiors communicated objectives and expectations to subordinates when they were writing to them from a distant city. 

Cicero believed that the relationship between the point leader and any other leader should be very formal, very efficient, very to-the-point; so, the point leader’s communication should follow suit.  He said that all letters should adhere to the following opening format:

Sender’s Name

Recipient’s Name

The Word “Greetings”

That was the conventional, accepted practice in the 1st Century Roman Business World, and everyone stuck to it.

Well, almost everyone.

Paul was unconventional.  He marched to a different drumbeat.  He did things in a new way.  He led his teams by a different set of rules.  And he had the kind of unparalleled success that people talk about 2,000 years after you’re gone.

Books have been written about Paul’s leadership style and the principles that governed his interactions. 

I have personally learned dozens of principles and lessons about leading people, developing people, and communicating within hierarchy (without depending upon or abusing hierarchy) by reading Paul’s letters to his teams. 

But there’s one principle

that has impacted me so deeply

that I have it tattooed

on the inside of

my left bicep.

G R A C E   A N D   P E A C E

That’s the phrase Paul used to start and end every letter he wrote.

What you’ll see in a moment is that what Paul did was very, very subtle, but it was also very, very subversive and scandalous.

In a hierarchical, stratified culture where superiors addressed inferiors in a very formal, sterile, to-the-point kind of way that was all about efficiency in carrying out the point leader’s agenda, Paul did things differently – he valued people for who they were, not what they could do for him…he prioritized the health and satisfaction of his team members, not the bottom line – and as a result, there was nothing his teams wouldn’t do for him, and organizational objectives were consistently realized.

And I believe it’s because he started and finished every letter with…

G R A C E   A N D   P E A C E

You see; both Cicero and Paul wrote in the lingua franca of the day – koine Greek, and that means that when Cicero wrote that point leaders should begin their letters with…

Sender’s Name

Recipient’s Name

The Word “Greetings”

…the word he used for “greetings” was charein, and it meant something like “greetings, salutations, hello.”

But Paul comes along and makes a play on words.  He makes a subtle linguistic adjustment, and it changes everything!  Instead of using the traditionally accepted charein, Paul uses charis.

Charein

Charis

Charein

Charis

Charein

Charis

See how similar they are?  See how subtle the change is?

Paul takes the normal word charein and changes it to charis, and by doing so he turns the 1st Century leadership model upside down.

You see; charein is business-like; it’s formal and obligatory, a throw-away word on the way to instruction and demand.

But charis is personal; it’s intentional; it’s a tone setter that tells the recipient they matter to the sender.  It says there are no superiors or inferiors in this relationship.

You see; charis is generally translated from Greek to English as “grace,” which in and of itself makes it better than a sterile “greetings.”  But charis means so much more than grace.

Charis is a blessing you pronounce over someone.  When you say it, you’re saying, “Joy to you.  Favor to you.  May you experience full satisfaction in your life.”  And you’re saying those things with exuberant expectation.

So, instead of greetings (charein), Paul says, “Charis…grace…may you experience life to the fullest…may you possess joy and satisfaction in abundance…may your dreams be fulfilled and your table full!”

How different would your work experience be

if your boss began and ended every meeting

wanting you to experience

unparalleled satisfaction and joy?

What if she wanted you

to experience grace

in the workplace?

Now flip it. 

How different would the culture of your team be

if YOU began and ended

every meeting,

every email,

every training,

every single thing

with an eye towards

each of your team members

feeling prized and valued,

with them believing

you want

the best

for them?

Unconventional.

Yes.

But amazing.

And totally

How Things Should Be.

It may seem

pie-in-the-sky…

unrealistic…

impossible.

And maybe getting your boss

to approach you this way

is all of those things.

But it’s not unrealistic or impossible

for you to start approaching

your boss

your coworkers

your direct reports

your interns

this way.

And that alone can begin to reshape a culture.

But Paul didn’t stop with charis…he didn’t stop with grace…no, Paul started and finished every letter he wrote with…

G R A C E   A N D   P E A C E

Grace

AND

Peace

And peace for Paul carried with it the idea of flourishing…of wholeness…of connection.  Peace brings an end to striving, fear, stress, anxiety, and ladder climbing.  It’s everyone collaborating for the common good…everyone setting aside personal agendas for something bigger.

So, instead of “hello, greetings, salutations,” which is what most subordinates heard from their boss, Paul’s team heard…

G R A C E   A N D   P E A C E

They heard, “May you experience life to the fullest…may you possess joy and satisfaction in abundance…may your dreams be fulfilled and your table full!  And while all that good’s coming into your life and work and family, may you experience wholeness and connection…may you participate fully and freely in something bigger than yourself that allows you to be your whole self…and may there be an end to all the backstabbing, and power grabbing, and infighting that’s made your work feel like work…GRACE & PEACE TO YOU!”

G R A C E   A N D   P E A C E

I don’t know about you, but I need grace and peace. 

I need people to speak grace and peace to me. 

I need people to want grace and peace for me. 

I need to be reminded of grace and peace. 

I need to feel grace and peace. 

I need to be encouraged by grace and peace. 

I need to hear stories of grace and peace. 

I need to see grace and peace active, alive, and being poured out

in my community

in my workplace

in my church

in my friendships

in my family

in my life. 

I need grace and peace.

So, what would happen if you, me, and the other people who read this blog post decided to live lives of grace and peace wherever we go…including our place of business?

It would change the world.

What if every impulse, every conversation, every interaction began and ended with grace and peace?  What would happen? 

What if we fleshed it out everywhere we went, and practiced it in everything we did, and spoke it to everyone we met?  What would happen?

It would change the world.

What if our posture said, “Grace and peace!”

What if our politics said, “Grace and peace!”

What if our budgets said, “Grace and peace!”

What if our social media said, “Grace and peace!”

What if our staff retreats and board meetings and water cooler conversations said that on this team and in this organization we value and prioritize…

G R A C E   A N D   P E A C E

It would make work feel a lot less like work.

And our teams would be more satisfied.

And our supervisors would be more satisfied.

And our clients would be more satisfied.

And we would be more satisfied.

And it may seem like a pipe-dream. 

It may sound like rainbows and unicorns.

It may sound like I’ve lost my mind.

BUT…

It sounds pretty great, doesn’t it?

It sounds like the kind of place you’d like to live and work, right?

It sounds like the way you’d want your kids’ work experience to be, huh?

SO…

Why don’t we start by bringing grace and peace with us to work this week?

AND THEN…

Why don’t we tell a few close friends and trusted coworkers about it and encourage them to try taking a posture of grace and peace with their teams?

AND THEN…

Why don’t we take a step back and see how much things have changed in just a few weeks because we did something unconventional?

AND THEN…

Why don’t we keep on starting and finishing everything we do with…

  G R A C E   A N D   P E A C E

…until grace and peace has become the conventional, traditional, widely accepted best practice for businesses, and communities, and families?

As the Chinese proverb says,

“A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.”

Will you take that first step into grace and peace with me?

Will you commit to beginning and ending

all your interactions, meetings, and conversations

with grace and peace?

As you contemplate how you’ll get started,

allow me to speak a blessing over you…

May you experience life to the fullest.

May you possess joy and satisfaction in abundance.

May your dreams be fulfilled and your table full!

And while all that good’s coming your way…

May you experience wholeness and connection.

May you participate fully and freely

in something bigger than yourself

that allows you to be

your whole self.

And may there be an end

to all the backstabbing,

and power grabbing,

and infighting

that’s made work

feel like work

for you.

GRACE & PEACE TO YOU!

G R A C E   A N D   P E A C E