Pray For Our Pastors

ESSAYS ABOUT GOVERNMENT

Last year, I applied to the Harvey Fellows Program, which supports Christians pursuing graduate studies in secular fields that are strategically important for Kingdom-building. Unfortunately, I was rejected. But I pulled out my application this morning and was glad to read my essays again, for they reminded me why I’m going to Fels and inspired me to keep on learning. So I’ve decided to post them here for public consumption; enjoy.

1. Write a personal statement of your Christian faith (what it is that you believe). Explain the significance of your faith in Jesus Christ to your everyday life. Be sure to describe your involvement in a local church, and give examples of opportunities you have had to demonstrate and share your faith.

I believe that the chief end of God is to glorify Himself and enjoy Himself forever. Men and women were created in the image of God to enjoy God perfectly, but by the original sin of Adam and Eve are now born with a sinful nature, and thus have experienced death, corruption, and separation from God. In our helplessness, God sent Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin on our behalf, that in His substitutionary death we might have right standing with God. Ours is a life of worship to God, connection to a worldwide body of believers, and service to others, and even as we strive for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done here on earth, we await a Savior who will return and deliver us to a heavenly and eternal dwelling place.

As it relates to my everyday life, my Christian faith is a road map for life direction, an anchor against the world’s winds, and a message to proclaim. Jesus Christ is my model, my message, and my medium, and I seek to represent Him in all I say and do. My local church, where I have served as an elder for the past six years, is a source of teaching, accountability, and camaraderie.

While I have had ample opportunities to share my faith verbally, I am most proud of ways my life serves as a testimony to God’s character and values. I parlayed an Ivy League education into ten years in the trenches at a small non-profit in inner city West Philadelphia because I saw in the Bible a running theme of God’s special concern for the poor and marginalized. I chose to pursue this path of obedience, rather than the upward mobility my socio-economic status conferred upon me, because, like Moses, I considered following Jesus “greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.”

Along the way, I have demonstrated and shared my faith to my non-Christian parents, who disapprove of my life choices but understand I have made them because of my beliefs; with others who come after me, who also want to live radical lives of obedience and whose glimpse of God at work in my life encourages them to persevere in their pilgrimages; and with the urban poor, who have experienced something of the compassion and justice of God in my efforts to show love and to make right.

2. Briefly outline your vocational goals. Reflect on how your Christian faith informs your approach to this discipline. Describe the factors that have motivated you to pursue your vocation. Include the role the church and individual Christians have played in your efforts to integrate faith, learning, and vocation.

I am an unashamed capitalist, who believes that societies and economies are at their best when they are run as much as possible based on free market principles. However, markets by themselves often do not take into consideration three important perspectives: 1) a long-term perspective, 2) a communal perspective, and 3) a moral perspective. That is to say, free markets, if left to themselves, will undervalue the long-term compared to the short-term, the communal compared to the individual, and the moral compared to the amoral.

These market failures (or, I should say, inadequacies) present opportunities for government to play a role – not to replace the free market mechanism, but to supplement it so that it works effectively and factors in the three aforementioned considerations. The environment, suburban sprawl, and social programs for the needy are three examples of issues that should neither be left to free markets to resolve nor taken completely away from free market mechanisms. Rather, on these and other related topics, a government that facilitates capitalism, and that ensures that the long-term, communal, and moral are incorporated into its free market dynamics, is doing right by its citizens and is best safeguarding a healthy economy and a just society.

My Christian ideals have evolved as I have sought to apply them in a for-profit setting at Wharton and in a non-profit setting at The Enterprise Center; I relish the opportunity to now put faith into action in the public sector. At every stage, I have been driven by a desire to see God’s Kingdom come more fully here on earth: for people to know God more and worship Him, for systems to be just and the downtrodden shown mercy, and for all things and all people to be right by God.

