Is It A Different World?

Many know that I have spent the last 2.5 years evolving more than my marketing and communication chops, but stretching my capacity as a professional. I have always been a devout volunteer in my church for as long as I can remember. The opportunity to give of myself in this manner brought me joy in a way my corporate roles couldn't. Walking alongside people and helping them grow in their own faith was my oasis. In 2023, I was asked to move from volunteer to professional ministry. I literally took a leap of faith, uncertain what it would all mean.

I would have to admit. Almost three years in, and I am still unable to make sense of it all. It has been a journey of one step at a time. However, while taking those steps, I have remained watchful and alert to my surroundings in order to seek understanding and solve the great mystery of how to blend the marketer in me with the minister in me. Here's the one thing I have concluded along this never-before-been-here path: It's a different world. Well, somewhat.

Remember the 1990s sitcom, A Different World? Airing on Thursdays for six years, the show depicted college life at the historically black college nestled in Tidewater Virginia, Hillman College (I used to tell my parents that's where I wanted to go to college. Tremendously heartbroken to learn it was fictional). The characters and storylines gave us front row seats into black culture and student life at HBCUs. With this unique preview, viewers were invited to see college life through a distinct lens, addressing gun-shy topics, hard-to-discuss challenges, and usually swept under the rug issues affecting the black community. The show's overarching positioning gave rise to its name.

It's a different world… But is it really? At its core, whether black or white, we all went to college with this one aspect in mind—a better future. College offers us a ticket into our wildest dreams, turning our deepest hopes and unspeakable desires into realities. Because who doesn't want to see what they imagine for themselves come to life? This tells me that we have this one simple, yet ultra-powerful thing in common—our humanity.

This tells me that we have this one simple, yet ultra-powerful thing in common—our humanity.

Our humanity is the equalizer in the corporate world and the world of ministry. Yet, I entered this new world, listening to the chatter around me, and thought I had to suppress who I had been for over 17 years. I heard talks about how ministry isn't corporate and corporate isn't ministry, and, to echo the messages conveyed to me, I immediately took off my business-casual suit and threw on my cape, forgetting the three-piece I used to wear. It didn't take long for me to develop a limp resulting from being off balance and disheartened from not being able to be, well, ME. I am head over heels for marketing. I go all gooey for communications and messaging. And yes, I am in love with ministry. I may not have all the answers, but here's what I do know. I need them all.

Ministry and corporate life are different worlds, yes, but both include a group of human beings dreaming big and devoted to becoming all they were made to be for the sake of the mission at hand. So, although corporate isn't ministry and ministry isn't corporate, how people show up and what we expect to gain from being integrated in their world is the same. We can't turn up our noses at the other and conclude that the world we aren't a part of can't teach us something. Sitting in both, I would argue there is much to learn from each other.

Corporate is already doing it. Subject matters centered on servant-leadership, emotional intelligence, professional development, and teamwork are all biblical principles. Jesus' teachings on coming to serve, not to be served; compassion; cultivating gifts; and being of the same mind, knitted together, are topics that have been integrated into corporate life for decades. Dare I say, the companies that have deep-seated these principles in their culture are striving. They have our attention.

But their thrive isn't based solely on these principles. They have taken these tenets and collided them with business bedrocks. Creativity, innovation, strategic ingenuity, financial wellness, calculated risk-taking, cohesive branding, and straight-talk messaging are a few business precepts that ministries that haven't peeked behind the curtain of the other side could benefit from. Let me not forget to mention the most provocative notion of them all—leadership (If there ever was a stumbling block award in both corporate and ministry, leading well would clear the board.).

Listen, although the two worlds may differ at first glance, there are overlaps that individuals in both sectors need in order to fulfill their purpose and complete their professional and personal mission. We can never stop being students, no matter how high we climb or how many years we've lived. Please believe, lesson plans come in all shapes and sizes. Let's give ourselves permission to learn from one another and make space for authenticity that can bring unspeakable, transformative change to the culture and the humans breathing in its ethos.

Take the limits off and enlarge your territory!