The Backwash

As one of my top sales videos of 2008, I present for your enjoyment (and many of you may have already seen it), the Rockwell Automation Retro Encabulator!!!

Seriously…how does one get an on-camera job pitching such products??

Call me a recycler – but I ran across an old article I wrote back in 2003 for New Wineskins magazine (which is now totally an online mag and still one of my favorite publications – check it out at www.wineskins.org or check the link on this page under “blogroll”).

Anyway – below is the article which ran under the heading “Can You Pray at the Board Room Table?”  Soon I’ll write an update to it regarding God in our vocations, but for now you’re stuck with the old piece.  If you want to read it in the Wineskins format, click HERE.

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The moment was a bit surreal, but extremely powerful. On Monday March 3rd at 3:33pm, I sat in a conference room with ten other people in prayer lifting up to God our concerns regarding Iraq, asking for safety for our soldiers, and praying for God’s blessing on our president. The entire moment was surreal in that we had two other locations conferenced-in by phone and each person whether in the conference room or over the phone prayed and shared scripture. The moment was powerful in that we were simply a group of believers making our requests known to God. It was also powerful in that is was a national day of prayer designed to ask for God’s guidance in this present crisis.

This scene is happening more and more in organizations across the country. The organization for which I work delivers marketing and data services to Fortune 100 companies across the globe. It is an organization that generates annual revenues to the tune of $1 billion each year. And it is also an organization where God is working in the life of the people who work there.

Five years ago, had you told me that I would be sharing prayer time at work with work associates, I would have called you crazy. However, this group of people, all from different backgrounds, is a group within my workplace that has committed to a weekly bible study. We have also committed that we will let our Christianity permeate the way we deal with people and situations at work. Oh, there are those who are completely unabashedly non-Christian. But in much the same way God revealed believers to Jonah, he has revealed believers within the organization where I work.

This is a shock to a system engrained in my head for many years growing up. For years, I was taught:
• The professional workplace is full of money-hungry God-hating rats
• Talking about Christ at work = persecution
• Even if there are believers at work, unless they believe like you they are not “real” believers

My experience has been that all of the above do not hold true in all cases. While there are isolated instances where these occur, I have found people in general to be seeking to fill the spot in their lives that only God can fill. People care about their families, their children, and want to have a “happy” life. In many cases, the last part of that equation is where they are misled. Higher salaries, better cars, more leisure time and stability are just temporary fills for the part of our souls that is only satisfied by a relationship with the creator.

How do we make an impact? How do we become a magnet that attracts others to the power of the living God? Let me offer two suggestions to consider when you take your relationship to God into the workplace.

• Realize that attracting people to the living God does not necessarily mean that they must be converted to your way of thinking

This was a fundamental roadblock that took me years to get beyond. My background taught me that religion was exclusive rather than inclusive. Conversion meant conversion to my way of thinking rather than conversion to Christ. However, as I have continued to work and be around people who are searching for God, I have realized that Jesus truly did come to call all to repentance. In other words, I had to learn that many of my “non-negotiables” were not found in scripture. This was evident to me in the prayer time I shared at work the other day. Over 20 people from different backgrounds but all with faith in the same God can make for powerful prayer.

• Understand that discipleship is a key component to the marketing aspect of the church

I spend most of my days helping large companies develop strategic marketing to drive bottom-line profit. In doing so, I have seen that society has an expectation of how to be addressed when being sold. For example, we expect flashy commercials that give us the meat of the issue in 20 seconds or less. We expect print ads to catch our eye. We critique Super Bowl commercials (almost more than the game itself). When solicitations hit our mailbox, they had better be compelling or we simply will not open them. And let’s face it… few people like phone solicitations.

As we carry out the Great commission, we are in essence performing a marketing function, albeit the most important one with which we will ever be involved. Face it – when someone tells you about a product, they better know the product well and believe in it (Michael Jordan can talk all day about Nike, but the fact that he wears the shoes makes people believe in the product). In the same way, there are too many Christians who have taken on Christ without counting the cost and therefore they really are not completely bought-in to the “product.” Ours is a “product” with a great reward, but a substantial cost. Jesus described the price tag in Matthew 16:24 – Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Discipleship is truly a cost we must pay if we are to perpetuate Christ in the workplace. Every time I read Matthew 16:24, I am reminded of a line from a DC Talk song – “Taking up my daily cross has brought its share of splinters.” Discipleship of Jesus is costly. Jesus taught over and over that choosing him would mean disappointments in life, challenges and, well, cost.

Discipleship, however, is the component of us that will unlock more doors in the workplace than debating religious issues or guessing as to someone’s allegiance. It opens up dialogue. It provides us courage to speak about our savior. It drives us to study and pray in quiet on our own time so that we can provide answers for those at work who have homes falling apart, children in trouble, and those who are still trying to fill their heart with things that only God can satisfy.

The fact of the matter is that our society is one that expects marketing in many forms. Many churches “market” ministries, services and teaching without ever touching on the fact that discipleship of Christ is the first most important step in carrying out the Great Commission. Of course, it does not make for good headlines to advertise that one must pick up a cross daily. However, it is in that daily cross carrying that Christians know we truly find freedom, release and salvation.

