Your Fortunes: Government's Responsibiltiy or Yours

Isn’t it the easy way out to blame the government for the failure of the economy to grow at impressive rates?  Granted, it is the role of government to facilitate the creation of an environment conducive to healthy economic activity.  But shouldn’t that creation be driven by the demand of the citizenry?  And shouldn’t that demand be more than, “we need the government to do something about the matter?”  Government is not a handout agency that distributes the donations of those who are engaged in productive activities. Taxes are to be used for the creation and maintenance of the infrastructure that allows for sustained economic activity.

The fortunes that you would enjoy in this life do not reside in the actions of government as it does in your own actions.  It is up to you to decide if you are going to be contented to rely on a 9-5 routine to provide the wherewithal to afford the lifestyle you wish to lead.  It may be that you have to think of engaging in some other kind of productive activity – either instead of, or in addition to your current 9-5 or whatever the nature of current your employment is.  These alternate or supplementary activities could range from farming to lecturing at an institution after regular work hours.  It could be through the forging of partnerships that would not leave too much pressure on you such as would affect your performance on your regular job (if this is the option you’ve chosen).  Another option could be to seek internet-based employment that would afford you the opportunity to work from home at a time convenient to you.  The options seem endless.

In deciding the direction one will go to secure ones fortunes there must be a preliminary audit of the skillsets one possesses.  Never enter into an area where you lack a working knowledge of what obtains in a chosen field of endeavour.  This may therefore mean that one may need to seek training, whether to learn or to shore up what is already known (always a necessity in a changing world) prior to launching out.  

Training can be formally or informally procured. Formally, one can register into a reputable institution and receive formal training in a discipline – you can either do a degree programme or in some instances these institutions offer short specialized courses.  Informally, you could volunteer to work for an organization where you will acquire the skills necessary for entry into the area you are interested in.  Other informal ways are to purchase books, or CDs, or DVDs, or research the internet for information on the field of your interest.

There is always a cost attached to acquiring the requisite skillsets for entering into chosen fields.  There is also a cost for actual entry into the fields as well.  Be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices.  And if necessary, do not be afraid to seek a loan.  Here’s an alarming fact:  the number one reason why people get loans from a lending institution is to purchase a car.  Albeit that there is an obviously robust public transportation system in Jamaica, which might in part explain this trend, but which may also be at a stage of glut at this point, a car is an expense item.  The advice then is that unless a car is to be used directly in the operation of a business, delay purchasing and seek to invest instead.

When investing bear in mind that the idea of fortunes has both a quantitative and a qualitative side. Both sides should be considered.  Do not just go where the money seems to be; go where you can simultaneously impact your community in a positive way as well.  Try to create employment for others.  Try also to grow the economy.  There are some business activities that allow for growth of the economy more directly than others.  Those that supply exportable goods and services are the ones that have that ability to grow the economy in real ways.  There may be those too that may not be exported but can reduce the importation bill, and albeit indirectly, that’s growing the economy too.  An economy that is thriving and not debt ridden, needing only to maintain and do incremental upgrading of infrastructure can at length afford to have a relaxed tax system.  Your fortunes are your responsibility not the government’s.

Of Humility, Excellence and Quality

At the heart of Christian humility is the recognition that all that we have and are we owe to God.  Hence, we never become puffed up because of the successes with which we are associated.   All the glory belongs to God.

One pitfall that can lead individuals to grab God’s glory however is when we get so good at what we do, we conclude it’s because we’re so good.  This glory snatching will most likely occur when our undertakings fall within what it is we know we can do, based on acquired skills and experiences.  When at first we may be blown over by a success and we tend to say, “thank God”, a recurrence of a similar level of success tends to breed a contemptuous familiarity, and we begin to think that we are something special. There is an old adage that says that “familiarity breeds contempt.”  This outcome can occur within a number of instances including the matter of repeated activities.  When activities are done the same way over a period of time, and one becomes accustomed to the routine there’s always the tendency to rely on the honed ability and the comfort (familiarity) developed in accomplishing the usual tasks.  This is when it is likely to be all about self; about what “I can do.”

Nebuchadnezzar, although then not a committed servant of God, seemed to have plateaued in his accomplishments, and it was at this stage that he made the fateful declaration, “is not this great Babylon that I have built…by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” Dan.  4:30. He had conquered the world, and there seemed nothing else to do, but gloat.  This is exactly what excellence is not.

Excellence comes from the root excel.  To excel means to do better than a given standard.  A standard is the level to which a bar has been raised, and which also becomes the minimum required level of output required.  Meeting this minimum standard is how quality is then determined, because quality is the extent to which a predetermined set of criteria are satisfied.

It is important to note that a performance that may be determined excellent this year would have exceeded the bar of minimum requirements and may be used to reset what now becomes the minimum requirement.  Quality is also recalibrated.  Interestingly too what is deemed excellent this year may cannot be so adjudged if the same performance is repeated next year.  Hence, it has been said that there is no finish line to excellence.  For practical reasons the movement of the bar may not go industry wide as soon as one individual or corporation may have moved up their personal standards. This reality would then make excellence a personal thing, meaning that while by virtue of industry standards you are exceeding the bar, and more than meeting quality standards, one may not be meeting or exceeding their personal standard, and are therefore not excelling.

