Biblical Business Radical: Motivations and Jesus

 There are a set of motivational categories that we'll briefly discuss here. All (or most) of our guiding values instigate these motivations. We are motivated by all of these but one or two more than any others. Marketers try to get a hit on several with some of their tag lines. When you think about choices, opportunities, activities, etc. that excite you, to what ones are you more attracted? As you recall some of those driven, exciting times, see if you can find yourself in the motivational categories. Here are the categories:

Utilitarian: "What's in it for me?" "I'm motivated by the concept if it's useful and practical." There has to be utility. Perhaps even a future gain. You can hear this in people who talk about rewards in heaven. Also, as people talk about gaining rewards here on earth--peace, prosperity and so on.

Theoretical: "Teach me something new." "Knowledge is power." People here are looking for the next great idea. They're motivated if they can get a greater understanding of the situation especially if it leads to improvements or opportunities.

Aesthetic: Pleasing forms and formats, harmony, creative expression. They want to make the world a more beautiful, livable area. 

Social: "We're in this together. We need to work as a team." People-focus and reduction of conflict--"Can't we all just get along." Kindness, altruism, empathy, generosity are prime desires and drivers. You can read a lot of this in the Greek scriptures' epistles on how to have community life. Dickens' A Christmas Carol is thought to refute economic utilitarianism and point out its lack of emotional appeal on these grounds.

Individualism, Politics: Looking for power and retaining power and influence over others. Recognition and being viewed as important--through formal or informal leadership channels--are prime for this person. We can see some of this in the twelve disciples especially the ones vying for places next to Christ. They may not like Christ's message of "the last shall be first" and if you want to lead, you have to be their servant.

Traditional, Regulation: "She's the boss. Let's do it." "Ours is not to question why; ours is to do or die." (Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade) Situational ethics need not be applied, i.e. the rules don't change depending on who's involved or what's happening; the rules and traditions dictate how we understand our roles and decisions. Order and structure, policies, procedures, hierarchy reduce chaos and create a sense of well-being. You might see some of this in Christ's reassurance that He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill the Law. 

As you read the scriptures, where do you see God's motivation for different people?

We also know that we're motivated if we quickly see results in our actions. Exercising and eating right are maintained if we see some quick results. This is why quarterly, semiannual and annual bonuses are popular in business. Likewise, if we see some quick answers to prayers, we keep praying. If we tend towards being a  little ADD or impulsiveness, we might not be able to sustain any long-term motivation. Thus, heavenly rewards may not be enough for some of us.

We also know we can maintain motivation if we have a social network--aka peer pressure and camaraderie in effort--structural support, and opportunities for personal development and gaining the necessary aptitude. Here the church excels in providing this. Is this enough to keep us going?

Change is hard. Most of us don't change without some motivation. And it's not a crisis that will do it in the long-term. More than half--some studies suggest up to 90%, even of "change leaders" like CEOs--of heart patients don't change their lifestyle after a crisis moment. What motivated you to decide to follow Christ? How motivated are you to do the things that maintain a relationship with Him? Remember the first article in the series shows a low-level of commitment among professing Christians. I think we revert back to old habits without intentional motivation to maintain participation in faith development and ministry activities that show commitment, enthusiasm (engagement). We may have faced a crisis that urged us to confess a faith in Christ but then we often go back to our normal lives. Same things happen after a retreat, camp, revival or other "mountain top" experience.

Soon, we'll get back to discussing typical workplace motivators and the better ones of choice, content, collaboration and progress appear in Christ's leadership of the His church and followers.

Biblical Business Radical: Motivation and Engagement Foundations

 Sometimes in churches on autumn Sunday mornings, you’ll hear a more raucous response to a mention of a pro football team than a mention of a transformed life, miracle or the sovereignty of God. I’ll often hear people talk about the latest communiques from a celebrity or business icon. I rarely hear people talk about what God is saying or doing in their lives or in others’ lives around them. They have no connection to the celebs, Elon Musks, Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates of the world. Christians are supposed to have a relationship with Christ and intimately know and be known by Him. So how come our enthusiasm and commitment is higher with people we don’t know?

We cannot be motivated by, committed to or enthusiastic about people we don’t know anything about. We might be attracted to people whose reputation we know in terms of their success. Less publicly, we might want to be like a person whose values we resonate with. Politically, we’ll emulate people who identify as part of our “tribe” and promote their ideas and proposals, while we dismiss and denigrate those suggestions and analyses from the other “tribe.” We also want to be like, listen to and are motivated by people our admirable peers follow. We want to belong to the “cool kids,” the right cliques. And we’ll do whatever it takes to stay in the tribe, the group.

At the beginning of our spiritual formation, we adopt the faith of our parents. And then reject it perhaps if our parents are untrustworthy or hypocritical. And then we adopt the faith of our peers. Until they might reject us for some reason and then we reject their faith. It becomes our faith when we engage with the living Christ and our faith is tested by crisis—such as disaster, doubt, discouragement. We come through a trial and our faith is our own and not based on our parents or our peers or celebrity endorsement. Likewise, earthly leaders will stop motivating us, enthusing us if they prove untrustworthy, too many failures, have different values perhaps by rejecting something about us (our being, our lifestyle, our aspirations).

Who is Christ that He should inspire us, increase our enthusiasm and commitment? Many authors and speakers have pointed out that Christ’s earthly life is not one to inspire us. He wasn’t wealthy, had few committed followers, didn’t erect any buildings or personally write any books like Plato did. He had many lukewarm followers who wandered away if He didn’t heal them or the opposition became too strong. He was criticized, persecuted, killed. What He left behind was a collection of people who “do things” in His Name. Most of those things and people, we like; some we don’t. Those that call ourselves followers probably started out by following others who followed Him.

We do know some things about Christ and His character. We know some things about what He values too through His teachings and earthly life. We might find Him trustworthy: I often challenge people to rate Him on a scale of 1-10 in the trust dimensions of competency, dependability, integrity, acceptance of our weaknesses, openness/communication of His vision, goals, heart. (At times, I’ve scored God low on punctuality and openness.) Like dependability and acceptance, some proponents of trust add helpfulness and gratefulness (i.e. we trust those who help us—unless you’re selfish—and are grateful when we help them). We also tend to like those who like us (not just are like us, but enjoy being with us).

