Donald Trump and Christian Leadership

In the past 10 years, and in the dozens of leadership seminars that I have presented,  I have begun each and every seminar asking the participants what goal is emphasized into the theme song of Donald Trump's show "The Apprentice".

I then follow up with the question "What important subject is embedded in the entertainment? Can you remember the goal and what is the underlying show subject?

The end goal repeated in the theme song is -  Money, Money, Money, Money. The embedded subject being taught is Leadership.

If you regularly watched this program, I would suspect that most of you did not realize that you were being taught "Trump Leadership". You thought you were just being entertained. What you did not know was that the leadership worldview of power, position, fame and fortune was slowly entering and penetrating your view of valid leadership. 

May I suggest that when we watched programs like this, we were giving permission for Trump and the producers to tickle our sub-conscious interests. We did not knowingly allow this. It is all being done down in the abyss of our sinful nature. Here are examples of what is being tickled down there.

1. The desire to be a winner by any means, at the expense of others.

2. The desire to someday experience the perceived pleasure of telling someone "Your Fired!"

3. The desire to be somebody enormous in wealth or popularity.

Would it not be true if I said that while many of you are reading this, some of you already have some thought of disagreement entering your mind. Some of you might point out they should not be blanket statements, but based on the context of a person's situation. Please be careful, ... some contextual debate is simply an attempt to justify an unrighteous principle or act. Before you cast a final vote of disagreement, let's check out the situation of the one whom we Christians claim is our leader, and the one Christians claim to follow.

Philippians 2:3-7  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.

Matthew 4:8  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Satan tempted Christ by raising him to high places where the view of wealth and power was visible. He then offered him a way to possess it all. He offered Him everything in view if He would only become his "apprentice" and bow down to him. Satan put on a great show, and today Trump is putting on a show in his presidential campaign. Satan tempted Christ like Trump is tempting us by making promises to make American so great that we will all get "sick of winning"! He is promising you everything a person could ever want from a president.

Satan was trying to germinate a desire that would not grow in Christ. However, Trump, in his growing campaign is bringing to life a leadership that includes the practice of revenge and the ability to deliver insulting criticism with an uncontrolled "tone". He began tickling our sinful desires and now almost every day he is massaging that desire. Friends, we must become more aware that there is an abyss in us where unrighteousness germinates and grows. The darkness of our abyss blocks our consciousness of the danger of being tickled by Trump's promises. It is in this unconsciousness, where what is wrong,  is converted by human logic, into what we think might be legitimate leadership. I write this to warn of what might be happening in our abyss. 

I believe Trump is a dangerous leader. Like what Satan did with Christ, Trump is promising 'the world' if we would only vote for him. I believe Trump trying to get us to accept what Christ refused to accept. He is teaching and spreading his venomous leadership principles where people are insulted, demeaned, and where revenge is king.

At the end of his TV show, everyone sits at the judgement seat of Donald Trump. Metaphorically, do you really want to be his "apprentice"? Several pundits and polls seem to say many Christians do. If Trump becomes president there may be some changes that might seem to benefit us. However, the president of the United States has a huge impact on the perimeters for American morals and what is acceptable behavior. Along the with immediate risk of Trump's temper and revenge regarding our adversaries, the long term damage to our children and grandchildren's view of leadership is not worth the short term gains.

I strongly encourage everyone to invest in the long term, and then seek to support and vote for another candidate where the leadership philosophy is more biblical.


P.S.  Since preparing this over a month ago, my pastor delivered a message regarding our biblical response to our governing authorities. While most difficult, I have, and will encourage everyone to pray for Donald Trump, ... that someday whether president or not, ... a testimony that "Jesus is Lord of his life" will be delivered with a believable tone.

Two Things I Am Fearful Of - Fear Part 2

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. 

Fear Part II
In Part 1 we looked at the life of Noah and watched how his holy fear of God drove him to obedience. His obedience was driven by his strong belief in God and the fear of the consequences of ignoring God's command and direction. His righteousness by faith preceded his holy fear of God.

In preparing the application of holy fear into our lives today, I ended that short study with a question for you, namely; What have you done lately out of your holy fear of God? Have you thought of anything? If not, does that concern you at all? If you are not concerned, might I gently but firmly say that you should start being concerned about it right now. To not be concerned that the creator of the universe and the Savior of the world is watching your every move and knowing your every thought is a quite dangerous position to be in. Throughout the history of man, God has demonstrated his mercy but also has demonstrated that while His grace is unlimited, his patience is not always unlimited. Our friend Noah can testify to this.

