Understanding faithful integrity always begins with the heart. While recent posts have focused on Integrity Ideas–practical actions to help RE-ALIGN an organization–from time to time it useful to return to the basics. The most basic and most important idea in the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing is organizational heart change.

We’ve all heard of “frankincense”, because it was famously one of the gifts of the Magi.  In the ancient world, frankincense was a prized trading commodity, yet in Jeremiah 6:20 God rejects it as useless.

What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.

But it wasn’t about the frankincense. Frankincense wasn’t bad in and of itself. It was about God’s people offering frankincense while their hearts were not aligned with his way.  For today’s faithful leaders, offering “frankincense” without organizational heart change is what we have called faith as usual.

God’s Rejection of Frankincense

God’s rejection of frankincense came at a time when he was frustrated with his people.  In Jeremiah 6:13, God says:

For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

We think this sounds a lot like business as usual–as we described it in post #169 (“Leading Faithfully: Basics–The “Way” of the World)–with its focus on Profit as Purpose, its Scarcity and Self-Interest Assumptions and its “Can We” Culture.  It is business in the way of the kingdom of the world, and it is the root of brokenness in work, workplaces and workers.  Those four key attributes stand in sharp contrast to the “way” of God’s Kingdom.

But God doesn’t just express his frustration in Jeremiah, he offers a solution in the form of a choice.

Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16)

The choice was between God’s path and the world’s path, and Jeremiah 6:16 reveals their tragic response:

But they said, “We will not walk in it.”

That is when God rejected their frankincense as useless. As Samuel told King Saul after Saul’s disobedience:

Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)

God desires obedience over ritual, surrender over symbols. The fragrance that pleases God is not the incense of outward religion but the aroma of faithful obedience (2 Corinthians 2:15).

The Choice for Faithful Leaders

Every faithful leader today faces the same choice of two paths. It is same choice we have explored in many posts and detailed most recently in post #222 (Choices REWIND: “The Choice”).

In post #160 (Leading Faithfully Basics: The Ancient Path), we said every faithful leader is on a path of some sort, but leading with faithful integrity requires getting on, and staying on, the right path.  We believe the only right path for a faithful leader is an ancient path referenced in Jeremiah 6:16–business aligned with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities. Rick Warren wrote:

The Bible shows us the path to walk on. It shows us when we get off the path. It shows us how to get back on the path. And it shows us how to stay on the path.

Leading faithfully on an ancient path of business a better way in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities requires finding the on-ramp, getting on, and then not stumbling off.  It starts with creating an organizational purpose, values and culture centered on what God cares about–and that isn’t profit (or mammon)

To be clear, profit is a necessary part of Kingdom business. As stewards of an organization that belongs to God (He owns everything), its leaders have a responsibility to keep the organization viable so that it can pursue its Kingdom purpose(s) long-term and at scale.  Moreover, prioritizing the maximization of Biblical flourishing also includes the flourishing of those who have provided capital to the organization to ensure they remain good stewards of the capital God has entrusted to them.

Business a better way requires putting profit in its proper place as a means rather than the end–changing the heart of the organization. The Bible is clear that God prioritizes people vs. profit. Jesus sums up all the commandments as love God and love your neighbor. 1 Timothy 6:10 warns us that the love of money (not money) is the root of evil.

The Bible also makes very clear that faithful leaders may be “in” the kingdom of the world, but they are not to pursue what the world values or be “of” the kingdom of the world.  They are only to be “of” the Kingdom of God pursuing only what God values.

You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you. (Deuteronomy 6:14)

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits[a] of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)

For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (John 17:16)

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15-19)

With business a better way, the WHY of the business reflects the Creation Mandate in Genesis 1:28 (“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it“) and is about the flourishing of God’s creation, particularly people. We believe business a better way is the way God designed business to function in His Kingdom–its ancient path.

Done rightly, business allows us to create the solutions to the material challenges of human life, and the economic prosperity that makes those solutions affordable and accessible in a way that cares for all creation. It also offers jobs–vehicles for people to flourish and fulfill their humanity and purpose by living out Imago Dei, the Creation Mandate and the commandments to love God and love each other through service.  By operating in God’s way on an ancient path, business helps people live in God’s way on an ancient path.

Modern Frankincense

By now, you may be wondering, “But what about the frankincense?”  What we mean by modern-day “frankincense” is when a faithful leader takes “faithful” actions without ever changing the WHY of the organization. It becomes “Godly” window-dressing on business as usual–something that can make the leader feel good, look good and even be affirmed by the church and faith-work community, while the organization’s heart still beats for Profit as Purpose in the way of the kingdom of the world.

• Start a Bible study at work while still pursuing business as usual–frankincense.

• Mention God in your mission statement while still pursuing business as usual–frankincense.

• Hire a chaplain while still pursuing business as usual–frankincense.

• Donate generously to faithful causes from profits earned through business as usual–frankincense.

Remember, frankincense remained valuable even though God rejected it as an offering–and modern frankincense can be affirmatively good.  It is just not God’s best–not what he really wants. In the words of Oswald Chambers:

There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.

