Tag Archive for: #leadershipezra

When I started a personal Bible study on the book of Ezra several years ago, I wasn’t expecting that I would turn my own study notes into a book about leadership, but that’s what happened (Leadership Ezra, available on Amazon).  When that was done, I started a study of Daniel, and never made it past the first chapter before organizing my personal notes into a series of valuable lessons to share with students.  As time has gone on, God seems to be prompting me to do more with it, so I have begun the process of turning my notes into short articles, that will then become the basis for chapters in a book (current working title: “Without Compromise: Leading with integrity in the face of pressure”). 

The underlying basis of the story is this:  In the time and world of Daniel, Israel and the capital city of Jerusalem were invaded and captured.  In that process, the most gifted and talented young men were given a “scholarship” [albeit, against their will] to attend the most elite private school in the known world, one designed to prepare leaders & experts (Daniel 1:3).  Upon graduation, Daniel and his friends were at the top of the class and were hired into executive leadership positions right out of school (Daniel 1:17-20).  But here’s an incredibly significant observation: In between . . . they refused to compromise their faith, values, and integrity.  

How did they do it?  One way was by trusting God with the outcomes.

My calling has been to serve in Christian ministry, and specifically in Christian Schools.  More pointedly, God called me to serve Christian schools that were broken, hurting, dysfunctional, or underperforming in some way, to be used by Him to help restore these schools to environments that honored God and performed with excellence. In one of those schools, I served as the secondary principal during the economic struggle and housing market collapse around 2006 and 2007.  This school was in Florida, which was hit particularly hard by this crisis. One of the results was that the enrollment of this school dropped from about 900 students to about 550 students in a little over 2 years.  Near the end of my last year at that school, my boss assured me that my job was safe even with the enrollment decline, so I continued on with the normal end-of-year activities, including chaperoning the senior trip.  However, on my first day back into the office after the trip (and also right after the graduation weekend) he called me into his office to tell me my position had been eliminated, and my job would end in 3 ½ weeks. At that moment, I was confronted with the opportunity to decide how I would respond.  I could panic, or I could lean into God and place the outcomes of the next few weeks into His hands.  In full transparency, my typical response would be to panic about my ability to take care of my family, but in this instance, I suddenly felt the peace of God as He brought to my memory Proverbs 16:9, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” I decided almost immediately that I believed in God and His Word and, therefore, could trust that He was directing my steps.  So, instead of turning to fear, I smiled, looked at my boss, and said, “Thank you, I know that this means that God has something even better for me, and I am trusting His provision for my family.” 

I think that’s the mindset we see in Daniel, in chapter 1, verses 14-16, which say, “14 So he . . .  tested them ten days. 15 And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. 16 Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.”  What we see is that Daniel and his friends had negotiated a 10-day trial with their boss in a group experiment.  (It’s important to note here that by doing it as a group, so they were able to keep each other accountable and provide support, strength, and encouragement for one another.)  In this experiment, they were willing to place the outcome in God’s hands and let objective measurable results indicate the future course, trusting those results to God.  At the end of the 10 days, they measured the data (appearance and weight), and the data supported Daniel’s request.  Daniel had maintained his faith, trusted God, found a rational, reasonable, and gracious way to pursue a solution, and God responded in a way that fulfilled His purpose.

This makes me wonder, was the outcome supernatural or simply the product of a healthy diet?   They were eating healthier foods and ended up looking and feeling healthier (therefore likely a correlation to their diet). However, the speed and magnitude of the change in appearance were completely unnatural and hard to believe (therefore likely affected by God to honor their faithfulness and protect His name).  My conclusion is that it was both. As He usually does, a sovereign God used a natural process (and magnified it) to accomplish His purpose).  Regardless, Daniel and his friends were willing to trust God with the outcome: they were not trusting in their particular strategy or in the outcome they were expecting to see; rather they were trusting in God.

