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Chris Patton

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Jesus Said, “Follow Me!”

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For the past 9+ years, I have been trying to run our family’s business as a platform for ministry. I jumped when I heard Jesus say,”Follow me!” To be honest, it has been much more difficult than I thought it would be. In fact, there have been times I have seriously questioned Him about the difficulties.

follow me

Path Is Not Easy

If you have ever tried to do work for Jesus – whether in the church, in the community, in the business world, or in the foreign mission field – you have met challenges and difficulties. This path is not an easy one and in many ways, we understand that going in.

At the same time, I often find myself questioning this path. While I know there will be trouble, I still have this picture of what I think the results will look like. I still have a sort of “end of the rainbow” mentality that says if I will just persevere, all will end up like a fairy tale!

Worth It?

What I often allow to drive me is the belief that all the trouble is worth it as long as I end up at the picture I have imagined is the end of the path. Does this ever happen to you? Do you ever have these feelings?

One problem with this line of thinking is that the picture I have imagined is hardly ever the picture that God has in mind. I think the results will look one way and He has something totally different in mind. My frustration begins when the path I am on begins to veer away from the path I had pictured.

“Wait God! Aren’t we supposed to be heading that way over there?” I imagine He smiles and then continues leading me away from my picture and toward His. When I am close to Him in relationship, I can handle this. When I have strayed a little, this part is really tough.

Tougher Problem!

However, I will tell you that I have a much easier time in handling a different picture than I do with another problem that crops up. This other problem is all about timing.

See, in this other situation, the path does not necessarily head off in a different direction than I had originally imagined. The problem instead is that it appears to go nowhere at all! That is because, with this problem, it appears that I am supposed to wait on Him.

I cannot tell if I am on the path headed to where I imagined or somewhere else that He has in mind. I cannot tell because I AM NOT MOVING! I feel like I am smack in the middle of Groundhog Day, the movie, and every day is the same as the one before.

Stuck?

I feel like I am stuck and cannot seem to catch a break to move forward at all. This problem seems to plague me more than any other. Maybe it is because I am impatient. Maybe it is a control thing. Maybe it is a combination of these and other issues God is trying to force me to deal with.

Whatever it is, I really have a hard time with this one.

I like progress. I like to be moving forward and seeing forward motion. I do not like to be stuck, sitting still, apparently going nowhere. I KNOW the Scripture that I SHOULD be reciting, but it is still difficult for me to handle. I know that God’s timing is not mine, but I still struggle!

I Finally Broke!

I recently had an “episode” or “tantrum” when I was away at a meeting. I was surrounded by a huge group of like-minded businessmen that were doing incredible things with their businesses to impact people for eternity. I am not talking about 5 or 10 people. I am not talking about just in their community.

No, these Christian business leaders are having an impact on thousands all over the globe – the very things that I have imagined God would be using ME to do as well! [Note: I recognize some of this IS happening in our business, but you have to bear with me…I am having an immature moment here! Likely, you’ve never done this!]

I listened and listened, but I finally broke. I finally got off by myself and questioned God directly. I asked why things were so hard in our business. I asked why we were not seeing the progress we wanted to see. I wanted to know why these other businesses were put in a position to impact so many and we were stuck. I asked over and over, “WHY?”

No answer. Nothing.

At least not right then.

As is common with Him, He just listened.

And waited.

He Finally Answered!

It was not until almost a week later when I was sitting in church that He gave me the answer to my questions. When He gave it to me, it was one of those moments that sticks with you. It was one of those moments that you just cannot get out of your mind.

I will not go into the detail of the whole message, but I will describe the setting of the Scripture He used to get my attention.

Follow Me!

Jesus has just asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Each time, Peter tells Jesus that he loves Him! Each time, Jesus then says for Peter to feed his sheep. Then Jesus foretells the manner in which Peter will die. He ends by telling Peter, “Follow Me!”

Jesus has basically given Peter his marching orders and Peter is trying to understand exactly what it means. Maybe he is even asking himself what it will cost him. I don’t know.

Whatever the case, Peter’s next question resembles the questions I was asking God earlier. He points to John and asks Jesus, “What about him?” Essentially, He basically wanted to know what Jesus was going to have John doing while all of this was happening to Peter.