We might blithely say we trust God but struggle to let go of control. Even in business, more than half of managers don’t trust upper management. A recent survey by Trust Edge put this number at 87%—almost 9 out of 10 employees. If we trust ourselves more than the other person, we’ll relinquish “control” reluctantly; those who are risk intolerant may find themselves in this boat. 

When there’s a lack of trust—more than half, 9 out of 10—it’s hard to be enthusiastic, committed, motivated to keep going in the organization—the church, as a follower of Christ. Studies and anecdotes show that methods to increase motivation fall flat because they appear manipulative if the leadership is not trusted—at minimum, doesn’t have integrity.  If we find we don’t trust Him, perhaps we need to pray like the father whose son was possessed by a violent demon, “I do believe but help me overcome my unbelief.” (Mark 9.24) Christ helped the father with His unbelief. Christ helped the disciple Thomas, who refused to believe Christ had been resurrected solely on the basis of his close friends’ testimony. He wanted to touch Christ’s body and see Him. Christ honored that; Christ allowed Him to experience what He needed to carry Him through. (John 20.25)

Believing is seeing. If we believe someone is always late to meetings, that’s what we’ll see; we’ll overlook the times he/she are on time. If we believe God isn’t dependable or have integrity, we’ll see those instances where He let us down. We’ll overlook the times He was faithful and fulfilled His promises. Perhaps like the Harvard Business Review article cited on the blog post link above, the initial elements of trust have more to do with us than with the leader who’s trying to maintain or increase our motivation. 

 Perhaps the dearth of enthusiasm and commitment on the part of Christ’s followers is because most of us haven’t learned to trust Him yet…because without trust, no elements of motivation are going to work.

Biblical Business Radical: How to Motivate Employees

 I've begun pondering the big question of how Christ motivated His disciples while on earth, and how He motivates us today. I have a theory that it's not the way we as business leaders are taught to motivate employees. My theory is that worldly research is catching up to how Christ motivates. I can think of several scriptural examples that encourage intrinsic motivational factors (versus extrinsic, which most business leaders focus on). 

But there's a danger of proof-texting: believing is seeing; finding passages that fit my conception and ignoring contrary examples. So I'm trying to stay open and objective.

Business leaders focus on extrinsic motivational factors: bonuses and other incentives, recognition, celebration, perks, promotions, interpersonal support, clear goals...and punishments like demotion, termination, loss of prestige, etc. Especially if they're "visible"--foreseeable, to happen in the short-term.  If these are the absolute main ways to keep people motivated, you can probably know that Christ has already failed. Sure, there's interpersonal support--abundant well-being, peace, love, joy and so on. But there's very little in the way of bonuses, recognition (we are but servants), promotions and so on. The one incentive a lot of people mention is the reward of heaven in the far-off era or hell as the punishment also in the far-off. These won't keep you engaged in the short-term: how many of us maintain exercise, healthy eating, diligent work effort if we don't feel we're gaining strength/losing weight/sleeping better and having a boss recognize our improved performance within a few days or weeks. (The second Friday of January is informally known as the Big Quit Day, when most people give up on their New Year's Resolutions.)

Before we get too deep into motivation, let's step back and ask if Christ would be rated a successful leader. There have been plenty of books written about His style and techniques. He certainly has grown an "organization" with a billion-plus "employees" that have radically changed the world. (Islam's prophet Mohammed could make the same claim regarding the size of the organization and contributions to math and science.) Like many of our businesses, the level of engagement differs. Not all employees are committed and enthusiastic about accomplishing corporate goals and the company's success. Likewise, not all Christians are committed and enthusiastic. In the organized church world, there are many names for the cultural Christians, ones who call themselves Christian, but know little and do little with regard to following the Master and Teacher: CEOs, for example, as Christmas-Easter Only attenders/followers/Christians. Cultural Christians believe they're Christian because they live a mostly good life: they don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal... (We know from scriptures, like Galatians 5 and Matthew 5 that it's more than this, such as overcoming greed, envy, quarrelsomeness, etc.)

So does Christ motivates us beyond what even the best business leaders have done? Gallup rates employee engagement as being in the 20-25% range for the past 30 years. Despite an emphasis in that time for organization's to improve it, it hasn't changed. The obverse of this is that 75-80% of employees are apathetic or disengaged. People are excited to join the brand of the company but become disheartened with the management and corporate culture. Hardly a winning formula. 

Reluctantly, anxiously, I'm finding Christ's church not much better...at least in the US. In 2005, four out of five Americans claimed to be Christian but faith is only of primary importance for 1/6th of them. (Evangelicals scored higher than 50%, barely.) The Barna group surveyed thousands of Americans on several different aspects of commitment and the head, George Barna, summarized the results this way:

For starters, it appears that most Americans like the security and the identity of the label ‘Christian’ but resist the biblical responsibilities that are associated with that identification. For most Americans, being a Christian is more about image than action.

Surveyed in 2019, young adults in the US follow a similar pattern with two-thirds self-identifying as Christian, but only 10% finding joy in their faith, relationship with Christ and remaining resilient, acknowledging that their faith impacts the way they live. Another third of young adults are habitual church-goers but not resilient. 

In a recent conversation with an Ugandan leader, she related the same effect in her country: most professing to be Christian, but not practicing any commitment to the faith obligations.

In 2005, those who were enthusiastic and committed to faith in Christ was 16% of all adults. Young adults in 2019 were at 10%. Really, it's below the business norm of 20-25%. Less than a third of adults in 2005 had attended church, prayed or read their Bible in the past week. This is a low bar for commitment. Barna Group acknowledges that the lowest scores were for the most intense Christian level of participation, such as teaching and evangelizing. Discouragingly, the "employee turnover" rate--faith abandonment rate--seems to be growing.

Black Americans, who have come through centuries of systemic oppression and suppression (lack of developmental support), scored the highest commitment levels. Their overall level of faith--resilience, hope, forgiveness and so on--is a model for the rest of us. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus has always been aligned with the least, last, lost and left out: Israel is one of the historically smallest, least developed nations and oft overrun. Similarly, reports out of Asia are that the persecuted church there is stronger, more resilient than many American churches regarding remaining open and consistent attendance. So if Christ wanted to improve our level of engagement, should He allow more persecution?

