Monday, February 20, 2012

Ambition...Revisited

As I was thinking about today's post, I looked back at the last year's analytics data. Like many websites, I have software that counts the number of visitors and the pages that they look at. I was just curious regarding what posts were the most popular ones. The introduction that's linked to "about this blog" was easily the most popular. The second most popular posts were "grace" and "ambition."

The ambition post was one that I wrote at the beginning of 2011. As I think about the upcoming year and my goals, it's all too easy to focus on the accolades that I hope come from accomplishing those goals. It's a powerful temptation to think about getting ahead, receiving praise and money for what I plan to do. It's not that God is against success--just see what He did for Joseph. But that success should never be the goal. Our goal should always be to use our talents to honor god through our work.

It was a little disappointing to read the ambition post and know that I struggle with that temptation just as much now as I did on January 5, 2011. Which is why I'm glad the grace post was just as popular. It's critical to remember that God sees my growth as a process, not a one-time event. He knows that I'm going to struggle and fail. And He loves me (and you) anyway.

As I began this year, I made goals for the year just as I always do. But this year, one of my earliest posts on this blog was about grace again. It makes it easier to remember that, when I mess up, God is still there.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Giants

This weekend, my wife and I watched the movie “Facing the Giants.” In the movie, the main character, Grant Taylor, is a high school football coach who hasn’t had a winning record despite six years at his school. He has parents that are call on the principal to fire him. One of his assistants is less than supportive. His players doubt him and the program. Basically, just about everything that could be going wrong in his professional life is going wrong.

Like a good movie, everything worked out in the end for Coach Taylor. But what I really liked was what he said to his players at a pivotal point in the movie. “It’s not about you…When we win, we’re going to praise God. When we lose, we’re going to praise God.”

The only way you can honor God when things are going right is if you recognize that life and all its accomplishments are not about you. Coach Taylor demanded that his players give 100% of themselves to whatever it was that they were doing—
God wants our best work. But after that, the rest is up to Him.

What giants are you facing? Feeling pressure to perform or else? Feeling like everything that you tried fizzled out? Surrounded by people who expected failure? Remember to give 100%. But after that, remember that the rest is up to God. Win or lose, all you have to do is honor Him.

Monday, February 6, 2012

An Invitation to a Relationship

Why honor God in the workplace? It's not because doing so makes you holy (Ephesians 2:8-9). One way to think about it is that the opportunity to honor God at work is an invitation to a relationship with God in this aspect of your life.

Last Sunday, I heard a sermon on John 5:39-40 (and the context around those verses). The Pharisees were experts in the law but never made the connection between scriptures and relationship with Jesus.

Think about that in the context of the things in this blog. You can follow all the things in the Bible that connect to work. But if that doesn't lead you to relationship, you've missed the point. Whether it's honesty in reporting expenses, loving the unlovable coworker, or treating your boss or subordinate with respect, living out your faith at work is your opportunity to be in relationship with Jesus in a major part of your life. The reverse is also true. Trying to compartmentalize where focus on Christianity on Sunday but focus only on work on Monday through Friday means that for 8ish hours a day, 5 days a week, you are removing yourself from a relationship with Him.

As the week begins, think about work as an invitation to join in relationship with your Savior. If honoring God at work feels like a list of do's and don't's, putting relationship at the center tends to take the burden away.