My Answer

It was Jesus’ response to Peter that made my hair stand on end. It caught in my throat and took my breath. As I heard the pastor read it and followed along with him, I instantly knew God was using this passage to answer my earlier questions.

“If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow Me.”

To Be Continued…

When Jesus said, “Follow Me!” to you, what did you think it would look like?

Has His call to “Follow Me!” turned out the way you expected?

How do you react when His “Follow Me!” takes you where you do not want to be?

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4 Signposts For Business Renewal

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You may not remember how it started, but you know the factors that went into it. Your current perspective on your business or career: Lack of enthusiasm. Feelings of apathy. Loss of distinction. Lack of direction. You need renewal.

renewal

Signs Of Trouble

A customer complaint here. A faulty business design there. Shoddy product quality, unexpected staff conflicts, a bland proposal. All lead to career apathy.

What happens in the business and career arenas also happens in the spiritual realm.

A bad decision here. A wrong choice there. A questionable compromise. A self-serving direction.

It’s like the bumper sticker that reads, “If you feel far from God, guess who moved.” Or Chuck Swindoll’s book, Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back.

Need For Renewal

Does your life or career ever feel like that? Mine does. I’m doing great one minute – walking with God, spending time with Him, making good choices. Three steps forward and them bam! Before you can say, “Beam me up Scotty”, I’ve fallen two steps back. Maybe you can relate.

Or in business – new customers, great reviews, positive cash flow, and then it all falls apart. Not just the normal cycle of business, but a real crash. Things just came apart at the seams.

The remedy is all the same. I need renewal. I need a second touch from the Lord Himself.

Example From Scripture

Did you ever wonder why Christ touched the blind man twice in Mark 8:22-26? Was it because He couldn’t do it right the first time? Oh yeah, I’m sure that’s it! This is only the Son of God we’re talking about!

Christ touched him twice to demonstrate that we need a second touch from time to time. And a third, and a fourth, and …. That’s what renewal is all about; reconnecting with God through His Son.

I know I need it, maybe you do, too. But do I just wait for Him to do it or can I do something to bring renewal about?

Perspective: Just like the blind man in Mark 8, I need to first admit I don’t see the world right. I see men as trees walking; that is, men as other than how Christ sees them. I see my business, my career from my limited human perspective instead of God’s lofty perspective.

Seeking: Next we have to seek. God uses Elijah’s life to show us renewal. Elijah was in a three steps forward, two steps back kind of cycle. (Or maybe that’s just life, but it reminds us of our need for renewal.)

Elijah’s Situation

Elijah had been communing with God. His work as a prophet was humming right along. Then in I Kings 18-19 he begins the three forward, two back dance. God had him confront Ahab with his wickedness. Not easy or comfortable, but he did it, one step forward.

Then God had Elijah confront Ahab again, because Ahab wasn’t getting the message. Elijah did it again with boldness, two steps forward.

Elijah then challenges the prophets of Baal, those competitors for the hearts of the people, to a sacrificial BBQ with the winner being able to have access to the entire customer database and declare their God as the one, true god. The preparations commenced and Baals prophets called out, but to no avail.

Elijah just snickered in the corner. Then Elijah called on his God and whoosh, the sacrifice, the altar, even the water was licked up by the flames enabling Elijah to declare God as the God of the universe. Three steps forward! What a great victory!

Elijah Falls Back

But it didn’t last. I’m just like Elijah, and I’ll bet you are too. I may experience God’s presence in a mighty way in church worship, or see prayer answered, or see a decision validated, or see God using me in the lives of others at work. But I don’t last.

Elijah heard the mighty executive, Queen Jezebel, had ordered a contract to have him killed. And what did he do? After confidently confronting Ahab twice, and after defeating the prophets of Baal in the sacrificial dual, did he stand up to Jezebel and say, “Bring ‘em on Jezzie!”?

No, he ran for his life. A few words from a crazed woman in leadership drove Elijah to despair. So he ran; one step back for Elijah.

He hid out in the wild, then in a cave, then in the mountains. Two steps back for Elijah.

