Congratulations graduates, and thank you spouses, parents, and friends for your support and prayers for these graduates during their time here at Wheaton.
Graduates, this commencement represents another step in your life as God is preparing you to lead and to serve others as you serve Him. As you have come to this time of graduation, you have achieved a level of knowledge in your discipline that qualifies each of you to Lead and to Serve.
For some that will be teaching others - for others it may be providing needed counseling and therapy - for others it may be in the development and growth of the church or in some other Christian ministry at home or abroad.
In so doing, each of you will be assuming the awesome responsibility of leadership.
Etched in stone on the floor of the chapel of Christ Church College at Oxford University are the words of John Locke spoken over 300 years ago:
"I know there is truth opposite to falsehood and that it may be found if people will search for it, and is worth the seeking."
In his seeking of truth, John Locke found the Bible to be the Truth of God's Word, and that every person was created in the image and likeness of God with dignity and worth and should be treated as such in an ordered and just society.
Although his comments on this subject occurred more than 70 years before the founding of our country, he is often credited with inspiring the opening words in our Declaration of Independence.
As Christians we know and have accepted the truth of God and His Word. But how do we integrate the truth of our faith with our work in serving and leading others? As we lead people, are we ready to assume the responsibility for the ''person" they are becoming? What if we are working in a secular environment that may be hostile to the truth of God and His Word (for example, teaching in a public school or university)?
My journey in life after graduating from Wheaton College involved 3 years at Northwestern Law School receiving a Juris Doctor degree, 8 years practicing law, 4 and a half years as a senior administrator and faculty member at Wheaton, and then I joined ServiceMaster in 1977.
My responsibility and accountability to the people I would serve and lead as I joined ServiceMaster became more of a reality and responsibility for me as I was mentored by the two leaders of the Company, Ken Hansen and Ken Wessner, both of whom were Wheaton College graduates. I was also influenced by the writings and friendship and advice of Peter Drucker, who during his lifetime was often referred to as the "Father of Modern Day Management and Leadership Principles."
For Drucker, leadership was just a means. To what end? was the crucial question. The end of leadership for Drucker was the people who followed, the direction they were headed, and the person they were becoming. He would note that a leader had only one choice to make - to lead or mislead.
Drucker would further say that the leadership of people was a liberal art and would suggest that as we lead people, we need to understand the nature of the human condition and recognize that our humanity cannot be defined solely by its physical or rational nature, but also by its spiritual dimension. It is this spiritual side of our humanity that influences our character, our ability to determine right and wrong, to recognize good and evil, and to make moral judgments.
The two Kens decided to be overt about raising the question of God in the doing of business as a public company. Before I came to the Company, they developed the following corporate objectives for ServiceMaster:
- To honor God in all we do;
- To help people develop;
- To pursue excellence; and
- To grow profitably.
Those first two objectives were end goals, and the second two were means goals. The first objective was not used as a basis for exclusion. In fact, diversity was promoted as leadership recognized that different people with different skills and, yes, different beliefs were all part of the world that God so loved. Our marketplace and the customers we served reflected a world of difference.
As a business firm, we wanted to excel at generating profits and creating value for our shareholders. If we didn't want to play by these rules, we didn't belong in the ballgame. But we also tried to encourage an environment for the workplace to be an open community where the question of a person's moral and spiritual development, and the existence of God and how one related the claims of his or her belief or faith with their work, were issues of discussion, debate, and yes, even learning and understanding. The people of our firm were considered to be the soul of the firm.
It did not mean that everything was done right. We experienced our share of mistakes. We sometimes failed and did things wrong, but because of the stated standard and the reason for that standard, we typically could not hide our mistakes. Mistakes were regularly flushed out in the open for correction, and in some cases for forgiveness, and leaders could not protect themselves at the expense of those they were leading.
As I have now retired from my leadership responsibilities at ServiceMaster and look back, I can add up the numbers that show growth in profits, customers served, and a good return for our shareholders. While these figures are part of a normal business assessment of performance, the conclusion for me cannot be limited to these money or value creation measurements. The real and lasting measurement was whether the result of my leadership could be seen in the changed and improved lives of the people I led.
One of the best ways that I found to share and lead in the development of our firm as a moral community and integrating my faith with my work was to seek to serve as I led, and to reflect the principle that Jesus taught His disciples as He washed their feet. Namely, that no leader was greater or had a self-interest more important than those being led. In seeking to so serve, the truth of what I said could be measured by what I did.
Later on in my career as I became CEO of the firm, the faces of our service workers would flash across my mind as I was faced with those inevitable judgment calls between the rights and wrongs of running a business. The integrity of my actions had to pass their scrutiny. They also had to reflect the reality of our combined performance - a result that was real and a result that you could depend upon. Otherwise, I was deceiving myself and those I was committed to serve.
For me, the world of business became a channel to share my faith and invest myself in the growth and development of others. A channel that reached from a janitor's closet in Saudi Arabia to the Great Hall of the People In Beijing, China. From sweeping the streets in Osaka, Japan to ringing the bell on the New York Stock Exchange. The marketplace provided a wonderful opportunity for me to embrace and engage those who did not believe the way I did but who were created in the image and likeness of God and who, by my words and actions, needed to see the reality of His love.
Wherever God leads you in your profession and work, there will be people who need to know and understand the truth of God and His love for them. As Christians, we are called to be Ambassadors for Christ, with God making His appeal to others through us [II Corinthians 5:20]. As leaders, we need to commit ourselves to do so.
As I close, I want to share with you about another Wheaton graduate who gave his life to the sharing of the truth of the Good News of the Gospel and also who had a strong interest in the growth and development of the Wheaton Graduate School. He passed away to meet his Lord and Savior just a few months ago. His name was Billy Graham.
During the time I was serving as a senior administrator at Wheaton, I had the opportunity of working with Billy and his staff on the project of what would become the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. As the plans developed for the Center, Billy was greatly concerned about the limited space that Wheaton was providing for its Graduate School. He concluded that the plan for the new Center and the funds he and his team would have to raise for it must include a new and larger space for the Graduate School, its students, its faculty, and its classrooms. Over the years, many have benefitted from this initiative of his.
Later as I served on the Board of Directors of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Billy would frequently ask me about how the Graduate School was doing. He continued to have an interest in its growth and development and potential for producing graduate students who would serve their Lord and Savior. He often prayed for the Graduate School.
For many years, students (including this graduating class) have benefitted from the interest, involvement, and prayers of Billy Graham for their growth and development. As you move on from this graduation day, may God continue to bless you.