Faithful Business: ServiceMaster and Organizational Faithfulness in Ordinary Work

To be human is to work,[1] and to work is to be shaped by that work.[2] All our work will be judged by God.[3] All our work is meant to be done as an act of worship of God,[4] and to serve others.[5] These basic ideas about how my faith interacts with my work inform and form my behavior as I work. They form my writing, my podcasting, my mentoring, my speaking, and my teaching; and they form all my ordinary work: my housework, my mothering, and my two businesses.[6]

My husband, David, and I own a home maintenance franchise, part of a larger organization called “Hire a Hubby,”[7] It’s an unassuming business. People call us to their home to do the odd jobs that they no longer have the time, skills or tools for; or because even getting started feels overwhelming. So, we end up hanging pictures, fixing drawers, patching holes in walls, pressure-hosing paths, restoring decks, doing small painting jobs and repairing gates.

As a business it pays well, but not brilliantly. We could grow but we don’t want to, because my husband loves the spiritual discipline of working with tools, and I have lots of other things that I feel called to do. We are taking our time to move in the gentle movement of the Spirit in this work, seeing where he blows us and who he blows our way, stewarding our investment and gifts.

For one thing, we are in the business of discipling and developing others. Thus far seven young people have joined my husband on the tools in the van. This has been an opportunity for them to learn about tools and how the business works, but it has also provided time for spiritual conversations. The vagaries of weather and traffic allow for unexpected time to chat and ponder. Sitting side by side in the cabin of the van allows for deeper conversations, less confrontational than face to face.

Then there is the chance to live it out on the job, modeling integrity, hard work, courtesy, and kindness; recognizing in even the most difficult of customers someone who is made in the image of God. Sam told me that he has had many mentors, but working with us was the most effective discipleship he had ever experienced. It wasn’t just what David said, it was also the consistency with how he acted that made a lasting impression on Sam. Sam now works as head of maintenance for a Christian school, a role he would not have been qualified for had he not joined our team for a year.

Jesse spent a year with David doing the first part of an apprenticeship during a time when he was unsure of where he was going vocationally. He has now become apprenticed to a carpenter.

Max helped us over the Christmas crunch time and was in the van when David received a complaint from the head office. Someone had called in accusing David of dumping rubbish outside her apartment block. Although David had done work at that address, he is meticulous about cleaning away any rubbish. His first reaction was anger at the false accusation, but after some pondering, and with the chance cancellation of a job, he and Max decided to go to the address and remove the rubbish. He reported to head office what he had done and suddenly received a call from the complainant who had asked for his number. She called because she was so grateful, and David had the opportunity to explain his motivation: that Christmas is a time when we give gifts because God gave us the gift of Jesus. The woman was moved to tears.

Our most recent long-term adventure in discipleship is with an older guy. Derek was feeling burned out after decades as a Christian counselor. At church David and I noticed that he seemed to be shrinking under the weight of all that he carried. Every Sunday he seemed more tired; the joy had left his eyes. David took the opportunity when they were rehearsing together in the worship band to ask him if he would be interested in joining him in the van, just for a day.

Derek agreed. On their first time out, they visited a house to patch some holes on the wall. Derek asked the lady of the house a question we never ask: “How did these get here?” With a sigh she replied, “My daughter gets a little out of control sometimes.” Within 15 minutes David was busy patching the holes, and Derek was sitting down with the lady over a cup of tea, gently asking questions and suggesting some strategies.

Derek was hooked! We found out later that God had given him a vision of a house, with a feeling of home, as part of his future. He never imagined it would be about physically carrying tools and fixing real houses; he had thought it was much more figurative!

Now we allow some extra time for the jobs Derek is assigned, because we know he will take more time to build a relationship with the clients, and the clients love him.

