Contents:
A LIFE ORIENTATION
- there is a significant difference between a Christian business and
a worldly business
COMMUNITY
- God lives in community and desires that we live in community with
Him and with others
LEADERSHIP AND SUBMISSION
- Man and woman find community within the context of God's ideal relationship
pattern
YOUTH FELLOWSHIP
- a new ministry begins at CUC
WANT A DROP
- God answers a prayer
Hi, everyone! It's been a while since our my last Point of View, but it's better to have a well-prepared one than a hectically delivered one. So, I pray that as you consider my thoughts, you will be inspired, blessed, and prompted to respond.
"Give and it shall be given to you" (Luke 6:38)
Yesterday in my Introduction to Business class we had the opportunity to discuss the purpose of business, and it was interesting to hear some of the perspectives:
"The purpose of CUC is to make a profit"
"Business is about making profit - if it wasn't people wouldn't be
in business."
"If you have to tell white lies, it's okay."
"If you do everything right, you'll get left behind."
It hit home to me how different the perspectives of the world are from the perspective of Jesus Christ, and I'd like to share that with you.
Let's consider ourselves to be personal business enterprises. We have skills, abilities, and talents. We have people who want to experience the best of what we have to offer. And they are willing to pay us for it. Now we can choose to focus on one or another of those aspects of the concept of exchange taking place there. We can focus on the needs of others, and how we can use the skills, abilities, and talents we possess to bless those with whom we interact. We can find things we enjoy doing and pour our lives into making our fruits beneficial to our society. Or we can focus on just making money to survive and spend the rest of our time enjoying ourselves.
The difference is focus, orientation. If your personal goal is self-satisfaction, that influences how you choose to live your life. You work primarily because of the rewards you expect to accrue to you. You don't necessarily enjoy your job, but you do it to make ends meet or to accomplish your goals in life. You will put out whatever effort is necessary to succeed at satisfying your own aims and goals. And if you need to be courteous to keep your job, or to be rewarded, you will do it. If you need to cooperate with fellow employees to achieve your goals, you will do it. If you need to abide by the law to stay out of jail or keep your job, you will do it. But the end of your behaviour is your pocket book. And just as you will do seemingly positive things to satisfy yourself, there's not much keeping you from doing negative things, and things that will not benefit the company nor society, in order to get your rewards.
And so, you will lounge on company time if you think you won't get caught.
You'll sabotage the efforts of your fellow employees, if it will lead to
a better result for you. You will break laws, lie, steal, cheat,
as long as it gets you what you want, because the self-centred individual
will sacrifice the
needs of others to accomplish their own ends.
But can you fault individuals for being self-centred when the businesses they work for are self-centred? If the primary reason for a business' existence is to make profit for the shareholders or owners, then the business purpose will run counter to the purposes of its employees. The employees, particularly the alert ones, will realize that it's a "me for myself" environment, and will respond accordingly. They will see that the firm isn't really committed to the well being of its publics, and will see that they are included in those publics. The employee will be interested in satisfying themselves, at the expense of the owners, and the owners will be interested in satisfying themselves, at the expense of the employees. If both can recognize the value of cooperating together to satisfy their dual aims, then things aren't so bad. But if the company wants the employees to help them reach their goals, they have to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, dangling rewards and incentives in front of employees to keep them moving in the right direction. Hence, rewards are used as an intermediate goal.
The better way is to have a company whose primary value is to benefit society - to satisfy the customers needs. Such a company would truly have the interests of its stakeholders at the forefront, and in fact, as a larger goal than the simple making of profits. And the great paradox is that in truly being interested in people, in truly satisfying their needs, in going out of your way to be courteous and fair, a business will attract and retain its customers, who are intelligent enough to differentiate the genuine from the fake. Those companies would be more than profitable because they would possess customer capital, a loyalty that would make advertising almost unnecessary.
And what kind of people would work in these companies? You couldn't readily hire self-centred people, because they would not believe in the aims of the company, and would have to be encouraged to behave appropriately using the same "carrot-and-stick" approach. You would be better off to hire people who also believed in serving above personal gain, people who enjoyed the work itself, people who were personally conscious about the environment, people who would take pride in their work, and be satisfied with a good product. Such people would share the values of the company, and would recognize that rewards come when you give. They would be employees who recognize the truth of the great principle spoken by Jesus Christ: "Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap." (Luke 6:38 NIV)
In essence what you have is a Christian organization operating from
the principle of "others first" staffed by people practising Christian
values. A winning combination, to be sure.
When you look at the concept of a Christian business, something jumps out. There is a shared purpose - to bless others. The employees, managers, and owners share a common thread which motivates all to move in the same direction. This shared purpose creates a unity of action that is a hallmark of the concept of community.
What is community? The Shorter Oxford English dictionary definitions are as follows:
Unity: an undivided whole, made up of two or more parts.
Common: belonging equally to more than one.
Community: common character, agreement identity; social intercourse;
communion.
Community - a oneness that goes deeper than interests and affection, to the Hifoundation of one's existence. Community - identifying who you are and recognizing others who are as you are. Community is found in the nature of God - three persons sharing purpose, identity, and character.
"And God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.'" (Genesis 1:26)
Community is found in a relationship with God. "Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'" (John 14:23) Community is found in the relationships between believers. "'that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. ... 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." (John 17:21,23)
And the community relationship is also found in God's ideal for marriage: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." (Ephesians 5:31)
As I look back over my life, I realize that the people I have been closest to have been the ones with whom I shared a common purpose, common values, common interests. And the more I feel a commonality of purpose, the more accepted I feel, and the closer I feel to someone.
