MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES

Your employees are the face, hands and feet of your business. They are the ones your customers interact with. As B4Ters we want to enable co-workers to excel, help them discover their own wisdom, engage themselves entirely in their work, and accept responsibility for the work they do. Train your people well and they will work well. Learn their career aspirations and help them accomplish what they aspire to do. Jesus says, “Whatever you wish men would do to you, do so to them.” (Matthew 7:12) 

As leaders, we are to serve. Employees who are well trained and held in esteem will return such godly leadership by working hard for you.

Our co-workers and/or employees are also the first line of witness to the goodness and reality of the Lord in our lives. We need to walk and work in the Spirit every moment we are at work. The following are some helpful comments from OPEN workers about how they keep their employees motivated and His light shining before all men at work.

• Recognize employees in your staff meeting for work they have done well. Constantly be on the lookout for chances to praise your people’s work
  
• Try to involve employees in your thinking and making plans related to the business. Not only will they know the local market better, including suppliers and customers, they will also strengthen the marketing of the business’s goods and services.
  
• Learn what the employees really value and provide that. In some locales the workers desire opportunities for personal growth, while in others they want respect, promotions, responsibility, and often more money.
  
• Give employees a chance to develop new skills that enhance their worth in their current position, and prepare them for future advancement inside or outside the company.
  
• Be relational. It may not be possible to hang out with employees, but celebrate their birthdays and personal holidays; get to know at least the names of their family members. Ask about their lives, their joys, and their struggles. Pray with them.
  
• Thank people for their efforts. This simple tool is often underused. Reward people with notes or little gifts of encouragement. Make sure the feedback is specific and frequent.
  
• Maintain a transparent culture in your business. Discuss company information with employees regarding future plans and strategies, new products, and the department’s and employees’ role in the overall plan. Involve employees in decision making, especially those decisions that affect them.

Which one will you do this week?

PRIVACY – NO ROOM ON THE BEACH

Are you ever tired? Looking for a bit of rest? Need a break?

Jesus often took breaks, but they didn’t always go as planned. In Matthew 13 Jesus goes out of His house to sit and rest by the sea.

I live 100 yards from the ocean. I have a favorite place to sit and enjoy God’s awesome creation. I would guess that Jesus had His favorite rock, or spot on the sand to sit at too. It is likely before He began openly teaching and healing people that He went there often. However, on this day, He no sooner sits down than someone sees Him and informs the community and a crowd forms.

People had come from as far away as Tyre (Mark 3:8) to hear Him or be healed, so it is logical to assume there were hundreds of people camped around the village of Capernaum where he lived, hoping for an opportunity to meet Him. He’s spotted, a crowd gathers. Wanting space and rest, He calls for one of His friends to bring over a boat and climbs aboard. He sits down, but rather than sail to some distant quiet spot, He addresses the crowd and begins to teach.

Do your ever tire of living in fishbowl – a life where people are constantly pushing and pulling on you, touching you, asking you for things, never allowing one minute of alone time? Being recognized by everyone as the only foreigner in the city or neighborhood?

Well give thanks to God, for we are being just like Jesus!

JUSTICE

The following is contributed by a tentmaker, working in the Middle East.

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 
Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. 
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? – Amos 5:21-25

There are aspects of every culture and every age that bear resemblance of God’s intention for the people, although usually with some tainting by sin. There are also many aspects that are so twisted by sin they must be called out, overhauled and restored. This is the basis for contextualization. We contextualize the Good News because there are good things we can latch onto and proclaim to the people that our God is like _____ or He loves ______ just like they do. But there are things that God will judge in each culture too. Paul was masterful at finding the positives in a culture so that he could build a bridge to what needed to be redeemed.

Try convincing someone of anything while criticizing everything about them, and you will quickly have a door slammed in your face. Let this give you some hope if you feel like there is nothing left in today’s increasingly globalized culture that reflects the glory of God. One thing that is great and notable is the emphasis on social justice in business. For instance, if you are using child labor or treating your employees poorly, the media will find out and you will be out of business soon or at least your reputation will be dragged through the mud. In prior ages, this wasn’t even possible. Yet, as usual, even the good in a culture is tainted by sin.