Along the way, I have had to learn many things and integrate them into settings not always welcoming to the Christian perspective. From Daniel I learned how to pursue God in a secular academic environment. From Nehemiah I learned how to rebuild urban structures and strengthen urban people. And from my home church I have learned how to be part of a body of believers who love God and seek first His Kingdom. As I enter the field of government administration, I welcome the opportunity to learn new lessons, gain new role models, and further apply my faith in a setting that demands it.

3. Explain how this vocational area impacts society at large, and how this vocation is strategic to the Kingdom. Provide evidence that your chosen field is under-represented by Christians and tell us how you plan to impact your field for Christ.

While much lower in the US than in most of the world, government spending, at about $3 trillion per year, still accounts for about 25% of the entire GDP, a scale that allows it to influence economic issues that affect all Americans, such as inflation, monetary stability, and commercial growth. At the local level, decisions made by government entities influence crime rates, unemployment levels, and neighborhood housing. At the state level, governors and elected officials determine the quality and quantity of such important resources as public education, social services, and health care. At the federal level, politicians have the power to declare war, fight world hunger, and fund important medical research. Suffice to say, government administrators hold levers with which they can impact communities, societies, and the whole world.

For that very reason, this vocation is vitally strategic to the Kingdom of God. When I studied at Wharton, I lamented the relative dearth of worthy role models in the field; business, after all, needs Kingdom-seekers who will serve with diligence and integrity, and who will use business tools to unleash great good in the world in the form of goods, jobs, and wealth. When I signed on at The Enterprise Center, I wondered where all the Christian laborers were; does not the Bible have many things to say about God’s special concern for ruined cities and downtrodden city dwellers and broken city systems? I now wonder where the Kingdom-seekers are in government administration, the courageous public servants who say no to seeking power to secure personal gain and say yes to utilizing their skills to safeguard justice and offer mercy.

Many of my heritage and my generation find politics to be too sleazy, too gritty, or too impotent. I harbor these reservations, too. But there is another part of me that is hopeful, even expectant, that there is a place in government for smart and good-hearted people to make a difference for people, for systems, and for the Kingdom of God. That in government faithful men and women might find levers with which they can do great good for society and the world. And that by being a Christian government administrator, I might impact my field by putting faith in action, and by impacting my field I might be great in God’s Kingdom as a doer of justice and a lover of mercy. By God’s grace, there I go.

4. Reference at least one recent leadership activity (related to your academic discipline or vocation, if possible). Describe why these activities are significant, how they have played a role in your development, and how they tie into your vocational goals.

In 2002-2003, I decided to take a sabbatical from The Enterprise Center. True to my workaholic ways, I was busier in “rest” than at work. I spearheaded a replication initiative at work, got more involved in church, wrote two books, and campaigned for a Christian candidate for city council. I also enrolled in a class hosted by Leadership Inc., which annually assembles local leaders for lessons in civic duty and leadership legacy.

As it coincided with my sabbatical, Leadership represented for me an important “moment” in my professional trajectory. The youth program I had founded five years earlier hummed along without me, reminding me that great leaders are not just people who “get the job done” but are also those whose influence and vision have a multiplier effect in the institutions in which they lead. It was an important lesson in humility, for I had to accept that that year’s programmatic successes had very little to do with my efforts or insights.

Leadership took me out of the trenches to survey more of the battlefield. Month after month, I sat at the feet of accomplished educators, influential economic development professionals, and powerful politicians. Here was planted the seed in my soul, that perhaps I too could play a role beyond the realm of local non-profits and in a setting in which my decisions could affect multiple communities and entire regions. The roots of my decision to leave The Enterprise Center and to enroll at Fels, to give up a cherished institution where I did significant work at one level in order to be trained to do significant work at another level, can be traced directly back to my time in Leadership Inc.

