A Business Moment With God

Things We Must Do If We Want to Honor God in Business or Leadership

When the “first things” from God’s point of view are not well-established in our thinking, all that flows from it is subject to some degree of drift, distortion, or outright wrong. This is true for whatever realm you track. When the foundational elements are lacking, no amount of training or expertise will guarantee that one will be either fruitful or integrous in their pursuits. And when one lacks integrity, they can never be effective in the things that really count. Nowhere is this more certain than in the realm of business leadership.

Those who read the Bible extensively eventually discover that at least four things stand out relative to what one must do to honor God in their affairs … including those related to business. What are these "first things"? We’re to …

Recognize the ultimate treasure and the priority that should be given to it;

Pursue discernment and spiritual purity;

Understand that one reaps what they sow; and

Know the difference between contentment and loving or obsessing over money

Let’s briefly consider each of these.

Recognize the Ultimate Treasure

Treasure is what we believe holds highest value; what we invest our time and energy working to obtain above all other things. Nothing clouds one’s perspective more than a meager understanding of what comprises the highest worth. When money and power are looked upon as our ultimate treasures, not only do we cheat ourselves, but we can be found wounding and abusing others along the way. As well, we can actually hurt the firms we serve rather than add value to them.

In an illustration that Jesus used to underscore elements of ultimate value, he spoke of a merchant who’d finally come to recognize the proper meaning of enduring worth. He put it this way: "The kingdom of heaven is like hidden treasure in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again; then in his joy went and sold all he had and bouhght the field." (Matt. 13:44-46) The merchant is upheld as one who had come to possess an accurate understanding of ultimate value for him; and then pursued everything else with that focused understanding entrenched in his mind. Perhaps there's another way of viewing the merchant as well: having found a great treasure, he pursued it at all cost!

I know leaders in the marketplace who’ve really come to such an understanding. Not only is their understanding shaping the way they think and act on a daily basis relative to all that they do, but their understanding is also helping them make the kinds of choices about their firm’s movements and the stockholders and team members’ interest that keep them from doing wrong and pursuing disastrous objectives—particularly when thei challenges are rigorous, competition is great, and the temptations tend to be sizeable.

One of Israel’s great kings himself wrestled with what held the highest value for him personally. What did he conclude? “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.” Prov. (11:28)

Pursue Discernment and Spiritual Purity

Being truly discerning means that one understands something that is not so obvious or clear to everyone else. Discernment is what gives many leaders their edge. When they understand those matters of bedrock importance, their leadership-reach transcends that of most their peers, and has an even broader positive impact.

God’s apostle from Tarsus, writing to leaders and others, made an association between discernment and blamelessness! (Phil. 1:9-11) He knew that effective leaders needed a commodity that could only come from God or his son: the ability to see beyond things, through things, around things … and certainly past the surface. Discernment implies many elements including time, reflection, caution, prayer, asking the tough questions; and of course, asking God the tough questions before taking any sizeable course of action. As well, discernment enables individuals to avoid needless trouble that can not only impair their spiritual lives, but ruin their reputations and the legacies they leave behind.

Understand That One Reaps What He or She Sows

Everything we do has consequences that not only affect us individually, but those looking to us for direction as well. The Apostle Paul saw how people surrounding him, including leaders, were living carelessly, thinking that they could make poor decisions, yet gain great outcomes; that they could cheat in one way but win in another. Confronting such thinking head on, he said: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. … Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people ….” (Excerpted Gal. 6:7-10)

Like Paul, the prophet Hosea watched as many within Israel, including its current leadership, lacked discretion and tried to sow based on a vacuous set of values. He noted: ^“Israel has rejected what is good; …they set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. … They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.” (Excerpted from Hos. 8:3-8) Carrying his observation a bit farther, Hosea said this of Israel--a nation sowing carelessly: “Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like a worthless thing.”

It’s one thing to read this relative to others, particularly when it applies to leaders and their constituents in the past, but it’s particularly tragic when it becomes true of us as well, and for many it has.

Know the Difference between Contentment and Loving or Obsessing over Money

Finally, one of the great saboteurs of many is their failure to learn what true contentment is. A great measure of a person’s life can be lost while loving money. And, for sure, much of his or her enjoyment or fulfillment can be sabotaged by obsessing over it thinking: Am I going to have enough? Am I doing enough to protect it or shelter what I’ve gained and accumulated? Is there something else that could finally put me over the top in terms of my desires and their fulfillments if I could just pack more in?

One sad and repeated tragedy that we often hear about is how people have created their own disasters during an unbalanced and unchecked pursuit of wealth. Counseling a young man who was starting out well, but had the same capacity for cheating himself as others have, Paul stated:

“Godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Tim. 6:6-10)

The lack of contentment has trashed many once beautiful lives. It has eroded marriages, families, and relationships. It has tarnished what could have been many individuals’ great legacies. Against that backdrop, if my life as a persistent observer has taught me anything, it’s that one has to be extremely clear as to what the basis for true contentment is and where to set the boundaries; or, he will elevate his chances for ruining his life, the lives of those attached to him, and just about everything else.

To Summarize and Personalize

Recognizing, pursuing, understanding, and knowing are crucial priorities for us to take to heart as principle life disciplines, particularly as they relate to what Scripture addresses about such things as our treasure, discernment, spiritual purity, sowing, and contentment. If we want to honor God in every dimension of our life, business included, then we must lock these priorities into our thinking; and then, and only then, will our lives yield results that are constructive, extraordinary, and enduring … something upon which God can smile. Let’s personalize these by posing four questions:

1. What elements have you considered to hold highest value—particularly as reflected by how

you’ve spent your time and energy acquiring or accumulating things and assets?

2. How high a position on your list have discernment and spiritual purity held until now?

Are they toward the top? Are they even on the list?

3. Are your “reapings” consistent with sound and valued sowing?

4. How have you measured contentment? Are certain unmet cravings crowding out or

overtaking your contentment? Are you finding that your satisfaction has been diminished

because of your focus on what you still lack of have been

unable to attain?