The end result of my own personal experience of trusting God with the outcome when the future was unknown was that God provided in an incredible, clearly God-caused, and perfect way to meet our needs and move us to the next step that He had for the life of our family (that’s a story for another time, perhaps on the podcast that will along with this article). But that’s what God does, He uses our circumstances to bring about the result that brings Him glory and furthers the Kingdom.

That leads to my questions for you: whether it is life outcomes or project/task outcomes, how are you navigating these things as part of your faith? Are you willing and able to trust God with the outcomes even if it’s not what you wanted? Do you see God’s hand involved in the process and the purpose when you are tested?  My encouragement for you would be to take some time and make an “altar” list – a list of personal experiences where God has worked in an unexpected way, as touchstones to strengthen your confidence in God, to serve as your constant reminder that you can trust God with the outcomes.

The Lesson of Outcomes, therefore, is that God is involved and active in your life, even in the midst of trials and challenges.  You need to learn to see and trust His hand in the process and in the outcome. 

This week’s episode builds on Monday’s article, part five in the series titled “Without Compromise.” Here is the transcript of the podcast:

Have you struggled with compromise or conformity? That’s the ongoing question we are talking about in this series.  Today’s discussion is the fifth in the series, and all of them are based on a study of Daniel chapter 1 and correspond to the articles posted each week on the Leadership Ezra website.  The big idea we will be discussing is how you can navigate pressure without deviating from your values – specifically, the pressure to compromise or conform in an unhealthy or immoral way.  It’s really going to be a discussion of how to lead and live with excellence without compromising your faith.  And today, that begins by cultivating healthy relationships.

I want to share two different stories today because they help paint a picture of the two kinds of relationships we’re talking about. The first story happened during and after high school.  I had a classmate that I was friends with by virtue of the fact that we were on the same team, Track & Field, and competed together in the same event.  He was not a follower of Jesus, and I was, and some of his behavior choices were very different than mine.  I tried to be intentionally public about my faith and my choices, but I also tried to maintain a positive relationship with him.  That meant that I didn’t act the same way he did, but I also wasn’t harshly critical or condemning.  Instead, I treated him with love and grace. A couple of years later, I made a trip home from college to visit my family, and he called me.  He had recently learned that his mom had cancer, and that had shaken him.  He remembered the demonstration of my faith and reached out to me to talk about what was happening.  I don’t believe that would have happened if I hadn’t established the kind of relationship in the first place that made him want to do that.

The second story happened when we were still fairly young, with infant and toddler-aged children.  My wife had a health crisis that resulted in several hospitalizations, lots of testing, deteriorating health, and no answers (it would be another 15 years before a doctor discovered a slow-growing uncommon cancer in her endocrine system that was likely the cause of all that had been happening). In that season, there was a group of friends who were part of our church and who worked with us together at the Christian school where we were employed, who stepped into our lives to help us get through.  They helped with childcare, meals, doctor visits, and spiritual and emotional support.  The circle of relationships we had established helped carry us through a very difficult time.  There is a verse in Proverbs that says, “A neighbor nearby is better than a brother far away,” and this was a demonstration of that verse in our lives.

Broadly speaking, I believe there are two circles of relationships in our lives that are important.  One is what I would call our inner circle.  Those are the people who share our faith and values, which the New Testament calls our brothers and sisters in Christ.  They are the ones who can walk alongside us in our faith journey, providing encouragement, support, and accountability (just as we do for them). The other is what I would call our outer circle. Those are the people who intersect with our lives, but who do not share our faith.  They may be co-workers, neighbors, classmates, or anyone else we interact with regularly and on whom we can have some impact.  They are the ones who give us the opportunity to be a testimony of Jesus to open the door for sharing the Gospel with what we say and with how we live. With these people, we win the right to share Jesus with what we say when we have modeled Jesus to them with how we live.

In both cases, the support and the impact happen because there is relationship that has been established first. Daniel showed us both of these in Daniel 1.  He had 3 friends – Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego – who were with him in his journey.  Their support and accountability of each other helped them to stay strong in the midst of the pressure they were facing.  He also built a positive relationship with his boss, who was not a follower of Daniel’s God and interacted in a way that maintained that relationship even when there was tension and conflict. That relationship ended up allowing him the freedom and flexibility to protect his convictions.  I want to make sure I point out here that Daniel was never condescending or antagonistic in this relationship, much like what I see in the communication on social media today that comes out of the mouths of people who say they are believers, which I believe damages the opportunity for the impact of the Gospel.

