The Inspired Leader: 101 Biblical Reflections for Becoming a Person of Influence (4 page)

It was because of sin that work God designed to be noble was transformed into toil and drudgery (Genesis 3:17-19). Now, instead of honoring God through their labor, people count down the minutes (or years) until their job is over. But life is meant to be far more than merely putting in time until retirement affords people the “good life.” Life is a calling—an opportunity for people to fulfill God’s purposes.

Just as Jesus called businesspeople to follow Him and to become fishers of men (Mark 1:16-20), so Christ beckons us to follow Him as we work each day. Our life’s purpose involves far more than merely earning a living or paying our bills. It stems from our calling to follow Christ and to serve Him wherever He leads.

Burl Cain accepted the job as warden at Angola state prison in 1995. At the time, Angola was the most violent and dangerous prison in America. Louisiana’s state laws ensured that a life sentence meant life—no chance for parole, period. With 3,700 serving life sentences and the remaining 1,500 sentenced to an average of 91 years, the men had nothing to lose, no incentive for good behavior. Angola was a house of darkness, the abode of the hopeless. Enter Warden Cain.

For Cain, going to work each day could have been a sentence, if he had not viewed his job as a divine calling. He began teaching the course
Experiencing God
to the inmates. Hundreds of the prisoners were converted and many of those felt God call them into ministry and some even to missions. Violent crimes in the prison declined by 73%. Other prisons requested some of Cain’s prisoners, so dozens of “missionaries” were sent out in groups of two. One prison saw violence decrease by 48% only six months after receiving two of Angola’s inmates. Cain introduced numerous novel programs into Angola to minister to the inmates and their families. He loves his job and believes God called him to it for a reason. The inmates are effusive in their praise for him and the difference he has made in their lives.

What about you? Are you counting the days until you can retire and finally do what you want to do? Or are you counting the ways your world is becoming a better place and lives are being transformed because God called you to your career? God gave you gifts and an aptitude that has made you successful. Do you know why? Are you using your skills and influence for Him?

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. Do you feel invigorated by your job or is it drudgery? Why is that?
   

2. Do you have a sense that God has called you to your present job? If so, what is the evidence? How is the world becoming better because of what God is doing through your life?
   

3. What would need to change for you to be more excited about your work? Do you need to change jobs or gain a new perspective on your current one?
   

BILL GATES WAS a child prodigy. While enrolled at a private boys’ school named Lakeside, he was introduced to his first computer and was instantly smitten. As a teenager, Gates spent every moment he could working on computers and writing programs. He and some teenage friends formed a technology company. Then in 1973, during his senior year of high school, the giant defense contractor TRW hired Gates along with his friend Paul Allen, to debug one of its software programs. Gates took three months off from his senior year in high school and moved into an apartment with Allen to take on his first-full time job (earning $165/week). He returned home in time to graduate. The only calculus class he attended that year was the final, which he aced. He set aside his dream of forming a software company to honor his parents’ wishes for him to attend university. He once told a friend he had gone to Harvard University to learn from people who were smarter than he was… and left disappointed. Two years later, in 1975, Gates dropped out of Harvard to launch the Microsoft Company, along with his high school friend, Paul Allen. The dream birthed in Gates as a high school student had become a reality at last.

The greatest achievements in our lives don’t usually occur instantaneously, but over time, and often after much hard work. The seeds of your eventual success may be planted in your life years before they reach fruition.

The greatest achievement of Mary’s life occurred after an angelic messenger informed her,
“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David”
(Luke 1:31-32). God’s answer for the deliverance of His people was not a full-grown adult, but a baby. God had done this before. He also sent Moses, Samson, Samuel, and John as babies to people in need of deliverance.

Imagine what it must have been like for Mary to be raising a child from infancy that she knew was God’s answer to her peoples’ prayers. For years Mary would have taught and nurtured and cared for her child as He matured and gradually prepared for His divine role. What went through Mary’s mind as she heard her people crying out to God for deliverance while she knew the Deliverer was playing childhood games with His friends?

