The devotional My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers regularly calls Christians to bold action.  The entry for May 30 is particularly challenging for the faithful leader of an organization.   Chambers begins with a question:

Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally against it. What will you do? Will you hold back?

Common Sense

It is challenging for a faithful leader because business as usual—business in the way of the kingdom of the world—is often the most common source of “common sense” in business. Business as usual is “everywhere.” It is:

• Business as taught in business schools and management training programs.

• Business as rewarded by management, boards, and stockholders.

• Business as demanded by investors, fund managers, and stock analysts.

• Business as described by Milton Friedman in 1970, when he famously wrote, “There is one and only one social responsibility of business — to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.”

• Business as relegated to the world of the secular by many churches and pastors.

It is also challenging for a faithful leader because the application of Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities to organizational leadership is not standard fare in most churches. In the words of Max De Pree:

Unless somebody articulates something different, you are going to adopt a secular standard without even thinking about it.

The challenge is compounded by well-intentioned “faith” messages that can send faithful leaders in the wrong direction through “bad theology” or, at least, poor communication of good theology that substitutes the “good” for the “best”—what we call faith as usual stumbling blocks.

We are born and indoctrinated into a culture that says work is about making money, business is about profit, ministry is sacred and spiritually superior, and business is secular and spiritually inferior.

Business as usual “common sense” can look like:

• Maximizing profit is the only legitimate goal of business.

• People are self-interested and organizations should use that self-interest to motivate performance.

• Employee compensation and benefits should be set at the minimum level necessary to minimize attrition and motivate acceptable performance.

• Resources are scarce and business is a series of zero-sum transactions in which there must be a winner and a loser.  Leverage should be used to win to the greatest extent possible.

• Employees are simply “human resources”—tools of production to be managed for maximum performance at the lowest cost.

• Hiring people to maximize growth and then firing them when things slow down is just good business.

• Law, regulations, and ethics are obstacles to be navigated, and operating in grey zones is merely a risk/reward calculation.

• If our competitors are pushing legal, regulatory, or ethical boundaries, we must push at least as far or farther.

• Payables should be delayed as long as possible.

• Employees who are underperforming or make a mistake should be terminated promptly.

• In a crisis, survival justifies whatever action is necessary.

Faith as usual “common sense” can look like:

• Business has no intrinsic Kingdom value other than as a platform to evangelize people or generate profit that can be given to those who evangelize people.

• Business has no intrinsic Kingdom value other than as a platform to help “the least of these” through producing socially good products or to generate profit that can be given to those who help “the least of these” through humanitarian work.

• Bringing overt faith symbols and practices into the workplace is the most effective way to integrate faith and work.

• The time for a business to do something significant by integrating faith is after the business is successful.

Pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way—business in the way of the Kingdom of God—toward Biblical flourishing will require a faithful leader to abandon the “common sense” of business as usual and faith as usual.

Live with Abandon

The Newsboys wrote a song that captures the call of business a better way—”Live with Abandon” (you can listen to it at the link below). Its message points to the weariness of chasing the world and the desire to place every part of one’s life in Jesus’s hands. Chambers’s May 30 message goes on to describe the call of living with abandon:

If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says.

A faithful leader can’t lead beyond their own personal faith.  They are unlikely to align an organizational culture with Biblical beliefs they do not hold, biblical principles they haven’t embraced personally, and Biblical priorities that do not order their personal life.

Based on George Barna’s book Maximum Faith, it would seem that only 2% or less of self-identifying Christians in the United States are living with abandon—what he calls “Choosing to Surrender and Submit Fully to God: Radical Dependence”—and that was back in 2011. Barna laments:

The bottom line in God’s eyes is whether or not we love Him. Sadly, over the last thirty years my research has invariably revealed that we give God world-class lip service but we follow the whims of our minds and hearts.

Barna continues:

His goal for your life is that you cease to live for yourself. His best offer is for you to choose to live solely for Him, in which case He will guide your development in ways that maximize your potential. He wants you to define success according to your obedience to His will and pursuit of His vision for your life, rather than simply meeting the standards of the world — even the church world. . . . [T]rue spiritual transformation is impossible unless you become fully dependent upon God. Fully dependent.

Until a faithful leader surrenders to God’s will–when they are still pursuing their will–the WHY that drives their organizational leadership will be more focused on being good, doing good, looking good and feeling good based on the “common sense” standards of the world or their faith community.

Lead with Abandon

For a faithful leader who is personally living with abandon, leading with abandon requires crossing the most challenging of the four “gaps” of faith/work integration that we discussed in post #270 (Three Hops and a Leap: Over the Gaps to Faithful Integrity). Here they are:

• “Sunday/Monday”: this gap is crossed when you understand that what you do Monday-Friday is not disconnected from the faith you practice on Sunday–you should bring your whole self (including your faith) to work or to your business

• “Sacred/Secular”: this gap is crossed when you understand that your work or business itself has intrinsic value in God’s Kingdom–your work and the way you manage your business is a sacred vocational calling and a form of worship (you have probably heard that the Hebrew word avodah means work, worship and service).