Elijah Seeks Renewal

Finally, he began to get his faith back in perspective and started looking for God. Elijah needed renewal. He needed that second touch. He needed a new view of his purpose, his mission, his work.

So Elijah looked for some miraculous word from God in the tornado, and in the earthquake, and in the fire, but God was not there. God finally got Elijah’s attention with a still, small voice. And what did He say to Elijah? God told him how to attain renewal. God’s words to Elijah are His words to us also.

Renewal Signposts

God told Elijah to head down the road to Damascus (the same road to Damascus Saul of Tarsus walked when he experienced his own spiritual renewal) and do four things. These were the signposts God gave to point Elijah down the road to renewal:

  • Remember His faithfulness.- “Go back the way you came.” Reflect on just who this God is you worship and see Him anew in all His strength and majesty. Catch a new glimpse of just Who God is.
  • Reflect on how God had been there in the past. – “Go back the way you came.” Reflect on your journey with God and recall the times He has been there in the past, when He has pulled your bacon out of the fire, when He has blessed your work, inspired your heart.
  • Retreat and spend some time alone with Him. – “Go the desert of Damascus.” Get away from the hustle and bustle of the world to just focus on God; read the Word, pray, sing, and worship. Take a day away from your work, a whole day, to focus just on God.
  • Relate. – “When you get there anoint…” Get back in touch with others who worship the same God, fight the same fight, and are part of the same giant army. Reconnect with those leaders in your business that meant so much to you. Reconnect with those faithful customers that stand by you. Reconnect with other believers in business that can offer encouragement, hope and challenge.

These were Elijah’s signposts to renewal. These are ours also.

Remember, reflect, retreat, and relate. Then you will reconnect with your God and catch a new glimpse of Him and what He is doing in your world, your life, your career.

About the Author:

BILL HIGGINS is currently the Managing Director of MindWare Incorporated, an independent training and career coaching consulting firm. He previously served on the pastoral staff of churches in the U.S. and Canada, and worked in a managerial capacity for industry leading organizations. Bill is a graduate of Biola University and Talbot Theological Seminary and his book, Your Road to Damascus: 6 Biblical Secrets for an Effective Job Search is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and MindWare Publishing websites.

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My Life Purpose Is Multiplying Silhouettes!

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Add Silhouettes

What is your life purpose? What actually motivates you to fulfill that life purpose? When the going gets really tough and you are tempted to give in, what thought do you cling to for the strength to keep pressing forward? While you think about the answers to those questions, I am going to share my answers to those same questions. Maybe my answers will help you think through yours!

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Andy Stanley Book Give Away

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[title color=”orange-vibrant” align=”scmgccenter” font=”georgia” style=”normal” size=”scmgc-7em”]Free Book Give Away!!![/title]

Andy Stanley

Another Free Book Give Away?

You read that right! I am offering a free copy of Andy Stanley’s book, When Work and Family Collide: Keeping Your Job from Cheating Your Family!

How Do You Win?

If you scroll down just a bit you will see the Rafflecopter entry form which outlines a bunch of ways to enter the When Work and Family Collide giveaway. Just complete as many as you would like to be entered to win!

Why Am I Doing This?

I started this blog in an effort to spread the message of integrating the Christian faith into our businesses. I want to see more Christian business owners and leaders begin looking at their businesses from an eternal perspective and running them as platforms for Christian ministry.

While I know my posts are written toward this effort, I thought I would try to step it up a notch for 2013. My plan is to give away one book a month for the entire year! All I am asking from you is to follow the Rafflecopter instructions below. As you enter, you will be helping me to spread the word about this blog at the same time. We both win!

This Month’s Book: Andy Stanley’s When Work & Family Collide

Is Your Occupation Also Your Preoccupation?

Let’s face it. With all the demands of the workplace and all the details of a family it’s only a matter of time before one bumps into the other. And many of us end up cheating our families when the commitments of both collide. In this practical book, Andy Stanley will help you…

  • establish priorities and boundaries to protect what you value most.
  • learn the difference between saying your family is your priority and actually making them your priority.
  • discover tested strategies for easing tensions at home and at work.

