For the longest time, I struggled to figure out how to reconcile my role in running our family’s business with my role as a follower of Jesus Christ. At one point, I even considered walking away from our family business because I thought that was the only way I could fully invest my time as a disciple of Jesus. Fortunately, I later found the answer to my dilemma in the Parable of the Talents.
I recently had to clean out my closet at home. After ten years without doing it, the accumulation of stuff and clothes that no longer fit had finally gotten out of hand. I finally recognized the need and set aside the time to clean it. In the process, I was reminded of a truth about life that all Christians need to learn. If you cannot see the connection between a clothes closet and a life truth, then read on!
Obviously, I first had to go through everything in my closet and determine whether I would keep it, give it away, or trash it. I went through work clothes, play clothes, socks, shoes, etc. I think you get the idea.
Once I did that, I figured I would take the opportunity to reorganize the entire closet. I know, that may be a little OCD, but I liked the idea and ran with it. I went to WalMart and bought a couple of cheap cloth baskets for socks, tshirts, etc. I placed these in line on my shelves.
I moved my work clothes to one side and put my casual clothes to the other side. I made sure my work shoes were easily accessed while the others were off to the side. My ties (fewer now because I got rid of those with stains or those too wide!) were placed on the tie rack in the corner and my belts moved to the other corner.
When I was done, I stepped back in pride. I had found a nice, neat area for each type of clothing and accessory. While my closet may not win any HGTV awards for creativity or design, I had achieved what I had set out to do. I had compartmentalized the area and each part had its place.
As I stood there, I remembered the life truth I mentioned at the beginning of this post. If given the opportunity, many Christians will do the exact same thing with their faith as I did with my socks. Stick with me and I think you will see what I mean.
Too often, we as Christians compartmentalize our lives. We have time for our family. We allocate time for our work. We may prioritize some time with friends and/or hobbies. We also make sure we give time to our faith. Each area of our lives has its own time allotment.
Some of these areas overlap at times (friends and faith, family and hobbies, etc.), but for the most part they are each kept within their own compartment. This is especially true of our faith.
Maybe we have friends at church, but it is unlikely we are regularly and intentionally meeting with them to grow in our faith together. We don’t talk much about our faith with some of our other friends or family because they might get offended.
We don’t allow our faith to enter our workplace for the same reason. Or it might be that we feel our faith will limit our ability to do business profitably. Surely God would not want that, right? Work is for Monday through Friday, family on Saturday, and we give God our Sundays. That is the way it has always been.
Unfortunately, the way it has always been is wrong. God does not want our Sundays (only). He wants our Mondays through Saturdays as well. He wants our time with family and our time with friends.
God wants to be a part of our hobbies and our social lives. He wants to live in our workplace and direct our business decisions. There is not a single part of our lives that God does not want. He wants it all. Want proof?
Let’s just ask Jesus. He should know the answer, right? Jesus, what is the most important truth for us to remember in life?
Love the Lord your God with ALL of your heart, with ALL of your mind, and with ALL of your soul. This is the first and greatest commandment (emphasis mine).
Matthew 22:37-38
Folks, we may need to compartmentalize our closets, garages, or work desk. Separate areas for separate items can be helpful for an organized mind. However, this is not true for our lives when it comes to our faith and our relationship with God.
In life, our faith in and relationship with God IS our closet. It IS our life. Everything else can have its separate place WITHIN our faith, but nothing we have or do should be separate from this faith. Our relationship with God permeates every aspect of our lives.
There is no other way to live out the Greatest Commandment.
Take a look at your business or work life. Reflect on how God is a part of this area of your life. If He is, what can you do to allow Him to be more involved. If He has not yet been allowed into this part of your life, then pray about how you can turn it over to Him.
The ultimate goal is for Him to fully control this area (along with all other areas) of your life, with you as the passenger and Him as the driver. That is a tough position to reach, but the more you prepare for it, the easier it becomes.
Is your life compartmentalized like your closet?
If you changed it at one time, has it drifted back?
What action do you need to take next?
Over the years, as I have grown from childhood, through adolescence and young adulthood, and into a full-fledged adult, my thoughts and dreams about heaven have progressed as well. As my understanding of heaven has matured, I have come to realize that there is at least one thing we will not be able to do there – reach the lost. Evangelism will not exist in heaven.
Have you thought about this? As a kid, I dreamed of flying around with wings. Later, I began to hope for amazing golf courses and the freedom to drive without speed limits. Recently, I have thought about whether or not we will have adventures in heaven…hang gliding, sky diving, deep sea diving and mountain climbing…will these be options for us?
