Have you ever set some seriously strong goals for yourself or your business, only to later find yourself so far from them that you lost hope? Have you done the math and realized you simply had too far to go in too little time? If you have ever set huge goals, it is likely you have experienced this frustration. When you did, how did you feel? What was your overall outlook at the time?
Look around at the business world today and take note of those who claim to be Christians. Include yourself in this assessment. Some are easy to identify because their business practices clearly align with what they believe the Bible says. The rest are more difficult to identify because their practices are no different than the non-Christians around them. Why is this? Are these business people guilty of paying lip service to God or is there more to it?
If you are high-performing leader who has a track record for success, you still know what it feels like to get in a rut. Call it a slump, fog, funk, whatever – we have all seen them and they are not fun to experience. The rut drains our energy and takes away any motivation we have for moving forward. We know we are in it, but often have trouble getting out of it!
We can all remember famous people, or just someone significant to us, who have done something to forever ruin their good name. I will not list the names of politicians, sports heroes, and religious leaders that have disappointed us all with their fall. You can come up with your own list in your head. Unfortunately, it seems that a good name is tough to get these days, and even tougher to maintain.
Have you ever been in the grocery store when a mother has told her toddler “No, you cannot do that!” All I can say is that the picture is not normally very pretty after that, right? For the next several minutes, if she is lucky, the toddler pitches a fit and throws a tantrum in an effort to convince her otherwise. Unfortunately, we often react the same way!
Sometimes the exact same image can communicate two totally opposite ideas or concepts. I recently posted about this picture, describing 7 Ways Christians In Business Kill Their Witness. In this post, I took the position that “blending” with the world was a recipe for trouble. Today, I want to take the opposite position – encouraging you to engage culture!
Business is not easy. You know exactly what I am talking about. There are challenges and resistance almost every day. Some are larger than others, but it is rarely smooth sailing for very long. As a Christian business owner or leader, what is your prayer when you are challenged or even overcome with resistance? Do you pray for relief or do you pray for boldness?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Take a look at this picture and tell me what you see. Did you catch the anomaly? If so, what does it say to you? Do you see how it relates to how Christian business leaders can kill their Christian witness by trying to fit in?
The days get faster and faster sometimes. Deadlines and headaches rush at us at a high rate of speed. We do well just to survive to fight another day, right? It is in this kind of environment that Christian business owners or leaders can get so busy and we forget some key truths about our ministry. Hopefully, this post will remind you of some ideas you need to revisit.
We have recently celebrated Memorial Day, a day we set aside to remember those who have sacrificed everything for our freedom. This is a very serious day and we all should have stopped in some way to honor our soldiers and their sacrifice. However, for some people, I wonder if this is actually a waste of time.