09 Apr #271 – Wait, Just Don’t Delay
In prior posts, we have emphasized that leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing requires a continual balancing of the call to be courageous and the need to be wise in determining “HOW” to integrate faith and work, with the most faithful balance being courage tempered by wisdom. “Wait, Just Don’t Delay” is about the roles of courage and wisdom in discerning “WHEN” to implement the “HOW”.
Refresher: Courage and Wisdom
When a faithful leader is weighing the practical steps to take in order to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, discernment as to the HOW–what steps to take and whether to integrate faith overtly or just covertly–requires a continual balancing of the call to be courageous and the need to be wise. Here are two verses to anchor those guideposts:
Courageous: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)
Wise: Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16)
But it may be Ecclesiastes 11:9 that best reflects the necessary balance of Courageous and Wise:
Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.
It is critical to discern the right balance between the two if a leader is to honor God’s command in the Creation Mandate to faithfully steward creation, which includes the organization.
Thus far, we have offered 75 practical ideas called “Integrity Ideas” that a faithful leader can consider during the RE-ALIGN step of Integriosity®–actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.
Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing “heart-change”–a bigger WHY–in the organization. We believe some are critical (and necessary) steps in the RENEW/RE-ALIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RESTORE process. Others are just ideas to be considered if they feel like a good fit based on what leaders prayerfully discern is best for stewarding the organization toward its WHY.
In balancing courage and wisdom to implement the “HOW” of faith/work integration, we believe it is better to think of courage tempered by wisdom rather than wisdom tempered by courage. After all, Ecclesiastes 11:9 mentioned “heart” first and then “eyes”.
The roles of courage and wisdom when implementing the “WHEN” to implement a “HOW” is different. We believe the most faithful approach is wisdom followed by courage. Courage first, which is effectively courage without wisdom, or wisdom without courage can lead to a well-intentioned faithful leader “missing the mark”.
A “WHEN” of Courage Without Wisdom: “Ready, Fire”
A “WHEN” of courage without wisdom means acting without taking the time to seek God’s guidance before acting. Oswald Chambers warns:
Don’t plan without God. . . . We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him—that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives.
Courage without wisdom in integrating faith and work can lead to at least three ways to miss God’s best for the leader, the organization and its people:
• “Religious” rather than “faithful” stewardship–incorporating faith activities into work and making positive cultural changes that stop short of true heart change.
• Getting stuck on a faith as usual Side Road that detours the faithful leader and the organization from the path to Biblical flourishing.
• Jumping on the Covert/Overt Continuums at a spot that is not the best stewardship for the organization.
Religious vs Faithful Stewardship
In post #248 (Crossing the Fourth Gap), we described the difference between what we are calling religious and faithful stewardship. Religious stewardship is sometimes expressed through phrases like “Do well while doing good” or “Profit with Purpose“. It sits on the “safety” side of the Safety/Surrender Gap, and is still operating in the will of the faithful leader.
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.
We believe many messages in the faith/work movement can lull a faithful leader to be satisfied with religious stewardship. After all, it does good, and it looks good. Given that “surrender” appears to be quite rare among people of Biblical faith (2% or less as estimated by George Barna in his book Maximum Faith), most examples of faith/work integration available to a faithful leader fall short of faithful stewardship.
Courageously following the example or advice of those who write books on faith/work integration or show up on stages at faith/work events without first “Waiting” by seeking God’s wisdom on how you should integrate faith and work in your unique situation can result in religious stewardship–good but not God’s best.
Faith as Usual Side Roads
In Leading Faithfully Basics post #160 (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 right path is the ancient path of Jeremiah 6:16:
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.
In post #179 (The Misses of “Faith as Usual”), we suggested that many good-intentioned, faithful leaders never find the right path to faithful integrity, or stumble off it, because of good-intentioned “faith” messages or approaches that send them in the wrong direction–“bad theology” or, at least, poor communication of good theology which create stumbling blocks that substitute the “good” for the “best”. In his book Ekklesia, Ed Silvoso writes:
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.