Excellence then is the one time experience of doing better than your last performance.  To maintain excellence therefore is to be in a constant state of improvement of one’s performance; to constantly go beyond one’s proven abilities.  It is here that reliance on God becomes the means by which one remains in a constant state of excellence.  In this zone you know it is only God, and this should keep the Christian humble.

Christian Leadership in the Organization: The Mentor vs. the Judge

It is the ploy of the Devil to provide “good reason” for us to practice unchristian deeds.  Many times these deeds occur in the name of justice, fairness, and equity.  These however, may not be pure Christian virtues, especially when they are not mixed with Grace, forgiveness, and mercy.

One of the parables Jesus told was of a debtor who owed a very large debt and when his creditor would have put him in jail until he repaid his debt, he pleaded as was pardoned.  But no sooner than he was pardoned and he went out saw someone who owed him a significantly lower debt.  When the second debtor pleaded his case, the forgiven man refused to grant him pardon but had him thrown in jail.  Word got back to the original creditor, who became furious and rescinded his original decision and had the original debtor thrown in jail.  Forgive, Jesus says, that ye be forgiven.

There is an extent to which everyone deserves a second chance, but at some point pure justice has to be served.  The way of the LORD however, is that the issuing of pure justice is always a last resort and occurs when the accused refuses to be redeemed, reconciled, or restored.

God’s preferred treatment of us is neither just, nor fair, nor equitable. Isaiah 53 tells us that the Jesus bore our grief and carried our sorrows; that He was wounded for our transgression and was bruised for our iniquities.  Jesus bore all that for us; it wasn’t fair; He didn’t deserve it.  Yet the passage tells us that it pleased God to bruise Him.  And it was as if to balance out this injustice, and preserve His untarnished repute of being perfectly just, that the merits of the suffering of Jesus Christ are offered to us who deserved what He experienced.  We call it Grace; God’s unjust, unfair, and inequitable treatment of human beings.

Further evidence of God’s inequity was borne out in the parable recorded in Matt. 20.  It is of a householder who had a vineyard in which he needed labourers to work.  It showed how at different times of the day, up to the eleventh hour, close to the end of the working day, the householder went out and hired people to work – all for the same wage.  So we see where Enoch walked with God and he did not die, neither was it recorded where he endured any severe hardship.  Job was deemed perfect and upright, but was subjected to the most severe hardship any human being, outside of Christ himself, may be called upon to bear.  Hebrews 11 gives us a litany of the hardships God’s people throughout all the ages endured, and yet not everyone was subjected to the same intensity of hardship.  In the end though, all who will be saved will have the same basic reward – eternal life.  Interestingly though, eternal life is not a reward for the hardship we endure in life, it is a gift procured by Jesus Christ through His unjust, unfair and inequitable suffering for us.  At His pleasure He extends the benefits to whomsoever He will, and He has extended it to us all.  John 3:16.

How should all this inform how a Christian leader in a Christian institution should operate?  Should Christian leaders be more apt to mentor than to judge?

Ø  Many times the people we try to mentor are those who are already performing at a high level or who show great potential for outstanding performance – much like politicians who choose causes they believe will get them the votes.  The people, however, who seem to lack vision and motivation are often ostracized and pushed aside.  It is here though that true Christian leadership is tested and manifested; not to go in front of people who are already moving in a certain direction, but to convince someone who is either going nowhere or going in the wrong direction to move in the desired direction.  This means not acting as a judge, but as a coach who understands the value of character on the field.  Character is what will determine the level of tenacity and resilience with which one strives for the goal.  A smart coach will not only work on physical fitness, which can be easily measured, but on mental toughness that makes one a winner long before the game is played.

Ø  Being a mentor or a Christian leader means not being as surprised or disappointed as one will seek to understand and meet the unique needs of a subordinate – thus freeing that individual to function appropriately and optimally.

Ø  True Christian mentors/leaders do not react but simply act with concern and care for those under their charge – understanding ministering to those who are to be won for the Kingdom.

Ø  True Christian mentors/leaders show patience even for those who should know better and may even be the ones in charge; are not position but people sensitive.

If you desire or have experience the Grace of God then your leadership is hard pressed to show evidence of this marvelous Grace of God.  It must be a leadership that is reconciliatory, redemptive, and restorative.  Christian leadership must be audacious enough to break the conventions of justice, fairness, and equity and to act with the Grace of God that has been extended to all unworthy sinners.  The day will come when God will pour out judgment, unmixed with mercy.  Rev. 14:10.  He will not have been impressed with our “impressive” numbers; He will have noted the lives we touched and the bridges we created for others to connect with God.

Source:http://the25virtues.com/mercy.aspx