Billy Graham Is Special

The more I thought about that, the more I realized that folks like Billy Graham are special. It is not that they are so much more gifted or even holier than many of us. The truth is that God placed Billy Graham in a specific time and place with a specific set of talents and resources. Billy Graham added his own submission and commitment to God and the results speak for themselves.

We Are Special, Too!

So, if that is the case, what does that mean for us? Well, as Christian business owners, God has done the same thing for us. We are in a specific time and place with a specific set of talents and resources.

Granted, we are not in the same position as Billy Graham…at least not yet! So what do we do? Do we sit back and wait for national fame before we start preaching like he did? Or, maybe, we could go ahead and start preaching right now. Right where we are. In our own way.

So that you and I are on the same page, I though I would remind you of the quote from St. Francis of Assisi…

Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.

How To Preach Like Billy Graham

In light of that, I came up with a list of 10 ways we can all preach just like Billy Graham. Okay, maybe not JUST like he did, but close.

1. Give credit and take blame. – When good things are achieved by your team, give them the credit for it. When bad things happen, take the blame.

2. Show humility when unexpected. – You have just made a gutsy call and it paid off. Everyone knows you beat the odds. Don’t crow about it. Accept the congratulations and point to God as the true source of the idea.

3. Exercise grace when others would not. – You were wronged in the past and the violator is now in a position of need. Give to them and show the same grace you have been given.

4. Tell the truth even when it hurts. – Telling the truth, in this case, means you will face a loss. Regardless of the size of the loss, remember that God has your back if you will honor Him.

5. Prove your values are more important than money. – If you only maintain your silence about the minor defect, the customer will never know and the sale will go through. Make the decision to come clean and people will notice.

6. Forgive your debtors. – One of your employees makes a poor decision in a time of severe need and steals from you. You most likely have to terminate them. Is it really necessary to carry the grudge around with you from now on? Let it go and let it be known.

7. Put others first in everything. – Serve others at company meal times. Take the back seat in the car when carpooling to a meeting. Pass the last coconut-fried shrimp appetizer to someone else at the dinner celebration…coconut is not that good anyway!

8. Show that Love = Time. – Taking the time to ask and hear about an employee’s sick family member will mean the world to them. In many cases, you are the most important person they know. Giving of your time to them will show them you love them.

9. Do what you say will do. – You made a commitment to do something, but conditions changed at the last minute. Now the commitment is not as easy to fulfill. Do it anyway. No one will expect it, but neither will they forget it.

10. Trust God during tough times. – The difference between Christians and everyone else is not whether we go through tough times or not. The difference is in how we handle those times. Show them you trust your God to carry you. They will want to know how to get the same peace.

I am sure you can come up with other items to place on this list. If so, tell me about them in the comments section. I would love to hear your thoughts and examples.

What would you add to the list?

Can you give examples of something you have done or seen?

Which of these do you struggle with the most?

Photo by Tijana87 / iStock

Billy Graham Quote

In my last post, I shared a quote from Billy Graham that effectively gives us a picture of two different definitions of success in this world.

Here is the quote:

Decision And Action

In that post, I proposed that our definition of success in this life should be for us, at the end of our lives, to hear Jesus say, “Well done!” I explained how the first step in this process is the decision to define success this way.

The second step is to actually go and live the decision out in our everyday lives. For Christian business owners and leaders. this means we are to live it out in the marketplace. We are to place more value on hearing, “Well done” from Jesus than we place on what the crowd thinks about us.

Difficult Circumstances

As Tyson so wisely said, the plan is fine until difficult circumstances smack you in the face. What then? What are we to do when choosing to please Jesus will actually cause us loss in this world? How should we respond to a situation when pleasing Jesus will risk the health of our businesses or jobs?

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples that might hit close to home.

Philosophy Change?

James has a well-established business and things seem to be clicking along. Profit is good and employees are happy. Things change when James begins to feel God leading him in a different direction with his business. He realizes God is calling him to step out in faith with a significant change in his business philosophy.

As James analyzes the change in philosophy, he recognizes that it will likely result in significant turnover and loss of profits – at least in the short-term. While he is willing to trust that God has his long-term best interests in mind, there are clear, negative consequences to moving forward with this change. Not only will his profits likely slide, but he will also become very unpopular with his employees and maybe even his partners.