Consider the relationships in your life - your parents, siblings, family, friends, teachers, church members, work mates. Do you share a sense of community? Deep down, do you have the same purpose? How does it affect the way you interact with them?
The one true way to experience community on this earth is to have communion with God. Having the same purpose with God will unite you with those of like purpose, regardless of differences of race, religion, culture, gender, class, or other often divisive factors.
And what is God's purpose? To seek and to save the lost. To love the world. To serve. To touch the untouchable, to love the unlovable, to live, to give, to sacrifice in the name of love.
"Where time stands still, where I lose my will, I find myself in You"
(Commissioned)
So when you find community with one special person, and you choose to be united with that person in marriage, true community can be established. And it is only within the context of community that a marriage can be happy and successful. The model of Ephesians 5 presents a man who loves his wife like Christ loves the church, and a woman who yields to her husband as the church yields to the authority of Christ.
Let's consider this model.
How did Christ treat the church? He came to be a servant to his church. He led his followers gently, by precept and example. His crowning example of leadership was when he washed his disciples' feet, punctuating the statement that "whoever would be chief among you must be servant of all." Christ showed us that a true leader serves.
What was Christ's position compared to his church? He certainly didn't elevate Himself. He certainly didn't place his will or His desires above those of the church. Rather, He submitted His will to His Father, and was willing to die for His church. Christ showed us that a true leader sacrifices self for the one he loves.
How did the church respond to Christ? The church followed Christ's leading, and the church yielded its will to Christ, recognizing and accepting His leading. The church showed the willing submission that comes when one trusts a leader.
So how does this break down to the husband-wife model? Both husband and wife must submit to one another. The husband submits his will to his wife's by subordinating his needs to hers - true sacrifice in love. And he needs to understand his wife like Christ understands the church, so this means listening, and consulting, and collaborating with her, so that the decisions he makes are truly decisions that they make together as a community.
The wife submits her will to her husband's by obeying him. But the fact that his needs are subordinated to hers means that she is not in fact submitting to his decisions and his opinions, but really the two are working as a unit, with the husband as the focal point of their joint decision making. The wife can trust her husband to make good decisions because she knows him, and she knows that he values her opinions and will have her needs as superior to his own. For this is the example of Christ, who laid down His life for the church.
When you have a community, the purposes are shared, and the objectives are similar, so harmony is a natural by-product. Trust is given readily and easily, and life is joyous.
This may seem unrealistic and idealistic, because community with God is not the primary object of many in our society or even in our churches. Without submission of the will first to God, self takes over, and when that happens, the entire model crumbles. The husband puts his needs and wants before his wife's. He loves himself more and makes decisions that put his own best interests first. The wife experiences control and tyranny, often under a thin veneer of "Bible-based" coercion. She discovers that she cannot trust her husband, and under these circumstances cannot and will not yield to him. And rightly so. For what church would follow a Christ who did not die for her?
The purpose of courtship then, is to allow the prospective union to
experience community - practising sacrifice, earning trust, practising
submission, giving trust. Those who fail to find community should
reconsider marriage, but those who find community will be the happiest
people on the planet. "Do two walk together unless they have agreed
to do so?" (Amos 3:3)
A community of faith is a group of believers, sharing purpose, being involved in working together to bring about the successful mission and completion of the great commission Jesus Christ gave to his followers: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19,20)
In the vein of this commission, we have started up at the college a new cluster of ministries: Youth Fellowship.
What is YF? It's a comprehensive fledgling ministry involving a Friday night post-vesper contemporary worship service, inductive Bible study, and service opportunities for the youth of the college. The service has become a fully functioning entity, about to enter its fourth consecutive week. The themes have been: "The Battle is Not Yours", "Stay on the Ship", "Ready for Battle?", and the upcoming, "No Retreat, No Surrender".
A contemporary lively praise service ushers worshippers into the throne
room where worship songs are sung to the Almighty. Following inspiring
and spontaneous testimonies, special music is lifted to our Father.
The hospitality team always has a new and innovative way of reinforcing
the value of members of the community. A thought-provoking dramatic encounter
leads us into a message by our dynamic and creative pastor, which leads
to a deeper commitment from the young people. Special prayer requests
are addressed through a prayer box, and this upcoming week we introduce
the
question box.
We have recently distributed a spiritual gift inventory so that our community understands how they can best contribute to the body. We have an outreach activity planned involving a day of interaction with children from a local orphanage. For involvement, teams exist to help with planning, drama, marketing, hospitality, prayer, worship, and outreach. By involvement, we aim to revive the young people of Caribbean Union College, and ensure that they return to their home churches better than when they left - closer to their God, and more willing to be active in His service.
Pray for the Youth Fellowship!
It always pays to pray. Going up the road one night, it was late, so a prayer was offered for a ride. Up comes a nice new PBE3345 (that's the license plate - they are sequential and PBE is the newest series, so the car is less than a year old) and the driver stops and reverses to us. Conversation ensues and he expresses that he stopped because when he was up in the states as a student, no one would stop for him. Now that he has the opportunity, he will make the most of it. His name is Mark, and he is working in New York as a fiber optic engineer. He would have loved to have returned home, but the pay here wouldn't have made ends meet, so he remains far from home. As I exited the car, he commented that he was grateful to God for the opportunity. It's good to know that there are still folks who will be a Good Samaritan, and who are grateful for the blessings of God.
It's a great example for all of us to follow.