Enter The Give Away

Follow the instructions below to enter the When Work & Family Collide contest and then spread the word to others! The contest ends at midnight on Friday, May 31st and the winner will be announced on Saturday, June 1st.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Lessons Learned From An Onion

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As I have said many times before, we can learn a lot from life if we will simply pay attention to what is going on around us. Last week, God showed me a great lesson about those little sins that we often overlook or brush off as inconsequential. I learned that we are to take these sins more seriously if we want to avoid the consequences. I learned this from an onion!

little sins

Lessons On Little Sins

In my last post, I described how I had inadvertently dropped a small piece of onion from my burger in my truck while traveling out of town. Unfortunately, I did not immediately retrieve the onion, leaving it to stink up my whole truck! If you have not read the whole story, you really need to do that now so you can understand the lessons on little sins that I will describe in today’s post.

To simplify these lessons, I am simply going to list them in order, with brief explanations of the parallels with little sins. Let’s jump in!

I was aware, but did not react immediately!

I mentioned that I noticed something fall from the burger into my lap. I did not know exactly what had dropped, but I had a very good idea of where it had fallen. I could have (and should have) investigated at the next opportunity. Had I done so, the onion would never have had the time to smell up the entire truck.

The same is true of little sins. If we address them immediately, the consequences are reduced. Even if we are not sure of exactly what we did (or said) that was wrong, that fact that we know SOMETHING is wrong should be enough to cause us to take action – seeking forgiveness and repentance.

I allowed my “hurry” to override my judgment!

As soon as I parked at the game, I knew I should have crawled under the seat . Instead, I allowed the fact that I was running late to take priority. I did stop long enough to get rid of the easy evidence, but that was not enough. It just eased my mind a little.

Too often, we run so fast (and so far behind) that we fail to do the right thing when the opportunity arises. We know we should deal with our little sins of saying the wrong thing or overlooking an injustice, but we are in a hurry. We assume the situation will either take care of itself or maybe disappear altogether. This is a mistake that will cost us more later.

I thought getting rid of the obvious evidence would be enough.

I thought whatever had dropped would not be enough to cause damage. As a result, I only removed the box that held the burger. As I found out later, this was not enough to prevent the smell.

When we are guilty of little sins, we usually do not recognize the huge damage they can do when left unaddressed. We simply get rid of the obvious evidence and try to move on, thinking we are clear. Unfortunately, that rarely, if ever, works.

I got used to the smell.

Maybe the fact that I had a smelly soccer player next to me helped me to forget about the onion smell. More likely, I just got used to it. I kept thinking I would deal with it later, but the longer I was around it, the less offensive the smell was to me.

Can’t you see how the same is true of sin? We slip and say or do the wrong thing. Consequences appear – like a broken relationship or cloudy conscience. At first, these consequences are very uncomfortable, but over time we find we can get used to them. This is often easier than dealing with the little sin that caused it.

Fatigue clouded my judgment.

When we got home, it was close to midnight and I was exhausted. I did not want to crawl under the seat at that point. I just wanted to go to bed! Another 12 hours won’t hurt, right?

Fatigue will do the same thing to our minds when it comes to sin as well. We simply are not thinking as clearly when we are not well rested. We tend to delay and compromise more when we are tired. We should not put ourselves into this position if we can avoid it.

I thought masking would work!

This may be the dumbest thing I did in this whole series of events. I still can’t believe it. Though my idea of using coffee grounds would eventually help, I still went out of my way to try to mask the smell rather than taking the time to address it. The crazy part was that I took longer to set up the coffee trick than it would have taken to climb under the seat!

As dumb as this sounded when you were first reading it, you have done the same thing! We have all tried to simply mask our little sins rather than addressing them. We try to spend more money on someone (without apologizing) to make up for being inconsiderate. Maybe we try to offer a customer a perk (without coming clean about our mistake) to win them over. Whatever the case, the masking is not the fix.

I am still paying the consequences.

Even with the onion finally gone, the truck still stinks. It is not nearly as bad as it was with the onion there, but it is not back to normal. While it was only there for roughly 24 hours, that was long enough.