There are other less significant ways why I have a holy fear of God but I must share two of my fears so that all may understand better what I am talking about. One fear has developed within my business world and one consistently remains in my ministry life.

First, my business fear. For the last 15 years God has shifted my dominate focus back and forth; from business to ministry, and then ministry to business. For the last 4 years my business life has dominated my time. During the course of the last two years I have tried to balance the emphasis of the services of the company I own. To accomplish this I have felt for two years that I needed another location that was much more visible to the public. I even outlined the geographical area and even a stretch of the street I thought would be a great location. About two months ago a location on this street became available. It appears to be a phenomenal building and location. About 2 months ago I went and looked at it. After speaking with the owner he told me that although he had several other calls about this property, he preferred to give me first choice. The decision was mine to make.

You might ask what would generate holy fear in this? Well my friends, I am 59 years old going on 70. I feel I could just work where I am and in five years or so get out and sell and not be concerned about the 20 employees currently working for me. Many of those that work for me have been with me for over 15 years. There is a battle within me between my entrepreneurial spirit and my age. Add that to my "felt responsibility" to provide for the future of those that work for me and you find a guy looking for a new location even though many would tell me to stay put. When I finally had to choose what to do, I said to my wife that I was more fearful of NOT expanding than I was of staying where I was. When God supplies the location that you feel you need right in your lap and the guy who owns it wants me there, I then become in holy fear of refusing the blessing God is offering. If I state to the Lord in my quiet time that I love Him with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind, ... and that loving God provides what I believe the company needs, ... how could I demonstrate that my love and faith in Him is real if I do not take the risk?  I was in holy fear and afraid NOT to.

I have a similar fear in ministry. For 15 years I have been teaching leadership, writing these articles and finding time to do seminars and meeting with anyone who wants to hear what I have to say. I have traveled to dozens of locations within the US, once to Canada, twice to Nigeria and now preparing for my fourth trip to Sierra Leone, Africa. I leave with a teaching partner November 1st.  During these times of teaching leadership I know God has uses the teaching gift he gave me. However, God also knows I detest heat and humidity. While I have developed some very good friendships in Africa, I would rather travel in comfort to Iceland! 

The blessings I receive enduring the African climate and from other opportunities teaching Christian leadership exceeds the greatest business sale or contract I have ever sold. In light of that I feel my life would be worthless if God took back the teaching gift if I refused to go. So that my friends is one main reason I will return to Africa this November. For I stand in holy fear if I don't go.

Please do not be tempted to say I am wrong to feel the way I do. Don't be tempted to tell me that I should not feel the "felt responsibility" for my employees future. Do not be tempted to say that God won't necessarily take my teaching gift from me just because I would choose not to go. Friends, do not tell me that for it makes no difference if you are right or if I am right. What is important to me, and what should be important to you is that I stand in holy fear of God and you should too .. about something. 

I believe a holy fear of God causes a change in what we do next.

What will you do next?  And why? 

Is Fear a Legitimate Tool in Leadership - Part 1

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.

Within your work or ministry life, when was the last time you did something out of the fear of the consequences or penalty? Maybe you are the kind of person who is always running late and find yourself straining to show up for work on time because of the fear of your pay being docked. Maybe you have been late so much that you now strain to show up in fear of losing your job.

When you have experienced this fear, do you feel it is fair and legitimate? Do you think any organization could function well without imposing the fear of penalty or consequence? Can anyone lead people well without having the authority to deliver some form of the fear of consequence or penalty? I would suggest that you and I cannot. Here is why. God designed this when He first created man.

An important note is that God instituted this form of leadership before man disobeyed and became sinful. I believe there are those who would argue it really is not God's will that we use fear and try to support that by saying God is all about love. They would say that he brought fear and consequence in response to the sin of mankind, therefore blaming man for creating the need to have it or use it. Based on that belief it would not be a legitimate tool or model. However, prior to sin and prior to even giving man a woman companion, he delivered to man a warning and consequence. "Do not eat of this tree or you will die." God designed leadership to deliver warnings and consequences. Even if man had remained obedient, the warnings and consequences would still be a valid deterrent today, ... in keeping man obedient. The fact that we continue to disobey gives total legitimacy to using warnings and consequences in leadership today.

In our scripture above, there is a reference to "holy fear".  Was it holy because Noah was described as a righteous and blameless man" in Genesis 6?  

Genesis 6: 9 ... Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.  

The reference to Noah being "blameless" was referring to how he was described by those that lived around him, ... evil people! To them he was considered blameless! It was not a reference from God to describe his sinless nature! In a similar but different way Noah's "righteousness" was not a result of him being compared to the others of his time. No! He was considered righteous by God in the same way true believers are today ... by faith, ... by believing! The point of all this being that the holy fear referred to here is simply the same holy fear we should have on a daily basis. The fear that comes from the knowledge of God.

