Lots To Read

Let me explain. When I started this blog, I decided I was not going to write about theories or ideas. I had read a lot on the subject of Christian business by authors that I am sure were very well educated. The problem I saw was that some had never actually been in business themselves.

While I understood their theories and ideas (even agreed with most of them), I had a problem knowing they had never actually had to face the challenge of implementing those ideas. They had not faced the “whirlwind” of business that keeps many of us from being as effective as we want to be.

Application, Not Theory

As a result, I wanted to write from the perspective of one who was actually IN the business world and trying to implement the ideas I promoted. I wanted to write about application, not theory.

So that is what I did. I committed to only writing about processes we were actually trying in our business. In fact, I found the writing of the blog posts actually served as a form of accountability, keeping me focused on the application of ideas that otherwise may have faded over time.

Lapse In Effectiveness

Fast forward a few years and I have started to look around again. What I have found is not exciting to me. What I have realized is that some of the very processes and ideas that were once carried out regularly are no longer being performed. Either that or they are not as effective as they have been in the past.

If it was only about me, that may not be such a big deal.

People Depending On Application

However, I have come to find that there are many people depending on me to focus on the application of these ideas. Our entire employee base (whether they realize it or not) is relying on me to ensure the application of these processes. Their family members are depending on this. Our customers are also expecting this.

You, as a reader of this blog, trust that we are actually doing what I say we are doing. If I was promoting this blog as one of theory (not application), then you likely would not care as much. However, since I am saying the opposite, you should expect that the application of these ideas is in place.

Dangerous Clouds

So, the danger I described before, is that over time it is easy to get lost in the clouds when writing a blog. It is easy to get caught up in the coolest new idea that comes along rather than ensuring the application of that idea first.

I want to give an example from Scripture that illustrates this. While the analogy is not an exact fit, I think you will get the idea.

After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. While He was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.

They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”
Acts 1:9-11

Disciples In The Clouds

In this passage, Jesus has just given instructions to the disciples and has ascended into the clouds, going to heaven. The disciples have things to do and instructions to follow, but what do they do? They stand there gazing into the empty sky.

What they were thinking about, no one really knows. They were probably reflecting on how cool it was to see Jesus ascend. They likely were thinking about what this ascension meant to their future. It is even possible they were wishing they could follow Him right then and skip all they had in front of them to do.

Thoughts Interrupted

Whatever the case, the two men in white clothes came along and interrupted their thoughts. Effectively, these two men told them to get their heads out of the clouds and get back to the tasks they had at hand!

I laugh every time I read this passage! I can imagine being in the disciples’ shoes and wanting to stand there gazing. I can imagine wishing to be following Jesus right then. In fact, to be honest, there are days I DO feel that way!

We Have Work To Do!

The problem is that we have work to do. Theories are good and we certainly can use new ideas in order to increase our ministry effectiveness. At the same time, the work must continue! We cannot get lost in the theory and forget the application!

It is not enough to say we added a step to our sales process at one time. We must make sure that step remains a part of the sales process for as long as it is effective. Allowing it to fade out while we pursue new ideas…this is a problem!

In the same way, applying something once that we have learned in our study of the Bible is not enough. We must maintain that application over time. It is not enough to say we studied or fasted once. We must keep up these disciplines.

Self-Assessment

I encourage you to do a self-assessment. Where do you rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 when it comes to application? Are you guilty of too much theory and not enough work? Have you allowed your gaze to shift to the clouds?

As I mentioned, I have noticed some cloud-gazing myself lately. As a result, I am committing to an increased focus on application. I hope you will do the same!

Where have you allowed application to lapse?

Are you ready to jump back in and get to work?

Where are you going to start?

Photo by Choreograph / iStock

Let’s make this easy. Below is a list of ways you can misuse prescription drugs. In addition to the explanation for each misuse is a parallel misuse of Scripture. See if any of these abuses hit home with you.