• “Knowing/Doing”: this gap is crossed when you understand how to take those understandings and begin implementing change in your work and organization through deeds.

• “Safety/Surrender”: this gap is crossed when a faithful leader has fully surrendered their organizational leadership to God, accepting their role as steward rather than owner.

We called the first three “hops” because they can be thought of as “wisdom” or “knowledge” gaps. They can be crossed through understanding, and gaining that understanding is a key focus of the RENEW stage of the Integriosity^® process.

The fourth gap–“Safety/Surrender”–is very different.  It is arguably the most important on the journey toward faithful integrity (and the most challenging), but unlike the others, it isn’t about wisdom or knowledge; it’s about heart.  Crossing the fourth gap requires a “leap” of faith.

Leading with abandon by crossing the Safety/Surrender gap is a necessary step to transforming the heart of an organization to a bigger WHY aligned with God’s purpose for work and business and to living out true “stewardship” as commanded in the Creation Mandate.

The stewardship of surrender required to cross the Safety/Surrender gap–what we call “faithful stewardship” –means leading the organization in line with God’s will, which includes aligning its purpose, values and culture with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities and transforming its WHY–its heart–from the “common sense” that the world values to what God values.

Faithful stewardship demands more than a “being a good Christian” kind of faith. Transforming the WHY of an organization to what God prioritizes rather than what the world prioritizes requires putting profit in its proper place as a means rather than the end toward which a business is managed and optimizing profit to maximize the flourishing of all creation touched by the organization, particularly people.

There is much talk in the faith/work movement about “stewardship”.  We believe true “stewardship” is difficult and rare, because complete surrender is difficult and rare.

We suspect much “stewardship” is what we will call “religious stewardship”–incorporating faith activities into work and making positive cultural changes.  It may be incorporating ministry AT work or ministry THROUGH work activities.  It may be recognizing the ministry OF work by transforming the culture of the organization through the introduction of Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities into the operation of the organization.

While good, religious stewardship often fails to cross the Sacred/Secular Gap to recognize business as a sacred platform (e.g., “Business as Mission“).  In other cases, it crosses that gap only to rest comfortably on a faith as usual Side Road.

Most importantly, “religious stewardship” is still operating in the will of the faithful leader and stops short of true heart transformation–which we believe includes changing the organization’s WHY from profit to Humanizing People, Beautifying the World and Glorifying God.  Sometimes this is expressed through phrases like “Do well while doing good” or “Profit with Purpose“.

While incorporating faith activities into a business culture even on the safety side of the Safety/Surrender Gap requires trust and courage and will meet resistance from the world, religious stewardship lives on the safety side of the gap.

The HOW of Leading with Abandon

Abandoning the “common sense” of business as usual and faith as usual is not simple when a faithful leader is leading an organization in the world. Even the phrase “faithful leader” seems to hold the tension of the dilemma.  On one side of the choice is “faithful” and on the other side is “leader.”

A “faithful” person wants to put God first.  They want to follow God’s lead, wherever it may go.  They understand that everything they have belongs to God, and they want to surrender their goals and desires—their “will”—for God’s “will” to be done.  They want to live their life in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles, and priorities.  The faithful person measures success in terms of obedience.

On the other hand, a “leader” is a businessperson building a business in the world.  They have analysts, markets, investors, employees, and customers to keep happy. They have financial metrics to track and hurdles to achieve.  The world of business measures success in terms of profit and growth.  They are expected to ruthlessly follow the “common sense” of the world in their effort to achieve increased profits and growth.

To complicate things, faith as usual offers a veneer of good-looking, good-feeling faith covering a heart still shaped by the world’s common sense.

Accepting the tension and choosing abandon over common sense requires understanding, prayer, humility, trust, and patience.

Understanding

The first step of the Integriosity process is RENEW, and it includes understanding the “common sense” of business as usual and faith as usual and how the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing differs. 

A leader can’t abandon the world’s and religion’s “common sense” for God’s best without recognizing what they are turning from and what they are turning to. A RENEWED understanding provides the foundation for prayer, humility, trust, and patience.  It is the foundation for the testing called for in Romans 12:2:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Prayer

The importance of prayer in discerning when to abandon common sense seems so obvious. Remember Oswald’s question—”Suppose God tells you to do something.”  The issue is not abandoning common sense for its own sake; it is being willing to abandon common sense in order to follow God’s wisdom. Unfortunately, many faithful leaders do not seek God’s wisdom for business decisions.  Oswald Chambers observed:

In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives.

God’s wisdom comes through prayer.  Abandoning common sense without prayerful discernment is likely to result in poor stewardship. Four posts focused on the why and how of prayer in leading with faithful integrity are post #266 (Integrity Idea 073: Be Quiet), post #133 (Integrity Idea 007: Personal Prayer), post #134 (Integrity Idea 008: Group Prayer), and post #135 (Integrity Idea 009: Intercessory Prayer).

Of course, praying for a particular process, timing and outcome is NOT praying for God’s wisdom, and ignoring God’s wisdom to pursue your own process, timing or outcome is NOT wise.

