Putting the “New” into Perspective

The book of Revelation is challenging to read, but inspiring to consider. The apostle John describes the end of life, as we have known it, and the beginning of a fresh start in Christ. Consider the Bible’s description of the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21:1-4:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

New year. New start. New perspective.

With this “bigger picture” in place, we can have a healthy spiritual context for the smaller “new beginnings” in front of us for 2010. No matter how challenging the past year has been for us, we can find avenues for progress by starting with ourselves.

The apostle Paul gives us timeless direction for self-renewal in Romans 12:2: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

As you reflect on your resolutions for the New Year, consider these questions:

1. In what areas of your life do you conform to the world, rather than mature in Christ? Consider these opportunities for you to let go of priorities or passions that do not honor God, and can pull you away from the path He has for your life.
2. Do you intentionally focus on renewing your mind? Do you take time to pray, study God’s word, and learn from fellow Christians? Consider these opportunities to redirect your focus in line with God’s will for your life.
3. How do you gauge your thoughts and actions from a spiritual perspective? Would God smile on the direction your life has been taking? Consider these opportunities to check your progress, and stick to the straight and narrow path.

As the New Year represents new opportunities, resolve to honor God, focus on His will and walk the path with Him.

Discipling: The Ultimate Team-Building Experience

Discipling: The Ultimate Team-Building Experience

Part 1 in a Series

Discipling is More than just Sharing the Good News

You’ve heard the expression “a company’s greatest asset is its people.” If that’s true, why are people so often shortchanged as organizations push for profits and prestige?

In fact, people are invaluable to organizations. Unfortunately, when you look back over you career, probably just a handful of colleagues cared enough to invest significantly in your development. On the other hand, remember the blessing of that rare manager, or colleague, who cared about your development at work. Exhibiting selflessness and generosity, these people gave the best of themselves to grow the best in others.

They exhibited the qualities found in Matthew 28:19, the Great Commission, to “make disciples of all nations.” Discipling is much more than just sharing the Good News, or coming to Christ. It’s sharing God’s truth AND strengthening its application.

Living out the Great Commission at Work

Discipling is not just relevant at church, or on the weekends. It’s relevant anywhere and anytime that God gives us an opportunity. This includes the workplaces where we spend 20, 40 or even 60 hours every week.

At Work on Purpose® understands the need for a practical approach to live out the Great Commission at work. That’s why we’ve created a model called THE POWER PROFILE® to help workplace Christians fulfill The Great Commission and The Great Commandment.

The Great Commission: to make disciples.

The Great Commandment: to love God and to love others.

THE POWER PROFILE focuses us on four key things:

1. Purpose: determining God’s purpose for our work
2. Pursuit: pursuing our work purpose to God’s standards
3. People: growing people as we go – professionally and personally
4. Prosperity: stewarding the prosperity that God grants us through work

How do we bring professional and personal development to work by sharing wisdom, which is ultimately the Gospel? Most of the work world isn’t Christian. It’s filled with spiritual seekers who are unconvinced, spiritual sleepers who are unaware and spiritual snipers who are uncomfortable. Even worse, we Christians typically behave no differently at work than our non-Christian colleagues.

The bottom line? We’re created in God’s image, and we have great value to Him. Yet, we fall short of God’s glory, as we struggle to grow closer to Him.

The Process of Discipling

Discipling is the patient process of polishing diamonds in the rough; polishing each other toward spiritual maturity.

• Discipling takes time. We may take two steps forward and one step back.
• Discipling takes method. It works best when it’s life-on-life, long term, and Biblically based.
• Discipling takes acceptance. We need to accept that, because of our imperfection, our discipling experiences will be imperfect.

Perhaps no disciple in history better illustrates this challenge than the apostle Peter. He was our quintessential diamond in the rough, with many jagged edges. Like all of us, Peter fell far short of God’s glory. Yet, through Christ, he radiated God’s glory!

The Peter Principle and Paradox

It’s from the disciple Peter that we have the work world concept of The Peter Principle: people rise to their level of incompetence. However, the Bible reveals something far more hopeful. Through Christ, Peter grew from an erratic disciple to an exemplary apostle. The Peter Paradox: people can rise beyond their level of incompetence.

Peter and Jesus modeled the process of discipling, which is as relevant today – even at work – as it was over 2,000 years ago. Peter and Jesus demonstrated discipling results in spiritual growth. A discipled person grows in Christ, and then invests in others to do the same.

Part 2: Coaching: The Ultimate Discipling

Swimming with Sharks

What would it be like…
To experience the same uplift at work as we do during worship music?

What would it be like…
If, every day at work, we felt peace knowing we are upholding God’s standards of integrity?

In Matthew 22:39, God tells us to “love our neighbors as ourselves.” In the work world, we don’t have to look any further than headline news to see how far away from this we really are.

The Sea of Sin in the Marketplace
We readily see the mental and physical costs of sin in the marketplace:
- The anguish of wrongdoers once they’re caught in deception
- The despair of employees losing retirements because of bad management
- The tragedy of young people looking for wholesome role models in the work world, and often coming up empty-handed.