If Christ is failing the grade, should we pay attention to how He motivates? Unlike businesses where failure is high in the first five years, Christ's Church has survived millennia despite persecution, scandals, corrupting levels of state and material power, and horrible human leadership. The Church has been robust and Christ's image has survived any tarnish--as related in the mantra "I love Jesus but hate the church."

A cathedral in Germany being renovated behind a fabric facade--author's photo

Biblical Business Radical: Too Much Profit?

 I’ve seen this question from Chaim Bentorah in one of his books: Is it a contradiction when we hear that we’re not to love the same things that the world loves (“not be of the world”) but think God wants us to be wealthy? And recently in a Christian business owners group, I asked how we determine prices: market value or service/product cost and the interaction between the two (think restaurants who tried to hold prices in check during inflationary times to maintain a customer base). I’ve seen some pundits claim our current inflationary problems are due to corporate greed. One member asked if our giving/tithing should play into the pricing model.

And one of our group members asked about the moral guidelines for profit. Should we “take advantage” of the fact that market value far exceeds cost and necessary margins? For example, should a Christian owner selling bottled water exalt in the fact that the market is willing to spend 50 cents to two dollars on bottled water (depending on volume packaging and shop aka convenience store) when the fully burdened costs and 25% gross margin would set the price below a quarter (25 cents)? 

In some other discussions on the question of whether a business can have too much profit, I’ve never seen this question: Whose business is it? 

If it’s private or publicly owned, it’s the shareholders’ business and they determine goals for profitability. If, as Christians, we say God is the owner—no matter the incorporation form—then it raises a whole series of other questions:

• Do you consider yourself just another employee and let God determine your pay?
• Especially for sole owners, LLCs or partnerships, do you consider that you have no right to the profits, including how the money is used in regard to taxation?
• What would the Owner do with the profits? Would He pay you bonuses, e.g.?
• How much more than a tithe (ten percent) does the Owner need or want from the business to be “paid”?
• How much are you thinking that the profits are due you because of all your hard work? How do you consider Christ’s story of the servants who work in the field and then have to serve the Master in the house before they eat? (Luke 17.7-10)

If we are stewards of His assets and resources (including our workforce), we should manage them according to His guidelines and wishes. How well do you hear what He’s telling you? “We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.” (Verse 10)

Biblical Business Radical: Bringing Honor to the Team

 Not too long ago, I filmed an introductory video for the Jesus on Monday Morning chapter on Blessed are the Persecuted… In it, I related how our actions reflect on God and His Kingdom, like we’re wearing jerseys with His Name on them, or being part of the armed forces. Our behavior and performance either brings glory to the team, or the branch of service, or it brings shame. In the latter situation, the rest of the team doesn’t want anyone to know we’re a part of them.

Jokingly, but with a bit of truth, I think my wife doesn’t let me put a church sticker on the car. The few times I’m that “jerk driver” that causes other people to swear and sweat, in no way does she want anyone to know that “jerk driver” goes to our church.

There are certain business situations as well that I wish others wouldn’t claim to be Christians because they give all of us a bad reputation. Like when companies led by Christians demean their female employees or don’t give them a fair shot at promotion. Or intentionally or unintentionally practice a policy that discriminates against minorities.

On an individual basis if we fall into the traps of lusting after someone other than our spouse, we tarnish His Name. If we seek vengeance on the person who got credit for a well-done job that we executed, we are failing to follow His teachings regarding turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, giving the person extra beyond any claim they have against you (Matthew 5.38-42). If we fail to love our enemies, we dishonor Him. If we fail to give to the needy—including loaning money without expecting to be repaid—others wonder if we really believe what we say we believe. If we practice our religiosity—verses on our business cards e.g.—in front of others to seek their praise, we have already been rewarded but not by our Father in heaven.

One of the Commandments brought down by Moses from Mount Sinai is: “Do not take the Name of the Lord in vain.” When we’re adopted into His family, we take His Name. When we join the bride of Christ—the church—we’re married into the family and take His Name. Do not treat this lightly or throw it away (in vain). Our actions, decisions and behaviors reflect on Him as our Father and our Lord (Master).

Biblical Business Radical: Quiet Quitting

 In the business news lately has been a reported phenomenon called “Quiet Quitting.” It’s a self-reported trend by people who are not quitting their jobs to take another one. It’s a phrase describing employees setting boundaries on their work life, as in “I’m quitting for the day because my work ‘shift’ is done.” Workers are saying they’re not available after hours for additional tasks and supervisors/bosses shouldn’t expect them to work on projects after the “contracted” hours. They’re only working the hours they’re being paid for. No voluntary overtime. No 24/7 responses to messages, texts, emails or working without pay until the next shift shows up.  

Have employers been oppressive and abusive of employees’ time? Encroaching on their personal time? Perhaps. Most likely. I certainly tried not to overstep expectations of personal time without asking permission. I’ve prodded an engineer to leave the customer request for data behind in order to get to his son’s award ceremony. I’ve added text to a two-a.m. email that I didn’t expect a response until well after eight a.m. I’m sure some people felt they couldn’t say “no” to the request, however.

How do we balance serving one another with not being taken advantage of? When do we need to be wary of requests becoming oppressive, almost persecution for being a nice person? 

As employers, we can easily fall into a trap that one of our employees will have something against us (Matthew 5.23-24). If so, Christ commands us to “leave our offering at the altar” and then go be reconciled. The requirement isn’t that it has to be a legitimate gripe on their part or an offense that we committed intentionally. It could be a perception of doing some harm to someone else: an insult, being manipulative, cheating someone of wages by not paying them for extra time worked… We are not to give anything to the church until we resolve the conflict, make amends, or correct the perception. 

As employees, we shouldn’t play the persecution card at every inconvenience that our employer might impose. Christ says we’ll be rewarded if the persecution is because we’re obedient to what He’s called us to do: lies are told about us, harm comes to us—termination or worse—or we’re slandered with nicknames like “goody two-shoes, prissy, prig.” But do we subordinate our time to employers’ requests so that we might get a spiritual reward? “Oh, man, my boss is so demanding, I’m drained, beat. I hate going to work. But now the kingdom of heaven is mine! My hunger for fairness will be satisfied by Christ!” (Matthew 5.3, 6) 

When we do extra work, we might be do it with the attitude of serving our managers as if they were Christ Himself (Ephesians 6.5). We may want or need to “go the second mile” and fulfill a request from the person who asks (Matthew 5.41, 42).  