1. You forget to take it.

Prescription Drugs– You have the right prescription and you intend to take it at the right time, but you keep forgetting to take it. The pill bottle just sits there on your bedside table collecting dust. Do you have a realistic hope of getting better with this behavior?

Scripture – You know from experience or even from a recommendation that spending regular time reading Scripture will help you with whatever problem you have. You have a Bible and the freedom to read it when you want to, but you keep forgetting.

Of course, you know that if it was truly important to you, you would not forget. Instead, it appears that you are more comfortable in continuing to struggle. Either that, or you would rather get your “prescription” from a non-licensed physician. Maybe your friends or the latest self-help book really can give better advice than the Creator of the universe.

2. You apply it incorrectly.

Prescription Drugs– Your elbow is hurting. Rather than going back to the doctor for a new prescription, you decide to pull out the ointment you were given for athlete’s foot last year. You rub this ointment on your elbow for relief. Don’t think this never happens!

Scripture – This one can apply two ways. First, you have good intentions, but you simply do not yet have the skills required to properly apply what you are reading. Likely, you are simply misinterpreting what you are reading. Fortunately, in this case the Holy Spirit will be helpful and guide you in the right application if you will just ask for help.

The other way this can happen is when you have a particular solution in mind before you even search God’s Word. You search and search until you find a verse that could be taken out of context to fit your needs. An extreme example would be to use Genesis 38:15-16 to confirm your weekend plans!

3. You do not fill the prescription.

Prescription Drugs– You took the time to go to the doctor and have him prescribe something to give you relief from your ailment, but you really don’t have time to go to the pharmacy to fill the prescription. Maybe tomorrow. Really?

Scripture – A friend or mentor has told you that reading and meditating on a certain Psalm really helped them get over their similar problem. You have thought about taking the time to read that Psalm, but you have just been so busy. You really have not had time to read it. You will work on that next week.

4. You won’t even go to the doctor.

Prescription Drugs– You hurt and you know there is likely something that could bring you relief, but you don’t want to ask. The doctor may think you are weird or weak. Someone may find out that you are not the specimen of health you pretend to be.

Scripture – You work with someone that often mentions how specific Scriptures have helped her overcome struggles in her life. You have similar struggles, but you cannot bring yourself to ask her where to look in the Bible for help. She may think less of you if she knows you have these struggles. You will just figure it out on your own.

5. You do not ingest it.

Prescription Drugs– You have the right prescription and you remember to take it, but you are somewhat afraid to swallow it completely. Instead, you decide to lick it on a regular schedule. Do you really think this will work?

Scripture – In this case, you do take your Bible out and read it regularly. The reading part is not the problem, but you really are not confident enough to fully digest what you have read and apply it. Instead, you are hopeful that you will gain enough benefit just from coming in contact with God’s Word. You really are hoping that maybe you will get Holy Spirit Brownie Points for the effort!

Do any of these abuses sound familiar? Do you struggle with any of these abuses of Scripture?

I think these abuses may be more common than we think. At the same time, there is one way that abuses of prescription drugs and Scripture are different. In fact, I would venture to say that this specific form of abuse can cause opposite effects.

6. You take too much of the prescription.

Prescription Drugs– Your head really hurts more today than normal. You decide to take triple the recommended dose. Surely that will take the pain away three times as fast, right?

Scripture – You find that properly taken as directed, reading and applying God’s Word really works! In an effort to increase the effects, you decide to spend a lot more time reading and meditating on it. The funny thing is that this actually works even better!

The bottom line is that we need to treat the Scripture as if it has been prescribed to us and we should take it as directed. For some specific advice on this, check out the following Scripture and see if it is clear enough for you.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Psalm 119:11

James 1:22-25

Proverbs 3:1-2

2 Timothy 2:15

What is your experience with Scripture?

Are you guilty of abusing it in any of the ways listed?

What can you do to improve your track record?

Photo by svedoliver / iStock

Whatever the case, if you are reading this, you are most likely someone who likes to learn. You are a reader (at least to some degree) and you seek out your own learning opportunities. You also like to put yourself into situations where you can learn from others’ knowledge and experience.