What I have not thought about much is what I will not be able to do when I get to heaven. I know there will not be tears or pain, but I welcome that! However, when I stopped to realize that there will not be a single friend or family member in heaven that has not submitted to Jesus as Lord and Savior, I realized what else would be missing – evangelism.
Folks, when we die, we are forever released from the responsibility of sharing our faith with others. We will no longer have to listen to messages about evangelism or witnessing because we will only be surrounded by believers. We will only, for the rest of eternity, be able to interact with others who made the decision to accept Jesus’ blood as payment for their sin.
If you are one who does not enjoy the idea of sharing your faith with another, then maybe this idea brings you a little relief. At least it might until you begin to look around you and count the people you know (or are related to) that are not followers of Jesus.
[Note: I recognize none of us knows anyone else’s heart and therefore we cannot know with certainty their eternal status (unless they have told us). I simply want you to think about those without any visible fruit of faith in Jesus and make the assumption, for the purpose of this exercise, that someone needs to share their faith with them.]
When you begin to think of all the people around you whose eternity is not certain in your mind, do you begin to see the urgency? Do you begin to realize that SOMEONE has to share with them now, here on earth, or they will suffer an eternity separated from God (and you)?
If you are not already living in such a way as to intentionally point people toward God, are you willing to continue on that path, ignoring the clear problem that exists right in front of you?
What about your job or business? Are you intentionally carrying out your duties at work in a way that points others to Jesus? Are you using the leverage and resources of your business to advance the kingdom? Have you done this in the past, but the urgency has faded?
I have to tell you, this problem is a big one. The lack of evangelism in heaven means we only have a limited time to reach those who do not yet know God in a personal way. Maybe we are not all good at preaching from a pulpit, but we all have gifts that can be used for evangelism.
Through this blog, I am trying to convince people that their business is a tool that can and should be used for evangelism. If you are not the owner of the business, I want you to see that there are still infinite ways you can impact others in the workplace for Christ. You just have to be intentional about it.
Hopefully, you have already thought about this whole idea and you are already on the path to take action. If not, I encourage you to stop and read this verse below. Think about what Jesus is saying and how it applies to you. Evangelism may not be your first love, but maybe you need to pray for a heart change.
We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.
John 9:4
Are you already engaged in evangelism?
Do you treat your workplace the same as other locations?
Do you need to rethink your position on evangelism?
I recently attended a meeting with other car dealers and one of the common topics of conversation was employee productivity. We discussed it from several angles and tried to quantify how much more value there is in a productive employee versus one that is not. When you look at the numbers, it is amazing the difference.
As I thought about this idea, I wondered how productive I am on a consistent basis. I thought about the various distractions I have during a normal day and how those distractions often destroy my efforts to be productive! Have you ever experienced these distractions?
The more I thought about it, the more I felt guilty! The thought that struck me the most was the following question:
Would I be more productive if I knew I was being videotaped for all other employees to watch?
As I thought about this question, I realized that I would probably be embarrassed if everyone at our company knew how many times I allowed myself to be distracted in a given day. If they knew how often I was not very productive, they would probably hang me!
What about you? Would you be more productive if you were being watched? Can you think of areas where you allow distractions to keep you from being productive? Have you thought about this before?
Immediately, my mind began working on this new problem. How can I begin eliminating the distractions that I encounter every day? How can I ensure more work is done per hour while I am at work? What precautions should I take to avoid distractions in the first place? How productive could I be if I faced 75% fewer distractions?
Maybe your mind does not work like this, but mine went into overdrive! Keep in mind that all I am describing happened in seconds in my head. I went from zero to sixty miles an hour in a few seconds!
My next step was to start listing my distractions. As I did this in my head, I came to a startling realization…
These distractions had names.
When I say they had names, I do not mean names like “coffee break” or “Facebook” or anything like that. I mean they had actual names like “John” and “Barbara” and “Charlie” (actual names changed to protect the innocent!).
I realized that the majority of my “distractions” – the causes of those times when I was less productive – were actually people. These people, in most cases, are people I am impacting for eternity in one way or another. These people, if I am truly honest and focused on what’s most important, are not distractions at all!
At this point I stopped. I quickly went from sixty miles an hour back down to zero. I just sat there, thinking. I imagine you might be doing the very same right now.
I will tell you right now that I do not have the answer to this problem. I cannot give you a simple, fact-based prescription to the problem of balancing relationships on the job with the off-setting reduction in productive time. If you know it and can present it concisely, please feel free to do so in the comment section below. We would all appreciate it!