What should he do?

Core Values Violation?

Bill is everyone’s favorite manager. He is funny, full of energy, and brings life into the room when he enters. He is also Jan’s top performer. In Jan’s business, Bill is the go-to guy to get things done. She knows she can rely on him and he always pulls through with results. He has been with her for more than 15 years and is well-known in her community.

Unfortunately, Jan becomes aware of something Bill has done that violates one of the core values of her business – integrity. The consequences of his actions will cause her significant trouble and could even lead to short-term disaster. Others will likely not see his actions as being central to the resulting problems, but she knows otherwise.

When she looks at the offense, she admits it appears to be something minor – not worthy of taking extreme action. However, she also knows it is something she has discussed with Bill on numerous occasions, with escalating degrees of seriousness. This kind of behavior is no longer something she can accept from someone in his position.

What should she do?

Tough Decisions

Folks, in both of these cases, there seems to be a clear path to take if we are serious about seeking to hear, “Well done” from Jesus. I don’t think any of us have a problem seeing the right thing to do. Unfortunately, in both cases these decisions will cause loss of popularity with employees and people in the community. Hearing, “What a guy” from the crowd is very unlikely after making these decisions.

These are the kinds of difficult circumstances that can change our path if we are not fully committed to our decision to please God and honor Him with our businesses. These are the kinds of situations that Tyson referred to as getting “punched in the mouth”.

Questions

Where is your commitment when you face difficult circumstances?

Are you willing to face the heat from the crowd in order to hear Jesus commend you?

Are you willing to trade their commendations for His?

If you have not thought through these questions before, I suggest you do so now. As I have said before, the time to make the decision on these kinds of questions is now, not later in the heat of battle. If you wait, you lose.

The quote in the spotlight today is from Billy Graham. Graham is not one of the original disciples or even the author of any of the lesser known books of the Bible. At the same time, he is someone that most of us look up to and respect immensely. He has lived a life true to his talk. He has certainly remained committed to spreading the gospel and is arguably one of the all-time greatest evangelists. Here is his quote:

When you first read that quote, what are your thoughts?

Do you think about your preference between the two choices?

Do you wonder which is more likely?

Two Choices

There are two areas I want to focus on regarding the success lesson we can learn from this quote. If you will stop and think through these two areas with me, I believe you will see that this quote can be life changing for all of us.

The first thought I want to discuss is the actual decision between these two choices. On one hand, hearing “What a great guy” from the crowd is something most people would desire. There are very few people out there that would not be excited to hear the crowd consider and announce them as great. This is especially true of those of us in business. Don’t you agree?

However, if we are disciples of Jesus, then it stands to reason that we should want to hear, “Well done!” from Him. This commendation is straight from the parable of the talents and is an indication that the servant pleased the master. For us to please Jesus should be something we desire, right?

Decision Between The Two

So the first decision we need to make is which of these we will seek. Will we, as Christian business owners and leaders, seek to hear commendations from the crowd? Or will we seek to hear Jesus express His pleasure with the way we have lived our lives.

While this seems like a clear-cut decision to some, to others it is a real challenge. The simple decision between the two can be a tough one, even when there are no specific circumstances to show the contrast between them.

Well Done!

Regardless of the difficulty, I think it is clear from the teachings of the Bible that we are to seek to hear, “Well done” from Jesus instead of pleasing the crowd (Matthew 22:37-40; James 4:4). This should be our very definition of success in this life! I encourage you to pray through this very decision if it is not clear to you yet. God is faithful and will guide you.

Assuming we have all made the decision to seek to hear, “Well done” from Jesus, a riddle comes to mind. Here it is:

Success Defined

So, the decision to define our success as hearing Jesus say, “Well done” is certainly the first step. However, that decision is not enough. We must now live it out! What does that look like?

Simply put, our every action should be measured and determined according to whether or not it will lead us closer to hearing, “Well done.” It really does not get any more complicated than that.

The problem is that it does get more complicated than that when you throw in specific circumstances. At least it appears to! In my next post, we will take a look at this second part of our success lesson from this quote. We will see what this definition of success looks like in the face of tough circumstances.

Questions

How do you define success as a Christian in business?

Are you eager to hear, “Well done” from Jesus?

Does your definition of success ever drift under tough circumstances?