We might also be setting up the managers for later failure. They get a false impression and inaccurate data regarding proper staffing levels. Budgets will be wrong if the company truly paid for the extra effort. Profits will be incorrectly estimated and the wrong priorities could be set for growth.

I don’t know if there’s a single rule or small set of rules to guide us in every scenario. We might just need to ask, “What shows love to each person in this situation? How do I pass along joy and peace, kindness, gentleness, etc.?” I trust that He will guide you in the right thing when you ask with the commitment to follow His advice that you get through prayer or from the wisdom He’s given to your friends.

Excluding Women from Church Membership

 I recently heard a series of sermons about the scriptural basis for local church membership. The best one can say about this is that the Church is described as Christ’s body and bride. Membership is a sign of commitment, much as marriage is a sign of commitment to the relationship with another person. 

However, historically membership would have been difficult. First, lists of members would have been perilously fraught for members in a time of persecution by Jewish, governmental and secular leadership. This is certainly true even today in many countries. Second, we know many early churches were house churches (Rom. 16.5) and a combination of these seemed to be described as the church of Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi and so on. It wouldn’t have made any sense to have membership in a house church. Elders and other leaders were appointed but not there’s no limitation on who could vote for or approve them.

The first scriptural passage that a pastor used to describe the scriptural basis for membership is 1 Timothy 5.9 “A widow is to be put on the list only if she is more than sixty years old…”  If the list is meant to be a membership roll, then all widows less than sixty years old or childless or infirm and unable to help others are excluded. Also widows who were married twice or more. Paul is talking about the church’s support of widows, not membership. He gives some reasons that certain widows should be able to find support from other places than the church, primarily the widow’s family. [If you continue to read past verse 9, you’ll find some stereotypical and anachronistic reasoning for excluding young widows.]

Other verses used to support membership were exclusionary. One described people who used to be part of the fellowship and are now following the Antichrist. Other Pauline passages suggest a person should be removed from the church and a majority of the fellowship should cast out a rebellious person. There was only one verse in a positive frame but membership was not a requirement to encourage one another, serve one another, be hospitable and so on.

It is illogical to use exclusionary principles to prove inclusion. Being not excluded from the fellowship does not mean you’re automatically included. Not not-A does not equal A. Not-A could be B or C or D… as in not being non-reptilian doesn’t make you reptilian; you could be not mammalian, not insect, not crustacean, etc. So “Not not-A” equals not-B or not-C or not-D…When it’s a non-binary system, we don’t know what not being excluded means: Are you included? Are you associated? What other criteria might there be? In the 1 Timothy passage, just being eligible to be on the list does not put you on the list. You could be eligible and still not on the list because you’re not part of the house church or the regional church or you have no desire to be on the list (you have other means of support) or you live in a different era reading this when that particular church no longer exists.

The heart of the series seemed to rest on this “list.” As I said, historically it would have been dangerous for a persecuted people to keep these kind of documents around. Definitely, the exclusion of young women—widows, single (given Paul’s reasoning) or not—from the list is not a practice any local church emulates today. Paul sets a really high bar for inclusion on this list in 1 Timothy 5. Dare any church to be hard-hearted in this manner.

One Another in the Kingdom

 Ever wonder why there are so many “one another” phrases in the epistles? Like love one another, encourage one another, pray for one another, greet one another, serve one another, honor one another, be devoted to one another…and so on. 

These were written at a time when the Holy Spirit was moving powerfully. These apostles and believers, many of whom had met Christ, were doing wonderful things, doing miracles, preaching powerfully, baptizing many into the faith, resisting dejection while facing imprisonment and beatings. Christ is all we need, right? And they were really close to the the most awesome time in history—His Story. 

Yet they needed each other. 

Does this mean they failed in their faith? Does this mean God let them down?

Au contraire, mon ami! They were living in the Kingdom of God. They were fellow citizens and children of God. They were living out in a way that showed the fruit of the Spirit. You know the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Those character traits that allow you to live in community. And community is what’s found in the Kingdom: community with Him as King, Mayor, and Neighborhood Sage rocking on His heavenly porch being the role model for everyone young and old. 

Needing others is not a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength in numbers. We cannot be in the Kingdom if we live as a hermit, or go fishing on the lake by ourselves on Sunday morning. The Kingdom is lived in the grit of life: the high-pressure, low-paying job; the family conflict; the cranky neighbor; the municipal zoning commission or landlord that won’t let us put up a shed… It’s why we need others to encourage us, serve us, pray for us…

And it’s why we are needed to this for others…in the Kingdom.

Boldness With God

I've always been struck by the boldness of the Psalmists to call God out on bad situations: wicked are prospering, what's up with that, God? Now I've been awed by Jeremiah being brash with God, sharing his perspective: "You deceived Your people...You deceived me." (Jer. 4.10; 20.7)

What were the accusations of deception? For the nation, Jeremiah says that God promised peace and yet destruction prevails. Jeremiah knows peace might be conditional on repentance, return to faith, a refusal to follow other idols. Yet he asserts God deceived His people. Would Jeremiah rank God lower on the trust scale for a lack of integrity? Perhaps this is a way to learn more from YHWH about how He thinks and decides--like Abraham asking God if He would destroy Sodom if ten good men could be found in the city. Moses too was bold enough to tell God that destroying His people in the wilderness would hinder any potential praise from other nations.

Jeremiah's accusation of personal deception happens after he's beaten by a priest and shackled by a very public city gate. It may harken back to when he was called by God to be a prophet. Jeremiah says he's now mocked and become a laughingstock because the message he brings is not pleasant. No one wants to hear him, His words being spoken. God promises that He will protect Jeremiah as long as he is not discouraged. There will be a struggle but Jeremiah will survive (1.8, 19). Maybe Jeremiah doesn't feel like he's surviving. Definitely not thriving. 

When I struggle, I might wonder, "God, where are you?" I might ask for circumstances to change. I might whine. I definitely haven't alleged that God broke His promises. Could I? Should I? Might I say to Him, "It's really hard to trust You right now. You're not showing up on time. The promises are unfulfilled. I don't feel safe around you. I'm not sure You can change the situation. Help my unbelief, my distrust"?

But wouldn't we confront a friend if they let us down? Would we confront a boss if they let us down?