For the sake of this discussion, I want you to think back over the past several weeks. Think about two or three situations where you have been in a position to learn something new. It could be at church, in a seminar or conference setting, or even in a book you have been reading. This should not be too hard for you to do if you are the learner that I think you are.

Now, think about each situation and pick something specific that you learned. Was it a spiritual truth? Or did you learn a new, more effective method to accomplish your work? Maybe you learned a new approach to conflict resolution or team building.  

Now that you have this specific lesson in mind, make a list of the ways that you have made changes to your life as a result of this new learning’s application. How has what you learned impacted your life? What is different in your life, work, family, etc., as a result of what you learned?

Learning Without Application

Unfortunately, it happens too often that we learn something exciting and new, but we then fail to execute the application of that learning to our lives. Maybe it is not every time, but I would bet that you know exactly what I am talking about. You can probably think of a dozen or more examples of things that you have learned from others, but you have failed to make any distinctive changes to your life as a result of your newly-discovered knowledge.

Why is that? I will not speak for you, but in my case there are often many reasons. Sometimes the learning is a difficult idea and application to my life would require serious commitment. Other times, the idea is easier to apply, but my interest fades with time and I never do anything about it. There are even times that I simply forget what I learned because I did not document it to make sure I revisited it later.

Your reasons may be different than mine, but the fact remains that we are too often guilty of learning more than we apply to our lives. If we are comfortable with our current state, then this may not be a big problem. However, if we a truly committed to becoming the people God created us to be, then we must be willing to continuously learn AND grow. We must commit to applying what we learn!

In an effort to help you with this issue, I want to share a simple 3-step action plan. To the extent you follow this plan, I guarantee you will see incremental changes and improved results in your life. It is so simple, you will be tempted to overlook it or dismiss it outright. I understand. At the same time, for those who embrace it, you will see the change immediately.

Step #1 – Document What You Learn

I keep a notebook with me virtually everywhere I go. If I am in a meeting, conference, Sunday School, or even traveling, I have a notebook within easy reach. In the event a notebook is not handy, my iPhone can always serve as a backup “notebook.” The bottom line is that I almost always have a way to document something I have learned.  

Once I have written it down, I have a system that ensures I revisit the learning later, at a time when I can process it and make further decisions regarding the lesson’s applications. Your system may vary, but the key is to have one. Simply writing it down and moving on will not accomplish the life change you are seeking.

Step #2 – Ask, “So what?”

Here is the secret sauce, the two words that make all the difference. I attempt to ask these two words every time I learn something new. These two words represent the transfer of the power of learning into the resulting action we seek.

For me, it works this way. When I have the time to review my notebook and think about something I have learned, I then ask, “So what?” Why is this new information important? What does this have to do with me?  What is God saying to me in this lesson? How should I respond? What changes should I make in my life as a result of this new information? I try my best to get very specific with my answers.

As I said earlier, you may be thinking this is just too simple. Maybe it is, but how would your life be different if you could go back one year and ask this question concerning every new idea or lesson you have encountered? I will leave that answer to you, but I promise you there is a significant difference.  

If you consider nothing else, consider how your life could (or should) be different if you used this question with every significant verse you have read recently in the Bible. Test yourself…how is your application in this area?

Step #3 – Act On The Answer

Once you have learned something new AND determined how it applies to your life, the only remaining step is to act! Often, it is difficult to act until we know what very specific steps we are to take. Having completed Step #2 above, we should now have our next actions in mind. Now, we are more likely to move.

This step certainly takes commitment, but we already knew that. Accountability also helps here, so don’t overlook that resource. If you are committed to grow and improve, this step will not be your biggest obstacle. It will not always be easy, but once you know exactly what you are to do, the doing becomes easier.

Summary

I will repeat myself – this action plan is VERY simple…but it is also VERY powerful. Just give it a try the next time you are in a place where you can learn something new. Please understand that the first time or two may be slightly uncomfortable or awkward, but pushing through will bring reward in the form of growth and improvement.