What the working world often misses is the spiritual dimension of sin. The costs are much higher. They include a failure to advance God’s kingdom in the work world. They include a legacy of corruption that’s inherited and perpetuated by future generations. We’re engaged in a spiritual battle for the future of the work world.

Recovering Sharkaholics
For Christians, the walk at work isn’t a walk in the park. In truth, we are swimming with sharks. Worse yet, we Christians are sharks too! At our best, we’re recovering sharkaholics who keep our jaws in check when we smell blood in the water. At our worst, we go on the attack just like our non-Christian colleagues.

Consider the foundations for recovering spiritual integrity at work:
1. Introspection versus Satisfaction. We must never assume our thoughts and actions honor our colleagues and God. Instead, we must remain introspective enough to spot our inevitable faults, and responsive enough to address them.
2. Implementation versus Stagnation. We need to take God’s Word, and make it REAL in the work world. This is the litmus test of being At Work on Purpose.
3. Integration versus Separation. Consider Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

We live in a country built on a separation between church and state. The intent of our country’s Founding Fathers was to ensure that the state never imposed a faith on our citizens. But it was NOT their intent to keep the faithful from living out their spiritual convictions at work!

God calls us to fully live out our faith at work; not to implement part way, but all the way. We must recapture the heart and the passion of God for the work world. We must rise above swimming with the sharks and restore our full Christian commitment, and contribution, to the work world.

Faith at Work: A Voice in the Wilderness?

At work when you speak or act in faith, do you feel like a voice in the wilderness?

Have you built God’s plan into your work?

Is your formula, for work purpose, God’s formula?

God makes a purposeful declaration in Jeremiah 29:11 . . . “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God repeatedly uses the word “plans.” Plans for you. Plans to prosper you, including your work.

Building God’s Plans into Our Work

Our work purpose belongs to God. Ultimately, our work isn’t about us. It’s about Him. For the workplace Christian, loving Mondays is about loving God enough to surrender ourwork plans for His work plans.

This is not easy to do. We work in a world that focuses on the self: self preservation, self development, self advancement and self fulfillment. All these things can be good, but they’re incomplete. We quickly come to the end of ourselves, the end of our capabilities. Also, we’re a fallen people; we consistently fall short in serving others as we serve ourselves.

The World’s Formula for Work Purpose

Like us, the world’s formula for work purpose is incomplete. We can consider the world’s formula for work purpose to be Passion + Performance + Profitability = Worldly Purpose.

Passion—work we love. This is a good thing, as long as the passions we hold are in line with God’s passions. But what happens when our passions are misdirected? In an extreme example, what happens if we’re a dictator, passionate about persecuting people on the basis of faith? Passion is necessary for fully purposeful work, but it’s not sufficient.

Performance—doing well at the work we do. Once again, this is a good thing when we’re working hard at things that God smiles upon. God has given each of us gifts – skills – to use at work. But misdirected, extreme examples can include the promotion of pornography, the abuse of children and the deception of shareholders. Performance is necessary for fully purposeful work, but it’s not sufficient.

Profitability—doing work that can support us financially. God has plans to prosper us. He desires us to meet all our financial needs, but not necessarily all our financial wants. What happens when wealth becomes our ultimate goal? Profitability is necessary for fully purposeful work, but it’s not sufficient.

When all we do is follow the formula of the world, all we have is a worldly purpose that easily leaves God out of the equation.

God’s Formula for Work Purpose

God’s formula for work purpose takes the best of passion, performance, and profitability and replaces the rest with elements far more significant and enduring: Perception +Perseverance + Perspective = Godly Purpose.

I believe a way to illustrate God’s formula is to explore the life of the apostle Paul. Paul is a towering figure in the New Testament and an icon of fully purposeful work.

Paul perceived the need to transcend his own passions to take ownership of God’s passions. Paul’s work life also shows us that perception alone isn’t enough. We can perceive what needs to be done, and still fail to do it.

Paul persevered in coupling his vast knowledge of Old Testament Scripture to the requirements of emerging Christian doctrine. He persevered through rejection by his family, the outrage of the Jewish leadership, the initial skepticism of Jesus’ disciples, and more.

But through it all Paul kept God’s perspective, the third element in God’s formula for work purpose. Paul recognized that God’s economy transcends our own. He earned the financial resources he needed to support himself—tent making one day and preaching the next. But Paul was never distracted by material concerns. He understood that the prosperity of Jeremiah 29:11 is far deeper than profitability.

Godly Purpose: Finding the “Sweet Spot”

At work, you may well feel like the lone voice in the wilderness. Your colleagues and associates might not believe in the same work formula that you do. The world’s formula for finding work purpose is to find the “sweet spot” where passion, performance and profitability come together.

It is God’s purpose to find where perception, perseverance and perspective come together.

Welcome to the At Work On Purpose Blog

Welcome to the AWOP Blog!