As David and I lead this organization we are conscious that we want to do it in a way that pleases God, and which is consistent with who we understand God to be, and how he would like to be made known. In other words, we are seeking to be organizationally faithful. In doing that, we have been informed by a book that I co-wrote called Keeping Faith: How Christian Organisations Can Stay True to the Way of Jesus. It is a book that suggests that any organization run by Christians should be consistent not just in the mission (what it does), but also in the organization’s identity (who it is and why it exists), and its ethos (how it does its work).[8] To be faithful, you have to know and understand the theology of your organization,[9] in other words, how consistent the organization is with the beliefs outlined in the Bible, and the behavior of Jesus.

In June 2024 I had the opportunity to travel to Seattle as a Pollard Fellow,[10] named after a Christian business leader, William C. (Bill) Pollard. The trip gave me an opportunity to do some research on the organization Pollard led, ServiceMaster. It was a Fortune 500 company, publicly listed, and was so successful that Harvard Business School wrote several case studies on it.[11]

It was also an organization started and run by Christians, so it had an identity rooted in Christian faith.[12] Part of the founder’s hope was to build an organization would shine a light for Jesus in the workplace.[13] The mission was to serve people, often in their homes, later in hospitals, predominantly through cleaning. As the organization grew, it held onto its commitment to build a culture that would help people develop and grow in their knowledge and skills and values.[14]

Even though this was not a ‘Christian organization’ in the way we usually think of Christian organizations, it was definitely Christian in the way it was started and operated and staffed, at least at a leadership and governance level. And it was Christian in the way it honored the Great Commandments, as articulated by Jesus.

Jesus was famously asked by an expert in the law, what was the greatest commandment out of the Ten Commandments given to Moses and all the law given to Israel by God.

Jesus answered:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37–40, NIV)

In responding, Jesus was directly quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 9:18; and while the religious leaders were trying to trap him, they could not fault the expertise and the wisdom of his answer.

ServiceMaster had two core values: “Honor God” and “Help People Grow,” the organization’s articulation of those commandments. It was modeled by the leaders who prayed, ran devotions at Board meetings, spoke openly about their faith, had high standards of integrity, and sought to influence others through servant leadership.[15]

As I pondered what it meant for an organization to be a publicly listed company and to have as its essential value to “Honor God,” I received an email from my husband who had just had a review meeting with the Hire a Hubby CEO Brendan Green. David wrote that he had told Brendan that in terms of the business, he was: “Driven by faith in Jesus Christ and seeking him is foremost in any planning.” He also said that we used employment opportunities in the business “to support people in need of change.”[16]

Suddenly, the link between the organization I was researching and our own organization struck me like a bolt of lightning. Both organizations provide services, principally to people in their homes, and the core values of both our businesses are to honor God in all we do, and to grow our employees. An academic exercise suddenly became a meaningful journey into understanding and wisdom for business, our own.

Like our organization, ServiceMaster was into discipleship, developing people, giving them the tools that they needed to flourish. Its fourth CEO, Bill Pollard, articulated the principle and the biblical link well:

Developing people and unlocking their potential is both an art and a science. It is the responsibility of a leader. The experiences of the Apostle Peter, as he grew and developed under the leadership of Jesus, provide some worthwhile lessons. Peter was impulsive; he acted before he considered the consequences. He was committed and loyal, but under pressure he denied his close relationship with Jesus. He was both self-sacrificing and self-seeking; yet he developed into a leader and the ‘rock’ upon which the early church was built.[17]

As an example, Pollard tells the story of Maria, who rose from housekeeping duties in the organization, speaking only Spanish, to a management role. ServiceMaster supported her along the way, including funding her higher education studies in accounting, history, and English literature.

ServiceMaster also focused on deeply understanding stewardship and ethics. They quoted Luke 16:10–11, arguing that the Bible connects material riches with the true riches of knowledge of God, insisting that we must be faithful stewards of wealth to understand God.[18] They also insisted on integrity and accountability based on the Bible’s teaching on honest scales in the marketplace and the fact that we will all answer to God for our actions.

