17 Apr Integrous News: April 15, 2021
Why Work Is Necessary: The Implications of Genesis 2:5 This article first appeared on April 15, 2021 in CU: The Magazine, published by Christian Union....
News/Blog2
14 Apr #064 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Humility–A Key to Wisdom
The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and, in addition to being the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things" (Righteousness, Love and Kingdom), it is a key to Wisdom. Pride, on the other hand, can keep the leader of...
07 Apr #063 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Humility–A “HOW” of Pursuing the Kingdom
The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and it is the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things", including Kingdom. Humility in pursuing the Kingdom flows from knowing who we are in relation to God--it means recognizing the "smallness of our...
31 Mar #062 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Humility–A “HOW” of Loving Others
The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and it is the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things", including Love. Humility in Loving Others flows from knowing who we are in relation to other people. By embracing Imago Dei, Humility leads...
24 Mar #061 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Humility–A “HOW” of Righteousness
The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and it is the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things", including Righteousness. Humility in Righteousness flows from knowing who we are in relation to God's creation and His plan. In fact, living sacrificially--a key...
16 Mar #060 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Humility–The Key to “HOW”
The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and it is the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things"--Righteousness, Love and Kingdom--and it is a key to Wisdom. In fact, we believe leadership without Humility is antithetical to leading an organization to faithfully "do...
08 Mar #059 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Love–What About Profit?
Posted at 14:00h
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Profit is NOT bad. In fact, we believe PROFIT IS NECESSARY for an organization (other than a non-profit organization) to be obedient to the Creation Mandate, because it is necessary for sustainability, for the flourishing of owners and to further the bigger "WHY" of the organization....
03 Mar #058 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Love—Respect and Sustainability–God’s Limits
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Love is the first "Generosity Priority" embedded in Integriosity®, and we have seen how the generosity and service aspects of Love lead us to the purpose of work and business (maximize flourishing by Humanizing, Beautifying, Glorifying), but there are also respect and sustainability aspects of Love that are inherent in the Creation Mandate. Biblical sustainability is about faithfully "doing right" by caring...
24 Feb #057 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Love—Loving by Serving—Purpose of Work and Business
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Putting together the puzzle pieces of the last several posts, we see that the first principle of Love leads us to the same purpose for business as emerged from the first principle of Kingdom--the BIGGER purpose of work and business is to HUMANIZE people, BEAUTIFY the...
17 Feb #056 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Love—Loving by Serving—Nature of Business
An organization is a merely a collection of people working together toward a common purpose. As such, it derives its purpose from their purpose. Organizations such as businesses have intrinsic Kingdom value because they are a creation of God's image-bearers that provides the platform...
08 Feb #055 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Love—Loving by Serving—Nature of Work
Posted at 13:15h
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The nature of work in God's design is that it is how we use our skills to obey His commandments through SERVICE. People are more fully human when they are working in alignment with God's purpose for work--a vehicle for living out the Creation Mandate and the great commandments to love...
03 Feb #054 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Love—Loving Generously—Being “Godly”
Posted at 06:30h
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Being created in the image of God is not just a great t-shirt slogan--it has important implications for how we live and what we need in order to be fully human. Embedding the Biblical principle of love your neighbor in the culture and heart...
27 Jan #053 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Love—Loving Generously—Faithful Presence
Posted at 06:30h
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Keep First Things First means going back to Biblical first principles, and one of the four principles embedded in the word Integriosity® is the "Generosity Priority" of LOVE. "All the Law and the Prophets" depend on the commandments to love God and love your...
20 Jan #052 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Kingdom—Role of Work, Business and Redemption
Posted at 06:00h
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The book-ends of a BIGGER GOSPEL reveal the purpose and relevance of work and organizations in God's grand plan and an even greater purpose for Redemption through Jesus. Creation and Restoration teach us that humans need work and organizations to be "fully human"; work...
13 Jan #051 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Kingdom—Where We Are Going—We Have a Role
Posted at 08:30h
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For a leader to lead an organization to faithfully "do right", they must recognize that what they believe about "where we are going someday" profoundly impacts "how we act today". God's restoration plan for His Kingdom means work and business have relevance in God's...
06 Jan #050 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Kingdom—Where We Are Going—A Restored City
Posted at 06:30h
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For a leader to lead an organization to faithfully "do right", they must recognize that what they believe about "where we are going someday" profoundly impacts "how we act today". A Restoration understanding of heaven means the "very good" creation that left plenty...
30 Dec #049 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Kingdom—Lessons from Creation—Work Is Necessary
Posted at 06:30h
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For a leader to lead an organization to faithfully "do right", they must look to Creation to understand the necessity of work to God's plan for His creation. The world was actually created to need our creativity and productivity in order to flourish....
