Work as Calling

I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. (John 17:4 NLT)

At the start of last week I was feeling down about what felt like a lack of fruitfulness in my Christian life. I had been reading about people overseas who had been suffering because of their Christian faith, and while I have no desire to suffer, I did find myself thinking that my life is not as significant as theirs because of the vast differences in our respective callings. How can a comfortable life in America compare – spiritually speaking – to lives of true sacrifice in places hostile to Christianity?

But over the course of the week I encountered multiple reminders that God has a plan & purpose for each of us, and what really matters is being faithful to that calling. In my work I have opportunities every day to have a positive influence on people, to help create an environment in which people can flourish and reach their potential, and even to pray for people who may not otherwise have anyone praying for them. That may not seem as impactful as some of the stories I read, but the reality is I may never know what kind of impact I’ve had on other people, or how God used me in their lives, until I’ve shuffled off this mortal coil.

So we should not downplay our calling just because it’s not as _______ as someone else’s.

Help Wanted: Inspiration

I’ve been frustrated lately by a lack of inspiration. I started writing this blog and it felt full of promise and potential, but then one day I found I had nothing to write about. After several days of this I began wondering if it was a mistake to have tried at all. What do you do when you want to express yourself but feel like you have nothing worthwhile to say?

1 sentence, 4 ideas

A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. (2 Timothy 2:24 NLT)

What I love and appreciate so much about Biblical wisdom is that it’s usually not complicated. It may be challenging or counter-intuitive or controversial, but it’s rarely obtuse. Paul packed a ton of practical advice into this single sentence, saving Timothy the trouble of having to attend leadership seminars.

Pay close attention to leaders who consistently do the following:

*) engage in & promote healthy conflict within the team, building a culture of openness and trust
*) coach, correct & discipline others without being a jerk or a creep, establishing legitimate and secure authority
*) share, rather than horde, knowledge, freely giving of themselves
*) maintain a cool exterior during difficult conversations, modeling grace and respect

I hope to someday write a sentence that impactful.

Fix Your Thoughts

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8 NLT)

How much time is spent thinking about what is false, and disgraceful, and wrong, and distorted, and disdainful? How often do we dwell on the terrible and uninspiring? We can’t control much of what goes on around us, but we do get to choose the way we respond to and reflect upon our circumstances.

If your default position is negativity, the people around you will likely either copy you (because they’ve found a kindred spirit) or avoid you (for obvious reasons). Much of what Paul wrote was written in prison. It would have been easy for him to focus on stern warnings and a bleak outlook. Instead he took a longer view, celebrated what was praiseworthy & encouraged us to do the same.

Life and work will contain missteps and outright defeats. You can let them kill your spirit or you can embrace them & make them part of your narrative.

Whose story is it anyway?

As leaders it’s important that we tell our own story. If we’re not well versed at telling our personal stories, we risk someone else owning – and telling – them for us, at which point they cease to be ours, and may even become unrecognizable to us. Explaining “why” you did something is important, but don’t underestimate the power of the “how.”

Leadership Devotional 2011, Day Last

Have you prayed for a member of your team who is struggling? Have you prayed prior to starting a project or making a presentation? If not, why not? God cares about every aspect of our lives, not just what we do (or even don’t do) on Sunday mornings or during certain days of the year, so I would challenge you to go out on this skinny branch and see if He won’t be faithful in this.

My prayer through these devotionals is that you will see this intersection of work & faith in a new way, and challenge yourself to let your faith shape how you do your job, as well as what kind of leader you have the potential to become. Thank you for taking time to delve into this with me!

Leadership Devotional 2011, Day 8

With this newest post I’m finally getting to the last day of content from my original five-day series of devotionals. I think I’ll get two more day’s worth of content out of it.

I saved the best for last: Jesus. I hope you’ve found this series beneficial, and that these final installments give you a perspective on Jesus you’ve not had before.

Jesus is one of history’s most unconventional leaders. He emerged from out of nowhere. He had no MBA. He didn’t attend any leadership seminars. He defied conventional wisdom & the status quo. He sought out the marginalized. His team was not comprised of society’s best and brightest. And yet this man changed the world in a way no one had before or has since or ever will. There’s a reason more has been written about Jesus than any other person who’s ever lived.

“Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’ ‘I can’t, sir,’ the sick man said, ‘for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.’ Jesus told him, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!’ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, ‘You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!’ But he replied, ‘The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’’ ‘Who said such a thing as that?’ they demanded. The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, ‘Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.’ Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, ‘My Father is always working, and so am I.’ So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God. So Jesus explained, ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.’” (John 5:1-3, 5-19 NLT)