THE KIND OF CHURCH THAT SUPER SUCCESSFUL CHRISTIANS REALLY NEED TO JOIN!

 

Spare a thought for those people who are often overlooked by churches—and if they are Christians—they frequently struggle to even find a suitable church where they can deepen their relationship with Christ. Often we think of those who struggle with life as those who are “down and out” and blighted by impoverishment, or destitution, or ill-health, or family breakdown, or poor mental health. But surprisingly, even those who are seen as super-successful because of their wealth, social stature, public acclaim or amazing achievements, are actually struggling with loneliness, emptiness, and poor mental health — even if they are a Christian. These super-successful Christians are CEOs of large companies, or world-class or national sporting champions, or internationally renowned performing artists, or A-lister actors, or media personalities, or highly sought after professionals such as surgeons or barristers. They often pay a high price for their success, including, long work hours, constant stress, public criticism, extended time away from their families, fierce competition, and strained marriages. These pressures are exacerbated by their constant travel associated with their work which also makes them vulnerable to exhaustion and extraordinary temptations. This is why these super-successful Christians need to join the kind of church that can provide them with the kind of support, counsel, and accountability that every Christian needs. Here’s how a church can become this kind of church.   

¶ For consider your calling, brothers:
not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,
not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
First Corinthians 1:26

 

WHAT EVERY CHRISTIAN FINDS IN BELONGING IN A CHURCH

Based on what Jesus said in John 13:34-35, you can not consider yourself a follower of Christ – a Christian – and not belong to a local  church. The establishment of the Church was the central the furtherance of Christ’s redemptive mission (Mtt. 16:18; 18:17). When the apostle Paul wrote his explanation of the gospel to the Romans in which he explained how someone could become a Christian, he concluded with a “Therefore” List in Romans 12:9-21. His Therefore List includes 27 things every Christian is expected to do since repenting and putting their faith in the Saviour. None of them, and I repeat none of them, is possible without belonging in a local church.

As a church we pray a lot for the hurting, lost, lonely, and broken to come to Christ and find salvation, forgiveness soul-cleansing and healing, acceptance, and restoration. We rejoice that over and over again God has answered our prayers. We have welcomed into our church family many people who had formally lost hope and who had thought that their life no longer mattered to anyone. But each of these converts to Christ would tell you that this is no longer the case. They have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit who has  transformed (and is transforming) them into a new identity as a son or daughter of God the Father. They have also found unconditional love and acceptance from, and in, our church family. Many these trophies of God’s grace would testify that their lives had hit rock bottom before they turned to Christ. But for many super-successful Christians, this is not their story.

Some of the godliest people I know are also super-successful Christians. In my experience, the statement by Christ about a rich person finding it difficult to accept that they are spiritually bankrupt, corrupted by sin, and in need of the Saviour, has been verified over and over again (Mark 10:23). Nearly all of these super-successful Christians were Christians before they became super-successful. As such, they have been discipled into the virtues of humility and teachability which they have continued to cultivate. Most of them are very committed to their local churches and have become accustomed to making sacrifices in their careers in order to maintain their walk with Christ and service within their church. They have found immeasurable value in belonging to their local church.

 

WHY EVERY CHRISTIAN NEEDS TO BELONG IN A CHURCH
– EVEN THE SUPER SUCCESSFUL

These benefits of a believer belonging in a local church include:

• It is their spiritual ‘home’ where they can be nourished, fed, relax, learn, and connect with their church family.
• It is their refuge, a haven, and a sanctuary, where they are safe.
• It is their reminder that they are not alone, and the GOD cares for people who are different, and so should we.

Because a local church is like:

• a garden, a green-house, a plant nursery – for propagating and planting (Psalm 1:3; 92:13).
• a birthing clinic, a hospital, a hospice, and a clinic where new souls are birthed, wounded souls are healed, and those souls ready to depart are reassured (Matt. 10:6-7).
• an inn, a hotel, a retreat (Luke 10:34-35).
• a dispensary of spiritual medicine, care, relief and counsel.
• a meeting-place, an introduction agency where new friendships can be forged, and a place of significant relationship-life-moments (marriages, baby dedications, water baptisms, and funerals).
  