The focus on social justice in today’s age regarding workers’ rights, etc. often exists as a PR stunt to increase profits. Even when it doesn’t, it often exists to move forward a certain agenda such as gay/transgender “rights” that are fundamentally at odds with the way He has called us to live. I don’t wish to indict all businesses here, because there are obviously some where the leadership truly cares about those in their community and wants to do whatever they can to help. As believers, we have a real opportunity here. Look at Amos 5:21-25 and see what the LORD hated in Israel’s dealings. He hated their festivals and songs, their so-called “worship.” He asked them if they had given sacrifices when they were in the desert for 40 years. The obvious answer is “no,” but He wanted them to realize that He doesn’t need their sacrifices; yet He desires obedience and true worship from the hearts. He tells them that they should let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a flowing stream. This would please Him.

We serve a God of justice. He hates greed, dishonesty, extortion, and all forms of social injustice done in the world of business. Let’s make our B4T businesses flow justice and righteousness like a rushing river, not for the side benefit of a profit increase or for our reputation in the world, but so that we would have a positive impact on the way the world functions – that our employees, our co-workers, would get to work in a place where they are treated with dignity and respect, that they would get a glimpse of a restored and redeemed world where things work as God originally intended them to. This is our version of justice. May our employees’ eyes be opened through our love and generosity, so that they may see and savor the beauty of the living God and what He has done for us through Jesus.

DO B4Ters DOUBLE DIP?

Last month a pastor in the USA called me, a bit annoyed. He said, "I just learned our worker is being paid a good salary by the business he’s working for, yet we are still supporting him $2,500/month!"

And this week I received the following question:

My church has historically only supported traditional workers who receive all their living expenses from donors to do full-time vocational ministry.  Recently we've been asked to support a cross-cultural worker who spends much of his time working in a business and this business also generates at least part of his living expenses. What's the role of the church in supporting someone like this?

Are B4Ters double dipping?...  Getting two incomes and living high off the hog?  I hope not. (Especially if you are working with Muslims. 😊 )

Nothing is more controversial than money. Woody Allen put it this way, "Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." It’s well known in B4T circles that as long as your business is losing money, the mission agency and the church back home are all happy. But, if your business begins making money? Especially if it’s making lots of money—watch out!

Like most problems, the real issue with those perceived to be double dipping is communication and a clarification of needs and expectations. However, there’s often two very different scenarios which leads to confusion and problems between B4Ters and those who support them.

The first scenario involves Joe, who is led by the Lord to go to Timbuktu to start a business and reach the local Arab people. Joe determines the financial support he needs to live and work in Timbuktu and then raises that support from churches and friends. From the beginning, Joe is clear with everyone about his objectives; first he will invest two years studying the language and then he will work to start a business from which he will reach out to the community doing B4T.

Joe raises support to cover the first two years so that he can support himself and his family to live and to learn the language. Joe determines the budget his family needs to live on, is $5,000/month. This budget becomes his support raising goal. Once the support is raised, Joe and his family move to Timbuktu and begin learning the language. After two years, Joe begins his business. From day one, Joe wishes to pay himself a salary, but as the business is starting out he limits himself to a local wage of $500/month. At this point, Joe should inform his donors and churches of his change in income.  The church may now reduce Joe’s income accordingly.

Now many would wisely caution that because of business fluctuations, Joe shouldn’t immediately encourage the church to reduce its support. Rather, it is wise to request donors to keep giving the full $5,000/month for 6 to 18 months after the business opens, in case the business has financial problems. (It is common for new businesses to have cash flow problems.) I agree with this thinking. As Joe’s income from the business grows, he can reduce his support from his home country.

Recognize, the key to avoiding hard feelings is clear, transparent, communication. If you solicit moneys from well-meaning individuals and/or churches, we need to be willing to be accountable to these people for the money they have given us. After all, they are giving to the Lord, and they expect their donation to be stewarded for His Kingdom. Just as investors have a right to know how a business is using their investment, so donors have a right to know how a person is using their gifts. Both business investors and donors to God’s work are sharing their hard-earned monies with the expectation that there will be some benefit or fruit from those gifts. In fact, Jesus tells a parable of God Himself making an investment and expecting a return on His investment. (Matthew 25:14-30) So it is wise and good that people have an accounting of their gift or investment.

…next week, the second scenario. 

SECURE? SECURITY?