C

Here’s what you need to take away:  It is important that you intentionally build and maintain relationships with like-minded followers of Jesus, so that you have support and accountability as you navigate the pressures of life.  It is also important that you intentionally cultivate healthy relationships with people around you who are not followers of Jesus.  This does two things.  It gives you the opportunity to impact them toward Jesus, and it gives you the support to stick to your values even if they may not hold those same values.  Both of these groups of relationships are important for us, and for the message of Jesus.

The bottom line, therefore, is that you need to build and maintain healthy relationships in both circles.  Years ago, I had a pastor preach a message in which the core idea, one that was frequently repeated throughout the message, was that “People matter to God.” All people matter to God.  So the lesson for you is this:  Relationships matter, and they open the door to impact.  Therefore, seek and build positive relationships among those who follow Jesus and those who don’t, and be gentle, loving, compassionate, and considerate to all.

When I started a personal Bible study on the book of Ezra several years ago, I wasn’t expecting that I would turn my own study notes into a book about leadership, but that’s what happened (Leadership Ezra, available on Amazon).  When that was done, I started a study of Daniel, and never made it past the first chapter before organizing my personal notes into a series of valuable lessons to share with students.  As time has gone on, God seems to be prompting me to do more with it, so I have begun the process of turning my notes into short articles that will then become the basis for chapters in a book (current working title: “Without Compromise: Leading with integrity in the face of pressure”). 

The story’s underlying basis is this:  In the time and world of Daniel, Israel and the capital city of Jerusalem were invaded and captured.  In that process, the most gifted and talented young men were given a “scholarship” [albeit against their will] to attend the most elite private school in the known world, one designed to prepare leaders & experts (Daniel 1:3).  Upon graduation, Daniel and his friends were at the top of the class and were hired into executive leadership positions right out of school (Daniel 1:17-20).  But here’s an incredibly significant observation: In between . . . they refused to compromise their faith, values, and integrity.  

How did they do it?  One way was by consistently matching their behavior with their beliefs while consciously refusing to give in to the pressure. 

We see this in Daniel 1, verses 5 and 8, which say, “And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. . . .  But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” 

Daniel and his friends, as part of their intensive preparation for their future careers, were placed on a specific regimen of classes, activity, and meals.  However, when they saw what was on the menu, they tried to opt out of the meal plan. The issue wasn’t really that it was expensive and rich food (in fact, the New Testament indicates that any food is acceptable, as is recorded in Peter’s vision in Acts).  Rather, Daniel and his friends knew that the law they had received from God at that point in time had specific dietary instructions, so even if they didn’t understand why, they trusted God and were committed to obeying His Word.  They knew that, even if no one else saw it, they needed to live consistently with who they were as Jews, therefore they were unwilling to compromise.  But they did it with gentleness and kindness, not with harsh conflict and confrontation (he didn’t demand, he requested, and later in this same passage we learn that Daniel even built a positive relationship with his boss, not a judgmental, antagonistic, or condescending one).

The next question I ask, though, is why it really mattered, if they were in another culture where it was normal to eat those foods and no one from home would know what they were doing? Since we know from the New Testament that following the law doesn’t save us, and we know they were in a place where they could be “anonymous,” then why did it matter? I believe it mattered for three reasons that are transferrable to our own circumstances:

1. They were maintaining their commitment to their Identity in Christ in a world that was trying to reshape their identity;
2. They were maintaining their commitment to God in the face of pressure, even when compromise seemed like no big deal (or could even win them favor with the world); and
3. They were maintaining their commitment to obedience to God’s Word regardless of how it made them look.