What I can tell you is that the issue of begin productive is not as simple as it looked at the beginning of this post. Clearly, there is more to this than can be quantified with a ratio or metric from a financial statement.
In an effort to sort through this, let’s review what we do know.
First, this world is temporary. That means that everything in this world is also temporary – including our jobs and businesses.
Second, people (our souls, not our physical bodies) are eternal. Even after this world is gone, we will continue to exist. Where, and with Whom, we exist depends upon where we place our trust during this life.
When we truly understand these two issues, it becomes more clear whether it is more important to be productive on our jobs or to impact others for eternity. There really is no arguing as to whether it is more important to produce an extra two widgets per hour or to point someone toward the God who loves them. Do we agree on that?
If it were only that simple then we would not even need to discuss this.
It is not that simple. Just consider the following Scripture:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
Ephesians 6:5-8
In this passage, we are told to work as if we are working for Christ Himself. We are not necessarily excused from allowing distractions to keep us from being productive for our supervisors or the company owners – even if the distraction is an eternal one!
No, we cannot simply blow off our work because we see our “distractions” as eternal souls and want to point them to God. At the same time, we cannot ruthlessly eliminate all of our “distractions” for the purpose of being productive in a temporary pursuit. This has to be a Both/And effort rather than an Either/Or one.
We do not have to choose EITHER having an eternal impact on those around us OR being productive for our employers. While it will take creativity to make it work, it can happen that BOTH are achieved.
We need to do the best we can to BOTH eliminate all non-eternal distractions to increase our productivity AND respond to those around us in a way that points them to God. Take some time today and brainstorm this. Think about ways to increase your productive time AND to increase your influence on those around you.
I look forward to hearing about the results!
Are you as productive as you should be?
Do you have similar “distractions”?
What ideas have you come up with to balance productivity and eternal influence?
Our business is not a big one in the grand scheme of things, but we do get a good cross-section of employees with roughly 100 people working here. As a result, I have seen those that learn the job quickly and others that do not. Some understand their job and do what is necessary without being asked while others are waiting to be told what to do.
If you have been working for any length of time, you have probably witnessed this. For the most part, any new employee needs to be told what to do in the beginning, right? Unless they have worked that exact job before, there are things they need to be told first.
They probably need to know WHAT to do, WHY, WHEN, and HOW they are to do it, and maybe a few other tips. Once they get this, they should be able to go forward on their own with only occasional guidance along the way.
The problem is that some employees are still waiting to be told what to do. You probably know some of these people where you work. Maybe they work for you. No matter how many times they have read the job description or listened to the training, they refuse to take action on their own. They can sometimes be found actually standing around because no one stopped to tell them what to do next! It really amazes (and frustrates) me!
To be clear, I am not talking about waiting to be told about NEW tasks, responsibilities, or ideas. As employees are being developed for promotion or more responsibility, they need to be taught more. They cannot know the new stuff until it is taught to them. I am only now talking about what they already know (or should know) they are to be doing.
So now that I have you worked up and as frustrated as I am, let’s (again) turn this around to be about us. You probably knew this was coming, didn’t you? For the sake of this discussion, we are the “employees” in this picture and God is the “employer”.
As you go through the rest of this post, ask yourself if you are acting just like one of these employees. Ask yourself if you are “standing around” waiting to be told by God (again) what He wants you to do. Be honest with yourself and allow Him to guide you. He will show you what He wants you to see.
Let’s take an easy example to start with.
Our “handbook” (the Bible) says that we are to love God (Matthew 22:37-40), right? This is called the Greatest Commandment and we should all be aware of it by now. We have probably read it many times and have likely heard sermons (training) on it as well.
So, are you DOING it? Are you really LOVING God? Are you doing it with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength? OR are you waiting to be told again that you are to do this?
If I am honest in answering these questions for myself, then I would say I am doing it sometimes and I am trying to do it other times. I can’t really say that at any point in time I am sitting around waiting to be told again to love God. I think I have a passing grade here, but not by much.
Let’s get a little tougher. We have all likely heard of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) as well, right? We are told here to go and make disciples of all nations. Again, we have read it and heard many sermons on it. I doubt there are any of us that can honestly claim ignorance here.
So, again I ask the question. Are you DOING it? Are you truly making disciples? Are you mentoring someone in the Christian walk? Are you engaging your employees, co-workers, and others in Christian ministry? Are you teaching what you have been taught?