-MH

OK – so I actually still celebrate Christmas even though there is a cultural war out there to eradicate anyone actually speaking the word.  So, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night once you finish putting together whatever it is you need to put under the tree!

-MH

The HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” is a case study in unity. In 1942, The U.S. Army assembled a volunteer parachute regiment to jump behind enemy lines. Within this unit was a company of men who found themselves at the forefront of the war in Europe. They parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, fought for the liberation of Holland, held the frontline in the Battle of the Bulge, and captured Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. This company sustained one of the highest casualty rates of the war. These were the men of Easy Company – 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101^st Airborne Division.

In a letter written to his commander long after the war had ended, Mike Riney, a member of Easy Company, wrote: “I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day, when he said ‘grandpa, were you a hero in the war?’ Grandpa said ‘no, but I served in the company of heroes.’” Trust was essential for those serving together. Whatever the circumstances among those within their unit, whatever their disagreements or misunderstandings, they fought as one against unspeakable odds with a unified front. This unity was typified by teamwork – the ability to realize that no one person was a hero and that the goals were achieved as a team.

Maybe you have felt a taste of that type of unity. Maybe it was as part of a team, facing a larger, stronger opponent. Maybe it was a business goal achieved only with time and the commitment of co-workers. Perhaps it came during a particularly challenging time in your marriage, facing financial or family difficulties, when you and your spouse pulled together and made it work. That type of unity, the kind where you know you can count someone to weather the storm with you, is something that is hard to describe – but we know it when we feel it.

We Stand Alone Together

Easy Company was formed in July, 1942 at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. Part of the extreme training of the time was to run up mount Currahee every morning. The name Currahee is an Indian name meaning “We stand alone together.” The run was one of the more difficult dynamics of the training, yet many soldiers would run it together at night on their own time to better prepare. This additional effort only strengthened the bond between the men.

How do we as Christians even begin to gain this type of unity? What experiences or training can push us to approach life with the attitude that “we stand alone together,” and is that even a legitimate thought?

One of the most beautiful passages on unity comes in Jesus’ prayer the night before his murder. Consider His words from John 17:14-23 (NIV):

“I have given them (Jesus’ disciples) your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (all emphasis mine)

Jesus makes it very clear to all of us who read his words that we are not of the world. The disciples were not, He was not, and we are not to be. We stand alone. He is also very clear that he wants us to be unified – in fact he prays for complete unity. A unity so evident, that the world gets the message that Jesus loves us and he lives in us; a unity so complete that even though we stand alone, “we stand alone together.”

A unity that is anything but complete?

Does the Christian community of faith have a unity that will hold-up under battle conditions? Or do we forget that the battle rages outside the walls of the church and deconstruct our unity with skirmishes inside?

Many of us with children have witnessed more than the typical disagreement. In fact, there are times when the sibling dialogue can get fairly heated. It is at that point that the parents come in with referee shirts and explain that as siblings they need to care for one another – even take-up for one another. How agonizing is it as a parent to witness children who do not look out for each other, and even maliciously create tension between each other? Is it the same feeling God has with us when we do the very same? How must God feel when we launch our attacks that do anything but build toward Jesus’ prayer for a complete unity? What must the father feel as he watches Christians who can read the prayer Jesus prayed the last night of his life; a prayer prayed with tears, a prayer prayed even for those who had not yet lived, and go into mutiny against each other?

Jesus prayed it because He knows we can get there. The unity can be achieved, but it is a unity that has to transcend our internal skirmishes. Our own commander-in-chief pointed out that “…whoever is not against us is for us.” (Mark 9:40). Jesus made this point as the disciples began to launch an attack at someone who they felt was not authorized to cast out demons in the name of Jesus. Maybe we would do good to remember the mindset of Jesus when it comes to doing battle. His focus was on fighting sin and saving the person.

A dream or an answered prayer?

I have had a dream that has been perpetuating itself for several years now. It is a dream that in my lifetime, I will be able to taste just a drop of the prayer of Jesus – to taste just a bit of “complete unity.” Imagine – those who call themselves religious coming to agreement on at least one thing, the fact that Jesus is the ultimate unifying force. He is the one constant on which we must agree. He is the only chance for redemption. Is that so much a dream, or will it be the answer to a 2000 year old prayer?

One thing is certain…when those who call themselves religious come to just that much agreement, the world will be changed. The world will hear of Jesus more loudly than ever before. The battle will take a significant turn, and we will truly begin to stand alone….together.

In August, I made a purchase.  I stepped-out and bought a Kindle from Amazon (Link below if you want to check it out).

I often speak about service letdowns, problems with thing like air travel, etc. – but this is a case where it makes sense to talk about what I think is the best product I have bought in the last two years.

Keep in mind…I travel a fair amount, so having an electronic book that actually reads like paper and is wireless is a perfect fit for me.  Since then, I have never been without a book, and when I run out of one, I just connect and buy another at a reduced rate from buying one in the store.

For me, this is perfect.  I have my bible on it, as well as (to date) another 20 or so books.  Capacity with the memory card I put in?  About 2,000 books.

Great, great, great product.  Now if I could just get it to turn the page for me using mental telepathy.  Ahhh… all these blessings causing all these problems!

Oh…and by the way…if you want one before March, you are out of luck.  Ever since “The Oprah” mentioned it on her show, they have been sold out!

-MH