A B4T worker wrote me…

Do you know the thing I feel most judged for in life from other workers?
Wait for it.......wait for it.......drum roll please....
That I don't have a secure email or an encrypted hard drive. HAHAHAHAHA

Just the other day a guy from Africa emailed me and said he knows these two great guys he met at a conference a few weeks back and wanted to connect me with them, but they both had secure emails and didn't want to communicate with me through Gmail. I said sorry and that's all I have.
I guess that's one way to get workers I don't have time to talk to, to leave me alone!

Every so often I have people say, man I can't email you if it’s not secure… I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, yet I can smell a worker a mile away. When I see secure email for someone who doesn't own their own high tech company, I'm sure governments use it as an initial screening tool for workers.

Authenticity… Transparency…are core values for our network.  What are your thoughts on this?  If we have to hide something from our friends or our governments are we truly “truth-bearers”?  Is our Light pure?

Surely some will point out that the angel told Samuel it was ok not tell the full story when Saul asked him why he went to ???  And yes, God seems to overlook that fact that Abraham stretched the truth about Sarah being his sister.

Multiple B4T tentmakers, mostly in China and the Middle East, arrived in the country with secure email addresses only to be warned by their bosses that the government was watching them. When encouraged to move to an unsecure email address, their bosses all reported the inquiries about them stopped.  Could be that by being transparent, (having easy to track communications with the outside world) reduced or eliminated the fear the government had of their doing some clandestine work?

FISHING

The following is contributed by my mentor Jerry.  It’s a great reminder, that wherever we are and whatever we are doing, we can be fishing for men.

The locker room is one of the places I fish for men. This morning was one of those brilliant moments when I heard a stranger say, “I love my job.” Wow, gold! Keep in mind there were a number of others listening. I responded with, “I believe work is worship, but I have a question. Why do you love your job?”

My new friend Johnny let loose with, “I just like every person where I work. I come in every day and delight in working with them. There isn’t one I don’t like.” By this time I was laughing and having fun.

When he said, “I guess everything we do should be worship,” I could almost hear that go into the men dressing in and out.

In stark contrast some time ago I listened to a man loudly disclaim his former church in the same locker room as he released a stream of bitterness into the atmosphere. The cool thing is that I took him to lunch today and dug down into all the hurt and pain he had experienced. An hour later I asked, “So where are you today? Have you forgiven these people…because I remember hearing you broadcast some serious bitterness in the locker room?”

He was quiet for a moment. Reflective. Then to my amazement, he said, “Yes, God is helping me. I want to get my life back.” We left friends.

I love fishing.
  

TALK IS CHEAP

We are studying in Matthew 13, the parable of the sower. We are learning that if he expects to reap a harvest the sower needs to prepare both himself and the soil.

Hard ground, hard hearts, people who have their eyes shut and their ears closed. How do you open them? With prayer and love. But words alone won’t cut it. Hearing about prayer, talking about love is not going to result in many coming to Jesus.  If we are going to break up hard ground, we need to plow with prayer and love.

Using a business illustration, if you are trying to sell a product where there is no market, what do you have to do first?  You first have to create a market for the product. So, do you create that market by telling customers how wonderful the product is? Or do you demonstrate for them how the product works and how it will make their life better? Obviously by showing.

We may focus on reaching our neighbors, but are how are they going to see Jesus in us if we only invest 5 hours a week with them?  The workplace is the ideal location for modeling the reality of God within us. Why? Because the best times for modeling the power of the Gospel do not happen when things are going well, but when things are stressful or even falling apart.

When we win or things are going well, non-Christians often respond just like Christians – we’re all happy. But what about when the office is flooded or destroyed by an earthquake, a client is overdue in paying for goods or services, or a government official wants a bribe–for the 4th time? Or what if your employee lies to you, or steals from you, or keeps showing up late for work? That’s when our faith causes us to respond differently. People need to experience how we deal with difficulties. They need to see how love operates in such situations.  It’s in these times when the difference between the Jesus & the Quran, Jesus and the Mahayana Sutras, and Jesus and the Hindu Vedas comes alive for them.

Jesus proclaims, ‘Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. Let your light so shine before men so that they may see your good works and give glorify God who is in heaven.’ (Matthew 5:15-16)  Just as people need to see the light for it to be meaningful, people also need to see, to experience, a new product before they will buy it. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists need to see and experience the light in our lives.

There’s a saying, Talk is cheap. The real impact, lasting value, comes from living out the Gospel so our co-workers and friends can experience it.

LESSONS FROM A FARMER...