Revelation Leading to Religion: A Different Perspective

 I’ve written before about how I appreciate that Judaism and Christianity are founded on divine revelations given to many people, not just an individual who you have to believe in order to accept the revelation. A startling perspective is given by Steve Maltz in his “How the Church Lost the Truth: And How It Can Find It Again”. 

Not only has YHWH’s revelation been given to forty authors over 66 books, but what’s recorded is perhaps the only time there was “a national revelation”. At Mount Sinai, six hundred thousand men and some uncounted number of women and children—probably between 2.5 and 3 million people total—heard God’s voice from Mount Sinai. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” (Exodus 19.9) After this, the Law was given. As God told Moses the Ten Commandments and everything else, the people below heard it. The same number of people as reside in Minnesota’s Twin Cities or Chicago or Houston…and more than Philadelphia or San Diego or San Antonio or Phoenix.

You might be able to discount one person’s testimony but not three million. Not a whole Chicago’s worth of testimony.

This, of course, did not prevent future problems. While God is speaking to Moses, and the people are hearing it, they get impatient and resort to learned-from-the-Egyptians-and-Canaanites practices by forging a golden calf to worship while they wait.

Oh, we have a hard time learning new things. Christ recognized this when saying new wine needed to be in new wine skins, not old ones or they will burst. However, “No one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” (Luke 5.39) If the old is good, why try the new?

Watercolor by Nikki Kutil 2019

Ezer: Helper, Protector, Guide, Warrior

 I was struck by how God recognized Adam needed a "helper," an ezer. This word is used to describe God mostly in times when He is strengthening and protecting Israel. Eve's name means Life. She may not only be named for giving life but also protecting life. Is it a surprise that Eve's creation was different from Adam's, coming from one of Adam's ribs rather than mud? What is a rib's function? To be in relationship with others that protect vital organs--especially the heart and lungs, the key organs of the cardiopulmonary system in the pneumothorax through which pneuma (air/wind, spirit) flows. What beautiful imagery of an ezer, a helper than one who protects our life!

Biblical Business Radical: Following Other “gods” to Pay Our Employees

There’s a simple way to determine employees’ pay: take what they used to make at your company and the employees’ company and add 5%, or some x%. A little more complicated method: use benchmark studies and salary surveys. These methods are used by 99% of all companies. (Okay, I have no literal statistical data to support this, but it’s extremely rare to hear of anyone doing something different. 

In the latter half of my career, I have at least enforced internal consistency. Looking at job parameters and rating different jobs and paying equally assessed jobs with very similar ranges. Often though, this creates a mismatch in some job classifications with the job market. However, it is consistent with the value those jobs are creating for the organization. This is not so easy to do. And it’s definitely hard to explain to employees, especially long-tenured ones, who find themselves maxed out when their salary range, based on value, does not move.

Clearly there can be some movement regarding retention and so on. Though, as  I’ve written elsewhere, I prefer to compete for personnel on other work aspects and not solely on “price.”

As Christian business leaders, when we resort to the predominant methods of determine wages, we are letting people/organizations outside of our own to determine how we value our employees’ contribution to the company’s success. This is almost exactly the situation Paul addresses when he admonishes us to not be “unequally yoked” or bind light with darkness (2 Cor. 6.14). And goes on to quote “Come out from the unbelievers and do not walk among them. Don’t touch their filthy things…” (his paraphrase of Isaiah 52.11). Often, God commands and warns His people to be among the people but not be corrupted by their worship of other gods. And so likewise, have we been corrupted because unbelieving organizations have dominated business culture and we’ve adopted their practices? We have let other “nations” hold us captive to a business culture, determine our values and the methods as to how we value our employees. We are in essence adopting their values, their priorities and “worshiping their gods.”

Besides this business culture, this water in which we goldfish obliviously swim, we might have personal reasons to adopt the common practices. A change could mean higher costs. This might lead to a fear of raising prices and losing business. Or lower profits means a smaller bonus, or salary, for ourselves. There’s a good example of how CEO pay has gone from 30x lowest salary to 300x in the past three or four decades. Often I hear people say, “Hey, I’ll run GE, General Motors, United Healthcare, Apple for $1 million and save the shareholders all kinds of money and probably do just as good a job leading the company in exactly the same way as _______soso-and-so does (because it’s a matter of scale, not effort).”

And then there’s the personal fear of explaining something that done differently from the way everyone else does it. Or the fear of giving an explanation and having the explanation rejected. 

Or if we’re honest with ourselves (“search me, O God…”) we might be worshipping other “gods”: fame, fortune (stock, company valuation), prestige, leisure opportunities that wealth gives us, and so on.

Anyone else have a justification for following the business traditional methods of determining employees’ pay?

Biblical Business Radical: Maybe You Don't Want to Hire the Prostitute

[Originally published on Compassionate Business Radical blog also by this author]

 Okay, I got your attention. But here’s the “rub”: if an employee candidate is only interested in the wages and benefits, including hiring bonus, etc., maybe you don’t want to hire them. They will leave you for the next higher bidder. 

You hate it when customers reduce the negotiations to price “only”. They’re not interested in quality, technology, delivery, service, effortlesssness, etc. They just want the lower price. If that’s the only dimension in play against your competitors, you want to walk away. If the customer can’t appreciate the extra value (hence willing to pay more) on the other dimensions, then you should fire them.

If you take this principle for hiring, you shouldn’t hire people who only ask about the “price” you’re willing to pay for their labor. You want candidates who will recognize your value of providing choice (some autonomy), content (tailored job to fit their strengths and passions) and collaboration (working with other engaged—i.e. enthusiastic and committed—employees) and managers who help them make progress each day/week (the #1 method of increasing motivation). We know that money is a good incentive only for routine work. If that’s what you’re hiring then, like a commodity, you might have to compete on price. But if you’re trying to derive business success by tapping into people’s creativity, innovation, performance and process improvement, then you want to offer more than financial incentive.

So compete for the candidates who recognize that value. Certainly, it will take longer to fill the spot. But won’t you be better off than hiring a warm body to fulfill a need?

Additionally, since 80+% of people don’t like where they are currently working—and a significant portion is due to burnout, stress, management style, etc.—offering an employment experience that can counter some of that is also a plus.

Addition: In Isaiah, and several other scriptures, Israel and its leaders are rebuked for being harlots, chasing after bribes and rewards, sacrificing justice and righteousness for the want of prosperity. (1.21) Let's not let those seeking bribes and rewards drag us away from our internal values.