All of us in Leadership were encouraged to look beyond ourselves and make a difference at a broader level. But I believe that while you can find good-hearted people from all faiths, only the Christian possesses the proper perspective and motivation to do great in the Kingdom of God. Christians believe that life is eternal, that the welfare of everyone’s children and not just their own is what matters, and that there is one God before whom we will all be held to account for the substance of our lives. I left the class reminded of these beliefs, and still challenge myself concerning what I will do in the world given that these things are true.

5. Describe the special strengths of the degree program(s) to which you have applied, and how they compare to the acknowledged premiere programs in your specialty. Discuss how these programs will prepare you to enter the job market and pursue a leadership position within your field.

While Fels may not have the cache of Kennedy, Wilson, or Maxwell, its graduates have a reputation for “getting the job done.” In fact, this workmanlike approach to government administration, which would make Penn founder Benjamin Franklin proud, came about as a result of a deliberate effort on the part of school administrators in the 1980’s to maintain academic excellence but also inject a practical methodology so as to produce leaders who could effect substantive change within governments. Fels students are schooled not only in evidence-based government and public finance theory but also in the mechanics of winning elections, structuring bonds, and passing legislation. Fels’ dual strength of academic theory and real-world practicality is reflected in its faculty, which includes John DiIulio, prominent social researcher; Stephen Mullin, former Director of Commerce for Philadelphia; and Edward Rendell, Pennsylvania’s governor.

Fels grads run for office, work for politicians, lead government agencies, run non-profits, and consult for public administrations. They understand both the art and the science behind government administration, and as a result are effective in using its levers to stimulate significant social change, whether through tax reform or equitable legislation or constituency services. The positive reputation of the Fels degree, the high caliber of Fels grads I know, and the startling quantities of Fels-affiliated professionals in key sectors around the city were all reasons for me to myself become a Fels grad, and will all be advantages for me when I complete my degree and enter the job market.

I am grateful for the chance to have attended Wharton in my undergraduate years, for I feel better equipped to seek the Kingdom of God. In conjunction with my Christian convictions, my business skills open doors to do justice and love mercy in inner city West Philadelphia. I can help aspiring entrepreneurs build wealth and create jobs, educate urban youth in important matters of financial literacy, and more effectively manage the people and resources and procedures of my non-profit organization. I anticipate that my Fels education will open even more doors for me. I will learn how to make agencies more efficient, taxes more fair, and services more impactful. More importantly, I will learn these lessons as a Christian who seeks the Kingdom of God. I look forward to the leader Fels will make me, the leader I will be wherever Fels takes me next.

6. Please state anything else that is important for us to know about you.

Based on the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, I am an “INTJ.” One of the defining characteristics about us INTJs is that we see “reality as a crucible for refining our strategies for goal-directed action. In a sense, INTJs approach reality as they would a giant chess board, always seeking strategies that have a high payoff” (from keirsey.com).

As a Christian, Wharton and The Enterprise Center have been two big chessboards on which I have explored the integration of three things: the knowledge I derive from the Scriptures, the faith I ascribe to in my head and heart, and the rules and realities of secular institutions. I quite enjoy living in the tension between two worlds: Taiwanese and American, for-profit and non-profit, business education and Biblical truths, professional vocation and Christian ministry, spiritual nurture and social services, head knowledge and practical action.

But these are not merely intellectual curiosities. We are talking about matters of eternal consequence. The “high payoff” I seek is no less than the establishment of the Kingdom of God here on earth. I straddle these worlds and explore their integration not for frivolous pastime but because the health of my soul and that of others depends on it.

INTJs are often accused of being cold and calculating, and indeed I have a lot to learn in terms of demonstrating more compassion and warmth. But if I am zealous in my life calculations, it is because the stakes are high. I take seriously the obligation to be a good steward of the resources and gifts with which I have been entrusted, to pursue excellence for the sake of the Kingdom of God, and to prepare myself for strategic roles in which I can effect significant social change. As I fill more fully into my vocational calling and my leadership gifts, I am increasingly eager to see what happens next, increasingly vigilant about utilizing all I have been given in talents and opportunities for the sake of the Kingdom of God.