Applying Scripture

In my last two posts, I have talked about applying Scripture to our business practices. In the first post, I described a personal example of how we did this in our business. In the next post, I described the 5-step process I used. Today, I want to add to those 5 steps. I want to add the practice of listening to the godly counsel of others as to how they have applied Scripture to their own lives and businesses.

As I described how we directly applied a passage in Proverbs, overhauling our sales and compensation systems, I mentioned getting this idea from Larry Burkett in his book, Business By The Book. It was in this book that I first heard of reading Proverbs as a business manual. That idea stuck with me.

Since then, I have listened to countless podcasts and sermons, searching to find a nugget of wisdom here or there. I love to hear how others have applied Scripture in their own lives. When they share personal examples of their experience in doing so, the godly counsel they offer is so much more meaningful to me.

Application Is Tough!

Folks, I have said this before and I will say it again. Reading the Bible is useless if we are not going to apply what we have read to how we live and operate our businesses. Knowledge without application is worthless. Of course, the hard part is the application, right?

I know there have been many times when I have read something in Scripture and understood it immediately. I did not have to struggle to read it or to understand what it meant. The struggle only came when I began to apply it to my life or business. The application is tough, especially when we are doing it on our own.

Godly Counsel Helps!

This process can be easier when we are not only reading the Scripture, but also learning from someone else that has already been down the path we are taking. When we can get godly counsel from others about how they have applied Scripture, the process of our own application of that Scripture becomes easier to handle.

I encourage you to take the time to find godly counsel from those you know who are successful at applying Scripture to their own lives and businesses. You can normally find these people in your local church or online with podcasts, sermons, etc. The key is to find those who are not just speaking in theory, but based on their own experience.

I am not disparaging anyone, but I personally get more from someone who has “walked in my shoes,” versus someone who has only studied the topic. Of course, it will take you some time and effort to perform the search. These people are not always easy to find. I get that, but I promise you it is worth the time and effort. The benefit you gain from listening to godly counsel is priceless.

New Product

Now, in an effort to assist you in this search, I am please to introduce you to a product (my first on this site!) that will give you exactly what I have been describing. It comes the closest I have ever seen to perfectly filling the role of teaching godly counsel through the application of Scripture in real life.

I have had the privilege of participating in the creation of this product that compiles the wisdom and experience of 51 successful men and women from around the country. This product allows you to hear directly from each of these people as to how they applied principles from Scripture to their own lives and business endeavors.

17 Biblical Principles

The product is called the 17 Biblical Principles of Success. In this package, there are 17 Biblical principles discussed in over 14 hours of audio interviews (choose MP3 download or CDs!). Each of the 17 principles is discussed by three different successful Christian leaders. That’s a total of 51 leaders offering their own personal experience in applying Scriptural principles to their lives and businesses!

I was honored to be given the opportunity to be one of the 51 people invited to participate. As a result, I have the privilege of offering this product for sale on this site. If you think this is something that could benefit you, I encourage you to check out this product by clicking the link below. I believe you will find it to be a very rich source of godly counsel.

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Photo by Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

My Effort To Apply Scripture

For today, I want to try something different from my norm. I am taking a short passage (Psalm 119:73-80) and I am attempting to put it into my own words. I have tried to imagine how each verse should apply to my life in particular and then worded it as a prayer back to God.

Keep in mind, this is clearly not Scripture itself. I am not attempting to rewrite it, only to apply Scripture to my life in my words and according to my understanding. These verses may say something else to you. The Holy Spirit is not limited in how He can speak to us!

Take a look at the following verses and see if they resonate with you. Each verse is listed in italics and then my words follow. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment area at the end of the post.

Verse 73 – Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding so that I can learn your commands.

Father, Your hands made every part of me and formed each of my strengths, weaknesses, talents, gifts, and desires into the man that I am. There is nothing about me that You cannot use to impact others. I don’t just want to know Your commands or even to be familiar with them, but to fully understand them. Please give me this understanding so I can apply them in every role I play, in every part of my life.