In the past, I could answer this question with an easy “Yes!” without blinking an eye. Lately, I have allowed distractions to creep in and now I am unable to answer with confidence. What about you? Have you made an effort? Have you allowed distractions to interfere?
I won’t go into detail with each of the following areas from our “handbook,” but I will at least list them and let you ask yourself the questions. Think about each category and ask yourself the tough questions. Where are you waiting to be told what to do? If that is difficult for you or if you think you will go too easy on yourself, ask someone else to help you. Maybe that can be the start of a discipling relationship!
Evangelism (Acts 1:8)
Tithing (Matthew 23:23)
Love your enemies (Matthew 5:43-44)
Forgive your enemies (Luke 17:4)
Praying for others (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
Bible study (2 Timothy 2:15)
When you have had enough abuse for one day and you are ready to close out this post, stop and do one more thing. Decide on one, only one, of these areas and commit to do something!
Commit to make at least one change. Start doing something that you already know you should be doing. It will be the first step down a great and rewarding path!
Where are you doing what you know you should be doing?
Where are you waiting to be told what to do?
What are you going to do about it?
In many of the small groups I have been in over the years, there is one question that has come up quite often. This may not be the most popular question or even the most passionately argued, but it does come up a lot. The question is this – are you to be an active or passive witness?
To be more clear, there are usually one or two people in the group that get a little uncomfortable when the subject of evangelism comes up for discussion. Immediately, they get images of standing on the street corner with bullhorn in hand and shouting out warnings to those passing by.
Maybe their picture is more subtle, but just as uncomfortable for them. Either way, they usually say something like, “I don’t have the gift of evangelism.” Maybe they say, “I don’t like to talk about my faith.”
Many suggest, “I think we should just live our Christian life by example. We should not have to tell people what and why we believe. They should know it by the way we live.”
Are these people in the “passive witness” camp wrong?
Before you answer, let’s look at the other camp. When this discussion about our responsibility to witness comes up, these others jump all over it! They are quick to talk about the number of times they have shared Jesus with some complete stranger, a customer, or maybe a childhood friend.
They can tell crazy stories about how people have accepted Jesus as a result of them simply asking an innocent question that led to an intense conversation about eternity. This discussion really gets the people in the “active witness” camp fired up!
Are they wrong?
So what is the answer?
Are you to be an active or passive witness?
Fortunately for you, I have the answer! That answer is “Yes!”
Yes, you are to be an active witness. Yes, you are to be a passive witness. You are to witness both actively AND passively! Neither of these options is acceptable only by itself. If we are to be fully committed disciples of Jesus, then we are to witness in every way available to us.
Sure, there are some personalities that are naturally more outgoing. These people will most likely witness to people in situations where the less outgoing may be uncomfortable. That is fine.
However, that does not remove the responsibility from the less outgoing! It only means that these people need to be more intentional about building relationships with the lost around them for the purpose of eventually talking to them about Jesus and their eternity.
When you look at the statistics of the workplace, Barna reports that roughly 40% of the U.S. adult population is unchurched. That means there are plenty of people around you in the workplace that need what you have. They need you to share your faith.
If you do not already have a solid relationship with them that would allow you to do this, then you need to get to work! Start intentionally working on your relationship with them. Get creative, but get closer. Of course, you are to do this with a sincere desire to touch their heart, not for a tally mark in your Bible.
The point here is that you are to be active as a witness for Jesus. Using a bullhorn is not the only way to do this. Whatever your personality or circumstances, find a method that plays to your strengths. Then start!
And for you “active witness” campers, do not let your natural ability to witness to others overshadow the need for you to also live out your faith by example! Whatever your personality, you are also called to live a godly life as an example for those who are watching.
This means your business practices are to be above reproach. You are to walk what you talk! You are to live out all that Jesus has commanded us – in every facet of your life.
You are not free to live as you please simply because you are good at approaching complete strangers with the truth of the gospel. Your witness and your example should go hand in hand!
I will leave you with a few verses that can serve as back-up for what we have discussed here. There are plenty more where these came from, but this is a good start!
You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Philippians 1:27
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
1 Peter 3:15
What is your life purpose? What actually motivates you to fulfill that life purpose? When the going gets really tough and you are tempted to give in, what thought do you cling to for the strength to keep pressing forward? While you think about the answers to those questions, I am going to share my answers to those same questions. Maybe my answers will help you think through yours!