At times God will give birth to a dream in your heart. Perhaps it is a company He inspires you to start. Maybe it is a new ministry He intends to do through your life. He may speak to you about writing a book. But the time is not yet. The vision God gave you needs to mature and grow. It must be nurtured and developed over time. Can God trust you to nurture a divine work in your life until it is full grown?

Some people never experience the mighty work God intended to do in and through their life because they don’t have the patience to allow God to bring His work to maturity. They want to act
now
. They want deliverance
now
. They don’t want to wait for God’s work to be nurtured and cared for until its time has come. As a result, they never experience what could have been. What is God currently preparing to do in and through your life? Are you faithfully waiting and preparing?

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. Has God placed a dream in your heart? If so, what is it?
   

2. Are you presently waiting for God to accomplish some things in your life or to provide something for you? How are you waiting? Have you remained patient? Faithful? Believing? Other?
   

3. Do you sense God wants to do more through your life than He presently is? If so, what must happen in you, before you are prepared for God’s new work? Based on how you have followed God so far, does your track record demonstrate you can handle more from God?
   

FOR DECADES, TRUETT Cathy, founder of the popular fast- food chain, Chick-fil-A, found time each Sunday to teach a fifth grade boys’ Sunday School class at First Baptist Church, Jonesboro, Georgia. Numerous businessmen would later testify to having had the chicken sandwich tycoon as their Sunday School teacher. Likewise, John Rockefeller taught Sunday School at his church for many years. It seemed an oddity to many that the wealthiest man in America would take time every Sunday to attend church and to teach Bible stories to children. Yet while Rockefeller’s business ethics might be questioned at times, his devotion to his church was legendary.

Wise businesspeople understand that, regardless of their corporate commitments, they have a higher calling. Sir Thomas More rose to the highest office under the intimidating Henry VIII. As the king’s chancellor, he administered much of the kingdom for his sovereign. One day while in church, More kept receiving urgent messages that the king needed him at once. Undeterred, More remained in the worship service. He finally sent a message to Henry that he would come shortly, but only after he had paid homage “to a higher king.” Even though he worked under one of the most demanding, and notorious, CEOs in history, More always maintained his love for Christ and His Church.

Scripture teaches that we do not choose the church we attend based on our tastes in music or our appreciation of particular preaching styles. Rather, “
God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased”
(1 Corinthians 12:18). God has a unique purpose for every congregation. To properly equip each church for its assignment, Christ adds particular members to that body. The members bring unique skills, passions, and experience with them that can equip their church to fulfill its divine assignment.

Businesspeople have unique skills. They are often entrepreneurial. They solve problems. They understand marketing. They generally have good people skills. They have a practical, pragmatic outlook. As you feel drawn to a particular church, you must ask, “Why is Christ adding me to this congregation? What is it God has placed in my life that He knows my church needs?” Sometimes we see problems in our church. Such occasions are not opportunities to criticize or to leave, but to let Christ use our lives to be a part of His solution. If you are presently in a church that is suffering difficulties, could it be that Christ added you to your congregation for such a time as this?

Scripture also teaches that “
if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it”
(1 Corinthians 12:26). When Christ assembles a congregation, members do not suffer or rejoice alone. They are interconnected.

It’s easy for people to become so consumed with their business commitments that their involvement in their church languishes. Businesspeople can invest their best efforts and skills into making their business successful and then offer little to make their church more effective. We must remember that Christ is the Head of our church (Colossians 1:18). We owe Him our ultimate loyalty. If He placed you into a particular congregation, He had a purpose. Are you presently investing yourself fully into the church body Christ assigned you?

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. Presently, are you actively involved in a local congregation? Rate your involvement on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most involved.
   

2. Why do you think God led you to the church He did? How is He leveraging your skills and resources to bless your church?
   

3. What adjustments might you make so you do more to bless your church in the future? What is preventing you from making those adjustments now?