Verse 74 – May those who fear You rejoice when they see me for I have put my hope in your word.

I pray that all those who fear You and know You in a real way would be glad to see me and do business with me because they see You in our business. This is not for the sake of the business itself, but for the relationships between us and so that both of us are impacted in a way that draws us closer to You.

Verse 75 – I know, Lord, that your judgments are just and that you have afflicted me fairly.

Lord, Your rules and judgments are perfect and true, even when they do not make it easy for me. I realize You have a much bigger perspective than I do and therefore I will not always understand Your ways. At least I know they are perfect as You are and that your application of them in my life is fair. I thank You for Your promises here.

Verse 76 – Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.

Father, I know my choice to be in business means I will face challenges and struggles on a regular basis. As a result, there will be times of loneliness and frustration. I accept that. I ask that You comfort me during these times with Your endless love. You have already promised this in Your word – I just claim it now!

Verse 77 – Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live, for thy law is my delight.

In addition to the times of frustration, there will also be times when I personally fall short of Your expectations and guidelines for my life. Though I do not intend to do so because I love Your laws, I know that I am flesh and will disappoint You. I pray now that Your mercy will come to me in those times. I pray not only that You will show me mercy, but that I will recognize it. I also pray I will show that same mercy to others.

Verse 78 – May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate on your precepts.

Often because of the business I am in, there are those who disparage me with lies. Though they do not know the truth, they arrogantly assume they do and speak as such. I pray that at some point You will shame them for these lies. To make sure I avoid this same behavior myself, I will continue to meditate on Your word. Help me with this!

Verse 79 – Let those who fear You, those who know Your decrees, turn to me.

Lord, I interact with many people on a daily basis. While I know I am to be an ambassador to those who do not know You, I pray that you will surround me with others who do know You. I need the companionship, mentoring, and accountability from those who have walked with You and know You and Your ways.

Verse 80 – May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.

Father, I read Your word regularly and try my best to follow what it tells me. However, you know I am sinful and tend to wander from Your path. Please strengthen my faith to stick to Your path and give me a clean heart so that I am not ashamed of my behavior, thoughts, and deeds. I want to reflect You to those around me.

What does it look like when you apply Scripture to your life?

Have you done it like this before?

What methods would you recommend to apply Scripture to your life?

Employee Engagement

As I said in my last couple of posts, I have seen a lot of material on employee engagement lately. The more I have seen on this topic, the more I have realized how much our organization needs to improve. I assume many of you have the same needs.

I have taken the various sources of the material I have seen or heard and I have condensed into a fairly simple action plan that I am going to follow over the next several months. I am going to explain my action plan in this series and then I am going to implement it, keeping you informed of my progress as I go.

You will hear about the wins and losses, the good, the bad, and the ugly! Hopefully, this process will help you implement similar employee engagement efforts in your own business.

Great Material

The ideas for this step came from a conversation with Michael Hyatt and several other commenters on his blog. You can read the two posts (and the comments on each) Here and Here.

Keep in mind, as I described earlier, I have not yet executed the following steps in my employee engagement plan. I am telling you about them before I implement them, but they have been used successfully by others I trust and respect. I will follow up with the results in a future post.

Hosting Employee Focus Groups

Here are the eight steps:

1. Make the setting an informal one. Make sure you have food and hold the gathering in a comfortable environment. If possible, meet somewhere other than where other meetings take place. If that is not possible, find other ways to soften the environment.

2. Make the employees feel safe. Managers should not be present. Depending on your structure, you may want to add a meeting or two of only managers. Regardless, the employees in each meeting need to feel safe, free from repercussions from their comments. They need to know they will not be shot for telling the truth.

3. Keep it simple. Don’t go in with pages of questions! Michael Hyatt recommended using the four questions below.

• What does your ideal Saturday (day off) look like?
• What do you like about our company that you hope never changes?
• Where could we improve?
• If you were the CEO for a day, what is one of the first things you would change?

