Business Tips from a Biblical Worldview
     
     
Jesus, Jobs, and Money
 

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. (Proverbs 11:4 NIV)

 

For most of us, jobs are the way we make money, and money is a high priority for us so that we can live the way we want to live, that is, doing our will according to our ways.

Many of us view jobs as little more than a necessary evil. If we didn’t have to make money, we probably would not pursue getting a job. Given this reality, a major criterion of job selection must be money.

Another major criterion of job selection is retirement. The pedestrian thinking is that a person needs to make as much money as possible as fast as possible so that he or she can retire as soon as possible. Retirement is often viewed as the ultimate state because in retirement, we can do our will according to our ways.

Barring the return of Christ, physical death is the end of life on earth for all of us, but this truth seems to have little impact on our views of jobs and money. Consequently, most people don’t live strategically in light of their death. Jobs and money, therefore, are tools to enable us to do our will according to our ways with little thought to ultimate eternal reality.

Ever wonder how Jesus viewed jobs and money?

Jesus, unlike most of us, was not inflicted with myopic unreality. Jesus was keenly aware that he was sent to earth on a mission. He knew that he had a beginning and an end. His agenda in life was not about money and retirement; he was here to complete his mission. He did not live as we do, seeking to do our will and our ways; he was committed to living according to God’s will and ways. He lived to please the Father in all that he did.

Jesus knew the reality of the Proverbs 11:4. He knew that, in the end, money is worthless and is therefore not true wealth. True wealth is righteousness (living according to the will and ways of God). Money is simply a tool to facilitate righteousness.

A person who understands this truth can view his or her life as a divinely ordained mission. Jobs and money are simply tools to enable us to fulfill our missions, not the definers of our missions. The definer of our missions is God alone.

Here is your business tip. Find your mission in life, that is, the work that God created you to do. If you are an organizational leader, seek to discover the divinely ordained mission of your organization. Then build your organization with people who view their lives as divinely ordained missions. For such people, jobs and money are tools to facilitate the will and ways of God. True wealth is righteousness, and true success is obediently completing your mission in life both personally and organizationally. A key to building great organizations that deliver great value propositions is building with people who work out of a sense of mission.

     
Listen to Dr. Chester's presentation on:
     
Jesus, Jobs, and Money
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
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