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12: Unstrategic Decisions · Finding God at Work

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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This is Finding God at Work.
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Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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course.
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Check it out at findinggodatwork.org.
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Our current series is Meaningful Work, Calling, Formation,
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Service, and Love.
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Today, I want to ask, when might God
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be calling you to do something unstrategic?
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And I'm going to unfold what I mean
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by that in a little bit, but first,
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let's start with being strategic.
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Has there ever been a time in your
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life when you've made a strategic decision that
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really paid off later?
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Just a little bit of long-term thinking
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where you thought, oh, if this might be
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true in the future, maybe I should do
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this now, and you did it and it
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set you up for success.
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For me, I think about my parents.
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When I was in first grade, they wanted
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to buy a new home, a bigger one,
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which they could afford to do, and they
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were looking at where they could buy it.
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And even though I was in first grade
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and my brother was in fifth grade, they
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decided to buy a home that would be
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closer to the high school we were going
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to go to, because since my brother and
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I were four years apart, we would end
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up spending a total length of eight years
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at that high school.
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And so even though it would mean going
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a further drive to our middle school and
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elementary school, it was a shorter drive for
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high school once we finally were attending that
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high school.
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And it worked out just the way my
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parents planned, and it was very convenient to
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be close to high school for them and
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for us during those stretch of years.
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I think about Virginia Tech, the university.
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Virginia Tech, all of my metaphors today seem
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to have to do with property purchases.
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They have a specific type of stone that
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they use for their buildings on campus going
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back to earlier centuries, even.
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It's a kind of limestone, which has gotten
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the nickname Hokie Stone.
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And in 1975, the foundation of the university
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bought the quarry that this stone comes from.
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So it comes from a specific quarry near
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Blacksburg, Virginia.
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And they decided, you know what, if we're
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going to keep using this, we ought to
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own the quarry.
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So they bought that.
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And in the half century since then, they've
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been able to keep building buildings that use
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that same stone, that same exact matching kind
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of edifice as previous buildings from previous centuries.
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Good strategic call on the part of Virginia
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Tech and their leadership team.
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I personally am really drawn to stories like
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these because I love the idea of being
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smart enough to figure something out in advance
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and make a decision and execute on it
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and have it pay off later and prove
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how smart you were.
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I love that.
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I love that sense of payoff of it
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working out of long-term thinking.
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It's just so satisfying when it works, right?
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And yet, often when we're walking in obedience
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to Jesus Christ, he might call us to
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do something that looks rather unstrategic.
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So I want to look at a couple
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different passages, one from the teachings of Jesus
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himself and one from the book of Judges
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about Gideon, one of the judges, to kind
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of look at this idea of being unstrategic.
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So first, from the teaching of Jesus himself,
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we have the parable of the treasure hidden
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in a field.
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This is Matthew 13, 44.
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Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is like
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treasure hidden in a field.
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When a man found it, he hid it
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again.
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And then in his joy, he went and
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sold all he had and bought that field.
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Again, we're still on the theme of like
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property acquisition somehow here, but what is Jesus
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getting at?
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He's saying, if you had to sell everything
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you owned, if you had to liquidate all
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of your assets, what would make it worth
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it to do that?
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Well, if you knew that you could acquire
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something even more valuable, it would be worth
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it to do that.
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If you find a field, you find a
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treasure hidden in that field that nobody knows
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about, and you realize, I can buy the
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field for way less than that treasure is
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worth.
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It's totally worth liquidating your assets to get
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that field, because you're going to get such
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a strong return on your investment.
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Jesus is kind of being a strategic advisor
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here.
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He's saying, if you can buy low and
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sell high, you should do that.
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If you can buy something while it's on
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the cheap, go for it.
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But what is it that's available on the
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cheap, so to speak?
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What can we purchase now that's going to
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pay off for eternity?
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And Jesus says, it's the kingdom of heaven.
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It's when we choose to sell things that
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don't matter in order to acquire the kingdom
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of heaven that does matter.
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And that selling things that don't matter can
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look unstrategic because of the way that the
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kingdom of heaven is hidden.
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Right?
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Like, suppose somebody else looks at that field
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and they're like, I'm pretty sure you just
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bought a field.
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I don't...
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I don't think there's a treasure in that
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field.
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It's a field, man.
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You're just imagining the treasure.