  
  

 Each of these aspects of the local church satisfy a deep longing within every human soul to belong. And belonging to a local church provides several unique blessings compared with belonging to any other group. But I have discovered that often the super-successful are very lonely. They can find it difficult to trust people. They are often left wondering, “If I was not so successful, would any actually like me?” This is why some super-successful Christians even find it difficult to join a church. And as a result they miss out on something that Christ has designed to be immeasurably precious for His followers. Could we be the kind of church where those constantly in the public eye could find a refuge and dispensary for their soul?

 

HOW A CHURCH CAN SUPPORT THE SUPER SUCCESSFUL

I remember hearing the C.E.O. of the world’s largest public company, who was a Christian, being interviewed about the challenges he faced in leading a company with a ninety-billion-dollar annual turnover and one-hundred-and-seventy-thousand staff. His week regularly involved flying to several continents for face-to-face meetings with managers and government officials. It was ordinary for him to get home late on a Saturday night. He made it his habit to attend his local Presbyterian church. He was asked by the interviewer what he needed from his church. His answers can be divided into two categories and it is these categories that I will conclude with what other super-successful Christian needs in their church:

 For a Church-

• Treat a super-successful-Christian as a brother or sister-in-Christ, not as a celebrity.

• Don’t assume that they are doing well just because they are successful in their role.

• Pray for them as you would for any brother or sister-in-Christ.

• Don’t try to seek “a favour” from them.

For a Pastor-

1. Do your job well — work at each of the aspects of pastoral responsibility especially preaching. This involves continually improving your level of preparation, presentations, and delivery.

2. Do not treat the super-successful as “trophies” — don’t name-drop that you are pastoring so-and-so when talking with other pastors.

3. Reach our pastorally to the super-successful —  catch up with them. Invite them to dinner, or coffee, or breakfast near where they work. Listen to them and ask how they would like to be prayed for. Enquire how their devotional life with the Lord is going with very specific questions as “What did you read in your Bible this morning?” or, “Where are you up to in your Bible reading?” 

4. Protect them spiritually — by praying privately for them and ensuring that their spouse and children are being pastorally cared for as well.

If you are a super-successful person, I hope that will come to accept the assessment of Jesus Christ about the dangers of neglecting the condition of your soul because you have been distracted instead by your success (Mark 8:36). And so doing, I also hope that you will come to apply what Jesus Christ taught was the solution to an empty and dark soul — surrendering to Him as your Saviour (Matt. 11:28). And if you are a super-successful-Christian who has not yet found a church-family to join, I hope that you find church that adheres to principles above led by a pastor who is committed to the above four principles of pastoring – because that’s the kind of church every super-successful Christian really needs to join.

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

FINISHING BEFORE YOUR FINISH

FINISHING BEFORE YOUR FINISH

Finishing is quite different to ending. Novelists have the privilege of finishing their literary creations before they write those two delightful words, The End. Life, however, doesn’t always afford the same privilege. Too many lives endrather than finish. But the apostle Paul was among the privileged few. He last epistle was written to Timothy in which he could confidently state, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (Second Timothy 4:7). Although Paul’s life had a brutal ending, his life didn’t end — it finished. Moses, on the other hand finished before he finished. 

THE MISSION OF MOSES

At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.
Acts 7:20-22

Moses lived with a sense of divine destiny. Although raised in the palace of Pharaoh, through the sovereignty of God, his mother was hired to help raise him. She would have impressed upon that he was chosen by God to be the deliverer of their oppressed people from Egypt. By the time he was 40 years old, he ‘supposed’ his time had come, but things went horribly wrong when he discovered that what was obvious to him was not at all obvious to anyone else!

¶ “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.
Acts 7:23-25

By taking matters into his own hands without waiting for God’s time, he was forced to flee Egypt into the wilderness as a fugitive wanted for murder. What was to come now of God’s destiny for him to be the deliverer of Israel from the cruel hand of their Egyptian oppressors? Through his rash, hot-headed, arrogance the entire redemptive plan of God had now been derailed! But how God responded to this setback is one of the most magnificent insights into the identity and character of the redeeming God.

THE MISSION OF GOD FOR MOSES

God has an amazing propensity for transforming our failures and mistakes into the tapestry of His grand plan. This is perhaps no clearer than how He redeemed Moses before He used Moses to redeem Israel. (God often does in us what He calls us to do in others.) Moses roamed the wilderness for 40 years as a shepherd. In the Palace of Pharaoh he would have been taught that the lowest job in the world was that of a shepherd (Egyptians despised sheep and despised shepherds even more – note Gen. 46:34; Exodus 8:26). This season for Moses would have been a very humbling one for him. But God knew what He was doing. In order for Moses to be redeemed and restored he need his arrogance eradicated and his heart transformed with meekness (see Numbers 12:3).