Noah's holy fear was as much about his fear of drowning as it was about his fear of disobeying. Both were developed because of his faith and belief in God. He was fearful of drowning because he knew it was going to rain and that he needed a boat if he and his family were to live. His fear of drowning was because of his belief in God.

In the next issue, we will look closer at the application of the kind of fear Noah had and the fear we should have. In the meantime, reflect and try to answer this question.

What have you done lately because of your holy fear of the Lord?

Leaders Deliver Hope in Tough Times

 I Peter 3:15 … But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have ….

In my last leadership exhortation, we looked at the reality that leaders sometimes “gotta do what they gotta do” and stated the case for that.

The challenge with this new leadership definition framework is that it might lead the leader to think that he needs to go do what HE thinks needs to be done. I would suggest that there are many time where what one thinks he "has gotta” do really is not what he “must do”. In pondering that one, how in the world do we really know? Even though I have participated and led 6 groups through Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God, sub-titled “Knowing and Doing the Will of God”, maintaining the level of spiritual discipline that he teaches through the American daily pace of rapid decision making I find quite challenging, and consciously ponder if it is possible to make every decision within the framework of God's will. How, at the end of the day can you and I sit on the edge of our beds and find contentment with the efforts we put forth during the day, along with the dozens of decisions that were made, some which significantly impact the lives of those we lead?
 
How do we do that? Today's written message is about the significance of hope.

I sense the Holy Spirit is prompting me to highlight the fact that while we are to “be ready to give the reason for the hope we have” in Christ, we also need to deliver hope to those we lead. In the same way attenders will leave a church if they lose hope for themselves, leaders and employers will lose those they lead if there is no hope for the future. Maintaining hope in those you lead is really easy when things are going good. Try maintaining hope in those you lead when times are tougher. It is really hard … I know.

While it is hard it is not impossible. Many contemporary leaders references to our scripture verse are surrounded by the exhortation to share your faith. Taken out of context, one might think that the hope Peter is referring to is in reference to some amazing transformation of what already happened within the condition of the believer in Asia Minor, and therefore with you and I, the reader. However, the hope that it is referring to is a future hope, based on our future full and final redemption in Christ. Peter was exhorting them to keep that hope in the midst of the suffering they were enduring, not primarily because they had a great testimony of hope from what they previously were delivered from, … whether that be a restored health, a better financial outcome, or otherwise. Peter knew that he had to inspire their faith so that those he was leading could endure the pain and suffering of their circumstances.

So how do we as leaders lead those we lead through hard times and suffering? We do this by providing them hope.

This hope is not a guarantee of things you wish for, nor is it just crossing your fingers.

Paul stated in Romans 8:24b-25 "…., but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it".

Friends, providing a hope for things you cannot see can be incredibly hard. Sometimes what you are asking those you lead to hope for will be seemingly out of reach for them, and maybe even for you. However, remember that hope is the expectation of a positive outcome, not the guaranteed end of a particularly hard circumstance.

Some of you may now be thinking “Come on Ron, how am I going to put a positive spin to those I lead in the midst of what they and I are dealing with? I cannot stand before them inspiring them with a future prediction I find hard to believe. I do not want to later be found to be a liar.” Friends, this is where faith meets hope. While hope is the expectation of a positive future outcome, faith is the God given assurance that the outcome will come to pass. It is based not only on the belief of it actually coming to pass, but also strengthen by what God has done in the past in your life.

In summary, in determining what must be done, a good focal point in the midst of your fast paced decision making life would be to do what you must, but do it in a way that will raise or maintain hope in those you lead.

If you doubt that you are able to do this, consider what you must do for your faith to be strengthened. Then do what must be done with yourself and ask the Lord to increase your faith!

Leaders, Know When to Hold Your Tongue

Proverbs 17: A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered. Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

Zechariah 8:16  These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts;...

I am sure we can all remember the times when we have led or attended meetings, and after further review, felt we should or should not have said something in that meeting. Maybe something we said hit a nerve with someone, or maybe a key point we should have uttered might have helped. After the further review of what we might feel as failures, I suggest that the underlying cause of both of these kinds of "failures" are created by fear, ... the fear that if we do say something it might lead to more stress, or if we do not speak some truth the road that is being traveled will be very bumpy. Most of us are just not sure, if we release it to speak,  what our tongue will actually do. Is the tongue's default good or evil?



