Tag Archives: Jesus

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Are You Making This Common Mistake With Your Life Plan?

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LIFE Plan

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a series about the process I use in creating and maintaining my LIFE plan. I have received a great deal of feedback from a variety of sources, mostly positive! I have been told this was the first time many of you have even considered doing a life plan or something similar.

For others, a life plan seems daunting and too time consuming. Regardless of which way you lean, I encourage you to read on and think about how the following illustration applies to your situation. Are you making this common mistake?

life plan

Read the following illustration from Herschel Hobbs’ My Favorite Illustrations….

River vs. Canal

    Have you ever looked down on a river while riding in a plane thousands of feet above the ground? If so, you know that the river’s course winds here and there like the track of a large serpent. This is because, in its formation, the river followed the path of least resistance.

    On the other hand, a straight canal calls for advance planning, toil, and suffering as those who make it dig and blast their way through the terrain.

    Lives are like that. Crooked or unrighteous lives follow the lines of least resistance. They twist and turn as they adapt to the changing mores of society. In doing so, they wander aimlessly with no certainty as to their final destination.

    Like those who dig a straight canal, the righteous determine their goal and pay the price necessary to achieve it. That is the way of Christ.

Just think about this for a minute and then take a look at your own life.

Do You Have A Destination?

First, do you have a certain destination or purpose in mind for your life?

The river has no specific destination and therefore any path will do. So many people today make a critical mistake and just take life as it comes, with no real plan or idea of why they are here. Others have plans, but they change with the winds. As shiny objects catch their eye, they run off in a new direction, seeking the newest pleasure or escape.

The canal, on the other hand, is designed with a specific destination in mind. For most of us, we were not handed a road map in school with the destination or purpose of our life highlighted for us, along with the directions to get there. Instead, we have to determine it for ourselves. For the majority of the readers of this blog, the desire is to base this path on the Bible.

On What (Whom) Is It Based?

Second, on what (or whom) are you basing your life’s purpose decisions? Are you striving for something you have seen on TV or in a movie or magazine? Are you chasing the wind?

Or are you following a plan based on One who designed you and knows the best for you? It’s up to you, but I know my choice!

The destination I have set at the end of my canal is to hear from Jesus, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Are You Still Following It?

Finally, if you have determined the purpose or direction of your life, are you still on track or have you reverted back to following the path of least resistance?

Are you allowing outside influences to determine your course or are you working hard, with advance planning and sweat, to overcome outside influences and stay on course? For the short term, just winging it may seem easier, but over the long haul, that method will bring more hardship and disappointment.

However, intentional effort and decision-making toward the right purpose can lead to fulfillment and contentment.

Do you have a certain destination in mind for your life?

Are you digging a canal or following the path of the river?

Have you allowed outside influences to distract you from your canal?

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Are You Doing God’s Work or God’s Will?

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Have you thought about this before? Is there a difference between doing God’s work and doing God’s will? If so, what is it? Is it really that important anyway?

I think there is a huge difference and I think it is critical to know what it is.

God's will

Let’s first take a look at Scripture to see what it says about this.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
– Matthew 5:16

Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
– Matthew 6:1

Confused?

If you only looked at these two verses, then you could get confused! Which is it…do deeds before men or not?

Notice in Matthew 6:1 a brief phrase that makes all of the difference. The phrase, which describes the motive for the deeds, is “to be seen by them….” Jesus is telling us that we should not do His work with the motive of being seen, and honored, by men.

Is there a similar indicator in 5:16? Take a look at this phrase, “that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Instead of having a motive of being seen by men, the desire here is to bring praise to the Father. That is why these deeds are encouraged.

Difference Between God’s Will and God’s Work

The whole difference between doing God’s work and doing God’s will is in your motives.

If you do God’s work for the purpose of having people see you and think highly of you, then you are not in God’s will. God tells us often (Amos 5:21-23; Isaiah 1:11-15; Psalm 51:16) that He hates our rituals and sacrifices when they are not genuine. He does not want us to do hundreds of hours of charity work and give millions of dollars to the church unless our motives are right.