4. Take notes. Everyone knows you cannot possibly remember all of their suggestions. Take pen and paper and show them you are sincere about getting every last suggestion or idea down on paper. Ask clarifying questions as you do so.

5. Review your notes with them. At the end of the meeting, hit the highlights of what you have written down. Show them that you have truly been listening. Make sure you correctly interpreted their comments. Add any necessary clarifications at this time.

6. Quickly implement as many ideas as you can. There is nothing you can say that will prove your sincerity better than implementing ideas you were given in this meeting. Show them that you are genuinely interested in their needs and you will earn their hearts!

7. Communicate the implemented ideas across the company. Even if you don’t implement something from everyone, when someone in another department hears about something you implemented from another department, they will still feel like they were heard.

8. Make this an ongoing process, not a one-time thing! Everyone needs to know this is not just a one-time idea you had. They need to know this is part of how you do business from now on. Don’t allow these meetings to get stale over time. Freshen them up by mixing up how you execute it each time, but just make sure you continue to get in front of them and listen!

Have you had any experience with employee focus groups?

Do you see how this process could help with employee engagement in your company?

What are you going to do next?

King Solomon was an amazing man for many reasons.  He was able to achieve incredible wealth and success.  He built houses, vineyards, gardens, and parks.  He surpassed all who had come before him. From the outside, it looked like he had it all!  What did he have to say about it?

When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind.
– Ecclesiastes 2:11

Does this sound like someone who “had it all” like Solomon?  What do you think were his reasons for feeling this way?  Fortunately, he gives us more information a couple of verses later.

I hated all my work at which I labored under the sun because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.
– Ecclesiastes 2:18-19

The Problem

Solomon realized that his work would not last beyond this life.  As soon as he was gone, someone else would get it and do whatever they wanted with it.  He saw extreme emptiness in his work after he had accomplished it.

I think a key thought to consider here is that these thoughts of Solomon’s came later in his life, AFTER he had accomplished so much.  You see, while the accomplishing is getting done, the emptiness is hidden.  Everything looks so important and so urgent that we most often fail to see that it is, in fact, futile.

The Solution

What if you could reverse this principle?  Consider the idea of completely turning your business over to God and allowing Him to direct how it is built.  What if you began approaching your business as a tool in God’s hand to be used to impact others (employees, customers, community) for eternity?

Forget, for a moment, trying to imagine exactly what the business would look like. Instead, imagine what your thoughts would be at the end.

The “Stats”

Rather than counting the number of business branches or locations, employees, or zero’s in your bank account balance, imagine you are able to count the number of people who chose to accept Jesus due, in part, to the influence of your business.  Imagine counting the number of children fed or clothed as a result of the efforts of your employees.  Imagine counting the number of people you influenced through the business that went on to teach others that did the same thing (and on and on…)!

Where is the futility or emptiness in this?  I cannot imagine either being present – and I cannot wait to get to this point!

What about you?  What are you building?

What will the “stats” feel like when the counting is being done?

Regardless of what you have built in the past, will you change the future?

The Greatest Commandment(s)
Now we are going to look at what is often called the Greatest Commandment, and how it should affect the way we run our business.

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.  And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands. – Matthew 22:37-40

All of Our Heart…
We are commanded to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  The key word here is ALL.  We cannot obey this command by loving Him with most of our heart or mind.  We cannot obey by loving him on Sundays, but not on Mondays.  Nor can we be obedient by loving him at church and home, but not at work.

Read it again…do you see any way to obey this commandment other than loving Him ALL of the time, with ALL of ourselves, in ALL areas of our lives?

What About Work?
How can we do this if we are spending 30, 40, or even 50 percent of our week focused only on work? There is absolutely nothing wrong with work.  We are designed for it.

But for us to work for purposes other than acting out our love for God as commanded above – this goes against God’s word! We must find a way to live out these two commandments through our work.

Let’s look at one more verse that is closely related to the idea we are discussing.