5.  SOWING & PLOUGHING

We are studying in Matthew 13, the parable of the sower. The last three weeks we clarified that of the three main characters; the sower, the seed, and the soil, only one character changes. The soil. So the logical understanding is that there are four types of persons who hear the Word of God.  We’ve also learned that before you sow, you first must plough the soil and we’ve discussed what it means to clear the rocks and pull the weeds. The previous blog we saw how contextualization is helpful, but not impactful when it comes to altering the hearts and minds of those we are trying to reach. And impacting the soil, not the sower, is what ploughing is all about.

The best farmers understand preparation. They buy the finest equipment and learn how to repair it. They study the soil, they find sources of water, and know the nutrients within their ground. The best sowers first prepare themselves to sow, but once the farmer is ready, he then needs to prepare the soil before sowing any seed.

I have a doctorate in intercultural studies. I have an MDIV.  For nine years I studied to achieve those two degrees.  In addition, I’ve trained in at least seven evangelistic methods specifically designed to plant churches among unreached peoples. I’ve read maybe 60 books on how to win Muslims to Christ and a handful on how to win Buddhists.  But not one, not one of these books or courses taught me how to work the soil.

“LISTEN!” Jesus says, A good sower works the soil before sowing any seed. 

Think about this. Who makes the soil ready for the seed? The soil itself? No the sower does. Who waters? Who fertilizes? The sower.  It’s the sowers assignment to prepare the soil BEFORE planting any seeds.  Now I know a few of you are thinking, well it’s God’s job to prepare the soil. WRONG! Well either you’re wrong or Paul’s WRONG cause Paul tells us,
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
1 Corinthians 3:6

God manages the seed. Tending the soil is our responsibility. Not angels. Yours and mine. God grows the seed; but through us, with us, He uses us to prepare the soil. This is the assignment of every sower. If we are going to see a harvest, before we sow, we need to plough.

Some maybe thinking, well what about the three verses where Jesus talks about the fields that are ready for harvest?  I asked the Lord the same question. Read the texts. In Matthew and Mark which are synoptic passages, He’s been ploughing, watering, fertilizing – working the soil for at least a year in advance of these teachings. Jesus is an expert farmer. He’s prepared Himself and He’s prepared the ground. The seed has been dropped so the harvest is near. But if we’ve only prepared ourselves and not the soil, we can plant thousands of seeds but they are not going to grow and bear fruit that will last because the soil is hard, stony or full of thorns.

In the Gospel of John where Jesus speaks of the “hard” Samaritans, He was in the very process of teaching the hard headed and hard hearted disciples that the Gospel was even for the hated half breed Samaritans. Read Matthew 13 again. The context of this parable in both Matthew and Mark is the people – the people who are blind and deaf to who Jesus is. I believe many of Jesus’ disciples, both then and now are blind to who Jesus is. We have only a snapshot of Jesus and so build our strategies around what we know–ourselves–rather than Him and the people He’s called us to.

I believe this is why we see Jesus investing so much time with the 12 and the 70. He is daily ploughing into their hearts and minds.

Are you working hard ground? I confess, for years I knowingly sowed seed on hard ground hoping for God to bring a harvest. And for decades I blamed Satan. And though Satan is certainly a part of the problem, the real problem is me. I did not understand that hard ground requires deep ploughing.

Next week, how to plough.

STIRRING THINGS UP

And let us consider how we may stir up one another toward love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another–and all the more as we see the Day approaching.  Hebrews 10:24-25

Most of us tend to be lazy. We wish to bypass the narrow paths and picking up our cross. We’d prefer to avoid the rough and tumble of life. We rationalize not doing the hard work--whether at the gym or in completing a tedious project at work or even mending a difficult relationship. Security and control are much more comfortable pursuits. Yet, the idea of stirring up (or "provoking") one another and keeping one another accountable is a key part of Jesus’ assignment for us.  Accountability in both Christ’s body and His Spirit requires His understanding of who we are in Him, which moves us well beyond our own self-understanding. We are commanded to be in the world, but not of the world. To live a remote, retired, secluded life is contrary to spirituality as Jesus teaches it.

The test of our spirituality comes when we face injustice, ingratitude and conflict–all of which have the tendency to make us withdraw and become spiritual sluggards. At times we even spiritualize our responses and use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of escape–finding the wide, easy and safe path. We utilize God for our personal comfort. We see His peace and joy, but we do not want to know Jesus and His sufferings. We only want our enjoyment of Him.