If this is the case, and Scripture certainly makes it clear that it is, then how do we determine the right motives so we are in God’s will?

Determining Right Motives

Great question! Fortunately, I think I have the answer for you! Let’s go back to the Bible…

Jesus replied: “‘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 hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40

Do you see that last phrase? It says that “All of the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Based on this, I think it is safe to draw a connection between these commandments and our right motives. If our motives match up with loving God and loving others, then I think they are good. If not, we need to beware.

Having established this, what are your motives in business? Do you approach business for your own purposes or for God’s? Have you thought about the results God expects from your business? Do you think they are eternal or temporal? Do your motives match up with His desires?

Have you thought about your motives as they relate to your work?

Are you doing more of God’s work or God’s will?

What do you need to change first?

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My Top Posts For 2011

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In case you missed any of these, I thought I would share my top posts for 2011.

posts

1. Why I Decided To Walk Away From The Family Business…

    This one is close to my heart because it is truly what started all of this. Interestingly enough, this post received almost three times as much traffic as #2. It was certainly a turning point in my life – one I will never forget.

2. Reason 2 of 5 To Run Your Business According To Your Christian Faith

    In this post, I look at how the Greatest Commandment(s) relate to our business purposes. This really hits at the core of what drives my efforts in business.

3. Pursue The Gifts You Have, Not The Ones You Want!

    This is a great post about embracing our God-given gifts. This post received more comments than any of the others on this list.

4. Why Acknowledge Christ In Christmas?

    As a result of a friend sharing a video with me, I ran a Christ-centered TV ad leading up to Christmas. I posted about this video and the bigger issue of acknowledging Christ in Christmas.

5. Taking Action: Owners Manual For Life!

    Here I describe one of the various methods our company employs to do ministry in the course of doing business. I also explained how I was heeding my own advice to just take action!

6. “Go Make Yourself Useful!”

    Jim Collins heard these words from Peter Drucker many years ago, but they have stuck with him. If you read about the context of the conversation, I believe you will feel the same!

7. 10 Reasons For An Exit Interview (With Purpose)

    Many leaders fail to execute exit interviews on a consistent basis. In this post, I share some reasons for a Christian business leader to reconsider this practice.

8. Reconcile And Forgive Immediately!

    This was the fifth post in a series on character issues for leaders. I confessed my own struggles in this area as well.

9. Why Do You Need An Inner Circle?

    Without a doubt, my inner circle has had more influence on my growth than any other system I have put in place. I strongly recommend you do the same.

10. What is Christian Ministry?

    This sounds like an easy question, but I believe too many people have the wrong answer to it. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Did any of these impact you?

What was your favorite? Why?

What was the top post on your blog?

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How To Face Your Anti-Audience

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In my previous post, I quoted from L.L. Barkat, in her post The Perverse Monstrosity of our Beautiful Work over at The High Calling blog community. In my post, I described how our “good work” as Christian leaders will meet opposition and criticism in this world. Using Barkat’s quote, I labeled this rejection as “anti-audience.”

“Good work doesn’t just find audience; it also finds anti-audience.” – L.L. Barkat

anti-audience

Knowledge of Anti-Audience Enough?

While it would be nice if the simple knowledge of this “anti-audience” was enough to give us the strength to press on in acting out our Christian faith, I am sure that it is not. It is not enough for us to know this any more than it is enough to tell your husband or wife you love them on your wedding day and expect them to know it from then on!

We are just not that good. We forget the things we learn. We forget important truths and fail to recall them when we need them most. I think that is the primary reason God has given us the Bible. With His Word in our hands, we can regularly remind ourselves of His promises and truths. By memorizing His Word, we can refer to it when we need it.

Everyday Battle

As Christian business owners and leaders, we go into battle everyday. We battle this anti-audience (the world) as well as the enemy that is in charge of it for a time (Ephesians 6:12). Every time we try to impact someone else for eternity, we are going to face this anti-audience. Whenever we make strides to grow closer to God and bring others along with us, we will get resistance from the world that hates us (John 15:19).