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. – Colossians 3:17

I submit that our work is included in “whatever you do”.  If this is true, then I only see one decision confronting each of us – Will I align my life, which includes my work, with this Scripture?  Regardless of where this path will lead, am I willing to commit to it?

Where are you in this decision process?

Have you prayed for God to guide you in this decision?

What are you hearing?

If you can say yes to any of these questions, then this series is for you!

This post is the first of five posts in a series that will show you why you should run your business according to your Christian faith.

Anytime we want to determine the heart of God, the first place to start is with His Word.  If He has already said it, then we are in no position to question it.

The Great Commission
After Jesus was crucified and resurrected, He appeared to the disciples.  Just before ascending into heaven, Jesus gave them their marching orders through what is called the Great Commission below.  I believe these are our marching orders as well.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all I have commanded you.  And I will be with you always, even to the end of the earth. – Matthew 28:19-20

We are all, as Christians, commanded to go to the nations and make disciples.  This is not a suggestion or a request.  It is a command.  This does not mean that we are all to sell our possessions and move overseas to be missionaries.  There are plenty of opportunities to make disciples right here where we are.  We just have to look around.

Barna Research
According to a recent survey by George Barna and his research group, almost 40% of American adults are classified as “unchurched,” meaning they have not attended a conventional church more than once in the past year.  Even worse, only 15% of adults surveyed considered their faith in God as their top priority in life!  It appears the field is ripe for making disciples right where we are!

For typical business leaders, most of our time is allocated to our work.  We carve out some for family and leave a little left over for church on Sunday.  While some business leaders may buck this trend, they are in the minority.  That being the case, does it not make sense to fulfill the Great Commission exactly where we spend most of our time – in our business?

What better way for us as business leaders to reach those people (customers and employees) than through our business?  If we exercise and example our love for God through the way we run our business, maybe we can connect with them in a way (and in an environment) they have not found in a church.

Have you considered your responsibility to make disciples?

Do you see opportunity in your business to impact others in this way?

What are your obstacles to doing this?

Read and Apply God’s Word

Going all the way back to the fall of 2000, I experienced an awakening of sorts when I realized how little I actually read the Bible.  If it really is God’s Word, then I need to treat it that way and begin learning it.  For the past eleven years, I have been doing just that.

Not only have I been spending time in the Bible virtually every day since then, but I have also been working hard to apply what I have learned.  Whether that application is in the home, at work, in the community, or even in the church itself, I want to live out what I read.  I cannot say that I have it all figured out or that I am consistently applying all I have learned, but I am working at it every day.

The Business Belongs To God

The area of application that I feel is most unique today has been my work.  God has shown me through this process that my business is not separate from my spiritual life.  My “spiritual life” is my whole life and my business is a part of that life.  As a result, it must be given over to Him.  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that we are not our own, but we were bought at a price.  I believe this includes our temple (body), time, treasure, and talents.  This business is part of my time, treasure, and talents and therefore belongs to God.

Having made this decision, I have been working for the past eight years to transform this business into one that pleases Him and advances His kingdom.  This transformation has created many challenges.  We have encountered resistance along the way, both from friend and foe alike.  At the same time, God has been faithful to sustain our efforts.  He has given us victories when we most needed them and has blessed us with wisdom to see the fight for what it is.

A Long Journey

Since I made the decision to turn this business over to him in 2003, we have not looked back.  We are eight years into this journey.  In some ways, we have come a long way – in this blog, I will be describing some of the projects, initiatives, processes, and policies that have resulted along the way.  In other ways, it seems we have just barely started the journey – I will also be describing the challenges causing this feeling.  Either way I look at it, I believe we are fulfilling God’s purpose for this business.

Regardless of where you are in your journey, I hope you will find the information here helpful.  I also hope you will pass it on to someone else who may need it.  Feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions!  I look forward to the journey together!

Are you on a similar journey?  Should you be?  

What is God’s purpose for your life and business?  

Are you ready to take the leap?

photo by Joe Diaz