Long-serving executive Patricia Asp put it this way:

We had to be stewards of the shareholders’ investment, and stewards to our customers and to our people. [We] took very seriously…that we were a publicly traded business, but that people were all created in the image and likeness of God and had inherent value and worth. So, we asked the question: Are we being good stewards for all three of our stakeholders?[19]

Most importantly, ServiceMaster wanted to raise the question of God in the marketplace, seeking to honor God in every word and action. The roots of that desire came from the founder, Marion E. Wade, who wrote about an encounter with God after a near-death experience when some chemicals exploded near his face:

I found myself wondering what the Lord would do with a company that was entirely His, a company in which every employee, from top to bottom, did his job for the glory of God. In the first Book of Samuel, God says: “Them that honor me, I will honor.” I was trying personally to honor God, but I had never tried this with my company because I had been trained in the school of competition which attests that religion and business don’t mix. In other words, I was ready enough to meditate on the Book of the Law by night, but not by day.

Such a dualism is common, often taught from the pulpit. However, Marion was convinced that God wanted him to operate his business in a different way:

I closed my eyes and I prayed. I told the Lord that I loved Him and that I trusted in His love for the forgiveness of my neglects. I pledged that there and then I was committing myself to Him entirely—myself, my homes, my business—day and night. I would tum everything over to Him. I choose to serve the Lord, but You will have to show me how.[20]

I returned from Seattle with a renewed conviction that it is possible to re-integrate faith with business. After all, ServiceMaster had done it as a publicly listed company. I believe that through our start-ups and businesses that we can bring a fragrance of the kingdom to those we work with or for; and we can “raise the question of God in the marketplace”, as Bill Pollard used to say. We can create new work culture—ways of working that lead to flourishing—or we can seek to redeem broken ways of working, as well as healing harm from businesses that put profits before people and the planet.

All of this could be magnified if our churches were places that sought to affirm, network, equip, and commission businesspeople to live out their faith more effectively in their working lives. May we become those types of churches.

[1] This is because we are created in the image of a God who works (Genesis 1:26–27), who created the world (Genesis 1:1) and rested from his work (Genesis 2:2).

[2] Work is where we are spiritually formed. It is where we are tested and challenged, where we have to fully rely on God. Take for example Psalm 23, where the shepherd David sees God as his shepherd and the source of his guidance and providence.

[3] Matthew 12:36, Romans 14:12, 1 Peter 4:5.

[4] Romans 12:1–2, Colossians 3:23.

[5] Matthew 22:37–40, in fulfilment of the second Great Commandment to love your neighbour as yourself.

[6] Note that often when we talk about work, we consciously or unconsciously make a distinction between paid work and unpaid work. I am convinced that God sees, and judges, all the work we do, paid or unpaid.

[7] www.hireahubby.com.au

[8] Judd, Swinton, and Martin, Keeping Faith, 16.

[9] Judd, Swinton, and Martin, 28.

[10] See the Pollard Research Fellowship at the Center for faithful Business. https://cfb.spu.edu/project/research_fellowship/

[11] At its height of success, ServiceMaster served 12M people in 45 countries with 50,000 employees and many more in its extended service network. Source: Pollard, “Speech to Governance Institute, November 3, 2001.”

[12] It was started by Marion Wade in 1929 as a mothproofing company. Marion maintained connection with the organisation with his successors Ken Hansen and Ken Wessner, who in turn stayed connected with CEOs Bill Pollard and Carlos Cantu. See Erisman, The ServiceMaster Story, for comprehensive history.

[13] Wade, The Lord Is My Counsel, 82–83.

[14] Bill Pollard many times recounts a powerful story when he and the Board were challenged by renowned management consultant Peter Drucker to articulate what business they were in. The Board answered with many versions of what they did: cleaning floors, killing bugs etc. Peter Drucker told them they were all wrong. “You are in the business of training and developing people.” For example: Pollard, “Speech to Governance Institute, November 3, 2001.”.

[15] Erisman, The ServiceMaster Story, 3–5.

[16] Personal email to author, received June 19, 2024.

[17] Bill Pollard, in Pollard, 134.

[18] Luke 16:10–11, as referred to in Pollard, 204.

[19] Patricia Asp, Zoom call, June 27, 2024.

[20] Wade, The Lord Is My Counsel, 82–83.