Tools For Battle

In an effort to help you in this battle, I want to give you some tools that you can use when you face opposition. This list is not an exhaustive list. I am sure you can add some of your own favorite verses or tools that have helped you in similar situations. Either way, I hope you find this list to be helpful.

1. Memorize God’s promises – Pick out a handful of verses that clearly speak to your heart about God’s promises regarding the plans He has for you. Memorize these verses and practice calling them to mind when trouble comes. God’s Word is living and breathing…use it! Here are a few that I recommend for a start.

Even if you (likely) have read these before, try to read them again for the first time, as if offered by the most esteemed mentor you can imagine. Don’t just memorize the words, but internalize them.

    Matthew 6:33 – Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be given to you.

    Romans 8:39 – For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Isaiah 54:17 – No weapon formed against you will prosper.

    Psalm 37:5-6 – Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.

    Romans 8:31 – If God is for us, who can be against us?

2. Find an accountability partner – Find someone of like mind that can understand the fight you are in. Someone who is not out on the field of battle themselves, but is instead on the sidelines, likely won’t make a good partner in this case.

Find someone that has been bloodied a few times themselves. This person will understand what you are going through and can encourage you when you need it most. You can do the same for them!

3. Begin a journal – If you will start by taking roughly 10 minutes a day to write (or type) your thoughts and experiences, you will benefit greatly. First, it always helps to get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper (or the screen). For some reason, this just makes it easier to deal with.

You will also find that you can go back during those times of heavier opposition from the anti-audience and read about your past successes. This does wonders for your confidence! Many electronic journals (I use LifeJournal) allow you to tag and categorize entries for easier searching later.

4. Get in the habit of prayer – Of course, this seems like a no-brainer. It is also really tough to do because so many people feel like their prayers need to be clean and organized. I read something the other day about praying sloppy (I know the grammar doesn’t work, but it fits!).

God does not need us to clean up our thoughts before we pray any more than He wants us perfect before we enter the church. Give God everything on your mind AS IT IS in your mind. He can handle it! The more you do this over time, through smooth AND rough times, the more peace you will have.

5. Keep reminders of your positive results – Build a scrapbook, Evernote folder, or other method for organizing any evidence of past results. I have an Evernote folder where I store such reminders as “Thank You” notes, letters, voice mails, and other scraps that remind me of successes I have had in the past. I return to these when I am feeling worn down by the anti-audience!

I hope these tools help you. If you have other ideas I can add to the list, please include the in the comments section below! I would love to hear your thoughts.

Which of these do you need to add to your arsenal?

What has worked for you in the past?

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What Is Anti-Audience?

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anti-audience

When I hear or read a great quote, it usually sticks with me. I have a hard time letting go of it. I posted about just such a quote last month, “Go Make Yourself Useful!” Well, I have found another quote that has captured my thoughts. This quote about our “anti-audience” comes from a post called The Perverse Monstrosity of Our Beautiful Work by L.L. Barkat over at The High Calling blog community.

Criticism

In this post, Barkat described a letter she had received that criticized her writing. Evidently it was aggressively worded, because it elicited strong reactions from her friends when they read it. They encouraged her to ignore the letter. She was tempted to allow it into her heart.

Barkat went on to tell how several examples came to her mind of popular artists and performers that had received similar criticism. She realized that this was not an indication of bad work, but likely the opposite was true. Here is her quote that stole my attention…

Good work doesn’t just find audience; it also finds anti-audience.

I am sorry, but that is just powerful. Think about it…some of the best performers and/or performances are polarizing. In any given “audience,” regardless of the category of performance, there are always people that find some reason to complain about or oppose a good performance.

Human Nature?

I guess it is human nature. I am sure that someone with training in psychology could tell me why this is the case. Regardless of the reason, I know it is true. I have seen it when watching Tiger Woods or Tim Tebow. I am sure you could name your own examples.