Biblical Business Radical: Following Someone Else's Strategy

 When David visited his brothers on the frontlines of a war with the Philistines, he was dismayed that no one of God's Army would accept Goliath's challenge: "Fight me and this will determine the whole outcome of the war. If I win, you will become our slaves." After he convinced King Saul to give him a chance--one that had lots of risk for the whole of Israel's army and Israel's nation--King Saul offered his own armor and sword to David. David tried it on. It did not fit. He didn't move well. So David resorted to what's worked against past, stronger, larger enemies: his sling.

In business, we often plagiarize other successful companies' strategies and tactics. The best imitators tweak those methods to fit their own corporate culture, their own processes, their own strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't ignore them however. Perhaps those techniques from other companies are based on a different business model--competing on efficiency, price, etc.--than ours--innovation, customer knowledge, agility, adaptation, etc. If they are based on a contradictory business model, we shouldn't adopt the strategy or tactic.

The strategy may be very good and work very well...in its right place. In Acts 9, we learn Paul's method doesn't work in Damascus or Jerusalem. In fact, it seems Paul's strategy and tactics were hindering the churches throughout the region. Once he went home to Tarsus and ministered outside of Judea, he was successful. And the Judean churches enjoyed peace, increase in numbers and edification.

If something (or someone) in our business is not working, maybe "it"/"they" need to be used in a different place--region, business unit, job, etc.

So don't just copy someone else's strategy. It may not be for you.

Biblical Business Radical: Employment Prostitution

[Originally published as a LinkedIn article in 2017; updated 2022 here.]

I was caught short by a similar headline. The focus is on the definition of the prostitution unrelated to sex: "the unworthy or corrupt use of one's talents for the sake of personal or financial gain." We might consider someone to have prostituted themselves if they surrender their values in order to win a contract, employment or promotion. The article challenged business leaders to stop doing this to their employees, since many of us say that our greatest asset is our people. The challenge is to be more relational and seeking the best interest of your employees who are trading their time and talents for wages. The employment relationship basis doesn't have to be simply transactional and without care.

“I give you money—I bought you—so you do what I tell you to do.” A simple but corrupted view of employment. This easily happens when we want employees to sacrifice a high priority for them—such as a child’s special event—to work an extra shift. It happens when we expect “immediate” responses to messages, emails, calls during off-hours or, worse yet, vacations. 

Or we want them to stop talking about the things they see as problems in order to get along with the rest of the team, or to stop being a hassle, like an earwig burrowing into your brain every time they bring up the ideas they’re passionate about. (It could be they’re not a good fit with the organization; that’s a different problem that shouldn’t require them to disavow their beliefs but find another employment opportunity.) If we ask employees to violate a policy or overlook a requirement because “this is a different situation,” we’re treating them as if they have no mind or soul to worry about. We ignore the internal stress they may have or wondering how to understand the next ethical dilemma. When we treat people outside our organization then we treat our employees, it’s a problem; we’re sucking up to customers—prostituting ourselves—while asking our employees to suck up to our wishes and the customers’ wishes.

One restaurant group in Seattle has taken on this challenge, recognizing that the hospitality industry that's supposed to welcoming and serving 'strangers' does little to care for and serve its employees. Restaurants in particular have extremely high turnover often chewing up and spitting out employees when they've been 'used up'. One example of a change the restaurant owners have made: during the interview process they ask, "How would working here help you become the person you want to be?"

Similarly, one human services company for which I was a board director had a similar question that they not asked their clients but also their employees: "How can we help you achieve your dream?" They also had a rule that said, "Nothing about me without me" meaning that no discussions took place without the client's or employee's input. That always struck me as a rule that would help prevent talking about or treating employees as if they're just a machine, stapler or some other resource to get things done. Especially when things aren't going well and efforts are wasted or results are disastrous. How often have we talked about our employees without the respect and dignity they deserve?

I like these simple reminders like the human service company's rule or the interview question. I've tried to stay true to my values at every moment but in the heat of the moment (or the pressure of meeting payroll) I sometimes fall short. These rules can help me. I challenge you to see if your organization is developing your employees, helping them become the people they want to be, achieve their dreams or whatever meaningful expression you want to use. They aren't machines that can be tweaked and tuned through an employee preventive maintenance program (like recognition, incentives, PTO, etc.) without having some heart and relationship. If you treat them like this, you're perpetuating 'weak links'. We need to create stronger links lest the whole chain breaks down. Don't treat them like prostitutes. Treat them like people of value and worthy of honor because of their talents, skills and the experience they bring to help your organization succeed. 

People are God’s greatest creation. God reminded Job of this: “You may not be able to build mountains or turn back tides or run as fast as horse or be as strong as an ox…but I created you in My image and it’s you that I love the most.” If God can honor and respect Job, who was really struggling physically and emotionally, we should be able to do the same.

Trust God? But the Wicked Prosper and the Righteous are Often Poor

 Just finished reading a book by Peter Greer and Chris Horst, The Gift of Disillusionment, with many life experiences of leaders who despaired after idealism faded. They also use Jeremiah, the “Weeping Prophet”, who started as a teenager expressing God’s words to a uninterested nation. If anyone had to live in disillusionment for most of his life, it was Jeremiah. Yet he could still express enduring hope when circumstances didn’t meet expectations.

It doesn’t take long to read the words of Jeremiah, or any of the prophets or psalmists, to find this lament: the wicked prosper and the righteous are often poor. This observation is often followed with a general commitment, like “But I will trust in the Lord.”

It’s easy to say, but are we willing to acknowledge the pain of not seeing certain trustworthy aspects in our life with God? On a scale of 1-10, how much do we believe:

• God is punctual, dependable, reliable?
• God is competent and can do what we want Him to do?
• God has integrity (i.e. “walks the talk” and fulfills His promises)?
• God is accepting and approachable, that I can freely admit my weaknesses, failures, doubts with a fear of losing the relationship?
• God readily shares His heart, His desires, His priorities and is consistent in them so that I can rely on His character?