We believe leading faithfully through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing is an ancient path–a path to God’s “best” for an organization–and that ancient path requires a bigger WHY than Profit as Purpose.  The right WHY doesn’t require offerings of frankincense to stay on an ancient path, but the wrong WHY can’t be transformed with offerings of frankincense, no matter how good they look, feel, sound, or actually are.  As Chambers also warns:

The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best.

Frankincense without heart change is off an ancient path.  If you search “path” and “road” in the Bible you get many occurrences. But there are only two references to the “ancient” path. One is the instruction in Jeremiah 6:16, and the other is a warning in Jeremiah 18:15.

But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway.

The world–and our culture–does not want a faithful leader on an ancient path.  As in Jeremiah’s day, “the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn” (Jeremiah 6:10). The spirit of mammon at the core of business as usual still works 24/7/365 against God’s way.  It is the false god behind Profit as Purpose! Choosing business a better way is uncomfortable, because the bondage of business as usual runs deep and the veil of the world’s way is thick–and 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.”

It feels unnatural to think about putting people ahead of profit in business. That’s the insidiousness of business as usual–we are raised, trained, and indoctrinated to see business a better way as too radical. But, as people of faith, we sense that something about business as usual is deeply wrong.

When business in the way of the kingdom of the world doesn’t feel right, but business in the way of the Kingdom of God feels too radical, we turn to offerings of frankincense. Those offerings–especially covert ones that do not look “religious”–feel safer and more acceptable.

Our frankincense might be detouring down one of the faith as usual Side Roads described in post #181 (Leading Faithfully Basics: The “Side Road” Detours of “Faith as Usual”), such as Individualizing, Monetizing, or Cosmeticizing. Or it could be embracing a stakeholder capitalism or B-Corp model and announcing proudly “We have several purposes, and profit is just one!” It could hide behind phrases like “Profit with Purpose“, “Doing well by doing good.” But in the end, there can only be one primary WHY that will win out (“No one can serve two masters” Matthew 6:24) . All other “purposes” eventually get reduced to means or strategies.

Offerings of frankincense become a “veil upon the veil” — a deception covering another deception. If profit remains the ultimate purpose, it is choosing the way of the kingdom of the world. If the heart of the organization has not changed to serving people, it is choosing the way of the kingdom of the world.

Remember 1 John 2:15: “Do not love the world or the things in the world.” Frankincense offerings may be better than pure business as usual, but they still fall short of the best to which people of Biblical faith are called and commanded. Ed Silvoso captures this tension well 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.

God’s displeasure was not about the frankincense–it was about the lack of heart change. God’s best is not about the frankincense–it is about heart change. Offering modern “sacrifices”–charitable giving, religious practices, Christian branding, or corporate virtue–are mere frankincense if the organization’s heart is not aligned with his ways.

The pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing requires moving the heart of the organization from Profit as Purpose to the bigger WHYs of Humanizing People, Beautifying the World and Glorifying God.  We believe that is the “good way” for business and work.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM): I am always amazed how each reading of Scripture can reveal new insights.  I have read Jeremiah, and particularly Jeremiah 6, numerous times.  The “ancient path” passage in 6:16 has been central to the Integriosity^® message since my very first post. Yet, I never noticed God’s rejection of frankincense until reading it again this morning as part of Nicky and Pippa Gumbel’s Bible in a Year.  As I have written in the past, Jeremiah’s world feels all too familiar.  Just consider how Jeremiah Chapters 5 and 6 describe the times:

See if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth. (5:1)

They have refused to repent. (5:3)

Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. (5:7)

Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich. (5:27)

They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. (5:28)

Behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn. (6:10)

From the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy with unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. (6:13)

Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. (6:15)

All of them act corruptly. (6:28)

My friend Skip Moen writes:

Jeremiah 6:16 is God speaking to the wayward house of Israel.  It’s a very timely passage.  All around, says the Lord, people are crying “Peace, peace.”  But there is no peace.  Why?  Because the children have abandoned the good ways, the path of the Lord.  They were not even ashamed to forsake God’s ways.  They wanted to be relevant.  But God says, “Walk in the old paths and you shall find rest.”  Don’t walk in them, and you will find destruction!

ESSENCE: From time to time, it is useful to return to the basics, and the most basic and most important idea in the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing is organizational heart change. In the ancient world, frankincense was a prized trading commodity, yet in Jeremiah 6:20 God rejects it as useless. But it wasn’t about the frankincense. It was about God’s people offering frankincense while their hearts were not aligned with his way.  He offered “ancient paths, where the good way is“, and they refused it. Every faithful leader today has the same choice of two path’s–the way of the kingdom of the world or the way of the Kingdom of God. We believe the only right path for a faithful leader is an “ancient path”–business aligned with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities toward Biblical flourishing. It starts with creating an organizational purpose, values and culture centered on what God cares about–changing the organization’s heart by putting profit in its proper place as a means rather than the end. But the world–and our culture–does not want a faithful leader on an ancient path. When business the world’s way doesn’t feel right, but business God’s way feels too radical, we turn to offerings of frankincense. For today’s faithful leaders, offering “frankincense” is taking “faithful” actions–such as detouring down a faith as usual Side Road–without ever changing the WHY of the organization. Faithful integrity requires much more.  We believe God has called faithful leaders to much more.

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