I have quit my job and I am actually walking away from my family’s business. Even as I type this, I get emotional at the thought of it. In my entire life, I have only had one job outside of our family business – waiting tables the summer after college. Now, I have made the decision to take a new path and I can tell you…it is a thrilling (and scary) path!
Stop and take a look around at the results in your life. I am not talking about your standard of living or your growing retirement account. Instead, I want you to assess the eternal results that you are able to identify. While we know these kinds of results are not easily quantifiable, I believe we can each get a sense of whether we are seeing dramatic or anemic results when it comes to the eternal measurement.
Writing a blog can be a dangerous undertaking! No, there have not been any threats on my life or people coming after me because of something I have said. The danger is not actually a physical one, but a spiritual one. Instead of finding myself in peril, the problem is one of theory versus application.
I hesitated to write this article. I hesitated for several reasons, but none of them are really important. What’s important is that the kind of behavior exhibited in Charlottesville will continue, and even spread, if people like us remain silent about it. If Christians, true disciples of Jesus Christ, remain silent in the wake of such racism, hatred, and evil, then we better prepare for it to be the norm. Not only that, but we will be held accountable for that silence.
Most likely, you have not spent much time thinking about where an ambassador works when they are on the job. Unless you have read my last two posts, you may not have thought much at all about ambassadors. Either way, I want to encourage you to think about them today – and how their work impacts you as an ambassador for Christ!
In my last post, we started digging into 2 Corinthians 5:20 and figuring out what it means to us. We started by breaking out the various components of the definition of an “ambassador,” applying each component to our own situations. You really need to read that last post [HERE] to get the full effect. Today, I want to cover the remaining points that I believe are most critical in this verse.
Sometimes a single verse from the Bible can teach us much that we need to know about being the Christian business owners and leaders that God has called us to be. While that may be too large a task for one verse, I think I have at least one that comes close. Let’s start by taking a look at the following verse about being an ambassador for Christ:
Turn on the news and you are likely to see any number of examples of celebrities, politicians, or others who have fallen from grace due to some sort of scandal or newly-exposed hypocrisy in their actions or beliefs. It is one reason I avoid the news for the most part. However, Christian business leaders can learn a lesson from what we see on the news and we had better take it to heart!
Stop for a moment and consider the state of the world we live in today. Now consider the various threats to Christian ministry that exist in this world. It can be overwhelming. However, there is one significant threat that is more dangerous than you may realize. That threat is you!
It was about 15 years ago when I decided to quit my job to pursue Christian ministry. I had no idea what I would do next, but I had a new-found passion for God. I was determined to live my WHOLE life for Him. Like many other well-meaning Christians, I believed that meant I had to quit my job so I could pursue Christian ministry.
I was wrong.