What Is The Point?

So, we agree that this is true.

What is the point as it relates to a Christian business?

What should a Christian leader learn from this truth that would strengthen them in their effort to integrate their faith into their business?

Why do I think this quote is so important?

Expect Opposition

My first thought is that it is important for anyone planning to “perform” in front of any sort of public audience to be prepared for criticism. As Christian business owners and leaders, we certainly fit this category! While criticism is never easy to take, it is less painful when you are expecting it. Just as we are more likely to survive a storm when we make preparations, we can better handle rejection when we know it is coming.

Look at this quote from Dave Ramsey in his book EntreLeadership:

You can’t lead, market, and/ or run a company successfully without drawing fire from people who don’t understand. So as you win prepare to be misunderstood and lied about.

What Is “Good” Work?

As true as this is, I have an even bigger thought that is the main point of this whole post. To help me make this point, let’s take following quotes from Jesus. In the first quote, Jesus is referring to Himself and God. In the second, he is relating trees and their fruit to men and the things produced from their hearts. The Greek word translated “good” is the same in both quotes.

“Why do you ask Me about what is good?” He said to him. “There is only One who is good.” – Matthew 19:17

“A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart.” – Luke 6:45

In this context, reconsider the meaning of “good work” in L.L. Barkat’s quote…

Good work doesn’t just find audience; it also finds anti-audience.

When we look at Barkat’s quote from this perspective, it takes on a whole new meaning! Rather than thinking about the criticism drawn by good work in general, consider what it means to a Christian leader producing “good” out of the “good” storeroom of his heart.

Anti-Audience

Does it make sense to you that our “good” work as disciples of Jesus will find an anti-audience? Do you expect it or are you surprised when it happens? Do you prepare for it and deflect it, or are you tempted, as Barkat was, to give it permission to enter your heart and deter you?

Just in case you need some reinforcement, let’s take a look at more of Jesus’ words.

In this world you will have trouble. – John 16:33

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. – John 15:19

There Is An Enemy

Folks, there is an enemy that hates you because of your family name. You are not of this world and therefore the world is going to hate you. This “hate” may not show itself to you on a daily basis, but I submit that it will show itself to you with a frequency that is directly proportionate to the impact you are having on people for eternity!

See, I believe “good” work finds an anti-audience. I believe that the more we do in the name of Jesus, the more resistance we will meet from the world. I believe that you know exactly what I am talking about if you have tried to run your business based on your Christian faith.

Anti-Audience Is Unavoidable

I do not believe this anti-audience is avoidable or I think Jesus would have said, “In this world you might have trouble.” In fact, if you are not experiencing what I am describing, then I would encourage you to look for hard evidence of your faith. I am NOT saying you do not have it. I am simply asking you to do a deep dive and look for any evidence someone could use against you in court if they were accusing you of being a disciple of Jesus.

If you HAVE experienced what I am describing, then I have good news for you! I left out some of Jesus’ words in one of the verses above! Let’s look again at the full quote…

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

Good And Faithful Servant

Despite the trouble we are told we are to face, we are also promised peace! We get this peace because Jesus has overcome the very world that is against us! This is great news! It is news that should drive us to do the “good work” that we know we are designed to do. We should do this good work without fear of ultimate loss. If we will do this work, we will hear the words that we should long to hear – including that same Greek word for “good”…

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” – Matthew 25:21, 23

Has your work found anti-audience?

Do you need to step up your good work?

Do you find encouragement in Jesus’ words regarding the anti-audience?

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Reconcile and Forgive Immediately!

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This post is based on material from Dave Anderson’s book, How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK. It is the final post in a series of five in which we will address common character issues for leaders. The character issue we are addressing concerns the ability to reconcile and forgive immediately.

forgive

My Confession

I have a confession to make. In fact, I really do not even want to cover this subject. Unfortunately, I would feel even worse if I cut Dave Anderson’s five point list down to four and moved on! And so I plow on…

My confession is this – I have a backpack that I carry around most of the time that has a pocket on it just for grudges! These are not huge, unwieldy grudges that cause a sore back and aching muscles.