After the 40 years of humbling (note how Moses’ life was comprised of three 40 year chapters) he encountered God at the burning bush.

And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Exodus 3:3-4

The Moses who appeared before the Lord at the burning bush was not the brash, cocky, arrogant prince of Egypt. He was now the broken, humbled, contrite, unsure of himself, Moses. This encounter with Yahweh (the Hebrew name for ‘God’) was a moment of rededication to the Lord for Moses. (It has been noted by many that God never uses one for His glory without breaking them first.) In this sacred moment of surrender to the Lord Moses received his commission from God: Deliver Israel out of Egypt and into their Promised Land. 

This commission came in 4 stages for Moses. With God’s help, Moses was able to finish Stage 1 – the affliction of plagues upon Pharaoh’s Egypt until Pharaoh relented and released the Hebrews. Moses was able to finish Stage 2 – the exodus of Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea and onto Mount Sinai where the twelve Hebrew tribes received the Law of God and formed a covenant with Yahweh. Moses was able to finish Stage 3 of his mission – the 40-year wilderness wandering of Israel until a generation arose who were prepared to trust and obey God. Stage 4 of Moses’ mission was lead Israel into their Promised Land. But Moses never finished it. When Israel craved water again, God told Moses to ‘speak’ to the rock and God promised to pour water out of this rock for Israel to drink from. This was to be a powerful picture of how we are to approach Christ and receive living water from Him. But Moses disobeyed God.

“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rockbefore their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as He commanded him. ¶ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold Me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
Numbers 20:8-12

The consequences of Moses striking the rock twice were dire. The beauty of the picture of Moses speaking to the rock as a representation of how the believer was to look to their Saviour, Christ, was a powerful picture that God wanted Moses to demonstrate. Sometime before this incident, Israel had originally cried out for water at a time when they felt parched with thirst. They then pleaded with Moses for water. Back then, God told Moses to strike the rock and water would come out for all to drink. 

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Exodus 17:6

This was a powerful picture of what the atonement (sacrificial death) of Jesus Christ would one day look like. But when Moses struck the rock for the second time he was desecrating what the atonement achieved and painting a picture that declared that Christ’s death on the cross was pointless. No wonder Yahweh was furious with Moses. “And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them”” (Num. 20:12). Moses must have been gutted. He had failed. He would later be led up to the top of Mount Nebo and showed the Promised Land, before he breathed his last.

¶ Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan,..And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD
Exodus 34:1, 4-5

When a person’s life ends rather than finishes, it is sad. When a great leader fails to finish their mission through their own defiant stumbling, it is tragic. The circumstances of Moses’ death were tragic. Before he died, he commissioned Joshua to finish his mission; and Joshua did. This closing chapter of Moses’ life is surely one of the saddest in all the Bible. Moses entered into eternity as the leader called by God to establish one of the most foundational pillars in God’s redemptive plan who failed to finish it. All people are designed to find deep fulfilment by finishing – but leaders, like Moses, crave the fulfilment that comes from finishing. Moses died and entered into eternity without the leader’s greatest source of fulfilment and accomplishment: finishing. 

BUT GOD…

But God (Gen. 3:3; 8:1; 20:3; 21:12; 31:7, 24; 45:8; 48:21; 50:24; Exo. 13:18; 21:13; 1Sam. 23:14;) is the Redeemer—the One who turns failures into redeemed saints. I wonder how Moses felt in the dimension of eternity with this horrible failure hanging over him like a shadow? Then one day, his eternal future was changed forever. He had failed God, but God had a redemptive plan in His lavish, extravagant grace. Moses may have eternally pined that he never got to set foot in the Promised Land. But then God interrupted Moses’ eternity…

Moses had longed to finish his mission and set foot in God’s Promised Land and then the day came that never comes after one enters heaven. This was the day he discovered that the day he entered heaven was the day he came face-to-face with the reality of all that the Promised Land foreshadowed—the Divine Christ. But this realisation probably didn’t occur to him until AD 30 when Yahweh sent him on a surprise mission.

