If you’ve been a frequent flyer with us over the years, chances are you know we’re passionate about helping bivocationals bridge the gap between sacred and secular…in living the same way on Monday as they do on Sunday.
But lately I’ve been thinking: What if we’ve been looking at the Sunday –> Monday discussion all wrong?
I know, like many, I’ve heard my share of seasoned voices charging consistency within the body of Christ. Yet, the more I consider this in the context of commissioned marketplace leaders, the more I wonder if the core issue has more to do with connecting our influence than leading from spiritual authority/expertise.
For instance, I may not have the most expert depth relative to my occupation, but I do have the mind of Christ guided by his thoughts and purposes (1 Corinthians 2:16 AMP). Sure, I may be a low man on the totem pole from a corporate hierarchical perspective; however, this doesn’t mean I lack influence.
You see…far too often we get distracted trying to make our spiritual lives stratiform1. We take the ol’ Sunday adage of not being a once-a-week Christian, convince ourselves we’re not going to be that, then go out and try to extend our church person into “secular” places.
The problem is: if our influence is based on convincing others what we’re about rather than showing them why they’re here, then we can never experience real connection.
Why? ‘Cause real connection can’t happen without interdependent (i.e. two-way) relationship…without people actively investing ‘next step’ direction into one another.
Granted, how we approach compartmentalization and contextual inferences are worth discussion; however, as long as we aspire to share what we were made to know with whom we were made to engage, those issues will ultimately take care of themselves as relationships grow in faithfulness.
No reliance on institutionalizing, exaltation of effort, or Kingdom-izing business.
Just warmly abiding in the effortless rhythms of grace knowing it’s not about our credentials, but God’s competence flowing through them2.
Thus, I submit…
- If we choose to see leadership as influence and influence as helping people build their own, we allow transformative culture to establish itself.
- If we want to get real about reaching people (from purpose), we must first get intentional about connecting our influence (on purpose).
- Rather than encourage people to be the same on Monday as they are on Sunday, let’s show them in love how to be better today than they were yesterday.
‘Cause I’ll be honest: I don’t want to be on Monday who I was on Sunday; I want to be better today than the day before. I want to know the best God has in store. And then go out and live that forevermore.
Whatever gap we’re trying to bridge, why not start there? …
Footnotes
- Preaching the choir here
- That, my friends, is what being an influential marketplace priesthood is all about.
Photo creds: Wallpaper Abyss
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