#248 – Crossing the Fourth Gap

In prior posts, we’ve explored three “gaps” a faithful leader must cross in pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.  These are “wisdom” or “knowledge” gaps that help a leader understand the WHY and HOW of faith/work integration.  But there is a fourth gap that is arguably the most important of all–the Safety/Surrender Gap.  Unlike the others, it isn’t about wisdom or knowledge; it’s about heart.

“Wisdom Gaps” Revisited

Let’s briefly review the three gaps that can keep a faithful leader from a Biblical understanding of the relationship between faith and work. These are examined more fully in post #165–Leading Faithfully Basics – The “Gaps”.  It is helpful to think of these three gaps as “wisdom” gaps.

• “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.

• “Sacred/Secular”: this gap is crossed when you understand that your work itself has intrinsic value in God’s Kingdom–your work 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.

They are about renewing your mind regarding God’s purpose for work and business and how to begin aligning your work and the purpose, values and culture of an organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities. Moving across the three wisdom gaps of faith/work integration equips a faithful leader to see their role, their organization and all its people in a new light.

The secular “world” view of faith and work is that they have absolutely nothing to do with each other (unless the work is in “ministry”).  A person’s “faith identity” is personal and does not belong at the office/factory/store (sometimes because the proponents of this view are hostile to faith).

The “world” is effectively stuck behind the Sunday/Monday Gap, but so are many regular churchgoers. What they do Monday-Friday is disconnected from the faith they practice on Sunday (or Saturday)–not because they are hostile to faith, but because they have never been taught otherwise.

Based on informal surveys by a few faith and work organizations, it would seem less than 10% of Christian workers have crossed he Sacred/Secular Gap. Sadly, the church has often failed to teach the sacred nature of business and work. We believe even a fair amount of theology espoused in the faith and work movement can contribute to faithful leaders remaining “stuck”.

Leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing requires crossing the three wisdom gaps.

The Importance and Limits of Faithful Integrity

At the core of Integriosity® is the “undivided” aspect of the word “integrity”.  Integriosity and business a better way are about alignment.  It is about a faithful leader living a life of integrity in which all they do at work is informed, guided and part of their faith–what we call “faithful integrity”.  “Faithful Integrity” represents integrity with a transcendent anchor of God’s purpose for work and business.

Integriosity and business a better way are about a faithful leader pursuing faithful integrity by aligning the purpose, values and culture of the organization they lead with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities toward Biblical flourishing.

But the ability of a faithful leader to implement that alignment is limited by a leadership principle often attributed to John Maxwell:

We cannot lead anyone farther than we have been ourselves.

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.

A faithful leader can get stuck behind a “wisdom gap” because they do not understand God’s purpose for work and business, but they can also be limited by how they live out their faith personally.

For example, if a leader has been taught that personally living out a Biblical faith is mostly about the Great Commission and evangelism (make disciples) or the Great Commandment (love God and love your neighbor) and doing social good, they may well be satisfied swallowing the Save or Give” Placebo and staying on a faith as usual Side Road in how their faith shows up in the organization.  In fact, they are likely to find it hard to see how a business (or work) can be “faithful” unless it is explicitly evangelistic (or directly serving evangelism) or “doing good” for the less fortunate.

If “looking like a good Christian” is important to a leader in their personal faith, they might well be satisfied swallowing the Add Some Faith” Placebo and staying on a faith as usual Side Road like Cosmeticizing when it comes to leading their organization.

Remember, none of the faith as usual Side Roads are intrinsically bad.  They are actually good and certainly better than doing nothing at all.  But as we have emphasized in many posts, they are not the heart change that leads to God’s best.

Crossing “wisdom gaps” can only go so far.  They can help a faithful leader understand why their personal faith should inform their work.  They can also help a faithful leader understand what was the focus of post #123 (“Why” in Deed: The Path to a Ministry OF Work)–that business is a sacred platform for a ministry OF work (work as ministry) and not just a secular platform for sacred ministry AT work (work as a platform for ministry) or secular platform for sacred ministry THROUGH work (work as a vehicle for ministry).

Pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing requires heart change in an organization–a bigger WHY–and that requires aligned heart change in the faithful leader.

Infinite resignation is the last stage prior to faith, so that one who has not made this movement has not faith. (Soren Kierkegaard)

Beyond Wisdom: The “Safety/Surrender” Gap

Unlike the “wisdom gaps”, the Safety/Surrender Gap is a “heart gap”.  It is the final gap to be crossed in a faithful leader’s journey toward leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.

A faithful leader crosses the Safety/Surrender Gap when they have fully surrendered their organizational leadership to God, accepting their role as stewards rather than owners.  Genuinely submitting leadership to God’s will requires radical trust because it challenges the way of the world.  To repeat the words of James Hunter that we have quoted many times:

To enact a vision of human flourishing based in the qualities of life that Jesus modeled will invariably challenge the given structures of the social order. In this light, there is no true leadership without putting at risk one’s time, wealth, reputation, and position.

Although crossing the Safety/Surrender Gap is not a pre-requisite to leading with faithful integrity and aligning the purpose, values and culture of an organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities, we believe crossing this gap is necessary for true “stewardship” as commanded in the Creation Mandate.