My Grudges

No, these are nice and compact little grudges that fit perfectly in the pockets of the backpack. They are very quiet grudges and do not make their presence known except in certain circumstances. Sometimes I forget they are even there.

These little grudges are born for me when someone local goes out of town to purchase a vehicle from a competitor. I do not have an issue when someone, even a friend, buys a car from another local dealer. I would love to sell everyone a car, but I know I will lose some deals. That is just part of doing business.

However, when I see a dealer’s drive-out tag from an out-of-town competitor on a local car, my blood boils. Just ask my wife. She cringes when she sees one, hoping I will miss it! Unfortunately, my radar rarely misses one of these!

I am completely wrong and embarrassed to admit it, but I cannot deny it.

Holding Grudges

Dave Anderson says that competitive business people are known for holding grudges. While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, he gives the following examples of when we might create these grudges:

  • When an employee makes a mistake
  • When an employee leaves the organization for reasons we do not like
  • When competitors take away our business (already mentioned above!)
  • When coworkers wrong us
  • When family members do not appreciate or support our career

So what is the problem with this? I am sure I am not the only person that carries these little grudges around. Some people carry bigger ones than I do! So if this is common, why do we need to address it? Why is the ability to reconcile and forgive – getting rid of these grudges – so important?

What Does Jesus Say?

Let’s take a look at Jesus’ own words. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says the following:

So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
– Matthew 5:23-24

Later in the same speech, Jesus said this:

For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.
– Matthew 6:14-15

So what do you take from these words? Is this something we should take casually? Is this something we should just skip over? Or is this a topic that we should address immediately, with great urgency and effort?

Forgive and Reconcile

I believe there are two reasons for us to act now!

First, Jesus tells us to forgive and to reconcile. It really is that simple. If Jesus is this clear and emphatic about something, it is best we take heed and act on it.

Second, we are the one’s that are hurt by this practice. Even if we are completely justified in the way we feel, the other person is rarely aware of our feelings. Even if they are, I promise they do not think about it as often or for as long as we do!

Stop Chasing The Snake!

Think about the illustration of the venomous snake that bites you. Which do you attempt first – killing the snake or removing the venom? Too many Christian business leaders start chasing the snake to kill it, causing the venom to spread faster and leading to a quicker death. This simply makes no sense. This only hurts you, not the snake.

Stop chasing the snake!

Dave’s Challenges To Us

Here are Dave’s challenges to us:

  1. Bring closure to past offenses. Identify amends you must make, with whom, and do it quickly.
  2. Practice forgiving quickly. Realize it is the responsibility of the more spiritually mature in a relationship to make the first move toward reconciliation and restoration.
  3. If someone continues to offend or hurt you, practice praying for them the qualities they seem to be lacking. This follows the Biblical promise to bless your enemies and the promise to receive a blessing in return.

I encourage you to pray over this topic.

Ask God to reveal any blind spots and resolve to act on them immediately!

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Do You Give False Impressions?

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false impressionsThis post is based on material from Dave Anderson’s book, How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK. It is the fourth post in a series of five in which we are addressing common character issues for leaders. The character issue we are addressing today concerns giving false impressions.

False Impressions

When it comes to business, giving false impressions is a broad topic. While not exactly full-blown lying, this behavior dances close to the line. As we will see, it can happen in so many different ways…

  • advertising that makes customers think the deal is better than it really is
  • exaggerating one’s degree of involvement in a project to gain undue credit
  • leading a job applicant to believe there is more opportunity, compensation, etc. than is realistic
  • downplaying the damage done by a mistake made
  • deceiving a vendor to think you have a better offer from a competitor
  • using flowery language to cover the truth

A humorous example is the description taken from a Youth Specialties illustration about a family history album in reference to the family’s “black-sheep” Uncle George. George was actually executed by the state for murder. Here is how the family history described it:

Uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution. He was attached to his position by the strongest ties, and his death came as a real shock.