The danger of spiritual laziness and avoiding tough issues is that we do not wish to be stirred up at all.  If we remain in our comfort zone we will miss significant opportunities to know Christ more deeply and also to be pruned into his likeness. Consider today how He may wish you to not only be provoked out of your own comfort zone but also to risk provoking others, to love and good deeds – in Jesus.

IS WHO I AM IN THE MARKETPLACE – WHO I AM IN JESUS?

 I did a study today on authority and power in the New Testament today.  The key words are δύναμίσ (dunamis) and εξουσία (exousia). Both words are translated “authority” in multiple places. Yet the emphasis of Jesus, and commentators agree, is that δύναμίσ (dunamis) refers to Jesus’ authority that comes from the “power” He has, while εξουσία (exousia) refers to Jesus’ authority that comes from His position as God.  

In considering “authority” I began thinking about our organizational chart and titles of people – especially my title.  One important issue in working in or building a B4T business or a B4T organization is God’s word, His affirmation (exousia) to us. Twenty-two years ago when He led me to begin doing B4T, many Christian leaders said I was wrong. Many well-meaning leaders warned me that tentmaking, BAM, would never impact the lives of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. But I listened to what I believed was His voice, and not people. You each know the result.

As you move forward, realize that whatever B4T job or business you have, it will be different. Whether it be your organizational chart, the ways you lead a meeting, advertise, manage finances, etc., everything needs to flow out of our relationship with Jesus.  Jesus’ use of exousia authority and dunamis authority varies. I find there are multiple times in the New Testament where Jesus overtly uses His position as God, His exousia authority, to tell, even order demons what to do. But I struggle to think of one time where He uses that same exousia authority to tell people or order people what to do; whether that be religious leaders, government officials, His disciples, or people in general. Jesus rebukes Peter and Satan, in Matthew 16:23, but that too is a spiritual warfare encounter. The times He calls people “fools”, “liar”, “white washed tombs”, etc., He’s never addressing an individual, but a line of thinking, an aspect of culture, or man-made rules that He never intended. Jesus leads people out of relationship and modeling, dunamis authority, not His positional authority.

In the church and in our own lives, there’s a tension between the sacred and the secular. This tension also exists between being professional in the business world, and being faithful to what God tells us.  Excellence is also a central value for believers. So do we define excellence in terms of what we believe is pleasing to Him, or by what is accepted as professional?  For example, in the workplace, how do we ensure our identity is found in Jesus and work flows through His Spirit first, and then to one another?  How do we blend work and service and worship in our jobs?

So how does this play out for us?  Well for me, in thinking about what title I should have on my business card I asked myself, “What title did Jesus give Himself?”  In the Gospels Jesus describes Himself in a variety of ways; Light, Bread, The Word, Shepherd, etc., but gives Himself basically only two titles; Son of God, and Son of Man. Both titles center on His relationship with God. Some may argue that a “son” is a position, but I’d rebuttal that an heir is a position. A prince is a position. These, and others, are titles other people give to Jesus, but He does not use them for Himself.  Jesus seems to find His identity in His relationship with God – nothing else. To describe myself as a son, emphasizes relationship. Personally, I aspire to find my identity in my relationship with Jesus – nothing else.

People like titles. A title gives us an identity that helps us to fit in with the world. A title tells others what we do – that we have value. But titles are not where we should gain our value or our identity, nor should we to encourage others along that line.  Modeling and relationships go hand in hand.  This week I am trying to practice what I preach. I am getting new business cards made. My job title? “Listener to God.”

FITTING IN

My dear friend Mike wrote me the following.

When we were serving in Brazil, I gradually and intentionally, tried to dress more and more like a Brazilian would.  It wasn’t much of a sacrifice, because I liked the styles that most men wore and I perceived that Brazilians liked that I embraced their style.

My one problem was with shoes.  Not that I didn’t like them.  I just couldn’t find any in my size.  (Size 12 is huge in Brazil).  Instead of entering a shoe store, picking out a few styles and asking to try them in my size (which they never had), I soon began walking in and simply asking, “What do you have in size 12?”  They were never the cool looking ones, so eventually I gave up and bought my shoes when I was back in the USA.