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, this 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“.

It is the safety side of the gap (recognizing that 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).

By contrast, the stewardship of surrender–“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 what the world values to what God values.  It is surrender.

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.

If it is true that “we cannot lead anyone farther than we have been ourselves“, then a prerequisite to faithful stewardship is a faithful leader who has surrendered their life to God’s will.  Surrender is difficult and rare.

The Importance and Challenge of Surrender

Writing in Fear and Trembling, Soren Kierkegaard said “faith” requires “infinite resignation”:

The infinite resignation is the last stage prior to faith, so that one who has not made this movement has not faith.

Kierkegaard goes on to explain that without “faith” (i.e., without infinite surrender), “[H]e who loves God without faith reflects upon himself, he who loves God believingly reflects upon God.”  Surrender is needed for a faithful leader to pursue God’s will rather than their own will–faithful stewardship rather than religious stewardship.

Oswald Chambers declared in My Utmost for His Highest, There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.

In a sermon titled “Authentic Christianity”, theologian Tim Keller examined the dire warning by Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

Keller explains that the first “Lord” meant the people had an orthodox faith and recognized Jesus as God, the second “Lord” meant they had passion, and it is clear they were actively engaged in ministry activities.  He concludes that the missing piece was they had not surrendered their will to God’s will.  In other words, they did all they did with the wrong WHY, and that made all the difference.  Keller suggests surrender is a key to entering through the “narrow gate” of Matthew 7:13.

If 10% or less of Christians have crossed the Sacred/Secular Gap, it seems that a much smaller percentage have crossed the Safety/Surrender Gap.  Based on George Barna’s book Maximum Faith, it would seem the number might be only 2% in the United States.  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.

Barna identifies “ten stops on the journey to wholeness”. The ones that matter for our purposes are Stop 5, Stop 6 and Stop 8.  Stop 5 means actively engaging in personal spiritual growth and a faith community and getting involved in things like Bible studies, fellowship groups, prayer groups, service projects, and mission trips.  Barna calls it being a “good Christian“.

Stop 8 is the level of personal transformation and Biblical faith in a leader that we believe aligns with crossing the Safety/Surrender Gap to embrace faithful stewardship and lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.  Barna labels Stop 8 as Choosing to Surrender and Submit Fully to God: Radical Dependence.

Sadly, Barna estimates, based on his research, that only 2% of people in the United States who call themselves Christians are at Stop 8 or beyond, and that was back in 2011! The roadblock comes at Stop 6.

Most believers who get to Stop 6 abandon the investigation once they realize the commitment and cost of moving forward on the journey to wholeness. Instead, they retreat to an earlier stop on the path and simply settle for what the local church and other spiritual entities have to offer. In the process they retain their good intentions but typically become either invisible or institutional “pillars.” In other words, rather than pay the price of a deeper relationship with God, they retreat to the shelter of the religious games that ensnare most churched people.

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 standards of the world or their faith community.

We do not believe the faithful leaders who personally fall back to, or stop at, Stop 5 will cross the Safety/Surrender Gap in leading their organization.  They are likely to satisfy themselves with the “be good, do good, look good and feel good” comfort of the faith as usual Placebos, engaging in the unquestionably good faith activities along the faith as usual Side Roads.  In the words of Ed Silvoso in his book Ekklesia:

The enemy of the “best” . . . .  is the “good”, because by being so satisfying, it deprives us of the hunger for the “much more” that in this case God has in store.

The other side of the Safety/Surrender Gap is where good intentions transform into God’s intentions and where faithful leadership through faithful integrity truly begins to reflect God’s purpose for business and work.  If a faithful leader wants their organizations to cross that gap, that journey must begin with their own heart.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  The first time I showed up at the New Canaan Society was October 31, 2003, almost 21 years ago to the day.  The speaker was a preacher from New York City I had never heard of named Tim Keller.  In the years since, I have had the blessing of hearing many talks by Keller, both at NCS and at a Thursday Men’s Breakfast in NYC.  I remember exactly where I was when I first listened to his sermon explaining Matthew 7:21-23.

ESSENCE: In prior posts, we have talked about three “gaps” a faithful leader must cross in the journey toward leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.  These are “wisdom” or “knowledge” gaps.  There is a fourth, and it is arguably the most important of all.  We call it the Safety/Surrender Gap, and it is a “heart” gap.  It is the final gap to be crossed in that journey, and it is the most difficult. A faithful leader crosses the Safety/Surrender Gap when they have surrendered their leadership of an organization to God, recognizing God as the owner with the leader as merely a faithful steward.  Complete surrender requires radical trust. Although crossing the Safety/Surrender Gap is not a pre-requisite to a faithful leader leading with faithful integrity and aligning the purpose, values and culture of an organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities, a prerequisite to faithful stewardship is a faithful leader who has surrendered their life to God’s will. Transforming the heart of an organization to a bigger WHY aligned with God’s purpose for work and business requires a leader with a transformed heart.

Copyright © 2024 Integrous LLC.  Integriosity is a registered Service Mark of Integrous LLC.

Photo Credit: Original image by Lance Grandahl on Unsplash (photo cropped)

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