I wrote this for my husband Chauncey as we are both business people, we use our skills and experiences for the betterment the church body we serve. This was to encourage Chauncey and I that we too have a place in God's work as He has called us to be. He's blessed us with the ability to manage and make decisions, so we contribute as led.
There is much Scripture that says God has gifted each one of us with talents, skills, abilities and placed us in situations where we are to use those abilities for His glory and for the benefit of His church (bride). Not all of us are thumbs, not all of us speak tongues, not all of us have the same talents and that’s for the best because we each complement one another. Where I am strong and you are weak, where you are strong and I am weak, God places us together so we are a team for His purpose and the work of our calling is shared becoming a joy rather than a burden. This is designed within our relationship to God and to one another. In our weakness, we must rely completely on God to help us overcome. Many times, He helps us through the partners he has placed in our lives.
It goes back to the purpose of Jesus coming to earth – to testify to the truth about God and to God’s truths; His standards and commands (John 18:37). As believers, we are called to testify to what Jesus said and did as He represented God's truths to the world. Our witness comes in many ways, yet mostly it comes by living a life that gives God the credit. If we truly love God, truly love Jesus, then we will live out those truths as a testimony to who God is and His truths. God’s very existence, His character, His truths, standards and His love are on trial with the world who refuses to admit God exists or who He says He is and how He cares for the human race and creation. This is why the language used to describe Jesus' and our purposes describe a trial; the world has us on trial. (Noted in The Truth Project)
So, what does this have to do with God calling busines people or including them or incorporating business skills as part of His kingdom work? Everything. When skills and abilities come naturally to each of us, there is a real reason. God has gifted us with a particular skill. Why? Because He knows the skill is needed to meet a need of His church and His children; the skill is part of a system of operation.
In life, we see many examples of the “shepherd of God’s flock” – the pastor, the spiritual leader – needing others to assist him in the task God has given which is to lead God’s people and to care for God’s people. A wise shepherd will know where his weaknesses are and ask God to provide him a resource to meet that need. Typically it’s in the day-to-day operations of that mission (leading God’s people). Within the mission is a part for each of us as we are called to participate in the great commission of Christ – go out into “the world” telling people the truth of God’s existence, who God is and how He rejoined us to Him. Then teach people who believe God’s truths making disciples/students of Jesus Christ so those people follow the correct leader of life - the Triune God. No one person is equipped to deal with each and every aspect of day-to-day operations and the collective church body is no different.
Think of it this way: a visionary, a manager and a task person are three separate and needed mindsets. A visionary is always looking towards God to understand His will, where God wants us to go. A task person focuses on the details of the role of the mission assigned to him. A manager is someone who can translate the visionary message into tasks, prioritize those tasks and see to it that the tasks are successfully accomplished. A manager is a servant in nature because he clears the road for the task person to do his task successfully. A manager can come along side and coach a person to grow that person’s maturity and abilities. A manager can communicate in both directions so task people fully understand their mission and so the visionary is confident God’s will is being accomplished. Now the visionary can spend his time with God, looking forward to better understand where he is to lead God’s people. Now the task people can focus efficiently on their assigned mission and accomplish it successfully. The manager keeps the effort moving forward. It’s like a person who speaks in tongues to a congregation, without a translator who can translate the message to the congregation so it understands what God is saying, the message means nothing. God could easily skip the translator and give the tongues person the message in a language the congregation understands but, God in His desire to be in relationship with ALL people provides ways for each of us to participate in relationship and His efforts. This participation allows for us to better understand God, His reality, truths and His character. We get to intimately know God through participation where the lessons become practical and real. The process also grows our maturity as "iron sharpens iron" because the process isn’t always perfect and smooth. This keeps us challenging one another, keeps us anchored to God and keeps us from group-think which can lead us astray.
All aspects must stay in touch with each other and with God and THAT is the true relationship God wants us to have here on earth as it mimics His Triune being where God the Father is in relationship with God the Spirit and God the Son; God the Son is in relationship with God the Father and God the Spirit; God the Spirit is in relationship with God the Father and God the Son. We too are to be in working relationship with one another and with God at all times. It is a system of operation as well as relationship.
God told Moses to divide the responsibilities of moving the congregation of Israelites because Moses couldn’t do all of the duties while staying in complete communion with God. No man can. Those duties included a hierarchy for ease of communications – God to Moses, Moses to the heads of Tribes, heads of Tribes to the congregation of each Tribe. People had tasked assigned to them based on their abilities – their gifts given by God. When issues arose and additional people were needed to help resolve issues, God said it was good for Moses to have people assigned as Judges so that burden could be shared and Moses could focus on God and not the issues of man.
In another example, Joseph was a businessman skilled in operations and that’s why he was trusted to oversee Egypt. He was a Godly man who, through his life’s struggles, was matured so his character would match his business acumen. This way, when Joseph was placed in a leadership management role for Egypt, his character was such that Joseph’s work glorified the One True God and God worked through Joseph to protect and sustain His people. The Old Testament is filled with examples of ordinary people being called to participate in this effort of God’s with their specific abilities to meet the need, fill a gap, meet a demand that was void without them.
In Acts, when the church began to grow – which is a good thing as that is our role in the great commission – the Apostles said it wasn’t good (efficient) for them to focus on day-to-day operations of the congregation because those details took them away from what each Apostle was called to do which was to lead the church. They pulled together and looked for Godly men who could manage the day-to-day operations of the congregation. Do you think the Apostle chose only people who were full of wisdom and the Spirit yet didn’t know how to manage their assignment? NO. You gain wisdom from applied experience. You gain operations wisdom from applied and tested operations experience. Now, if you have a person who is filled with Godly wisdom, the Spirit of God and God has equipped that person with the specific abilities you need, isn’t THAT the person God would have you designate as a manager of that operation? Did the Apostle have time to simply wait for a well-intentioned Godly person to learn the task set before him? No. The Apostles had an immediate need and they filled that immediate need with a competent, Godly person. They prayed for those people.
In Acts (16:11), Lydia was a businesswoman. A merchant – a buyer like the buyers from the Limited, Inc. Because she dealt in purple cloth, that meant she was a successful businesswoman; purple cloth was exceptionally expensive and time-laboring to produce, reserved for royalty and the very wealthy to purchase. The Proverbs 31 woman is truly a working woman and there is no designation between working within or outside of the home. These ladies are competent, resourceful, and able to manage operations. They are business women.
Without solid management that keeps an operation moving forward in God’s will – growing, downsizing, coaching, communicating, recognizing, caring, serving – then chaos ensues. Chaos is NOT a trait of God’s. Chaos is a characteristic of the enemy and that is why Godly business people are needed within God’s church; God created the system of business. We are not to turn God’s church into "a business" as the world views business because then we abuse the people we serve to benefit ourselves while abandoning our purpose in the great commission. Jesus spoke about this when He cleansed the temple saying God’s house of prayer was turned into a den of thieves; they weren’t working FOR God, they were capitalizing ON God while preventing the people from connecting WITH God - they were sacrificing the people they served to personally benefit themselves. We are to bring our abilities to the church assisting it in its need to allow the church to move cohesively forward as God directs us to move. This is our calling in God’s church and in our life. This is a tithing to God.
I am not ashamed of the gifting God has given me. I am not ashamed to use my abilities for God’s purposes. I am not ashamed of what God has done in my life. So I will live that out as a testimony to God’s existence, His presence in my life, His character and His truths. God made me a businesswoman and that’s who I am.
1 Corinthians 12: 14-30
ReplyDelete