A Noble Calling

Devotions and Essays for Business Professionals

Whitlock

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9781498275804
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Too often, individuals who have been called to practice their gifts and talents in the field of business and professional life sense that to serve God they ought to be doing something more directly involved with the church. Many successful business leaders, upon coming to faith in Christ or upon renewing their interest in God's Word, struggle with whether or not they should enter vocational ministry. Certainly, God calls some from among the professions into such vocations, but many simply haven't realized the full potential of where God has placed them. God's people who are assigned to duties in corporate boardrooms or offices, on sales forces, in entrepreneurial ventures, and as members of research and development teams are among his most effective servants. Believers who are active in the marketplace are surely among God's most treasured ministers and have the potential to have a wider impact and larger influence than most who serve in full-time vocational ministries. Likewise, these professionals have a capacity for great harm to the church and the cause of Christ if while they make claims of Christian belief, their actions prove inconsistent with what God's Word teaches--if their walk doesn't match their talk. Be encouraged! God wants to use you where you are. He wants to sanctify all of what you have learned and experienced. You have great potential in the kingdom!

Part I

A Matter of Character

Devotions on Character

• Integrity

• Service

• Respect

• Charity

• Faithfulness

• Truthfulness

• Humility

• Perseverance

1

Integrity

“But let your word ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’Anything more than this is from the evil one.”

—Matt. 5:37

“He stores up success for the upright;He is a shield for those who live with integrity.”

—Prov. 2:7

“Better is the poor who walks in integrity than he who is crooked though he be rich.”

—Prov. 28:6 NASB

The Essence of Integrity

Gordon Dutile

The Hebrew concept translated by the English word “integrity” communicates the ideas of completeness, soundness, wholeness, and purity. Even after Job had lost his family and all of his possessions, God said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause” (Job 2:3, NASB). It is the overarching essence of character. A person of integrity reflects the qualities of life that commend themselves to others. Integrity demonstrates strength of character that enables the individual, regardless of circumstances, to live out what Romans 8:28 teaches. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28 NASB).

Look at Joseph who as a young man, probably a teenager, was sold by his jealous brothers into slavery. Many would have used his terrible circumstances as an excuse to give up and have a pity party. Instead Joseph revealed a rock-solid confidence in the sovereign God of Israel to guide, protect, and provide for him. He found himself in an Egyptian home and exhibited such responsibility that he ended up as the manager of the household. When he resisted the sexual advances of his master’s wife, she falsely accused him of attempted rape. He wound up in prison during which time he befriended the baker and cupbearer of the Egyptian Pharaoh, helping each of them interpret his dream. His only request of them was that when they got out, they would not forget him; however, he was forgotten. Ultimately, Joseph was remembered and became second in command in Egypt. He not only helped to save the Egyptian people during a difficult famine, but he became the instrument in the deliverance of his father’s family including his brothers who had sold him into slavery. His actions and responses during this saga were a demonstration of unquestionable integrity. He opted to exhibit self-control when he had the opportunity to fulfill self-gratification. He revealed trust in God when he could have yielded to despair and self-pity. He exercised forgiveness and compassion when he could have reacted in a spirit of anger and vengeance.

Proverbs has the following to say about the person of integrity. “He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity” (Prov. 2:7 NASB). “He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out” (Prov. 10:9 NASB). “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them” (Prov. 11:3 NASB). “A righteous man who walks in integrity—how blessed are his sons after him” (Prov. 20:7 NASB). “Better is the poor who walks in integrity than he who is crooked though he be rich” (Prov. 28:6 NASB).

The Greek word used in the New Testament that I think most closely communicates integrity is a word that is often translated as pure or sincere. The root idea of the word is unalloyed. This Greek word is a combination of two words, sun and to judge. It was used at times to describe the picture of a buyer examining a piece of glassware in the sunlight to determine if the merchant was attempting to cover a crack in the item by filling it with wax.

A Christian life characterized by integrity is able to withstand the scrutiny of a skeptical world. When placed under such intense examination, it reveals itself as unmixed, unalloyed, pure, and sincere. This quality is exhibited in the life of one who has a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. That relationship is constantly growing and is empowered by the Holy Spirit. The person of integrity is quick to realize that pride goes before a fall, and therefore humbly recognizes her or his total dependence on the grace and mercy of God.

It is important to focus on the concept of unmixed, unalloyed, and pure. It is not an accident or coincidence that the first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exod. 20:3 NASB). In response to the question as to which commandment is the most important, Jesus said it this way, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength’” (Mark 12:29–30 NASB). To be a person of biblical integrity, he or she must be single-minded. There can not be any split allegiance. In teaching the Bible, I have often noted that the appropriate approach to the Christian life is to be sold out to God. If our allegiance and commitment are to God and God alone, all other aspects or areas of life will be managed and cared for appropriately. If Jesus is Lord of all, He will guide the believer to do the right thing in every relationship and situation. We will not have to make a list of whom or what comes next. The Lord will lead us to do what is right and best. Paul’s prayer for the Philippians was, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:9–10 NASB). The Christian whose life is characterized by integrity is able to distinguish not only that which is good but that which is most excellent, that which is best.

I shall never forget the example set for me by a dear saint who was a member of the church that I served as associate pastor while I was in seminary. She worked for the government in a clerical area. She told me that when she was at her job, she did not take time away from her responsibilities to witness or to read her Bible. Her commitment to God and His rule in her life led her to believe that she was to be the best employee possible. To use “company time” to witness when she was being paid to work was an act of dishonesty and would be hurtful to her testimony as a Christian. When she was on her allowed breaks during the day, she actively looked for the opportunity to share her faith. Her focus in life was to be what God wanted her to be. She was single-minded in her purpose, unmixed in her motives. That enabled her to see all of life as a means to serve God. That commitment made her a better church member, wife, mother, friend and employee. She exemplified to me what Paul meant when the Spirit led him to write, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31 NASB).

In summary, Christian integrity does not mean that the individual has reached a state of flawless perfection. It is, however, a virtue that results from the believer maturing in the image of Christ and growing more and more aware of her or his absolute dependence on the power provided by God. The textbook for integrity is the Word of God. Timothy received the following admonition from his mentor: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth” (1 Tim. 2:15 NASB). The Christian who exhibits this quality will always exclaim along with the apostle Paul, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain.” (1 Cor. 15:10a NASB).

Gordon Dutile is the Provost at Southwest Baptist University where he also served for many years as a professor of Greek. He holds a BS from Louisiana Tech University, and the MDiv and PhD from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

2

Service

“Serve the LORD with gladness;come before Him with joyful songs.”

—Ps. 100:2

“But Jesus called them over and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles dominate them, and the men of high position exercise power over them. It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,but to serve, and to give His life—a ransom for many.’”

—Matt. 20:25–28

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

—Gal. 6:9 NIV

“It is not fitting, when one is in God’s service,to have a gloomy face or a chilling look.”

—Saint Francis of Assisi

Service

Ronda O. Credille

The snowflakes were so large that I used an umbrella as I carefully walked through the parking lot to my office building early one morning. Though the snow had been falling for little more than an hour, the parking lot was already covered with a thick blanket of white. The physical plant crew probably hasn’t had time to shovel the sidewalk either, I thought to myself. The sidewalk slopes downward from the parking lot to the building and can become slippery during winter precipitation. But to my surprise and relief, the sidewalk was clear.

Later in the day I learned that the housekeeper for the building, Chong “Lena” Campbell, a petite native of Korea, had shoveled the sidewalk before she began her regularly a...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part One: A Matter of Character
• Part Two: A Matter of Worldview
• Part Three: A Matter of Faith
• Epilogue
• Appendix