False Impressions = Lies?

When you look at the exact language used in giving false impressions, it is usually not difficult to find truth in it. Giving false impressions is not eliminating the truth or even adding to it in a way that turns it into a lie. Instead, it is masking or painting the truth in a way designed to change how it is received by someone else.

It is not the same thing as an outright lie. This is likely why most people guilty of doing it do not see the harm in it.

What Does The Bible Say?

In order to ensure we are staying true to Scripture in our effort to strengthen our character as Christian leaders, let’s see what the Bible has to say.

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. – Psalm 34:13

This verse seems to clearly say we are to avoid deceitful speech. What exactly is deceitful speech? Let’s look at the following definition of deceive from Dictionary.com:

false impressions

When you use this definition, it helps to clarify what we are to avoid…false appearance or statement. It is the false appearance part that trips us up most often. Whether by using language that misdirects or by omitting parts of the truth, we regularly face the temptation to give false impressions. Unfortunately, this behavior can destroy our witness as Christian business leaders.

Hypocrisy

Regardless of our reasons for giving false impressions, we must stop. It is this behavior that is one of the top reasons given by Christians and non-Christians alike when asked why they do not go to church. They give it another name – hypocrisy – but it is the same thing. Dave Anderson’s definition of hypocrisy is appearing to be on the outside, something you are not on the inside.

Jesus was hardest on the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. Do you not think it applies to us the same way?

Here are Dave’s tips on getting rid of false impressions:

  1. Stop any misleading advertising that you may be engaged in.
  2. Stop spinning the feedback you give to make someone feel they are doing better or worse than they really are.
  3. Stop misleading potential job candidates or employees about realities concerning their job advancement, compensation, etc.

Where are you weakest when it comes to false impressions?

Do you acknowledge this to be a problem?

What are you going to do to fix it?

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Do You Have A Thanksgiving Chair?

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I am taking the rest of the weekend off from my normal posting, but I wanted to share a powerful video, Thanksgiving Chair, that I saw at church this past Sunday. Take a look and see what you think…

We need to follow Paul’s advice in 1 Thessalonians 5:18,

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

We also need to teach the next generation to do the same!

Show them the Thanksgiving chair!

Thank you for reading! Have a great Thanksgiving!

Do you have a Thanksgiving chair?

Do you always give thanks in all circumstances?

If so, how do you remember to do so?

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There Is No Traffic Jam On The Second Mile!

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This post is based on material from Dave Anderson’s book, How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK. It is the third post in a series of five in which we will address common character issues for leaders. The character issue we are addressing is going the second mile.

second mileOne of my favorite people in the whole world is Zig Ziglar! If you have ever met him or listened to him, it is likely that you feel the same! First of all, how can you not love his southern drawl?

But even without that, he just knows how to say things in a way that cuts to the heart of it all. The title of this post is a quote of Zig’s, “There is no traffic jam on the second mile!”

What Does The Bible Say?

To get a complete understanding of how this applies to us, let’s take a look at Scripture first. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructed his listeners that just doing the minimum required was not enough to be His follower. He gave them several examples of this kind of behavior.

One of these examples referred to a Roman law that required a Jew to carry a Roman soldier’s heavy pack for the distance of a mile. Jesus told his listeners in Matthew 5:41 that they were to carry the pack for a second mile.

Why The Second Mile?

Now why would he ask this? Well the Bible does not specify, but we can infer a likely possibility. Imagine the thoughts of the Roman soldier as he walked alongside the Jew carrying his heavy pack. He and the Jew both know that the obligation is for one mile.

What do you think the soldier’s thoughts would be as he neared the one mile mark and then continued past? When the Jew continued to carry the pack beyond that, don’t you think the soldier would be curious? Do you think he might ask what was going on?