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Like, if the kingdom of heaven is not
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real, if the promises of God are not
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true, then making these trade-offs, making these
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sacrifices so that we can prioritize the kingdom
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of God over things that matter less, it
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doesn't make any sense.
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It only works if the good news is
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ultimately true.
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Okay.
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Now, let's go to the story of Gideon
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in the Old Testament.
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So Gideon is in the era of the
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judges.
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So these were like military leaders that were
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raised up from generation to generation within Israel
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to deliver them from their enemies.
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It was not yet a dynastic kingdom with
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succession of kings and a lineal family line.
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And one of these judges who was raised
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up by God is named Gideon.
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And the particular oppressor of Israel in this
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era was Midian, a neighboring nation that was
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more powerful than Israel at the time.
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And so Gideon, kind of in response to
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God's call, he's gathering a bunch of Israelites
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together to go and fight off Midian to
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liberate the Israelites.
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And so this is starting in verse one
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of chapter seven.
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So 22,000 men left while 10,000
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remained.
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But the Lord said to Gideon, there are
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still too many men.
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Take them down to the water and I
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will send them out there for you.
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If I say this one shall go with
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you, he shall go.
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But if I say this one shall not
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go with you, he shall not go.
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So Gideon took them in down to the
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water.
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There the Lord told him, separate those who
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lap the water with their tongues as a
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dog laps from those who kneel down to
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drink.
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300 of them drink from cupped hands, lapping
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like dogs.
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All the rest got down on their knees
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to drink.
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The Lord said to Gideon, with the 300
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men that lapped, I will save you and
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give the Midianites into your hands.
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Let all the others go home.
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So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites
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home, but kept the 300 who took over
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the provisions and the trumpets of the others.
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Okay, what is going on here?
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Gideon starts with a group of 32,000
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people.
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And what does the Lord say?
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Does the Lord say, hey, good job, good
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strategy, gathering an army?
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No, he says, you have too many men.
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I can't get this job done with that
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many men.
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Why?
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Or Israel would boast against me, my own
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strength has saved me.
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God's concern here is not just winning the
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battle, but also the kind of spiritual result
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of winning the battle.
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God's saying, hey, if you win the battle
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with this many soldiers, you might end up
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taking all the credit for it yourself and
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not realize that it was my spirit that
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was empowering you and my care for you
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that was really carrying the day.
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And so God says, you know, let the
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people who are afraid go home.
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Now if you've got a force of 32
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,000 people and you say, look, anybody who's
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really afraid can go home and 22,000
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of them leave.
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How do you think the remaining 10,000
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feel?
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This is more than two thirds of the
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force that clearly were like, I don't think
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we've really got a fighting chance here.
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Like if they thought that already, how much
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worse is the situation now with only 10
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,000 left?
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But then is God like, oh, nevermind, we
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should bring some people back.
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No, God gets even more unstrategic.
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God's telling Gideon, you know, even less, even
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less.
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He does this funny thing with dividing them
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up based on how they drink water and
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it gets down to only 300 because this
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is God's intention is, is he wants to
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carry the day by his power so that
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the spiritual result of the deliverance is beautiful
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and matches the physical result of the deliverance.
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Okay.
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So what happens?
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This is picking up in verse 16, dividing
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the 300 men into three companies, Gideon placed
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trumpets and empty jars in the hands of
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all of them with torches inside.
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Watch me.
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He told them, follow my lead.
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When I get to the edge of the
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camp, do exactly as I do.
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When I and all who are with me,
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blow our trumpets, then from all around the
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camp, blow yours and shout for the Lord
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and for Gideon, Gideon and the hundred men
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with him reached the edge of the camp
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at the beginning of the middle watch.
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Just after they had changed the guard, they
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blew their trumpets and broke the jars that
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were in their hands.
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The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed
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the jars, grasping the torches in their left
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hands and holding in their right hands, the
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trumpets they were to blow.
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They shouted a sword for the Lord and
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for Gideon.
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While each man held his position around the
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camp, all the Midianites ran crying out as
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they fled.
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When the 300 trumpets sounded, the Lord caused
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them in throughout the camp to turn on
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each other with their swords.
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Okay.
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So God fulfills his promise with only 300
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people, again, with a kind of clever mechanism
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of making them sound like more people by
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smashing these jars and waving these torches.
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God delivers Israel from the entire Midianite force.