23 Dec #048 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Kingdom—Lessons from Creation—Work Is Good
Posted at 09:25h
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For a leader to lead an organization to faithfully "do right", they must look to Creation to understand the importance of work to the humanity of those they lead. God created work for humanity as a GOOD THING before the Fall, and people are...
16 Dec #047 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Kingdom—Lessons from Creation–Imago Dei
Posted at 06:45h
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A leader can't lead an organization to faithfully "do right" without understanding and embracing a BIGGER GOSPEL, because without going back to Creation, we can't understand Who We Are, and more importantly, we can't understand Who Other People Are. It is only when we understand...
09 Dec #046 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Kingdom—Lessons from Creation–Why Are We Here
Posted at 09:45h
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It is impossible to understand God's purpose for work or business without looking at Genesis and understanding the Creation Mandate (a commandment about our purpose on earth), God's love for all creation and our role as its stewards. As stewards, we have global responsibility...
02 Dec #045 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Kingdom—Bigger Gospel
Many faith-driven leaders are operating out of a narrow and incomplete vision of God's story--missing the beginning and end of a grand four-part narrative (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration). Because the purpose and relevance of work and business are found in Creation and Restoration, we do...
25 Nov #044 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Righteousness—Living Generously
Faithfully "doing right" is more than "doing good"--it means "doing right" by God, and that means "living generously through loving others and stewarding creation". There are many organizations that promote "giving generously", but what does it mean to "live generously"? It requires "vertically integrating" generosity...
18 Nov #043 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Righteousness—Need for Authenticity
Faithfully "doing right" with integrity needs a WHY, and the WHY of faithfully "doing right" needs to have integrity in the form of "authenticity" (with authenticity having four components: identity, sincerity, consistency and transparency). In other words, the organization's WHY must be more than a pretty...
11 Nov #042 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Righteousness—More than “Do the Right Thing”
Faithfully "doing right" requires considering more than just WHAT you do. It requires also considering HOW you do it and WHY you are doing it. Faithfully "doing right" requires doing the right thing, in the right way and for the right reasons....
04 Nov #041 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Righteousness—More than “Good”
Faithfully "doing right" is much more than "doing good" or being ethical. The key to understanding faithfully "doing right" is recognizing that "doing right" needs an object--by whom are we to "do right". We believe a faith-driven leader is called to "do right"...
28 Oct #040 – Integriosity – RENEW—Keep First Things First—Righteousness—Levels of “Good”
Faithfully “doing right” is much more than “doing good”. In this post we begin exploring the "Integrity Priority" of Righteousness by considering what “doing good” can mean in business (and it can mean many different things, none of which are the ancient path of...
21 Oct #039 – Integriosity – Renew – Biblical Principles – Keep First Things First
A key element of the RENEW step of Integriosity is re-ordering disordered priorities. It is important to go back to first principles by asking what the Bible tells us are the keys to everything else. And then we have to "Keep First Things...
14 Oct #038 – Integriosity – Renew – Biblical Principles – Management Matters
Management matters. WHO leaders of an organization “show up as” and HOW the organization “does what it does” can have intrinsic value in God’s Kingdom before even considering the services it provides or the products it produces. And the WHO and HOW are...
07 Oct #037 – Integriosity – Moving from “As Usual” to “A Better Way”
"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Guess what--we are done with the bad news, and it is finally time to dig into the good stuff! We have spent the last 30 posts digging through the rubble of "work". It is...
30 Sep #036 – Placebos – The Problem
Posted at 09:45h
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The effort to faithfully "do right" by integrating faith and work can get DERAILED by six problems that can keep the organization in the deep hole of "business as usual" and may even push it deeper. The more of "business a better way" is...
23 Sep #035 – Faith As Usual – Interimize
"Interimizing" is putting off "doing right" until the business is "doing well"--exalting a worldly concept of "success" (profit) over a Biblical concept of "success" (human flourishing). A leader that swallows The "Success First" Pill and adopts an "interim strategy"--Interimizing--may never get around to faith/work integration....
16 Sep #034 – Faith As Usual – Prosperitize
"Prosperitizing" is when leaders pursue faith/work integration because they believe it will lead to God blessing their business with worldly success--measured in terms of profit and growth. It is perhaps the most insidious of the various Side Roads because the organization can look like it...
09 Sep #033 – Faith As Usual – Cosmeticize
Some faith-driven leaders have been deceived into believing that the integration of faith and work is principally about sprinkling some "faith" pixie dust over the organization to make it look and feel "Godly"--and that leads down the Side Road of Cosmeticizing. "Cosmeticizing" is when an organization adopts overt...