Little sin is the same way. The longer we let it linger, the longer and more painful the consequences. Even after we finally address the issue, the consequences will likely continue for some time. We simply cannot afford to ignore even the little sins. Our awareness should initiate our immediate action.

Have you come up with lessons I may have missed?

Have you experienced something similar?

What did you learn?

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Something Really Stinks!

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The more I have committed to teaching or writing material over a period of time, the more I have begun to see lessons in even the smallest of things going on around me. I have found I can learn a lot about life if I will just pay attention! I recently learned a great lesson about how the “little sin” that we often leave unaddressed. It stinks!

stinks

Lessons All Around Us

Have you experienced this? This happens to me a lot. I can be in a conversation with someone about a funny story or something stupid I did and suddenly it hits me! Something one of us has just said strikes a chord inside of me and I get an immediate picture of a life lesson. In some cases, I file it away for later. Today, I felt the need to immediately share it!

Just this afternoon, I was in my office catching up on things with our chaplain. I described to him how I had been on my way out of town last night to watch my son’s last soccer match of the season. I had stopped for a burger and was hurrying to eat it while driving because I was running a little behind.

The Event

As I was taking a bite at a traffic light, I felt something drop onto my lap. As I looked down, I did not see anything on my pants where it hit, but I knew it had come from the burger. I figured it had fallen into that “black hole” between the seat and the center console, but I was not worried about it. I figured I would get to it later. After all, I was in a hurry and I would have had to pull over to dig down and find it.

I kept going and made it to the game with a few minutes to spare. As I got out of my truck, I knew I had better remove the box that once held the burger or else the cab of the truck would really stink later! I put all of the evidence of the burger into the box and placed it into the bed of my truck. I would throw it away after the game.

First Signs Of Trouble

After the game, I returned to my truck to find that removing the box was evidently not enough to prevent the smell. It was bad. Of course, after a few minutes in the truck, my son and I got used to the smell. So we headed home without thinking there may be more to the smell than just the bag. Once on the road (a two hour drive), we forgot about the smell.

I did not give it another thought when we arrived home just before midnight. Even if I had remembered, I am convinced I would not have crawled under the seat to investigate. As it was, I was tired and just wanted to get to bed so that is what I did.

It Still Stinks!

At this point, you are probably thinking that I making this up as I go. Unfortunately, I am not. This is all true. Fortunately, there is a huge amount of learning we can glean from my stupidity! Read on!

When I got into my truck this morning, the odor was terrible. The smell of onion was unmistakeable! So what did I do? I went back inside the house and came up with a brilliant idea.

Masking The Problem?

I remembered an old method I had learned in the past for removing odors from a used car. I put about two cups of fresh coffee grounds into a small plastic container and took it back out to the car with me. The idea is that the coffee grounds smell great AND they absorb odors.

Proud of my ingenuity, I drove to work. I parked my truck and did not return to it until lunch. I was fully expecting to open the door and feel like I was entering the local Starbucks coffee shop. Instead, I was shocked to smell coffee…AND onions! In case you are wondering, these two distinct smells do not go well together.

Final Resolution

Finally, I gave in. I realized that I would have to crawl in behind and under the driver’s seat and try to find whatever it was that had fallen in my lap the night before. It took me a minute or two, but I came out with a piece of an onion that was half the size of a penny! I could not believe something this small had caused so much damage!

Unfortunately, the truck still stinks. It will likely take a few days for all of the smell to go away. Until then, I will have to suffer through the consequences of my delay! Hopefully, I will learn from this!

Lessons Still To Come!

I apologize if you have gotten to the end of this post and you are expecting the lesson. Amazingly, I have run out of room in this post! You will have to wait until my next post to get the points I want to make.

While I am sure you already have a hint of the lesson here, I would encourage you to read back through the post and consider ALL of the points that parallel our experience with a “little sin.” Just like the game on the kids menu at your favorite restaurant, I will challenge you to see how many points you can find in this lesson!

How many points can you make about the lesson we should learn?

Why do we ever let this happen?

What is the best way to prevent it?