The tongue is a hard limb to tame. It wants to go it own way. James 3:8 says, "but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison".  Sounds like the default is evil. Yet James points out that this restless limb of ours is the same limb whereby we profess and praise our Savior. I wonder why the creator of the universe would accept the believer's testimony spoken from such a source of restless evil?

If no one can tame the tongue, then maybe we should all keep our mouth shut all the time? ... Never say a challenging word to one another? Hm... that is not what our second scripture verse says, does it?  On the contrary, this verse emphasizes the need not only to speak but to remain accurate with the truth, as if you are in court all the time. Have you ever embellished the truth to make a point? Have you ever stretched the truth in retaliation for what someone else said against you? Friends, in those cases we need to hold back or just hold our tongue.

What about another problem with speaking truth. How about repeating the truth too many times? Many years ago I was ministering with a colleague that I respect immensely when we got into a debate about a budget matter. Since I felt he was a weaker in financial matters I continued to debate him until he became exhausted with me and said. "OK Ron, you don' t have to hammer it home". Interestingly, even though that was over 10 years ago, I never forgot those words he said to me. I know in reality my debate that I enjoy so much can become overbearing for some and I need to be more sensitive to others. I also know that there is a fine line between the spoken truth that could overlap into others sensing judgement instead of truth. Let us bath the truth with sensitivity.

Friends, the most important principle of the tongue is restraint ... but only to a point. Just because, as our scripture states, you may look wise in the eyes of men for keeping silent, a more complete examination of the text might also reveal that silence does not always reveal the wise man, ... the text says he will only appear to be wise ... when he was really a fool for not speaking up.

We must speak the truth when we must. However, let us be very careful.

Don't be silent, just know when to hold your tongue.

 

Great Ideas & Reminders - Are They Your Epiphany?

Ecclesiastes 1: 16-17a  I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,

Epiphany - "a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something" (dictionary.com)

Recently I woke up with a rather important thought about a work experience. I had not thought about it the during the previous day or evening. The subject had become a bit more prevalent but not to the point of daily reflection.

It felt like it could have been an epiphany.  I am sure many of you have had some of these moments. These moments when you feel like you now know something that was delivered to you through a momentary illumination of reality. You feel it may not have been totally apart from your mental capacity, but not within it just yet. It came in advance of you reaching it. I believe these could be "next level" blessings of the wisdom God gives.

Real epiphanies are truth and understandings. Truth is Christ. Like my apparent epiphany, it is real easy to dismiss God as the spiritual author of these special events. Of course there is also the danger of thinking a crazy idea of your own is from God too. The first filter that I use is I ask myself a question. "How much was I thinking of this subject, and how important did I think it was at the time? If those two measurements are fairly low, then I ask myself "is there a particular personal gain that makes the reality super sweet for me?".  If that is low too it is a good sign, if it is not, that does not mean it is a bad idea, ... it just means to proceed with caution. When you are comfortable with the filters, then please join me in acknowledging the fact that we did receive them ... they are being delivered to us, from Jesus Christ, through the role of the Holy Spirit.

I believe that when one becomes a Christian, every future aspect of their natural talent and/or human wisdom becomes an experience with God. It seems to me that the whole book of Ecclesiastes is an account of the delivery of an epiphany to Solomon! As much as he tried Solomon just could not separate what he may have felt his natural wisdom could attain and the wisdom God gave him. When he tried to separate it he always realized that it became "a chasing after the wind". This was such an immense epiphany Solomon writings became 12 chapters long.

Epiphanies  are not always dramatic illuminations, they also can be dramatic reminders. I had one of those lately too. About a month ago I had a scheduled debate with a former pastor who, through his own declaration, had become an agnostic. With the acquisition of a M-Div, and over 8 years of pastoral ministry, this man somehow has succumbed to the devil's efforts (he does not believe in the devil either) and now denies the deity of Christ or that there is any deity.

This person (let's call him John) is a very intelligent person and has several other degrees in psychology. As you might imagine, the potential of this person's intelligence in the community of Christian theologians is something that the devil is very aware of. Right now it is not clear whether the devil is succeeding in damaging the faith this man already has or whether or not he is repelling a faith that he never had. Either way, the devil has won many battles. Please pray for my next "debate" with him in June.

Two hours into a four hour meeting with him I felt a dramatic reminder from God. I was enjoying immensely the "debate". It actually was the deepest conversation of my life and I was enjoying it, hoping that at some point I could influence him with a logic that would "win" and thus help his "human wisdom" move back toward Christ. However, two hours into the discussions God delivered to me a dramatic reminder, and that reminder was ... "you cannot influence him apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, not only working in John, but also working in you and any godly wisdom that comes out of your mouth".  As John was speaking and explaining a certain point, I prayed earnestly with eyes wide open that Holy Spirit would completely take me over along with what comes out of my mouth. I remember that was a point of relief as I finished the next two hours of discussions.