Humility

Navigating the tension between “abandon” and “common sense” requires Godly wisdom, and humility is a key to wisdom.  The link between humility and wisdom can be seen in Proverbs 11:2:

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

God is the source of all wisdom, and the Bible tells us that God will give wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5).  In post #245 (Integrity Idea 063: Seek Vertical Wisdom) and post #246 (Integrity Idea 064: Seek Horizontal Wisdom), we discussed why and how to seek wisdom from God and from others.

Trust

We tend to trust God more easily with little things than big things. When faced with an important decision or a critical or sensitive situation, a faithful leader may resort to “common sense”—trusting the things that the world trusts, such as “impressive” people and “secure” money.  Oswald Chambers observes:

We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.

Proverbs 3:5-7 promises:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes.

Even the faithful leader who prays for discernment and has the humility to recognize the need for God’s wisdom will only get the benefit of that discernment and wisdom by trusting God’s process, timing, and outcome:

• Process: God’s process is often counter-intuitive and counter-cultural.

• Timing: God’s timing often seems excruciatingly slow.

• Outcome: God’s best outcome for a business—the “all these things” promised in Matthew 6:33—may not be the world’s best outcome.

Patience

When a faithful leader is discerning whether God is calling them to abandon common sense, patience is needed before and after making a decision.

Leaders faced with an important decision or a crisis may feel compelled to act or respond quickly before gathering all the facts and seeking wisdom from others as well as God.  It is often difficult to pause and reflect.  In post #259 (Integrity Idea 068: Develop a “Daniel Plan” for Decisions), we pointed to Daniel as an example of a leader who was patient.

You probably remember that Daniel comes to the rescue when King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream he wants interpreted. What you may not recall is the process Daniel followed in responding to this crisis.

• He responded with wisdom and discretion: “Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.” (Daniel 2:14)  The Message translates this as, “Daniel wisely took him aside and quietly asked what was going on.”  The NIV says he spoke with “wisdom and tact”.

• He asked the King for more time to respond: “Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.” (Daniel 2:16)

• He sought horizontal wisdom from others: “Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions.” (Daniel 2:17)

• He sought vertical wisdom from God: “Daniel . . . told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery.” (Daniel 2:17-18)

Patience is also needed after a leader chooses God’s way over the world’s way.  It is difficult to read the Bible and not walk away feeling woefully impatient. God’s story is full of people who patiently waited and persevered—a first cousin of patience—a LONG time–a VERY LONG time. There are also stories of people who got impatient and tried to short-circuit God’s timing, and God was not pleased.

There are also numerous Biblical passages about patience, which is one of the nine “fruits of the Spirit”–here is just one:

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!  (Psalm 37:7)

Choosing “abandon” over “common sense” in leading a business is “playing the long game”, and that takes Biblical patience (and perseverance).

Recently we heard an extraordinary story of a person who trusted God when it made no worldly sense. We will call him John. As a single father without a job, John was praying about upcoming job interviews when he heard God tell him not to take the jobs but to share with the interviewers the testimony of his wife leaving him.  It defied “common sense,” but John chose the path of obedience—”abandon.”  Taking this path through several interviews led to a referral to a dream job he has held for 15 years.

To finish where we started, Oswald Chambers wraps up his May 30 devotional as follows:

By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. 

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  “Abandon” was my word in 2014.  It came to me during a February retreat at the We Want More House in Bridgeport, CT.  Earlier that month I had received the e-mail that would start my journey toward Integrous.  Until the retreat, “common sense” had been holding me back.  First, “abandon” came through hearing the Newsboys song.  Then it was a word received by one of the other participants when he was praying for me. Looking back, I can see that “abandon” was not a call to recklessness. It was a call to stop letting the world’s definition of prudence decide the limits of my obedience.

ESSENCE: Oswald Chambers asks the question, “Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally against it. What will you do? Will you hold back?” It is a challenging question for a faithful leader of an organization because business as usual—business in the way of the kingdom of the world—is often the most common source of “common sense” in business. The challenge is compounded by well-intentioned “faith” messages that can send faithful leaders in the wrong direction—what we call faith as usual stumbling blocks. We are born and indoctrinated into a culture that says work is about making money, business is about profit, ministry is sacred, and business is secular. Pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way—business in the way of the Kingdom of God—toward Biblical flourishing will require a faithful leader to abandon the “common sense” of business as usual and faith as usual. It is not abandoning “common sense” for its own sake; it is being willing to abandon “common sense” in order to follow God’s wisdom. Until a faithful leader surrenders to God’s will—while they are still pursuing their will—the WHY that drives their organizational leadership will be more focused on being good, doing good, looking good and feeling good based on the “common sense” standards of the world or their faith community. Leading with abandon requires crossing the most challenging of the four “gaps” of faith/work integration—the Safety/Surrender Gap. Accepting the tension of being faithful while leading a business in the world, and then choosing abandon over common sense, requires understanding, prayer, humility, trust, and patience.

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(photo cropped)