¶ And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him.
Matthew 17:1-3

It’s called The Mount of Transfiguration – the night that Christ took Peter, James and John, up a high mountain where He was ‘transfigured’ (His appearance radiated an incredibly bright light) and then Moses and Elijah appeared to Him. God graciously allowed Moses not just to see the Promised Land, but to set foot in it! Mission accomplished! And although it was night, Christ’s transfigured radiance permitted Moses to see up close what he once saw from a great distance. It was in this moment when God allowed His beloved servant Moses to finish his mission and enjoy eternity with the deepest sense of fulfilment. Yet, most importantly, this was the moment when He saw Christ as the fulfilment of all the Promised Land foreshadowed. God’s promise to Abraham was never really about dirt because it was always about Jesus.

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Galatians 3:29

I’m pretty sure that when Moses got to stand in the Promised Land for the first time that night on the mountain with Christ, it was a thrill without measure, until he realised that he stood in the presence of mankind’s greatest Leader and Redeemer, the only One who could declare after He completed the ultimate mission and fulfilled Yahweh’s eternal plan of redemption, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

Pastor Andrew Corbett

HOW THE MINISTRY OF A HEALTHY LOCAL CHURCH CAN HELP BUSINESSES TO SUCCEED

6. What It’s Going To Take –
BLESSED BUSINESSES

I’m told that at the turn of the 20th century some 70% of people were self-employed or in business. Similarly, I’ve been told that at the turn of the 21st century that number had dropped below 30%.   

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.
Proverbs 11:10

For any society to experience and enjoy the divine blessings of happiness, security, wellness, personal fulfilment, scientific and spiritual enlightenment, and prosperity, it needs this sixth element – blessed business. I am going to make the case that we need leaders in business who know God and how to invoke His blessing upon their business. I hope to further this case by showing that the Scriptures show that when righteous business people prosper, entire cities are also blessed (Prov. 11:10). A part of this blessing upon a city is that people are gainfully employed with meaningful work, and these righteous business people are able to exercise a positive influence for the good and welfare of a society.

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 
who does not lift up his soul to what is false 
and does not swear deceitfully. 
He will receive blessing from the LORD 
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Psalm 24:4-5

THE PRINCIPLES OF RIGHTEOUS BUSINESS

A business is an organised means of supplying goods and/or services at a reasonable price to customers or clients which gives a reasonable return to investors. A righteous business is also this, but it is done in a way that honours God and His Word. It goes without saying then that it is a business that not only operates within the law, it also operates with moral uprightness and ethical integrity. For some businesses, such as Hobby Lobby, or Chic-fil-a, which are owned and run by followers of Christ, it means not violating Hebrews 10:25 which is why they do not open their stores on Sundays. It also effects how they treat customers and staff. Some Christians who have worked for a “Christian business” (a term I do not like or use) have been surprised that their employers have taken a dim view of their tardy work ethic – even though they may have been running late to work having just come from a church early morning prayer meeting, or when they have taken an extended lunch-break because they were deep in Bible study or witnessing to a non-Christian co-worker. (Perhaps in the appendices of this proposed book I might list the principles for being a Christ-following employee starting with those found in Second Thessalonians 3:10.)

Not everyone can go into business as their main or sole source of income. Running a successful business may look easy to an outsider. But upon closer inspection we would discover that the person starting or running a business has to manage a complexity of issues that an employee or self-employed person doesn’t. But the one who owns a business has the potential to create wealth than an employee or self-employed person does not. As Proverbs 11:10 states, when the righteous succeed in their business, the city rejoices. And well they might! Successful businesses can add value to a community – and not just financially! There is tremendous value for their employees who are then able to have the dignity of being productive members of their community. There are numerous ‘spin-off’ economic benefits derived as other businesses are spawned which provide associated goods or services. There is benefits for the broader community as the business pays local government rates and fees which helps to fund the upkeep of local roads and parks. 

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.
Proverbs 11:11

TYPES OF BUSINESSES

When I studied economics nearly 35 years ago, we were taught that there were essentially three categories of business: Primary Industry, the Wholesale(Distribution) Industry, and, the Retail Industry. This view of the economy was built almost entirely upon the production of physical goods and their allied services. While these three broad categories of the economy still exist, all modern economies are now far more complex due to three factors that didn’t exist when I studied economics. 