Open Door for Witness and Influence

It is at this point that I believe the Jew would have the opportunity to explain his reasons, starting with Jesus’ teaching and how it had changed his own life. I believe the Roman soldier would then be wide open to hearing more from the Jew simply because he was willing to go the second mile, beyond his obligation.

So how does this apply to leadership? I think it is very applicable! As Christian leaders, I believe it is our goal to gain influence and to use that influence to point others toward Jesus. In his book, How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK, Dave Anderson says the following…

Going the first mile fulfills an obligation. By going the second mile, you earn the right to witness and influence.

Unlike The Majority

If we truly want to influence others by operating a Christian business, then we simply cannot just fulfill our obligations. We cannot do only what is required or necessary. This is expected! Zig’s quote is so powerful because he is saying that the vast majority of people stop at the first mile and skip out on the second mile! We cannot afford to be like the majority.

If we are serious about pointing others to Jesus, then we must open the door to opportunities to speak into the lives of others. This second mile behavior will help us do just that! When we go beyond our obligation in whatever the circumstance, we will get the attention of others. People will ask “Why?” and give us the opportunity to tell them!

Dave Anderson’s Tips

Here are Dave Anderson’s tips on going the second mile:

  1. Accept the concept that each day you do less than you can, you become less than you are: personally, and in the eyes of others.

  2. Embrace the promise of Galatians 6:9 – “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

  3. Realize that you may be one phone call away, one discipline away, or one effort away from your next breakthrough. Make it your goal to be totally used up when you die, leaving this world with no regrets.

So what part of this idea speaks to you?

Do you have any examples of open doors from going the second mile?

What can you do today that would open a door with someone?

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But it was just a little white lie…

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This post is based on material from Dave Anderson’s book, How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK. It is the first post in a series of five in which we will address common character issues for leaders. Our first character issue is the little white lie.

white lie

Just A White Lie?

“But it was just a little white lie, right?”

How many times have you heard (or thought) this? I know we have all told someone they looked good when, in fact, they may not have. Maybe you told someone you liked their haircut or their new pair of shoes. You get the idea. I am not here to argue that point. I want to know if this behavior is okay in your business. Is it okay to tell white lies as a Christian in business?

Let’s try another line with which you may be more familiar…

“Who is it?…Just tell them that I am not here.”

If you have an assistant or receptionist, I am sure you have said something like this before. If not, congratulations! If so, can you justify saying something like this when you know it is not true? If your people see or hear you saying things like this, what effect do you think it has on their opinion of you? What effect does it have on their own behavior? If it is left unchecked, what behavior does it eventually lead to?

The white lie is so common in our world that most people do not even realize they are telling one. It can take many forms. Some of these may seem harmless (or even helpful) at the time. Some of them are a little more dangerous, but they are justified as being safer than telling the truth (at least at that moment!). Regardless of the rationalization, I think we need to take a long, hard look at this topic.

What Is The Expectation?

So what are we to do as Christian business owners and leaders? What is the expectation of us?

Well, as you probably guessed, I think we need to turn to the Bible for our answer. If we look at Ephesians 4:25, we will see the following verse:

Therefore, putting away all lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

Obviously, I could point to many other verses that make it clear that we are not to lie, but to tell the truth. This is God’s expectation of us. It is not dependent upon circumstances or conditions. It does not apply only to some people, but to all who claim the name of Jesus.

Good Advice

In How To Run Your Business By The Book, Dave Anderson gives the following key advice:

  1. Tell the truth even when it is not easy, cheap, popular, or convenient.

  2. Tell the truth because it is right, it pleases God, it protects your personal integrity, and honors, rather than diminishes, everyone who hears what you say.

  3. Never, ever ask someone to sin for you by instructing them to lie on your behalf. This is an abuse of your power, position, relationship, and friendship and can destroy your witness as a Christian.

I will leave you with this verse from Luke 16:10…

Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.

I encourage you to start watching what you say. Increase your awareness of your words and make sure you are not falling into this trap.

Have you been guilty of little white lies?

Do you see the danger in where they lead?

What is your plan to change this behavior?