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How To Be An Outrageous Leader

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[box]This is a guest post by Dwayne Morris. Dwayne is an author, speaker, husband and father. He recently released a book called The OUTRAGEOUS Life. You can read more about Dwayne on his blog and follow him on Twitter. Read more about his book here![/box]

outrageous leader

Outrageous Leader?

What adjective would people use in front of the word, “leader” to describe you? Are you a visionary leader? A predictable leader? A boring leader?

How about an OUTRAGEOUS leader?

My glance across the leadership front often leaves me slightly perplexed. I find myself straddling the models of old-school leadership and new-school leadership. My disarray is due in part to the intersection of my leadership experiences and a shift to a very different model.

New-School Leadership

The new model of leadership asks, “How can I help you succeed in your task?” That’s a little different than, “I hired you to do a job.” The best people on your team aren’t looking for a J-O-B. They are looking to make a difference; to do something bigger than themselves; to do something outrageous.

What it Takes to be OUTRAGEOUS

Leading your team members to use their God-created gifts to accomplish things they never thought possible requires an OUTRAGEOUS leader. This breed of leader understands a few key principles that help them standout and get noticed. All four of these come from the life of Gideon (Judges 6):

    My Contribution is Critical
    When God challenged Gideon to go save the Israelites from the oppression of the Midiantes and surrounding nations, all Gideon saw was what he could NOT do before ever considering what he COULD do.

    OUTRAGEOUS leaders don’t hide behind limitations. They know how God has gifted them and how He hasn’t. They delegate their weaknesses and play to their strengths.

    Obstacles are Opportunities
    When given the challenge to deliver his nation, Gideon went straight to making excuses. This is a natural response when we are pushed outside of our Comfort Zone.

    OUTRAGEOUS leaders know the area outside their Comfort Zone is called the Growth Zone. They embrace challenge as an opportunity to grow their faith and for God to do something outrageous Himself.

    Fear is the Signature of Success
    Any time you consider attempting the OUTRAGEOUS, fear will always show up with a Sharpie, ready to autograph your task. Gideon was covered in fear. So much so that he tested God with a magic show of sorts and a fleece.

    Fear is the natural by-product of any faith-driven task. The OUTRAGEOUS leader embraces fear as part of the formula for success.

    Small Plans Can Limit Big Possibilities
    Gideon obeyed the Lord’s command and rallied his army, but he had 32,000 too many. God wanted to do something outrageous and knew He had to stack the cards against Gideon. He told Gideon to send them all home but 300.

    The same is true for OUTRAGEOUS leaders. They realize the potential for God to do something beyond their limited ability and vision and allow Him to show off in their lives.

What About You?

Are you a candidate for an OUTRAGEOUS leader? Are you in a place where the Lord feels confident that you will allow Him to challenge you to do something beyond your ability? It’s a great experience to be a part of something bigger than we can imagine and to see God do something outrageous!

Which of these four components do you need to work on first?

What success have you had with one of these components?

Do you see your potential to be an OUTRAGEOUS leader?

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Wisdom Is Not To Be Ignored!

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Personal responsibility is an idea that seems to have been forgotten in our society today. If you listen carefully, you will quite often hear people offer excuses or point fingers at others when something goes wrong in their lives. Even when it is clear to everyone else around them, they cannot seem to make the connection between their decisions and their circumstances. Worse than this, in my opinion, is the way in which many leaders handle wisdom when it is offered to them.

wisdom

Wisdom Ignored

In my last couple of posts, I have been discussing the problems that surface when someone seeks wisdom from godly counselors and then ignores or dismisses the wisdom they are given. We have all seen this happen and have likely been guilty of it ourselves at one point or another in our lives.

For various reasons, we seek out wisdom from godly advisors, but we do not take it and apply it as they prescribe. Maybe we were actually seeking someone to agree with us or to confirm our own wisdom. Maybe the wisdom offered requires more work or discomfort than we are willing to experience. There are many more reasons this could happen.

Various Problems

Regardless of the reasons, ignoring wisdom causes problems. In my first post on this subject, I showed how ignoring wisdom can lead to serious trouble for the one doing the ignoring. The next post described how godly advisors can (and should) stop offering advice to someone who repeatedly ignores it. In today’s post, we will look at how this issue affects those who are following the repeat offender.