What we learn from this is the understanding that living our faith in the world requires a commitment to consistently match our behavior (or conduct) with our beliefs (or convictions), with the refusal to compromise regardless of the pressure.  And this is the essence of integrity.  For us to live this way requires some things from you and me.  It requires a confidence in who God is and what He says, a commitment to Him and to His Word, a predetermined plan of response to pressure, a conscious choice to act in obedience to God and His Word, a visible consistency between what you say you believe and how you act in any circumstance, and all while living your faith in a loving way that reflects both compassion and character, tempering truth with love.

My personal question for you is, can the people around you see that this is true in you? Are you consistently matching your behavior with your beliefs, with the refusal to compromise regardless of the pressure?  This doesn’t happen on accident.  It happens when you, like Daniel, fully trust God and His Word, purpose in your heart to not defile yourself, act consistently with that purpose regardless of the pressure, perception, or outcome, and do it in a way that balances truth and love. That’s the lesson of integrity.

This week’s episode builds on Monday’s article, part four in the series titled “Without Compromise.” Here is the transcript of the podcast:

Have you struggled with compromise or conformity? That’s the ongoing question we are talking about in this series.  Today’s discussion is the third in the series, all of them based on a study of Daniel chapter 1 and corresponding to the articles posted each week on the Leadership Ezra website.  The big idea we will be discussing is how you can navigate pressure – specifically, the pressure to compromise or conform in an unhealthy or immoral way – without deviating from your values.  It’s really going to be a discussion of how to lead and live with excellence without compromising your faith.  And today, that begins with knowing how to become a “wiseguy.”

T

My dad was my greatest counselor and mentor in my life.  I always knew that I could bring my questions and challenges to him, and he would respond with wise insight. That’s one of the reasons why it was hard for me when he passed away. In the first few years after he passed, I couldn’t tell you how many times I had something I needed to deal with, and my first thought was, “I wish Dad were here so that I could talk to him about this.” At his funeral, my two brothers and I each shared part of the message, and all three of us, in some way, referred to the wisdom that my dad would share with people.  But it was when we got to the graveside that I heard what I think was one of the best descriptions of this.  Another pastor, one that my dad had mentored, gave the graveside message.  In his message, he described my dad as being characterized by knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, and proceeded to explain how each of these was different, that many people had knowledge, a lot had understanding, and a good number had wisdom; but very few had all three like dad.  That characterization stuck with me, and now, when I read Daniel 1, I see the same thing.

 Daniel 1:4 specifically says that he and his friends were “gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand.” Verse 17 adds to this a bit and points out that these gifts were from God, in the way that we talked in the last article and podcast about our abilities, about how our natural abilities, our supernatural abilities, and our spiritual gifts all come from God.  And it is the combination of these three mental categories – knowledge, understanding, and wisdom – that can equip you to make the best decisions.

How, then, are knowledge, understanding, and wisdom different but related?  As I said in the Leadership Ezra article that matches this podcast, it’s not enough to just to “know”, whether it’s broadly (knowing a little about a lot, like a jeopardy champion) or deeply (knowing a lot about a little, like an expert in a specific area).  Either way, that is simply knowledge.  You also need to know why it matters – that’s understanding – and then know how to make application of knowledge and understanding together in order to make good decisions – that’s wisdom.  Here’s the wonderful part about this:  wisdom is attainable!  James 1 says God gives wisdom liberally to anyone who asks.  Proverbs teaches that wisdom is grown by intentionally seeking God’s truth and listening to the right voices.  It also teaches that it comes through humility and teachability. 

Here’s what you need to take away:  It’s not enough to know, or even to know why.  Wisdom means taking the next step of applying those things, with the counsel of God and of godly people, to the dilemmas, choices, and circumstances in every part of your life.  Or, to paraphrase what I once heard Tony Evans share in a message, wisdom is taking knowledge and understanding and slapping shoe leather on it to make it walk.

The bottom line is that the pursuit of knowledge is important in order to have the most accurate and complete information.  Understanding is important in order to know what is true and why it matters.  But the pinnacle is wisdom, knowing how to apply what you know to godliness and life decisions.  And don’t forget, as Proverbs also says:  the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.