Whether or not you woke up one day with a important thought so intense you wondered why, or whether your sensed you experienced a remarkable reminder, let us all thank the deliverer of all phases of wisdom.

Let's fight the temptation to claim them for ourselves.

Reassurance of a Call

2 Peter 1 3-10  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. .........

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive ........

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ........

Making your Calling and Election Sure.

Many Bible translations have the same heading ... "Making Your Calling and Election Sure". When you first read this, one might think that this was referring to significant church leaders or just pastors.  However, the call here is that everyone is called to His glory, goodness and godliness. Many other passages talk of how we can do that through exercising our spiritually gifts. This passage speaks of something that should precede our gifts. It speaks of glorifying Him through our goodness.

The call that I have in glorifying God is to shepherd, coach, encourage and challenge Christian leaders in what ever role they find themselves. Although we as Christians will never shed our sinful nature until we enter our heavenly home, God calls us to be set apart from the world. This actually means that our behavior should be set apart from worldly behavior. People need to see a difference when they encounter us. We need to feel a difference when we encounter each other. Not being set apart from the world's behavior destroys the reputation of Christ. Let me give you an example.

The company I own provides disaster services. Early in the 1990's I had an estimator named Sherry. She was an outstanding salesperson, energetic and effective. She grew up in a family that went to church but had move away from any connection with church or God. She saw what my life in Christ looked like and worked for me during my own major transformation toward Christ. We had many talks and one day I took her to lunch and shared the gospel in more detail using the very popular bridge illustration. On that day she told me she was not just not ready. Sherry liked to party.

Several months later we received a call from a prominent church in our area. The church is led by a pastor who is seen occasionally on TV today. They had a fire at the church and needed us. I sent Sherry to this fire damage to represent us. Hours later she came back, poked her head into my office and said. "Ron, if that is what Christianity is like, I want no part of it". Without waiting for my reply she walked away and went back to work. I sat there somewhat stunned.

After I gave her time to "cool off", she explained how badly she was treated. She told me of the arrogance of the people she met and the poor treatment she received. A few years later the pastor of this church had an emergency water damage in his own house and never paid his bill. Months later, my attorney told me that this pastor has many unpaid bills with many contractors, and those that know him well will not do business with him or this church. This pastor and this church may have a very public fancy ministry, but behind the scenes is behaving in a way that destroys the reputation of Christ. It grieved me then how it set back the development of Sherry, and who knows how many others.

We all need to balance the "call or vision" with the call to "goodness". Friends, I have been reassured of my election and call. Many of you have helped with that. My first and foremost call is for "his own glory and excellence". My secondary call is to glorify Him through business ventures and effective leadership development. When applicable, I must exhort those whose behavior has not been set apart from unbelievers. I (we) must balance our boldness with goodness. Jesus got aggressive with many people including church leaders. However Jesus is remembered more for his kindness than His aggressiveness. I wonder how he would have addressed the church that was arrogant toward Sherry. Leaders will never be salt and light if they continue to lead in darkness. 

Goodness should never be overshadowed by the vision. I would question the validity of your vision if where you are going overshadows the person in need in front of you. If that were the case, Jesus would have only preached the doom to come and never would have healed the sick or warned of the demise of those who would hurt little children.

We need to be bold with each other. Helping leaders by "admonishment with goodness" on the surface seems impossible. But it is not impossible. If it my call, it is not impossible.

So what is your call? Whatever it is remember this  ...... goodness first.

P.S,  Sherry continued to work for me for about a total of 10 years but later remarried the second husband she previously divorced and moved to be with him in Florida. Years later she called me to tell me that she had finally accepted Christ and was reading the Bible I gave her for Christmas every day. What joy I had that day on the phone with her!

When Things Look Fruitless

Many months ago I send a survey out. A few commented that I had become too personal by inserting too much of my own life experiences. One seemed so adamant that the person unsubscribed shortly thereafter. There were, of course, those who enjoyed the transparency and learned from it. I must admit that I need to be personal in order to teach on leadership. There is a false belief that to be a leader you must not do anything that makes others think you are weak or imperfect. That includes writing about it.

That is why I need to be blunt and say I cannot do what I do without being personal. For if I am to try to satisfy those who want information only and nothing personal, I will quit writing now. Over the last 15 years I have been told several times that I am a strong leader, and a good teacher who should have considered being a pastor. However, no one really knows how weak I really am. There is no doubt that I can relate to two Biblical characters. Peter for his boldness including his weaknesses, and Jeremiah for his lamenting and seemingly ineffectiveness as he warned God's people over and over again.