Then one time when I was back in the States, I bought a pair of very Brazilian looking shoes.  The first time I wore them in Brazil, a friend immediately commented on how good my shoes looked.  That made me wonder if my Brazilian friends understood that the only reason I hadn’t wore Brazilian style shoes sooner was because I couldn’t find any that fit.  But then, why would they ever consider that?  Every time they went into a shoe store, they had plenty of options.

Today I wonder what things Christian churches and Organizations do that don’t “fit” other segments of our society.  How many people from different ethnic, economic or educational backgrounds are drawn to some aspects of what we are doing (like me and Brazilian shoes) but they cannot “buy in” because it just doesn’t fit them and/or their culture?

I can relate to Mike’s feelings.  For years I know I tried to fit into the Indonesian culture and in trying to reach the people I not only wore their clothes but tried dozens of different approaches to belong. I learned to tell stories that appealed to them. I learned songs in their language. I studied the Quran so I could share the Gospel through it. I learned to pray as they do. I memorized poems, learned their history. I learned and implemented many different evangelistic strategies, all with hope of becoming accepted – an insider, all to win them to the Gospel.  But despite my efforts none of these things led me to feel like an ‘insider’, nor was I ever accepted as belonging.

Then by God’s grace, (not my design) I began working.  I didn’t notice it immediately, but slowly and surely I realized peoples’ attitudes toward me began to change. No longer was I an outsider, but I was living and working just like all my neighbors. I had an understandable role in the community and the way I worked – no lying, cheating, bribes, etc., became a witness to the people around me. A witness that led to neighbors, clients, and co-workers asking me about my life.

Mike hit the nail on the head; people cannot “buy in” to our lives, our words, and our witness until our lives “fit” or make sense to them.

ON TRANSPARENCY

The past 3 months we’ve been talking about the priority of relationships and accountability in developing better models of doing mission.  The next few weeks I wish to focus on transparency.  In a timely fashion, one of the guys we mentor wrote the following on this own blog.  With his permission I am sharing it here. You may read the whole article at his blog www.FaithatWork.co.
_______________________________________________________________________________

When talking with overseas workers (B4T’ers) in the 21st century, one topic that continually comes up among millennials is the desire for transparency. Because of the transparency of the internet millennials feel very uneasy about trying to maintain one identity in their host country and another in their home country. When I read the article, “Shrinking the Haystack” by the Economist the other day, I thought it widely applicable to believers.

Without writing about the whole article, because I encourage each of you to read it for yourselves, there is a central point they make that is crucial to understand for “field workers” everywhere. Because of new geo-tracking technologies, government agencies can now watch where people go and study their behavioral patterns. Terrorists tend to awkwardly try to hide their whereabouts by moving in seemingly random patterns and not taking phone calls near their residences, etc. (sadly, missionaries often do the same because they are afraid of being “caught” and “kicked out”). The problem for the terrorists is that psychologically the fact that they are acting strange tells the authorities they have something to hide. You see, people are predictable. They go to the same places and visit the same friends and take the same routes to and from work. When someone diverts from a normal pattern, there is a reason for it. Even if it is a good one, it still alerts the authorities that something is up. The point here is simple: if you act like you have something to hide, you probably have something to hide. As followers of Jesus, we have nothing to hide. We are told in Luke 8:16-18,
No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.

Jesus did not advocate hiding the very thing we are supposed to be proclaiming. If we move about in normal patterns and live predictably with nothing to hide, we will be more likely to make it for the long haul. Whether you live in Washington D.C., Washington State, or Timbuktu, this message is for you: read the gospel, read about the gospel, study the gospel, pray for more understanding of the gospel, talk about the gospel, but by all means: PROCLAIM the gospel!

RECALIBRATING MISSION

When I was at the University of Oregon, I took Organic Chemistry class. The class required a two hour lab too. The lab consisted of on experiment which if done right, we were told, should take 20 hours.  Our assignment was to blend dozens of ingredients precisely together to produce independent solutions and if each solution is right, when they are all mixed together, presto, we’d have the correct compound.

Well yours truly has never been great when it comes to being precise, and a chemist, I am not. After 20 hours I was barely half way through the assignment. Every week I had to recalibrate my solutions to correct minuscule errors I had made.  There wasn’t a chem lab that I did not have to recalculate and recalibrate the solutions I was mixing to ensure the percentages of each ingredient was correct. Finally I got all the calibrations done correctly, mixed the solutions together and achieved the desire result – a passing mark!  After 30 hours of work, I called my professor to come grade my final product. As he turned the corner into my work station, I reached across the counter to move a Bunsen burner only to bump the beaker containing my final compound – sending it crashing to the floor! Three years later there was still a huge purple mark where that beaker burst.