Perhaps I could illustrate this complexity by pointing out that in today’s economy, the world’s largest video entertainment provider does not directly produce video entertainment! YouTube is a platform which has (as of today) 1.3 billion video producers who collectively upload 300 hours of videos a minute to YouTube! In 2006, Google bought YouTube for $1.65B! Speaking of Google, it is now the world’s main source of information and news, yet it does not produce any. It is a platform. Today, Google is worth $846.02B. Facebook is a platform for anyone (within reason) to produce content and is now worth around $400B. In addition to these businesses which operate as platforms there are full-time YouTube content providers who are making between $50K to $16.5M a year [source]. 

Business today is much more complex than the farmer growing his produce for the distributer to wholesale it to retailers! Economists refer to such major shifts in the economy as revolutions. The Industrial Revolution which began in the late 18th century ended around the time of the Berlin Wall coming down with what has become known as the Information Revolution. Others refer to this period as The Digital Age. No longer are ‘goods’ merely physical, or ‘services’ done manually. Businesses today can still be in the traditional three tiers of the economy, but they are increasingly operating in the digital world of virtual goods and automated services. This can look like coding, software, interactive games, and other forms of digital entertainment. Will Christ-followers develop as industry leaders in this new strata of our global-village economy? I hope so.

Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’
Luke 19:13

HOW BUSINESSES GROW

By my reckoning, up to half of the world’s top 50 companies did not exist 45 years ago! Several of them, such as Apple, and Amazon, have annual turn-overs of several hundred billion dollars. Their stories highlight what it takes to grow any business. And perhaps it is here that we find the filter for distinguishing a business from someone who is self-employed – even though they may employ a few people. A business has the potential for unlimited growth. A righteous global business has the potential to be a force for good on a global scale in such a way that it could have the power and influence to help eradicate global poverty, and those criminal activities which currently blight our world such as human trafficking, and escalating suicide rates. For those called by God to build, or help build, an innovative global business, I want to sow the seed of divine possibility into your soul that you could be called to do far much more than build a comfortable business which gives you a comfortable lifestyle and leads to a comfortable retirement. By growing your business into a global enterprise you could literally be a contributing agent to transforming impoverished and corrupt nations into prosperous and God-blessed nations! To do this, you must learn to develop three things- 

1. SYSTEMS – processes: how things are done
2. STAFF – people: who does it
3. STRATEGIES – purpose: why it’s done

A business could have weaknesses in its processes and strategies but still succeed as long as it has great people involved. Every successful business is always going to be contingent and dependant upon people. Discipled Christ-followers should have a huge advantage here. By following Christ, a person learns to care for others. You cannot follow Christ closely and fail to see Him treating every person He came in contact with with tremendous tenderness and respect – even those He corrected (like the Pharisees for example). It should go without saying that if a business has great systems and a great strategy yet treats people without due respect and care, that business can never truly succeed. This is why any Christ-follower who seeks to run a successful business must learn from Christ about how to lead and manage others. Every great business needs a great leader and many good managers.

You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
Deuteronomy 8:18

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUSINESSES AND A LOCAL CHURCH

Business people have often thought of churches and church leaders as out of touch with the reality of business life. Whenever pastors spoke about the relationship of business-people to the church, it was nearly always about being a source of finance. I don’t think I have ever done this. In fact, I hope that those business people whom I have pastored over the past few decades could bear witness that I have been a pastor to them as a person. One of the reasons I conduct a monthly leadership training for all our volunteers on the first Sunday night of each month is to also give godly leadership and managerial tools for those in business or management. It is over these years that I have become increasingly persuaded that the ministry of a healthy local church can also help those in business in at least 8 vital ways:

1. Fostering personal character development 
2. Promoting godliness through moral formation
3. Instilling the means and resources for healthy soul-care
4. Providing positive intellectual distraction with a vision of Someone greater than them
5. Connecting them with a Cause far bigger than their business and with the potential to change the lives of others for eternity
6. Inspiring innovation and excellence with a vision of the glorious Creator
7. Training in human relationships, particularly marriage, parenting, social interactions, being a leader, and a manager
8. Helping them to view their business as integral to their worship of the Lord 

For a society to experience and enjoy the divine blessings of happiness, security, wellness, personal fulfilment, scientific and spiritual enlightenment, and prosperity, it needs this sixth element – blessed business. Not everyone is called to go into business, but for those who are, it is my hope that they can be blessed and become a blessing to many. I hope that our church can become an incubator for young people to learn the necessary character traits to be successful in life and not just in business. 

Pastor Andrew