The Bible says you can recognize a good tree by its fruit. Good fruit, good tree, bad fruit, bad tree. This verse has caused me to think that God wants me to do what I do that bears fruit.  For the last two years the company I own and lead (www.portersnetwork.com) has increasing been bearing good fruit. Praise God for that. I feel my leadership in that has been effective. So when I ponder where to spend my time, this verse overpowers the Jeremiah in me and pushes my emphasis into business and to consider going "all in" to corporate life.

During the last two months of this journey, I came across 2 Peter 1: 4-8. I cannot escape my total devotion to this chapter. Its context is about "our calling".

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. NIV

These verses are not about the effectiveness of unbelievers, or their organizations. Many unbelievers have effective products and businesses. This is talking about the 'effectiveness IN our knowledge of Christ'. That assumes we have Christ in our lives already and have a certain level of knowledge of him. As a businessman and ministerial, I see the application in both areas of my life. Since God has given me these gifts, I am "called to be effective" as my life demonstrates growth adding goodness to my faith, self-control to my knowledge ... and so on.  Preceding effectiveness is this requirement ... "if you possess these qualities in increasing measure".  That means ... leaders cannot stay where they are ... we must keep growing.

Think of it in terms of the fuel mileage of your car. Sometimes in winter, we do not notice our miles per gallon diminish until the tires lose so much air pressure, we realize they are going to go flat if we do not inflate them. Once inflated, we notice that our mileage increases and then actually realize the reason for it. On the one hand I am trying to choose the right seat on the right bus while checking my "tire pressure of godliness". On the other, I wonder if Jeremiah just needed to check his godliness, or whether he simply needed to persevere because of his calling. As one might imagine, it is an intense mental exercise.

I suspect many of you will agree that our flesh does not drive us into scripture when we get discouraged. On the contrary, our flesh drives us away. Fortunately, I have overcome my flesh enough to be challenged, somewhat sustained and somewhat comforted by this chapter. It contains a promise that I can have faith in. Right now, I am just trying to add to my life goodness and kindness. I will try to love those who are hard to love and continue to control my desire to throw in the towel.

Whether this is the last chapter in my "book" or whether it is simply a "crisis of belief" that every Christian leader goes through, I do not know yet. Yet I know I must write this to move on, wherever that leads.

There is an old saying. Misery loves company. Please know that I write this not to inflame the misery within you or to invite you to a pity party. I write this because ultimately I have confidence that there are many like me, who are not sure about what to do next. For now, I will focus on finding increasing measurements of godliness.

That party I do invite you to.

Success - A Chasing After the Wind?

Ecclesiastes 2:11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. NIV

I would suspect that we all talk to ourselves once and a while.

I enjoy debate, there are times when I want to debate with myself over certain ideas or subjects, taking both sides of an issue and finding out which one seems to be true and accurate. God prompted this characteristic of mine ever since He embedded His promise in Proverbs 2, when He promised wisdom to those who sought it with the intensity of a search for silver or hidden treasure. That serves me well most of the time, but it can lead some to think I am argumentative. I really don't want to be, but I sure do have to watch that I don't become that way, or portray myself that way..

Solomon's Debate

You would think that a guy like Solomon, who attained the greatest level of wisdom, would not have to debate with himself over anything. However, the book of Ecclesiastes is twelve chapters of just that--a lengthy debate over the meaningfulness of his life.

Come on! What was he thinking? And why? Here was a guy who began his reign with a solid demonstration of strength and power when he took care of a couple of his father David's nemeses, then out of humility appealed to God for wisdom because he felt his wisdom was the level of a "small child." He became more wise and wealthy than anyone in the world and had more women in his life than any man could imagine. Yet he had not found enough happiness to identify that his life, or anyone's life, contained meaningfulness.

In his debate he reflected on his material success, his own great wisdom, times when he slipped into folly, and the perceived success of handing over an inheritance to his descendants. Reflecting on it all, he declared it to be meaningless to him, a chasing after the wind. He does not actually define what the "wind" is. However, he does insert and repeat that "it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God" (Eccl 5:18 NIV).

His varied repetitions of this verse reveals what Solomon is learning in his debate with himself. He comes to realize that the times of joy in his life were the most meaningful to him, reflecting that the perceived success of his life, he had now set aside in his mind. He goes on to declare that the time we spend with him in "debating over this subject" could be a sign that joy has not been achieved. Verse 20 says, "He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart."