02 Sep #032 – Faith As Usual – Monetize
We have explored the five common Placebos of what we call faith as usual that can lead well intentioned leaders to stumble down faith as usual Side Roads in their effort to integrate their faith and their work. After Agonizing and Individualizing, the third of these Side Roads...
26 Aug #031 – Faith As Usual – Individualize
We have explored the fivecommon Placebos of what we call faith as usual that can lead well intentioned leaders to stumble down Side Roads in their effort to integrate their faith and their work. We have also hinted at the six common faith as usual Side Roads that represent responses...
19 Aug #030 – Faith As Usual – Agonize
We have explored the five common Placebos of what we call faith as usual that can lead well intentioned leaders to stumble down Side Roads in their effort to integrate their faith and their work. We have also hinted at the six common faith as usual Side Roads that represent...
12 Aug #029 – Faith As Usual – The “Success First” Pill
We believe there are five common Placebos of what we call faith as usual that can lead well intentioned leaders down Side Roads in their effort to integrate their faith and their work. The fifth Placebo is The "Success First" Pill, which commonly leads to the Side Road of Interimizing and...
05 Aug #028 – Faith As Usual – The “Bless You” Pill
We believe there are five common Placebos of what we call faith as usual that can lead well intentioned leaders down Side Roads in their effort to integrate their faith and their work. The fourth Placebo (after The "4-Hour Content" Pill, The "Save or Give" Pill and The "Add Some Faith"...
29 Jul #027 – Faith As Usual – The “Add Some Faith” Pill
We believe there are five common Placebos of what we call faith as usual that can lead well intentioned leaders down Side Roads in their effort to integrate their faith and their work. The third Placebo (after The "4-Hour Content" Pill and The "Save or Give" Pill) is The...
22 Jul #026 – Faith As Usual – The “Save or Give” Pill
We believe there are five common Placebos of what we call faith as usual that can lead well intentioned leaders down Side Roads in their effort to integrate their faith and their work. The second Placebo (after The "4-Hour Content" Pill) is The "Save or Give" Pill, which commonly...
15 Jul #025 – Faith As Usual – The 4-Hour Content Pill
We believe there are five common Placebos of what we call faith as usual that can lead well intentioned leaders down Side Roads in their effort to integrate their faith and their work. The first Placebo we will explain is The "4-Hour Content" Pill, which commonly leads to the...
08 Jul #024 – Faith As Usual – Placebos and Side Roads
We started Integriosity #001 by saying that many leaders who are guided by the Bible in their personal lives and sincerely want to live an integrated faith life at work are confused or frustrated or even intimidated. Some have given up. Others think they are doing...
01 Jul #023 – Blue Pill Brokenness – Work As Usual – Unhealthy Relationships
A fourth key aspect (in addition to Idol and Identity, Money and Power and Burden) of toxic "work as usual" that leads to "work" becoming something far from God's design in Genesis is that work as usual is characterized by Unhealthy Relationships, rather than life-giving community and...
24 Jun #022 – Blue Pill Brokenness – Work As Usual – Burden
Posted at 09:00h
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A third key aspect (in addition to Idol and Identity and Money and Power) of toxic "work as usual" that leads to "work" becoming something far from God's good and live-giving design in Genesis is that it has become a Burden rather than the blessing...
17 Jun #021 – Blue Pill Brokenness – Work As Usual – Money and Power
At Integrous, we believe another (in addition to Idol and Identity) of the four key aspects of toxic "work as usual" that leads to "work" becoming something far from God's good and live-giving design in Genesis is that it is all about Money and Power rather...
10 Jun #020 – Blue Pill Brokenness – Work As Usual – An Idol and Identity
At Integrous, we believe one of the four key aspects of toxic "work as usual" that leads to "work" becoming something far from God's good and live-giving design in Genesis is Idol and Identity--the idea that "work as usual" means our work has come to DEFINE...
03 Jun #019 – Blue Pill Brokenness – Work As Usual
Posted at 09:00h
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We call the blue pill "business as usual", and the last several posts have shown ways in which it is broken. If a business is just an association of human beings working together (which it is), is it any surprise that "work as usual" would...
27 May #018 – Business As Usual Problems- “Scarcity”, “Self-Interest” and the Real Problem
Posted at 09:45h
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Of the various aspects of blue pill "business as usual" that contribute to workplace and worker brokenness, Profit as Purpose is the most significant, but the Scarcity assumption and the Self Interest assumption exacerbate the problems by ignoring why we were created and whose image...
20 May #017 – Business As Usual Problems- “Profit” Problems
Posted at 09:00h
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Profit is not a problem, just like money is not the root of all evil. In fact, profit is necessary for a business operating in a market economy--without it you don't have a sustainable organization or access to financial capital. But (and it is a...