4730 Excerpt
4730 Excerpt
4730 Excerpt
Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called, and his work will
be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that
determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it.
A . W. T OZ E R
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Essentially Paul was saying that the body only functions be-
cause all its parts are different, and each plays a critical role. No
one part of the body, not even the head, can function without the
others. Steve Jobs could never have brought us the iPhone without
a legion of designers, engineers, marketers, accountants, and pro-
grammers behind him. Abraham Lincoln could never have freed
the slaves and preserved the union without brave social activists,
other voices in Congress, his own cabinet members, and the
Union Army.
For the Christian leader, there is another truth in this passage that
should be the bedrock of his or her leadership philosophy: “there
should be no division in the body,” and “its parts should have equal
concern for each other.” Every member of the group you are leading
is precious, deserves honor, and is uniquely gifted by God. People
want to follow a leader who values them in that way.
And, while I’m at it, there is another leadership myth that needs
debunking. Leaders are not rare. Almost all of us are leaders. The
CEO, the symphony conductor, or the school principal are not the
only leaders in their respective institutions. In my CEO roles I had
multiple vice presidents reporting to me who were also leaders. And
they had directors and managers reporting to them who were
leaders. The school principal has department chairs, coaches, li-
brarians, and so on—each of whom is a leader in their own sphere.
The conductor has the heads of each instrumental section. Most or-
ganizations have many leadership roles. The truth is that most of us
are both followers and leaders at the same time, being a member of
one team and the leader of another. And even if you have a job with
few leadership duties, you may be a leader at your church, in your
neighborhood, or in your family.
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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old
has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us
to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting
people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message
of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though
God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s
behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be
sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
There is a lot in this passage we could unpack, but let me draw your
attention to the word reconcile/reconciliation, used five times in
these verses. In the Greek, the word for reconciliation is katallagē,
which means “restoration to (divine) favor.” Merriam-Webster de-
fines reconcile this way: “To restore to friendship or harmony; to
make consistent or congruous.” In other words, this “ministry of
reconciliation” is about restoring people to friendship and harmony
with God and making all things more consistent and congruous
with God’s desires.
On a personal level this reconciliation occurs through the for-
giveness of our sins through Christ’s atonement, which restores us
to a right relationship with God. But on a grander scale, this min-
istry of reconciliation also extends out into our world. Christ’s fol-
lowers, now forgiven and restored, seek to restore all things to favor
with God: individuals, families, communities, schools, businesses,
organizations, governments, and nations. God has commissioned
us as his ambassadors to be involved with his grand renewal and
restoration project in a broken and fallen world. As followers of
Christ, we are invited and directed to participate in his great re-
demptive rescue mission.
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change the world for Christ that the true purpose of your leadership
role becomes real. God’s agenda of reform and redemption, as his
kingdom comes “on earth as it is in heaven,” targets every human
institution. Leaders shape communities, corporations, schools, hos-
pitals, charities, and governments. Christian leaders can shape them
to conform more to the heart of Christ, who loves the people who
work there.
I asked earlier whether God really cared about my work at Lenox,
Parker Brothers, or Gillette. The answer is yes. Work is inherently
valuable as we use our unique talents and abilities in ways that reflect
God’s own creativity to produce products and services that benefit
the broader community. Work also provides needed livelihoods for
individuals and families. But, perhaps more significantly, our work-
places matter because they are human institutions filled with people
whom God cares about. God
GODLY LEADERSHIP
wants all people to flourish and
CONTRIBUTES TO HUMAN
to be drawn into relationship
FLOURISHING WHEN IT
with him. And so, if God’s
CREATES CULTURES AND
kingdom is to expand and
ENVIRONMENTS THAT ARE
grow, every human institution
FAIR, JUST, AND CARING.
must also be renewed by the
values and principles of his kingdom revolution. Organizational cul-
tures can be brutal, or they can be life-giving. Good and godly lead-
ership contributes to human flourishing when it creates cultures and
environments that are fair, just, and caring.
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things were going back at Lenox. I was troubled to hear her report.
She said something like this, “Rich, it’s just not the same here now.
The atmosphere is so negative. It seems like everyone is out for
themselves. Even the language is coarser. People are hurting here
now.” Then she said, “Can you come back?” Now, after years of
working together, I know that Maureen was biased, but what she was
saying was that leadership matters—it makes a difference. To be
honest, during my years at Lenox I wondered more than once
whether my Christian faith made any difference at all. I had a Bible
on my desk and tried to treat people in ways that were humane and
caring, but I didn’t always feel like I was making a difference for the
Lord. But at some level I was shaping the culture and values of Lenox
to be more pleasing to God. Christian leaders shape and influence
institutions, and that matters. Integrity, excellence, humility, for-
giveness, encouragement, trust, and courage are values of the
kingdom of God. And when leaders incarnate those values, the
world changes. God had placed me on the front lines of his revo-
lution at a place that happened to sell fine china and crystal. Lenox
mattered to God, and the place where you work matters to God too.
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