Friends, life is all about the "joy" of "toil," not about the common worldview of success, the size of your business or church. In the pursuit of joy, Solomon adds his simple path to joy in chapter 12 when he declares, "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man"( Eccl 12:13).

Sometimes We Get Our Eyes on the Wrong Ball

Friends let me leave you to think about one more way to understand the theology of meaningfulness. Shaping your leadership through the lens of success is like shaping your life around good deeds in pursuit of salvation.

Shaping your leadership through the lens of success is like shaping your life around good deeds in pursuit of salvation. 

Some times we get our eyes on the wrong ball. I believe Solomon is teaching us that our first measurement in our churches and businesses should be the "joy-o-meter." Discover the meaningfulness of joy, then we can go on to study other prudent measurements of church attenders, ministries, revenue and business profits. In the same way faith produces good deeds, joy produces God defined success. Solomon, the wisest and richest man in his time defines success as in the size of your JOY!

That, my friends is most meaningful. That we can chase.

Leadership & Reconciliation Encore Post

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

As leaders, we must be the initiators of reconciliation.

People who have been leaders for any length of time will eventually find that there are times where they fall out of fellowship with one or more of their followers. Although this can happen for a variety of reasons, a short list of some of the most common would include:

1. A simple misunderstanding 
2. Poor performance by the follower 
3. Poor management by the leader

The Importance of Being the Initiator 

Invariably, small issues fester within teams, only to be compounded when new conflict occurs. Trying to build a team with a variety of broken relationships will ultimately develop an aroma of disunity. And initiating reconciliation is one of the hardest parts of being a leader. Why? Because it is very hard to do.

A regenerate leader has to put off the "old self,” who wants others to take the first step. Forget for the moment when you just need to eat some humble pie and apologize for your actions. That is hard, but not as hard as initiating reconciliation when one of your followers has performed poorly, and through correction or discipline, falls out of fellowship with you. While some form of relational stress is expected, effective leaders watch diligently for the remnants of bitterness or anger. When these signs don't subside in a reasonable length of time, the leader needs to take action. In other words, the leader needs to become the “initiator.”

Four Responsibilities from Scripture

What are we called to do in today's scripture reference? Take a moment to read it again and see if you can spot at least the four responsibilities that I see.

1. Recognize God's call for us to do what we normally would not want to do. We are "new creations," putting off what we wanted to do in the past. Sometimes the old self wants to initiate pain, not reconciliation.
2. Acknowledge that God is not calling us to do something He has not modeled for us first. He gave us a ministry that is precious. We need to treat and treasure it like a gift. 
3. Learn also that the wrongs of your followers should not "count against" them so much that you as a leader fade from your role as the "initiator,” the one who initiates reconciliation.
4. Preach and teach reconciliation within your organization or ministry. If we model it, we can not only teach others to do it, but we can also require it within our own organizations and churches. Ban the soil in which Satan likes to farm! 

God was the first initiator. He took the initiative to reconcile himself with us through sending his Son. We were completely in the wrong and should have gone to him first, begging to be reconciled to Him. But man did not do that, nor could man accomplish on his own what Christ accomplished for us.

Because God took the initiative with us, we must take the initiative with those we lead. Would you agree with me that everyone reading this has some form of relationship that could be shored up? If you would try today to become an "Initiator,” trust me when I say that a blessing is waiting for you.

Is Yours a Voice of Leadership?

2 Samuel 5:2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you (David) were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, "You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler." John 10:2-4 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Finding some reference to a shepherd's qualities in a secular book on leadership today would certainly be an anomaly. Most would tend to reserve the acts of shepherding to the church or even to just a pastor. Many would say that shepherding is for the spiritual world, not for the trenches of the business world or even the political arena.

However, look at our text today from 2 Samuel. It certainly reflects an “ordination” of a “political leader” as a shepherd of the Lord.

Business Leaders as Shepherds

The shepherd example applies to business leaders too.

Interestingly, many if not most references to shepherding apply to the leaders of all people groups, not just those under the care of the priests or religious leaders. Many years ago, this came to my attention during a phone call between myself and key leaders in the company I owned. A few weeks before this phone call, I had been studying the book of John in my quiet time and had spent time pondering our scripture reference from John.

 The phone call that I am referring to happened a few weeks later while I was on vacation. It is worthy to note that when I go on vacation, I seldom called the office. Right or wrong, I believe that if a company cannot run without me for a week or two, then I am not a very good leader. I told my key leaders not to call me unless the place was burning down--and they didn’t call. I was blessed by key leaders who took that as a challenge. They did a great job, and I enjoyed my time away far more as a result.

