Issue 013
Have you noticed that some people seem bigger than others? They
seem to rise above provocation. They are generous in their approach
to people and are able to see the big picture at work. They refuse to
be drawn into petty disputes and have a knack of finding the
important amongst the demanding. They are calm under pressure and
when you spend time with them you feel uplifted and encouraged.
What is it that makes some people big and some petty? I suggest to
you that it is to do with two things:
Firstly, we become like the gods we worship. If you worship money or
status it reduces your size and dignity to the vagaries of the market or
your peers. Your value goes up and down with your net worth or
other people‘s opinions of who you are. So if you want to be a ’big‘
person then it is important to find a god who is big and worship him.
Of course if you are a Christian the assumption is that you worship
the true God. But here is the challenge. To what or whom do you
really sacrifice? We sometimes say, “I have to move house, church etc
because of my job”. “I have to be away from my family or Church
duties because of my work responsibilities.” So our sacrifices are
offered on the altar of career. We become career-sized people.
Secondly, ask yourself what makes you angry. When you become angry
you become reduced to the size of the issue which angers you. So if your need to be first or right or important makes you angry, then you reduce
yourself to this size.
When Jesus met a woman at a well she was shocked by His
unconventional approach. “True worshippers,” Jesus told her, “aren‘t
limited by places or laws, they worship God in spirit and in truth.” If
you determine today to go for God alone in spirit and in truth you
become a bigger person. Your colleagues will see that you are
qualitatively different. Petty issues will not upset you and you will have
an eye for what matters.
Companies pay well for people who can see the big picture. Pictures with God in them don‘t come any bigger.
Deuteronomy 6: 5
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.
Deuteronomy 6: 13-18
13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the LORD’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors,
John 4: 21-24
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth.”
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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