Life, like chemistry, requires frequent recalibrations. Change is happening all around us requiring us to adjust. 

Today, have you thought about what things churches and organizations do that don’t “fit” other segments of our society?  How many young people are drawn to some aspects of what we are doing in B4T because they cannot “buy in” to missions because the current styles and strategies just don’t fit them?

Nowadays, young people are longing to serve God but are searching for organizations where there is no centralized leadership, and no centralized office. Young people yearn to be led by relational mentors who seek their welfare above that of an organization or program. They wish to be discipled, not by PhD’s or a methodology, but by men and women they can follow.  Titles, methodologies, strategies and programs were never the fit, of the one who said “Come follow Me.” Our leadership and outreach needs to be based on values and standards people can give their lives to.

As I’ve been seeking the Lord on the things we need to prioritize in mobilizing, equipping, and mentoring B4T workers, I’ve been asking Him for a “good fit.”  His answer to me has repeatedly been boiled down to four words, or one acronym – RATE.  Relationships, Accountability, Transparency, Excellence. Millennials and boomers both desire deep relationships with accountability and excellence. Transparency admittedly is more a millennial value. Over the next two months we will explore these values from both the Biblical and millennial perspective.  Personally, I am seeking to build them into who we are and what we do as B4Ters.  I hope you’ll join me in sharing your thoughts in this discussion, as we seek His fit for doing His work.

THE BUSYNESS TRAP

We’ve been back in the States barely a week now. We’ve never seen so many busy people. Whenever we ask people, “How are you?” the default response seems to be “Busy!” or “Crazy busy.” I’m never quite sure if that is meant as a boast or a complaint.

I notice it isn’t people who are pulling back-to-back shifts in the I.C.U. or commuting by bus to three minimum-wage jobs who tell us how busy they are; rather it’s almost always people whose lives seem to have no free time due to purely self-imposed obligations. They’re busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety. I wonder if they’re addicted to busyness because they dread what they might have to face in its absence.

Nearly everyone I know seems busy. Do people feel anxious and guilty when they aren’t either working or doing something productive? It seems people schedule in time with friends the way politicians go to church, to ensure they look good on the outside. I was talking with two B4Ters recently, one was struggling with his prayer life, and another stated “God seems far away.” When I asked both how much time do you spend alone with God each day”, they both answered “I don’t have time, I’m too busy.” Too busy for God?  Why are we overseas if not because of Jesus?

Busyness can be self-assuring, a protection against emptiness. But our emptiness is not to be filled with tasks, it’s to be filled with Jesus. The Son tell us, learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Jesus is to fill our inner emptiness, we are  not fill it by our own efforts. Jesus filling requires basing our identity in Him, and Him alone. Yes, it feels good to be busy. Obviously if we are busy, our life cannot possibly be unimportant, trivial, or meaningless. But understand, the present popularity of busyness is not a necessary or inevitable condition of life; it’s something we’ve chosen, if only by our acquiescence to it.  I like to question those we mentor, “Are your frantic days really just a hedge against emptiness?” “Are we drawing our self-worth – finding our identity in Jesus, or in our productivity?”

Don’t get me wrong, I recognize as well as anyone that B4Ters are busy; kids, co-workers, spouse, local friends, friends back home, and if these relationships don’t keep us busy enough, there’s work that actually has to get done too. Yet as someone who travels constantly, I recognize that life can feel busy; but to be honest it’s not. Too busy is when we don’t have time to send a birthday card to a loved one, or linger on a call with a friend, or spend time with our first love – Jesus, or our second love – our spouse. Busyness is not the result of too much to do, it is the product of an un-managed life. Too busy?  Likely your priorities are out of whack, and likely no one is helping you to stay on track.

Look at our Lord, in the midst of busyness we find Jesus regularly taking time to get away to be with the Father.  In Mark 1:33f we find, the whole town is gathered at the door. Jesus is healing people, literally pouring Himself out to others the whole day; yet the next morning He’s up getting one on one time with His Daddy.

If you are feeling too busy. Review your priorities. Invite someone who is older and wiser to review your life with you. Don’t get caught up in the busyness trap.