In post #180 (The Stumbling Blocks of Faith as Usual), we took a closer look at five Placebo stumbling blocks of faith as usual: The “4-Hour Content” Pill, The “Save or Give” Pill, The “Add Some Faith” Pill, The “Bless You” Pill and The “Success First” Pill.
These Placebo stumbling blocks can lead to various Side Road detours of faith as usual that can substitute a lesser “good” for the “best” of transformational heart-change in the organization–transformation of its WHY. We identified seven Side Roads in post #181 (The “Side Road” Detours of “Faith as Usual”).
The reason for identifying these Side Roads is not to criticize those well-intentioned faithful leaders who are traveling them or to devalue the good they are doing through their faithful leadership. It is to put a spotlight on the “so much more” that comes through getting back on the ancient path and pursuing the heart-change of faithful integrity through business a better way–the heart-change that prioritizes Biblical flourishing over profit and puts profit in its proper place as a necessary means rather than the end to which the business is managed.
Courageously adopting faith as usual practices or following faith as usual examples without first “Waiting” by seeking God’s wisdom on how you should integrate faith and work in your unique situation can result in a faithful leader being satisfied on a Side Road–good but not God’s best.
Covert/Overt Continuums
The Integriosity model organizes “heart-change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums, giving permission to be wise about overtness and providing a structure within which prayerfully to consider the most appropriate balance for the particular organization at a point in time.
No single place along a continuum is the “right place”. The “right place” will be unique for each organization and leader. The “right place” for a particular organization and leader will come through prayer and is likely to evolve over time.
While the concept of work being sacred is not something new (Protestant reformers Luther and Calvin argued that work was a sacred calling and Catholic Popes have recognized the sacred nobility of work), the faith/work movement has largely been driven by Evangelical Christians. In the spirit of evangelizing, the explicit or implicit message of the faith/work movement is often that overt is better (or even necessary).
Moreover (and understandably), the focus of business practices promoted by faith/work messaging tends to be on initiatives that courageously “evangelize”. For example, holding Bible studies, forming prayer groups, mentioning God in the mission statement, hiring corporate chaplains, distributing Bibles, putting Christian messaging on business cards, putting Bible verses on invoices or in shipments or on packaging, paying for Christian counseling, arranging mission trips for employees, supporting local Christian ministries, etc.
In fact, a leader who institutes those type of overt practices will likely be seen as courageous, will “feel good” about himself or herself, and is certain to receive affirmation from others in the faith community. These leaders will definitely get put on stage at faith/work events and written about in books to share the practices they have instituted.
Being overt may be absolutely the wrong execution–poor stewardship–for a particular organization, given factors such as the industry, geographic location, customer base, employee base, and regulatory environment. For example, being overt may alienate key stakeholders or create an “us-them” culture.
Courageously jumping on the Covert/Overt Continuums at an overt spot without first “Waiting” by seeking God’s wisdom on how you should integrate faith and work in your unique situation may not be the best stewardship of the organization–good but not God’s best.
A “WHEN” of Wisdom Without Courage: “Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim”
While courage without wisdom can lead a faithful leader to being satisfied with “good”, while missing God’s “best”, wisdom without courage can lead to missing the good and the best. In the words of Rick Warren: “When the Creator of the universe tells you to do something, he expects you to do it—now. Every parent knows delayed obedience is disobedience.”
If Biblical passages are needed, here are just a few:
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:17)
I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. (Psalm 119:60)
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. (1 Peter 1:14)
Once a faithful leader prayerfully “Waits” and receives wisdom about how to begin down the path to faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, the decision about WHEN to begin is straightforward because there are only two choices: NOW or NEVER.
You may be saying “Wait a minute–there are many time slots in between NOW and NEVER–like TOMORROW or next Tuesday.” Sorry, “tomorrow” never comes (and J. Wellington Wimpy proved that next Tuesday also never comes—and that one may date you).
