Michael Carter

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:2-3)

I am an optimist. My favorite childhood story was The Little Engine That Could, the story of the train that climbed the mountain saying, "I think I can, I think I can..."

This mantra characterized my life, and certainly my business career. I wanted to work on the rusty old brands that had lost relevance to their customers. I wanted to inherit a poorly performing team and turn it around. I wanted to be given the impossible goal that had stymied prior leaders. Bring it on.

Then came the trials. While serving as one of the pastors of a large church, God saw fit to test me. First, our 16 year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo surgery and radiation treatments.

Simultaneously, I left pastoring and went to work in the secual world. While I have found that I can better minister in the marketplace than from the pulpit, it was tough. It was like being in the ring facing a world-class boxer with no training on how to avoid the opponent. I took the hits hard, first on the left cheek, then on the right, then in the gut. I was stunned. I couldn't steady myself. I thought I would go careening into the ropes.

What was wrong with my perspective? Simply this: I did not expect the trials. I thought I was immune to them. My optimism - a strength in many settings - was now my greatest weakness.

The Bible says unequivocally that we will face trials of many kinds. These trials are the intentional plan of God for the refinement of our faith. Trials are God's way of enrolling us in His character-building program.

Today, I am deeply grateful for these trials in my life. I have been refined by fire - fire that humbled me and caused me to once again surrender everything to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This was God's perfect plan to make me a better witness for Him in the world.

As it is eloquently stated in John 9:3, "...this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in [my] life." To God be the glory.

Michael Carter, Realtor Greenville, SC www.beachboyrealestate.com

SOME VERY GOOD QUESTIONS!!

So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

"I believe God made me for a purpose - for China. But He also made me fast! And when I run, I feel His pleasure. To give that up would be to hold Him in contempt." - Eric Liddell, film dialogue, "Chariots of Fire"

Eric Liddell never saw winning the Olympic medal as the purpose of His life. His purpose, his life service, would be working as a missionary, and ultimately becoming a martyr, for the cause of Christ in China. But he understood what many of us in the workplace struggle to understand or recall...honoring God is about doing our best in today's work, not waiting for tomorrow's promise. Being competent in the place God has us right now is how we honor Him. Whatever we're doing this day - driving a truck, managing a company, plowing a field, punching a keyboard, tending children - now is the moment God calls us to honor Him.

If a first key step in shaping our workplace is forming a bond with other believers, then the second must surely be competence in the task before us this day. Developing ourselves into effective and valued workers is a vital building block for influencing our work culture. God may indeed choose to use someone who is not competent to bring glory to Himself, but more often the most effective impact for Christ comes from workers who seek to do their work responsibly and competently, and to honor the time and resources of their employer. We often fail in our efforts to honor God precisely because we fail in honoring our employers.

When an employer, coworker or customer trusts our daily efforts, they are more likely to trust our spiritual efforts also.

Just as we must be competent in the job, though, we must be equally competent in our handling of the Scriptures on the job. It is essential we find ways to steep ourselves in the truths of the Bible. Life at work seldom offers us time to stop and find a passage of Scripture that applies to the task before us. Rather we must work to commit the truths of the Bible to our mind so they are accessible in the heat of workplace moments. Even in the most boring of our quiet times, God is at work making His Word come alive in us, as our Scripture passage at the head of this page notes.

We see in this passage that as we read His word - the Bible, He begins to work revealing truth to us. He is also faithful to bring those truths forward as we go about the routine tasks of life. His word will not return empty! Now our decisions at work can be guided by those truths, and our culture begins to be influenced by them through us.

Eric Liddell won a gold medal in the Olympics then slipped into the tiny villages of China to serve Christ daily there. "He made me fast!" was but a scene in his life, and he played his role well in many other unseen scenes. He didn't wait to reach China to serve God, but served Him in the circumstance, and with the skills, God gave Him each moment.

"He also made me ______!"

How we complete that sentence defines where we serve Him next. Tomorrow is not the time to be competent. We must do it now.

Michael Carter, Realtor Greenville, SC www.beachboyrealestate.com

The work culture of every office - good or ill - is set by a few people at the top. If the core leaders are tight, if they work in close coordination, and if they like what they are doing together, then their synergy radiates out with positive catalytic influence throughout the entire organizational chart.

The same is also true of work spiritually. A Christian approach to work-life means following the example set at the top - in this case a leadership core of three: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. From all eternity, this divine triumvirate has been working together. Understanding their working relationship is the first step toward a Christian work-life.

The Trinity worked even before creation. In one sense, each member of the Trinity was totally self-sufficient, so why would they work? A secret of the Three in One Godhead is its communion - commitment to the other. They work to serve each other not out of need but out of love, as an extension of their very being.

We are taught to approach work as an expression of individuality, but more fundamentally, the Trinity teaches us that work is a manifestation of commitment to community. Contrary to the me-ethos of the free market economy, work is founded on a commitment to others. Work means offering what is uniquely me - my work - as a service to others. When I do that I experience a little more of what God is like and I become a little more like who He is.

So, as a believer, my work is meant to be a by-product of my participation in the community of the Godhead. As I drink in the security, love, and infinite provision available to me in my relationship with God, I can then afford to take the risk of serving others in a fallen world. Working in community with God means daily choosing to allow the example of His character to set the standard of why I work and how I work. It means allowing God to incarnate a little of that divine working culture through me in my place of work today.

Work as God intended it is like nuclear fission. The crucial core is the Trinity whose activity of eternal communion and mutual service is a catalyst for an ever-widening chain reaction. As I expose myself to its radical fellowship, I am freed, motivated and empowered to work for the benefit of others. Is your work-life nuclear powered?

Michael Carter, Greenville, SC www.beachboyrealestate.com