Higher Standards

First, lets remind ourselves that as Christian business owners and leaders, we are held to a higher standard. The Bible is clear about this and we have spent a lot of time in this blog discussing this fact. We cannot allow ourselves to forget that we are not only responsible for ourselves. We are not the only ones facing the consequences of our decisions.

We are also responsible for those who work for us and with us. We are responsible for their families as well. We have responsibility for our vendors as well as our customers. Everyone with whom we come into contact is relying on us to make wise decisions in one way or another. Whether we like this or not, this is the path we have chosen.

As a result, when we run into a situation that requires us to seek wisdom from godly advisors, it is likely a decision that carries significant consequences. It is likely a decision that will affect all of those we mentioned above. If we decide to ignore the wisdom we receive for whatever reasons, then we are sentencing others to our same consequences. We are taking them with us!

What Does Scripture Say?

Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about this…

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.
– Proverbs 13:14

He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
– Proverbs 10:17

Leading Others Astray

Here you see that when we ignore the teaching of the wise, not only are we headed toward the snares of death, but we are also leading others to that fate as well. These are people that have trusted us to lead them. When we ignore the wisdom in front of us and choose our own path, we take them with us to face the consequences!

Even if we are okay with our own personal consequences of ignoring wisdom, we cannot allow others to be led astray as a result. Either we need to step down from our position of leadership or we need to step up to the responsibilities that come with it!

Pray For Clarity

I would encourage you to pray (as I will) that God would reveal to you situations where you ignored wisdom offered. Pray that He will make those situations clear to you and show you how to avoid them in the future. Pray for Him to give you wisdom, along with discernment to see it in others. Pray for the humility necessary to accept wisdom from others the next time you ask for it.

Have you witnessed disastrous results for those following one ignoring wisdom?

Do you accept the responsibility for leading others according to godly wisdom?

How do you maintain the humility needed to remain open to wisdom offered?

17 Biblical Principles

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Wisdom: Handle With Care!

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In my last post, I described the dangers we will face as Christian business leaders when we seek wisdom, but do not heed it or apply it. Scripture is clear that we are headed for destruction if we ignore wisdom, but there is another problem that we need to address as well.

wisdom

Wisdom Not Common

I don’t know about you, but I do not see an oversupply of wise counselors hanging from trees. Maybe the world’s wisdom is plentiful, but finding a mentor or someone that has godly wisdom to offer us in times of struggle is difficult. In fact, that is one of the reasons I have enjoyed C12 as much as I have…for the multiple sources of godly business owners and leaders that are willing to share without hesitation!

The problem that is often overlooked when we choose to ignore the wisdom offered to us is that we may soon find the well dry when we really need it. If we keep coming and asking for advice without truly intending to accept and apply it, then we are likely to find it is not readily available when we decide we are ready to listen.

Various Reasons

Think about it. The people that are offering us their God-given wisdom are doing so for a couple of reasons. First, it is likely that someone else gave them godly wisdom when they needed it most. They give now because someone gave it to them.

Maybe they are motivated by Scripture that says “with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. (Luke 6:38)” They realize that giving wisdom out when asked will result in them gaining even more wisdom!

Frustration Comes

Regardless of the motivation of the giver, eventually they will tire of giving advice to someone who clearly does not intend to follow it. At some point, they will quit dispensing wisdom to this person and move on to more productive uses of their time. They will finally give in to the frustration. Frankly, we really cannot blame them, can we? (One exception to this rule may be parents of teenagers! We can’t quit!)

So, what are we to do?

My Advice

If you are one that is seeking wisdom and advice, but not listening to it for one reason or another…take this as a warning! Pray for God to reveal to you your motivations and the intent of your heart. Pray for Him to show you where you are closed-minded and to help you open your ears to hear. Do this with a sincere heart!

If, on the other hand, you are in a position of offering wisdom to someone that refuses to listen, I think you need to have a heart-to-heart with this person. Share with them what you are seeing and ask them to consider whether your perspective is accurate.

Do not make this a confrontation. There is no need to let it get ugly. Simply state your position and ask for their consideration. Once you have done this, expect the best. Plan for a new relationship and an open mind on their part.