In my last post, I showed you an example of how the origin of marketplace ministry dates back to the days of the early church. I showed you how the Apostle Paul set an example for us in the marketplace of Athens. In today’s post, I want to break down the first two steps of the four-step method Paul used and how we can apply it in our current-day Christian business settings.
To catch up, please take another moment to read the passage – Acts 17:16-34. If you take time to study exactly what Paul did and said, I think you will come up with a fairly simple 4-step process for marketplace ministry.
Let’s dive right in.
Paul – Take a look at verse 16 first. Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. Was he frustrated at the delay? Did he pass the time focused on that frustration? No, instead he was paying attention to his surroundings and noticed all of the idols in Athens.
Jump to verses 22-23. Paul is speaking to the marketplace people and mentions that he has noticed they are religious. Not only that, but he also noticed an altar “To An Unknown God.” Some of us may have seen this and chuckled at the senselessness of such an altar. Paul saw an opportunity for marketplace ministry!
Application – Today, we have business going on all around us and there are plenty of opportunities for similar observations. If we pray for wisdom and discernment, God will respond and answer that prayer.
I encourage you to slow down, pray, and start noticing the tell-tale signs around you. These will give you clues on how to share the gospel where you are.
Paul – When Paul first started teaching the message of the gospel in the marketplace, he elicited a response from the crowd. Some called him a babbler and others thought his teaching was strange. Surely Paul heard these comments from the crowd. Likely, he was at least mildly bothered by them.
But rather than react to the responses, he listened. He heard that they were interested in “new teachings” and were actually, for the most part, just curious. By listening to their comments and questions, he learned about how they thought.
Combined with what he had already observed (Step #1), he came up with a terrific strategy for sharing the gospel in a way that would fit the crowd!
Application – We have the same opportunity for marketplace ministry today if we will only slow down and listen. Too often, in an environment of political correctness and a lack of tolerance for Christian views, we react with anger or frustration when questioned. Unlike Paul, we fail to set our emotions aside and think strategically.
Again, we need to pray for God to teach us how to do this. It does not come naturally so we cannot expect to get it on our own. Instead, we need to pray, practice, and trust God to make up the difference!
In my next post, I will address the final two parts of Paul’s process for marketplace ministry. Hopefully, you will be able to take these four steps and apply them to your business opportunities.
What observations have you made that allowed you to share the gospel?
Are you being intentionally observant, listening to those around you?
Do you typically react to criticism or thoughtfully respond to it?
For the past nine years, I have been attempting to run our business from an eternal perspective – effectively using it as a platform for Christian ministry. Unfortunately, this is not very common and therefore I often find myself explaining exactly what I mean by marketplace ministry. Today, in an effort to shed more light on this, I want to take a look at an example of marketplace ministry in the life of the Apostle Paul.
We know from Acts 18:3 that Paul was a tentmaker by trade. We don’t necessarily know how much of his time was spent making tents versus doing ministry, but it is clear that tent making was his occupation. The following verse refers to Paul coming to stay with Aquila and Priscilla.
Paul came to them, and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Acts 18:3
Because we don’t necessarily know how much time Paul spent making tents, I am not going to attempt to draw an exact parallel between Paul’s ministry and a current-day Christian business. That is not the point of this post at all.
Instead, I simply want to broaden your understanding and awareness of the existence of (and need for) marketplace ministry – dating all the way back to the days of early church. Then I want to give you some simple tips, based on Paul’s example, for following Paul’s example in your business today.
First, let’s take a look at another passage in Acts, only one chapter before the verse mentioned above. This passage is too long to include in this post, so I will ask you to take a moment and CLICK HERE to read Acts 17:16-34. It will only take you a minute!
What is the first thing you read about Paul’s mindset in verse 16? It says his spirit was troubled or that he was greatly distressed. His problem was the rampant worship of idols in Athens. I am not sure what exactly brought this to his attention or whether it was related to his tent making. It really is not important.
The point of this is that Paul’s spirit was troubled at the worship of idols in Athens and so he went into the marketplace everyday to reason with those who were there. Don’t you think Paul would feel the same way today if he witnessed our marketplaces? Don’t you think his spirit would be troubled?
If so, is yours? Paul told us to follow his example as he followed the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). If this is indeed what we should be doing, don’t you think our spirits should be troubled as well by the worship of idols in our marketplaces? Shouldn’t we be distressed?
Let’s assume for the moment that you agree with me on this and your spirit IS troubled.
What next?
What are you to do about it?