Early on God promises Jeremiah that He will not allow Jeremiah’s foes to overwhelm him, and that he will be delivered. But God doesn’t say, “…delivered from harm…” because Jeremiah experienced beatings, imprisonment and abandonment with the intent that Jeremiah would die. And Jeremiah calls God out on lies: “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; whereas [what’s really happening is] a sword touches the throat.” (4.10) Jeremiah likewise complains, “O LORD, You have deceived me and [I fell for it.]” (20.7) as if to say, “I thought You were going to tell me words of hope, peace, prosperity and not words of destruction, exile and vengeance, which the people don’t want to hear and ridicule me because these things haven’t come to pass yet.” Like Job, Jeremiah then laments, “Cursed be the day I was born!” (20.14) Even in this woe and despair, Jeremiah doesn’t give up. Greer and Horst call him, not the Weeping Prophet, but the Persistent Prophet because his resilience survives. He maintains a deep rooted faith, like a tree planted by a river and bearing fruit (17.8 and Ps. 1.3).

How about us? Do we stop trusting God when our feelings cause us to rate God below a score of 5 on the questions above?

The Misunderstood Faith of Job

 I’ve learned to like the book of Job. I know it’s not everyone’s favorite. In fact, I have a pastor-friend who places it at the bottom of his “like” list. But here’s the secret. We have been reading the book incorrectly. We’ve projected our own emotions and we often listen to the wrong voices in the book. So here’s the secret: read the book backwards (sort of).

For those who aren’t familiar, here’s the chronological synopsis of Job’s story: He’s a wealthy man and much praised by God. Satan claims Job is only faithful because he has wealth and health. Those are taken away from him. Friends come to sit with him and encourage him to confess the unknown sin for which he’s being punished (“Job, we know everything you’ve done that’s bad since you learned to crawl. What did you do when you were in Vegas that we don’t know about?”). Job says he’s innocent. After many days of discussion, God shows up and recounts all the things Job can’t do. Then He restores Job’s wealth and gives him a new family. And they lived happily ever after.

By reading it backwards, starting in chapter 42, you immediately learn that God is not angry with Job. He’s angry with the three friends. If God’s not angry with Job, then how should we read the previous chapters that we would read as anger: “Who is this that darkens my wisdom without knowledge?…Stand up and brace yourself like a man! I will ask you questions and you will answer.” Let’s stop here and reconcile 38.2 with 42.7: being without knowledge but speaking accurately about God.

A lot of Job’s discourse is wondering what’s going on, why has his fortune been stripped away without any provocation or cause. I think those are the words “without knowledge”. Job doesn’t know the behind-the-scenes story of God’s dialogue with Satan. And Job won’t learn it now either. God doesn’t reveal it to him. So Job’s lack of knowledge is not a problem. God’s question, like the many that follow, is rhetorical, not requiring an answer. 

If we take “Stand up like a man” and substitute a few other biblical images, we could hear, “Get up out of the dust from which you are created, you who bear the image of Me, of God!” An invocation of the Creation story and thus the rest of God’s recitation can be put in this light. Job—or any person—is not capable of doing what God does: setting stars in the sky, determining tides and weather. Nor is Job has swift or powerful as other creations such as a horse, Leviathan and Behemoth. But that doesn’t change who Job is: he is still made in the image of the Creator; he is still the highest creature of creation; he is still the one creature with whom God communes. 

Now if you want to continue reading, skip all the chapters and passages where the three/four friends are talking. God doesn’t think what they said was any good. Read only Job’s words and you’ll learn this lesson from his words and his story: God’s favor or love for you cannot be determined by evaluating your circumstances.  “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away,” Job says. “I feel hedged in by God” i.e. my circumstances are not going to change. Good things happen to the ones God is angry with and to the innocent, the obedient, the faithful. Bad things happen to both categories of people also. I’ve known people who have lost faith when bad things happen—prayers aren’t answered, miracles are delayed, people die. I’ve heard similar responses from others who have known people in pain. Too many people assume that having good things happen means we’re in God’s will and we’re not in God’s will when bad things happen. That’s what the three friends kept contending. And it’s contrary to the whole history of Abraham’s people up to, and past, he history of the first century church.

Even when bad things happen, keep the faith. Follow Job’s example. Redemption is coming.

Note: I think there are also some interesting theological questions the book of Job raises, such as redemption of others. Job sacrifices for his kids in case they have sinned. He is commanded to sacrifice for his three friends by God at the end of the book. How much of a part can we play in redeeming others?

Biblical Business Radical: Selective Listening

 I’ve facilitated a few strategic planning sessions for Christian ministries. Also, I’ve spoken to business groups about scriptural paradigms for strategic planning. One of the rock-the-boat questions is: Are we really listening to God and His desires for our business?

You might be familiar with the different levels of listening, and here’s how they relate to our relationship with God:

• Ignoring: we’re not even listening to that conversation at the other table in the coffee shop or by the others in the same living room. Another way to ignore the other person’s “speech” is to talk all the time ourselves and not give the other person a chance to talk. Sounds like 99.9% of our prayers, and then we say “Amen” and leave His presence. We tell Him what we want to happen in our business, our plans and prospects, and ask His blessing. We never ask a question or wait to listen for the answer.
• Pretending: we are distracted and only act like we’re listening. Our minds however are elsewhere and we quickly forget what the other person just said. We might read “love your enemies” in our devotional but then we get to work. When our proposal is rejected by the customer, a colleague sabotages our project, or a staff member’s performance is a big disappointment, we forget about love. Our minds weren’t on loving our enemies during the devotional or at work.
• Selective: we hear what we want to hear. Or we hear just enough to start formulating a response. (More on this below.)
• Attentive: we hear every word. We understand it. We can repeat it back to God. We might even be able to paraphrase it in our own words to show we understand. For example, James 5.4 paraphrased: if you cheat workers of their wages, there’s a special place in Hell for you.
• Empathetic: we not only understand the text, but we understand the feelings behind them. Is God pleased, disappointed, frustrated, hopeful…? We might read Christ’s words to His disciples as frustration because that’s how we’d say these words: “Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves and how we fed the five thousand?” (Matt. 16.9) If we first read 1 Cor. 13–the love chapter—or Gal. 5.23–fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…self-control—we might put a different tone to Christ’s words. It wouldn’t be our frustration that’s expressed but His tender teaching.