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And yet it's so obvious that there's a
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miraculous component here because it's such a tiny
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force that's doing what God desires.
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So could it be sometimes that God is
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coming to us like he came to Gideon
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and saying, you have too many men.
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I cannot deliver Midian into their hands.
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Is God ever coming to us and saying,
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you have too many resources.
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You have too much influence.
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You have too strong of a situation.
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It needs to get more unstrategic so that
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I can show up in a miraculous way.
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Now that might sound kind of abstract.
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So let's apply it to the question of
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work and careers as we always do in
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this podcast.
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Here are some unstrategic things that God might
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ask you to do.
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Maybe to take a job with lower pay
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because that job's aligned with a kingdom opportunity
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that God has put on your heart, whether
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in the marketplace or in the ministry church
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world.
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Maybe God is calling you to stay where
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you are geographically and invest in your community,
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even though that means passing up an opportunity
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for a promotion somewhere else, a more remunerative
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or more influential job in a different city.
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Maybe God is calling you to work for
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the good of a competitor, somebody who you
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can tell is competing with you for maybe
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a promotion, maybe for the same resources.
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Maybe they don't even have your best interests
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at heart.
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Maybe they're kind of a nasty competitor.
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Maybe God is calling you to love that
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person, to root for them, to try and
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help them succeed.
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Oh, oh, that would be hard.
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That sounds unstrategic.
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It also sounds like the teaching of Jesus
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to love our enemies.
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Maybe it's something smaller.
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Maybe you're in a situation at work where
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you see something differently than someone else, and
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you really want to insist on your way,
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but instead, you realize, I can let the
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other person have the last word.
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I don't have to get my way, even
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though I care about it.
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I don't have to, I don't have to
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have the last word.
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Oh, that one's really painful for me.
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I always want to, because my way is
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the right way.
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I don't just have an opinion.
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I have a reason for my opinion, darn
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it.
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And yet, to have humility is to recognize
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it doesn't always have to go my way.
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I can, I can submit to others in
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love.
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I can let go of control sometimes.
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Or maybe this is something more to do
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with like our spiritual practices.
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Think about the practice of fasting.
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To me, it's really unstrategic to not eat.
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I get cranky when I don't eat.
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I get tired when I don't eat.
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I just, I don't like it when I
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don't eat.
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It seems like it would be much more
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strategic to just always eat.
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And yet, somehow when I fast, and I'm
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learning this as I go from others, I
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realize that God's power is made available to
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me in some special way.
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And in all of these situations, if we're
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answering the call of God on our lives,
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we're opening ourselves up to God's power.
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Because that's the trade-off, right?
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Coming back to the teaching of Jesus, is
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there's that treasure in the field.
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We're not just, you know, selling and liquidating
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our assets for fun or for no good
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reason.
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We're not just buying fields left and right
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just because they're there.
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No, no, no.
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We're buying fields where the treasure is.
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We're buying the field where there's some sort
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of payoff there from the Lord if His
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promise is true.
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We're betting on His promise proving true.
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And so that can look like any Kingdom
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of God moment in your life.
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Whether it's in the workplace or in your
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relationships, in your church community, wherever the Kingdom
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of God is showing up, and you see
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there's an opportunity, God might be asking you,
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do you want to sell things off so
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you can buy that field?
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Do you want to take a risk for
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the Kingdom of God?
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Do you want to let me have the
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glory because I'm the one who's going to
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provide for you?
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I'm the one who's going to carry the
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day, both physically and spiritually.
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In each of those moments, whenever we say
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yes to the invitation of God, we're opening
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ourselves up to receive His power.
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That's the paradox of the Kingdom, is that
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we can't get more power by hanging onto
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it, holding onto it tightly, grasping it with
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our fists.
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It's actually when we open our hands and
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we let go of control, we let go
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of that kind of strategic overseeing of the
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universe, that our hands are actually open to
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receive God's power.
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And what God accomplishes through us in that
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posture is greater than anything we could do
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the other way.
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Sometimes being unstrategic is the most strategic thing
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of all.
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Lord Jesus, give us your divine wisdom to
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know when you're asking us to be unstrategic.
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Help us to use our minds as well
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as we can to do the right thing,
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and yet also bless our hearts to be
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open when the right thing is to let
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go, to be open to you, and to
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receive your power.
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Jesus, do your work in us as we
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do our work with you.
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Amen.
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Thanks for listening.
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