Well, those are good questions. For the answer, let’s take a look at what Paul did. Going back to the passage from Acts 17, we see in verses 17-18 that Paul did not just sit still when his spirit became troubled. Instead he went right to the people (some in the synagogue, some in the marketplace) and met them where they were.
It is certainly possible that he did this by turning his tent-making business into a marketplace ministry. Unfortunately, there is not enough detail in this passage to determine whether or not that is true. All we do know is that he did put himself in the middle of the marketplace and began sharing the simple message of the gospel.
The initial response to what Paul was saying was curiosity. The people told him that they wanted to hear more about this “new teaching” he was proclaiming. As a result, Paul was given the opportunity to talk to the very leaders and authorities in the marketplace (the Areopagus).
What were the results?
Well, some sneered and mocked him. They were not interested in what he had to say and they made it clear with their response. Others, however, believed him and began to follow Paul to learn more.
Folks, when you break it down, it is really this simple. The majority of the people in the marketplace today need the message that we have. They need to know the truth and we have it! All that remains is for us to begin going into the marketplace and sharing this message.
This will look different for some than it will for others. We all have different opportunities and skills for entering marketplace ministry. God has determined this according to His will and we are only charged with following His lead. I encourage you to begin praying about how He can use YOU in this effort.
In my next post, we are going to break down Paul’s actual 4-step method from this passage and try to apply it to our current day marketplace ministry opportunities.
I have been a C12 Group member now for over 6 years. For the past 6 years, our December meeting material has included one segment that has been the same every year. While you would think that might get boring after a couple of years, it doesn’t. This one segment is called the “Yearly Audit” and it is a very effective tool for a year-end review.
If you read my series of posts on my LIFE planning process, you will likely remember that I spend time at the end of every year reviewing that year and creating a game plan for the next year. I feel this process is a critical part of my job as a CEO, husband, and father, as well as all of the other roles I play throughout the year. One valuable part of this annual process is C12’s “Yearly Audit” segment.
I encourage you not only to read this segment, but also to incorporate it into your own year-end review process. If you do not have a year-end review process, then this is the perfect tool with which to start!
Below is the introduction to the segment by C12 founder Buck Jacobs.
[box]It has become a year-end tradition in each of our C12 groups to take a uniquely Christ-centered retrospective look at the results of our past year’s activities, focusing on the eternal perspective.
Taking such an inventory is, of course, a very normal thing to do in the economic dimensions of our businesses. We’re all familiar with such metrics as net income, profit margin, ROI, market share, and sales growth. We’ve devised numerous ways to measure our financial effectiveness and it’s important that we use them well.
This segment, however, is entitled Working ‘On’ my MINISTRY in God’s Business and in it we focus on an entirely different set of criteria. In many ways it’s much more difficult to measure our results in the ministry or spiritual dimension of our business lives. The whole idea of using our business as a platform for ministry can sometimes seem bewildering as it’s not nearly as well ‘codified’ as such routine business processes like filling orders and tracking financial profit or loss.
In terms of what’s eternally important to our lives, the spiritual dimension is much more — even infinitely more — important to us. So, with apologies to none, we are now going to offer some thoughts on how we might take a year-end audit from a uniquely Kingdom-oriented perspective.
What is it that we should be looking for as we examine ourselves and our spiritual lives in relation to the ministry in our business? Is it only souls won to the Lord, or dollars given to support His work, the number of Christ-honoring events we’ve hosted, or the number of tracts distributed? Is it only those things that we can quantify?
No, of course not. While we know that all these things are an important part of the fruit of our ministry which need to be quantified and recorded to help us measure progress in these areas, we also know that there’s another set of criteria.
It is these personal criteria that we’ll examine today. These criteria pertain to growth, the kind of growth that will lead to fruit…much fruit! We offer these criteria as indicators of growth which we can all use to measure what kind of a year we really had in our Master’s eyes.
For those who were members a year ago, we recommend putting the prior year’s ratings alongside for comparison purposes, as each of these areas deserve long-term focus. For each of the following 10 dimensions, rate your year from 1 to 10, with 1 being Low, 5 Average and 10 High as measured against your potential or opportunity.
– Buck Jacobs[/box]
Now that you know what to do, CLICK HERE to download the “Yearly Audit” in .pdf format. I encourage you to begin in prayer, asking God to prick your heart in any area that He wants to get your attention.
I hope you find the process of going through these questions to be as fruitful as I have. If you approach it with the right heart, I am sure you will see the benefit.
Are you currently doing a self-evaluation at year end?
If not, what other ways are you planning for effectiveness?
Do you see how this “Yearly Audit” can help you focus?