Advice From Scripture

If you get a stone wall, then don’t fret. Simply walk away knowing you have done your part. Take a look at the following verses and see if maybe they speak to this situation:

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feetwhen you leave that house or town.
– Matthew 10:14

Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
– Matthew 7:6

Do you fall into either group?

Do you think my advice in your case is worth following?

What would you add to this discussion?

17 Biblical Principles

What Would You Invest to Have 50 Biblical Mentors?

Imagine what it would cost to sit down to lunch with more than 50 different leaders to glean their wisdom for life.

  • What would it cost you to travel to more than 50 locations?
  • How much would you pay for hotels and food?
  • What scheduling headaches would you encounter trying to make it happen?

Your costs would easily run into the thousands of dollars if you could pull it off at all. But 17BPS has done it for you.

Now you can have all this wisdom delivered when it is convenient for you for only a fraction of the cost.

Click HERE to learn more!

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3 Problems With Ignoring Wisdom

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Have you ever been with someone that needed your advice and even asked for it, but was not willing to listen to it? Do you have one of those friends that seeks your wisdom, but quickly makes it quite obvious that they are not really interested in applying it to their situation? If not, is it possible that you are that person?

wisdom

Not Serious About Wisdom?

I have experienced this very situation on multiple occasions. In each case, the friend asked for advice for a specific problem. In some cases, there were several of us present offering wisdom. Unfortunately, the seekers made it pretty clear that they were not really listening. In a couple of cases, they did not even allow some of the advisers to complete a sentence before interrupting with reasons why the solutions offered would not work!

As I watched this happen, I was frustrated. I was frustrated for them because it was clear they were not hearing what they wanted to hear. I was frustrated for the people offering the advice because they could tell they were wasting time. I was also frustrated for the people following these wisdom-seeking leaders. Overall, these are painful experiences!

What Can We Learn?

After reading through Proverbs and considering what I could learn from these types of situations, I determined there are (at least) three problems that come from ignoring wisdom. I will address each of these three problems in separate posts. In today’s post, we will look at the first problem.

The first problem with ignoring wisdom is described in the following verses from Proverbs:

If you stop listening to correction, my son,
you will stray from the words of knowledge.
– Proverbs 19:27

The one who gives an answer before he listens—
this is foolishness and disgrace for him.
– Proverbs 18:13

The wise store up knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction.
– Proverbs 10:14

Apply Wisdom Or Else!

From these three simple verses, we can see that failing to heed wisdom leads to some serious trouble. When we are guilty of ignoring wisdom, we can expect to face disgrace and even destruction. I don’t know about you, but that is not something I want to experience if I can avoid it!

Examples of this in our lives as Christian business owners and leaders can vary from small, seemingly insignificant issues to those that may even include life and death scenarios. While this may be true, most are going to fall somewhere in between.

Examples

Consider the business owner that is advised against investing too heavily in a risky new product without the appropriate cash reserves to handle its failure. What are the potential consequences for his decision to move forward against the advice he received?

What about the manager that is told she would be foolish to show favoritism to the attractive salesperson on her team? Do you see the path that this decision could take?

Trouble Looms

Regardless of the situation, I think it is clear that we all face serious consequences when we do not listen to those offering godly wisdom. I am not sure of the various reasons one might have for ignoring wisdom they sought out, but it is clear from Scripture that doing so is asking for trouble.

In my next two posts, I will describe the other two problems we encounter when we do not heed the wisdom offered to us.

Have you acted like this when seeking wisdom?

Have you witnessed it from the position of offering the wisdom?

What do you do to make sure this does not happen?

17 Biblical Principles

What Would You Invest to Have 50 Biblical Mentors?

Imagine what it would cost to sit down to lunch with more than 50 different leaders to glean their wisdom for life.

  • What would it cost you to travel to more than 50 locations?
  • How much would you pay for hotels and food?
  • What scheduling headaches would you encounter trying to make it happen?

Your costs would easily run into the thousands of dollars if you could pull it off at all. But 17BPS has done it for you.

Now you can have all this wisdom delivered when it is convenient for you for only a fraction of the cost.

Click HERE to learn more!