Many business leaders like to pull out Proverbs 16.3 “Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will succeed.” Many business leaders focus on honoring the Sabbath day, like Chick-Fil-A. And it has worked for them. (It’s not a guarantee—just ask LifeWay bookstores.) But many business leaders have ignored these verses also related to business:

• The Sabbath year: every seven years, our productive resources are supposed to be idled so they can rest. We’re to trust the Lord will provide a double portion of revenue in the sixth year we’ll have assets to carry us through the seventh. Also, we’re to forgive our debtors (an echo is found in the prayer Christ taught His disciples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer). This means cancelling all outstanding loans and accounts receivable. I have yet to find a business (and especially a bank) honoring the Sabbath year. Lev. 25.4; Deut. 15.1, 9
• Using dishonest or inaccurate scales: I’ve written about this with regard to performance appraisals and how they do not reflect a person’s performance and so are inaccurate. But we might also “cheat” with regard to how we value property, inventory and other assets on our books; we’ll find the most favorable “measuring stick” to create an assessed value. We also might use biased salary surveys to pay ourselves more and our employees less (see Cheating workers of wages below). Various places in Proverbs, Deuteronomy and Micah. Clearly something the Lord abhors, detests, hates, finds abominable.
• Cheating workers of wages: paying employees less than their value/contribution to the company’s success; using industry benchmarks—created by ungodly methods, i.e. not taking into account God’s desires; whittling down our suppliers’ contracts so they have to scrimp on paying their employees; leveraging any advantage we have over customer contracts so that they may not be as generous with their employees as they could be. James 5.4
• Allowing for gleaning: leaving edges of fields for the disadvantaged to “rake” in the revenues, not going back to pick up business we forgot or missed, and also not passing over every sales opportunity multiple times till we captured all the business we could from that account. Not sure how some of this looks for the modern business. I’ve written about this too and have only come close in a small way. Lev. 23.22 etc.

There are many more. But it’s enough to know we “like” certain verses and are willing to comply with them and then the ones above are not as “likable” and therefore we have some reluctance.

Here’s another very popular example of selective listening, especially when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, such as labor shortage, pandemic, supply chain disruptions, government interference, etc. Jer. 29.11–“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm…” You see this verse almost everywhere. It’s thought to be our ticket out of danger, out of the valley, back into the light and back into prosperity. We take this verse like the cancer patient who hears the doctor say, “We got the tumor. You’re going to live…” and then stops listening, missing “…for only six months because it has spread to your other organs..” In Jeremiah 29, God tells the Israelites something like this: as a US citizen, you’re stranded in communist-run Nicaragua. You want to take Jer. 29.11 to the ticket counter for the flight home. The ticket agent says, “Senor, turn the paper over.” You read: “You’re going to be here for quite a while. So get married. Have kids. Help your kids get married so you can have grandkids, and great-grandchildren. I have plans for you to prosper and not harm. Hunker down. Build a house. Plant a garden. Join the Chamber of Commerce. Run for the local school board. Donate to the food shelf. As you help your communist neighbors have peace and prosperity, you too will have peace and prosperity for this duration.”

Our circumstances may not change. It doesn’t mean God is displeased enough to abandon us. He’s also with us in the “busts” of business as well as the booms. In fact, He may be to mature our faith faster if we don’t have so easy. “Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials…” James 1

Broken then Given--That's Our Calling

 A friend pointed me to Henri Nouwen's book, Life of the Beloved. In it, he writes to an unbelieving friend and his friends on how to live a spiritual life in a secular world. I resonated with it because I've been writing a study group curriculum on how to survive work using the Sermon on the Mount. Outside the church, it's not an easy life. We dread work. We're consumed with endeavors that earn money so we can pay bills or pay for leisure activities.

Nouwen describes the spiritual life in a secular world as: Taken, Blessed, Broken and Given. This parallels, obviously, the last Passover meal--Seder--Christ shared with His disciples before the Crucifixion. He took bread. He blessed it. He broke it. He shared it. During the ceremony, He says, "Take, eat. This is My body." Or as Luke records His words, "This is My body given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." These latter words are echoed in Paul's writings, notably 1 Corinthians 11, as he chastises people who won't share food at the Lord's Potluck.

In many places in the Greek scriptures, the universal church is described as the body of Christ. "We are His body..." 

If Christ's own earthly body was taken, blessed, broken and given, should we not follow our Lord and Master similarly? Perhaps we need to learn what it means to first be Taken (chosen) among a pile of matzah bread. Realize we are blessed (hence the beatitudes for the poor in spirit, those who mourn, are merciful, peacemakers, and so on). The hardest may be surrendering or submitting to be broken so that we might be a blessing to others, when our lives and resources are shared or given away. Might we already be broken by loving and serving our families, our neighbors, our community, our colleagues in different venues--that our gifts, talents, resources are divided in order to serve His people, His precious creation?

This feels like a lifelong journey, and one Nouwen acknowledges he's also still learning.

Bakery bread rack (c) 2016 author

Closed Door or Satanic Hindrance?

 In a recent group discussion, the leader half-jokingly mentioned that his survey of our relationship with Christ must be really good because "Satan was hindering the printing of it, causing a lot of printer problems." I half-jokingly replied, "Maybe it was God trying to close the door 'cause it's not necessary."

In both 1st Chronicles and 2nd Samuel, there's an account recorded of King David taking a census. In one passage, it is Satan that provokes David to take the census. In the other, it is God that creates the provocation. It's not that a census was bad. Moses conducted a few. Solomon later takes a census. But King David's census makes God angry and David has to choose a punishment.

Whether an obstacle is a satanic hindrance or a providential obstacle, we won't know unless we ask. Paul relates that he was hindered by the Spirit from entering certain regions (Acts 16.6-7). In a lesson on godliness, I used this definition of ungodliness: not considering God as being a part of our life or being consulted on what we should do or be. Without God's input, we might interpret any circumstance against our own desires. I randomly dealt some cards, hoping for hearts and dreading getting clubs. I got 3 hearts and 3 clubs and a combination of the other two suits for the last 3 cards. Could I say that 3 hearts was a success? Could I say that 3 clubs was a defeat? Could I say that the hearts are from God and the clubs from Satan? Any of the answers are just interpretations based on my own desires and preferences. I might be called double-minded because I won't listen to God's input when I pray, but only my own conclusions--or seeking a second opinion if I don't like God's diagnosis. As James warns, God won't talk if we won't listen. 

We have to consider God's input before we know if we need to persevere through a closed door--"knock and it will be opened--or leave it closed. Ask and the answer will be given. Seek and you will find God's diagnosis.