The Choice = Blue Pill or Red Pill

In the movie The Matrix, the character Morpheus offers Neo a choice of two pills–blue and red.  He warns him “The world has been pulled over your eyes . . . . You are a slave born to bondage.”  Morpheus tells Neo he can take the Blue Pill and “go back to bed and believe whatever you want to believe” or take the Red Pill and “I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”  Morpheus adds, “Remember, all I’m offering is the truth–nothing more.”

At Integrous, we believe faith-inspired leaders have a similar choice.  We call the Blue Pill “Business as Usual” or business according to the world’s systems and priorities.  The Red Pill of Integriosity^® is “Business a Better Way” according to Biblical principles.  In Jeremiah 6:16, Scripture instructs us to “look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is”.  The Red Pill of Integriosity is seeking those “ancient paths” by re-imagining the WHAT, WHO, WHY, HOW and WHEN of an organization and of work in the context of Biblical faith.

But Scripture also cautions that we can “stumble in [our] ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads” (Jeremiah 18:15).  We will explore four common “Placebos” that can lead well-intentioned leaders to stumble down “side roads”:

• The “4-Hour Content” Pill
• The “Save or Give” Pill
• The “Add Some Faith” Pill
• The “Bless You” Pill
• The “Success First” Pill

These placebos can divert leaders down five common “Faith as Usual” side roads that are often advertised as the Red Pill but, we believe, actually miss the ancient path.  In future posts, we will explain these five reactions to the four Placebos:

• Agonize (“I know I should do something–but what?”)
• Individualize (“I’ll be a more Godly person at work”)
• Monetize (“I’ll make more money for God”)
• Cosmeticize (“I’ll make the business look really faith-based”)
• Prosperitize (“I’ll do it–because then God will bless the business”)
• Interimize (“I’ll do it–but in the interim I need to get successful”)

(Not bad things, but not the real “red pill”.)  Unfortunately, the risks of taking an empty pill or relying on a Placebo and stumbling down a “side road” include:

• Missed purpose for the organization
• Missed calling for its leaders
• Missed flourishing of its people

If you are interested in finding and following the “ancient path” of Business a Better Way, then we invite you to do as Morpheus told Neo when he chose Red–“Follow me” and learn more about Integriosity.

Copyright © 2020 Integrous LLC.  Integriosity is a registered Service Mark of Integrous LLC.