There was that one time, though, that I broke my rule. For some reason, I know not why, I just felt the need to call in on one of my vacations. So I did and found myself talking with one of my key leaders. I asked how things were going, and he said "OK." There was a slight hitch in the way he said OK, though, so I prodded a bit. I remember him telling me a little as possible, trying not to ruin my vacation. After we talked a bit, I asked to be transferred to another key leader. I repeated my greeting and received the same hitch in the response. This was repeated with a third key leader. In each case, the more I talked, the better they felt. Each call ended with a really good goodbye.

A Leader's Voice

I never did get the details of all the problems, nor did I provide a profound solution to their problems. It was not until I hung up from the third leader that I came to realize that the sound of my voice made a positive impact with each leader. The moment I sensed the depth of that fact, the passage from John came alive in my business life. From that day on, I felt a new sense of what being a shepherd leader feels like. And from that day on, I pondered my shepherding responsibility toward my unbelieving employees.

It is here that I must admit another weakness of mine. My voice does not always bring peace to people. In fact, when I am in the midst of debate, my voice level rises. I do not intend for it to do so, and many times I don’t even realize it--but it does. In certain situations I need help to lower my voice to the level of others involved. It is interesting that the same key leaders who heard me raise my voice in the past were comforted by that same voice during the phone call.

What impact does the sound of your voice have on those you lead? Is it reassuring, or does it add to the tension? One way to enhance your leadership is to ponder the impact of your voice. Take note of how it sounds and at what level. Be assured that there are sheep who get out of line and need to hear some passion in your voice level. But ponder both sides of this tool God gave you.

Our voices should improve our leadership, not hold it back.

Leaders Learn to Love Process

Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and  from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Today's article is a continuation of "Did you Get Your Wisdom." It may be helpful to review this post.

If an organization is shaped well, its leaders have acquired a certain level of decision-making authority. Leaders make new decisions every day. Some are significant, and some are seemingly insignificant. Still others really are insignificant. For instance, some decisions can be as insignificant as deciding what kind of coffee to buy for the office.

Understanding the Difference Between Significant and Insignificant Decisions

Leaders need to be really good at discerning which decisions are really insignificant and which are only seemingly insignificant. You may redesign your office and think that moving someone's desk 5 feet is insignificant, yet you my find that to be very significant for the person you just moved. While you thought the person was just being petty, months later you may find that the person was somewhat claustrophobic and did not do well with his desk facing the wall. Your seemingly simple decision cost you more than you ever thought.

Most of us would think we are able, and have sufficient wisdom to decide how far a desk needs to be moved. However, most leaders don't need to learn the art and science of desk moving! Instead, they need to learn while moving desks. After mastering a process for seemingly simple decisions, then you can go on to make significant decisions, those that could threaten the life of your church or organization.

Leaders must take the time to make decisions carefully.

There are more, but here are a few signs that usually accompany a poor decision process.

• The leader thought he or she was personally significant enough to make the decision him or herself without counsel or advice.
• The decision was much more important than anyone thought 
• The leader made the decision too quickly.The leader considered the opposition petty so did not consider it.

As a sub-point, you and I both know that there are people with petty desires. However, you should try to discern who gains by the pettiness. Who is the focus of the decision? Who gains comfort? Whose time, stress, or energy does it cost? Genuine pettiness and comfort usually do go together. Time, stress, energy and pettiness don't. If a person voices a desire that you consider petty, but seems to be genuinely concerned about it, there may be another explanation.

Good Decision Process

Contrary to a poor decision-making process, a good decision-making process results in the following characteristics:

• Although the process may seem to take too long, in the end, everyone is happy.
• The decision usually contains the fingerprints of several people. 
• Smaller forms of dissatisfaction dissipate very quickly.

As another sub-point, review the speed at which dissatisfaction dissipates. If it does not dissipate quickly, don't be stubborn. Review the process and see where you might have gone wrong. Re-process. If you don't know where to begin, start with one source of dissatisfaction; then pursue the fruit of the Spirit in that source or person and in yourself. I am highly confident you will come out on the other side of the process with a better decision and higher degree of peace and unity.

The pursuit of wisdom in our scripture verse today is designed by God to be intense and even arduous. There are some of you that strain under and during process. However, read this scripture and take comfort in the pain you are enduring. This is a very good pain to endure. 

 "Read this scripture and take comfort in the pain you are enduring. This is a very good pain to endure."

Remember how Part 1 ended? What God has to give us is much better than the pot of gold at the end of any rainbow:  

"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her” (Proverbs 3:13-15 NIV).

Process = Wisdom = Incomparable Satisfaction.

 

You are going to love it.