Doing Business God’s WaySampel

Discipleship and the Marketplace

The principles we have discussed in this devotional will have no power in our lives unless we consistently and consciously follow them. Knowledge of truth has potency only when applied properly, consistently, and with explanation to those who are being affected by its application. To multiply truth, we must be able to teach others how to understand and use it. Without this, we cannot expect to change our immediate environment, let alone our business or community. 

True Christianity is about information that leads to transformation. Christ’s supreme earmark upon those He touched was that after He left, people were different. A disciple is a disciplined learner, one on the journey toward mastering truths that have captured their heart. While Christ plainly called all Christians to be and make disciples, many are not living as such. The name Christian, a term applied to us by mere men, is only used three times in the Scriptures, whereas disciple is used over 250 times!

Discipleship as a lifestyle, not a “program,” is wonderfully suited to the marketplace because the law of sowing and reaping acts more quickly in business than in any other realm of coordinated human activity. Business ideas and actions tend to have a rapid turnaround time, showing up in tangible, bottom-line results. Thus, seeking to discover, apply, and master God’s concepts in the business world presents enormous short-run possibilities for confirming that God’s Word really works. 

Many Christians function primarily with an “inward” strategy of personal motivation, which predominantly revolves around their own welfare and that of those closest to them. Yet an “outward” Christian is motivated to live life at such a level that they can be used to affect others for Christ. Their quest for mastery is driven by a vision of glorifying God and His kingdom at the expense of their own lives and personal convenience. Christians go to heaven. Outward Christians change the world along the way. 

If we don’t learn to live as disciples, we can expect our measure of influence to be very modest. In contrast, hearts on fire will take the Almighty & Family franchise throughout the earth and into eternity. Truth that is neither modeled nor incarnated is abstract, and, therefore, relatively useless. 

Please hear my heart: We don’t simply need Christian marketplace ministries seeking spiritual validation or Christians becoming financially successful by applying God’s laws. What we desperately need is Christians with a biblical worldview of the marketplace who will reeducate millions of others, one sphere of influence at a time. 

I am sure you are attempting to apply all that you know where you have influence, both in general and where you work in particular—at least when you’re “on your game.” But we all could use God’s help to do so more consistently, self-consciously, and effectively. By consistently, I mean maintaining good habits and clearing our heads of the tyranny of the urgent so we can grow daily in His purposes. By self-consciously, I mean knowing what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how to determine its effectiveness. 

Deepen your time with God in reflection. The fast pace of life can “traffic” your soul and not allow you sufficient time to act strategically through spiritual principles rather than simple business pragmatism.

May God help us to respond to His call, and may we declare, “I must rise up and build. I must take truth into my home, the private sector, and wherever else I have influence. I must live out these principles and use them to affect others for Christ. Help me, Lord, to share the life-transforming message of Almighty & Family.” 

Thought of the Day: Christians must live as disciples. A disciple is a disciplined learner.

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