"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in; if you show favor to the man wearing fine clothes and say 'Here's a good seat for you.' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet', have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"  James 2:1-4.

     Bob arrived at work that morning at 7:30, just like nearly every morning for the past fourteen years. It was the only thing normal about that day. Greeted at the door by a human resources representative, Bob was directed into a large room where about 30 of his coworkers were already gathered. For the next half-hour, he and a growing group of workers milled about with increasing anxiety as they waited for someone to tell them what was happening. Clearly bad news was coming, and nearly everyone guessed it was layoffs. At precisely eight o'clock, a senior human resources official entered the room, and solemnly confirmed the layoff. She ticked off the details, then stunned everyone in the room with her next words: "Because of security concerns, each of you will be escorted to your desk, where you will be allowed to pick up your personal items, and then you will be escorted out of the building. Please turn in your badges as you leave." The insult of the layoff was magnified by the indignity of mistrust.

     In another part of the building, five senior managers were hearing the results of the cutback in a decidedly different manner. Though the message was the same, each senior manager was given the opportunity to return and clear their desks later, "at their convenience."

     There was no mistaking the message, intended or not: People in more responsible management positions are more trustworthy and can therefore be treated with more dignity.

     Most of us have heard the arguments for why this needs to be: Potential for sabotage, disruption and discomfort of the remaining workers, possibility of violence, to name just a few. None hold water when the standard is applied discriminately. And robbing a person of their dignity at the same time they're being deprived of an income carries with it no honor.

     For Christians in management positions, the admonition in James applies to our treatment of our workers as much as our regard for our fellow churchgoers. In this and other difficult circumstances, our faith can stand out if we are careful to treat people at all levels of an organization with equal respect and dignity. While some may consider this idea naive, being prudent need not mean being callous.  Scripture challenges us to push to protect the dignity of the worker. Doing so demands risk-taking and creativity on our part in discovering new ways to manage tough situations. If we're unwilling to walk that second mile, to wrestle to discover ways to communicate even the worst of news with dignity, we shame ourselves and adversely affect the Christian tenets we profess.

     Loving our neighbor is hard sometimes, but we can start by offering them equality in all matters, but especially equal attention and equal dignity in difficult times. If that sounds like it doesn't make good business sense, then you haven't read the disgust, fear and increased mistrust written in the faces of the remaining workers, who peek quietly from their cubicles as they wrestle with survivor's guilt. They're paying close attention to the embarrassment inflicted on their coworkers, and mentally dismissing our words of faith as they privately record the character of the culture---and the persons---doing this to their friends.

By Randy Kilgore