Obedience to God’s principles, values and priorities is not for TOMORROW–it is for TODAY. Once a faithful leader understands God’s purpose for work and business, understands that they are stewards of an organization that belongs to God, and prayerfully discerns a way to get on the path, there is no justification for delay. It is time to begin doing something!
Delayed obedience is disobedience. (Rick Warren)
Wisdom Followed by Courage: “Ready, Aim, Fire”
Faithful stewardship on the path to faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing calls for wisdom followed by courage. It calls for abiding in the Holy Spirit rather than striving to look “faithful”–“Waiting”. It is abiding with a target of obedience rather than outcome (the topic of post #125)–“Just Don’t Delay”. It is being faithful rather than willful (the topic of post #118).
We believe there are four keys to a faithful leader successfully implementing “Wait, Just Don’t Delay“–pursuing God’s wisdom and choosing to be courageous in a way that leads to faithful stewardship of the organization being led: Humility, Prayer, Patience and Trust.
• Humility. 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). The faithful leader who operates without the humility to recognize the need for God’s wisdom and the need to pray for guidance is destined to miss God’s best for the leader, the organization and its stakeholders.
• Prayer. God’s wisdom comes through 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.
• Patience: 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 (the first cousin of patience) a LONG time–a VERY LONG time. There are also stories of characters who got impatient and tried to short-circuit God’s timing (and God was not pleased).
“Wait, Just Don’t Delay” means waiting for God’s wisdom on HOW to proceed–what steps to take and whether to integrate faith and work overtly or just covertly–for as long as it takes, continuing to pray.
• Trust. Of course, even the faithful leader who has the humility to recognize the need for God’s wisdom will only get the benefit of that wisdom by having the courage to implement it, and courage requires trust in God–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 may not be the world’s best outcome.
Pursuing wisdom and then choosing to be courageous in leading a business is “playing the long game”, and that takes humble prayer followed by Biblical patience and trust.
It is the “long game” because it requires “heart-change” throughout the organization. One appeal of of settling for the “good” is that it avoids or delays the hard work of “heart-change”. But the price is the missed purpose for organizations, the missed calling for leaders, the missed flourishing for people and the increased misery that was explained in post #179 (“Leading Faithfully” Basics – The Misses of “Faith as Usual”). We believe the pursuit of faithful integrity through business as usual toward Biblical flourishing is worth the effort.
PERSONAL NOTE (from PM): Some of the inspiration for this post came from a leadership experience at the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics in Rogers, Arkansas. I had the privilege of attending when the late Don Soderquist was leading the sessions. One participant described the challenges of his transition from a career at Proctor & Gamble to a career at a small startup. He said he went from a culture of “Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim” to a culture of “Ready, Fire”. They seemed like perfect ways to capture wisdom without courage and courage without wisdom.
ESSENCE: In prior posts we have emphasized that leading with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing requires a continual balancing of the call to be courageous and the need to be wise in determining “HOW” to integrate faith and work, with the most faithful balance being courage tempered by wisdom. “Wait, Just Don’t Delay” is about the roles of courage and wisdom in discerning “WHEN” to implement the “HOW”. We believe the most faithful approach is wisdom followed by courage–“Ready, Aim, Fire”. Putting courage before wisdom (or abandoning wisdom completely) can lead to what we have been calling “religious stewardship”–incorporating faith activities into work and making positive cultural changes that stop short of true heart change. It can also lead to getting stuck on a faith as usual Side Road or jumping on the Covert/Overt Continuums at a spot that is not the best stewardship of the organization. It is “Ready, Fire, Aim” (or simply “Ready, Fire”). On the other hand, wisdom without courage can lead to delay, and delayed obedience is disobedience–“Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim”. Faithful stewardship on the path to faithful integrity through business a better way calls for abiding rather than striving with a target of obedience rather than outcome.
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