Latest / Finding God at Work / 16: Give It All Away

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16: Give It All Away · Finding God at Work

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe. 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 A Mysterious Business, bringing
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ministry and marketplace wisdom together.
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Have you ever made a really good investment?
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Maybe if you have retirement savings, you manage
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them yourself, and you made a decision about
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a mutual fund to invest in or an
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exchange-traded fund, and it did really well,
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and you feel proud of yourself.
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Or maybe something a little bit more prosaic.
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Maybe you bought a really good set of
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knives, maybe those Cutco knives that are guaranteed
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forever, and you feel like this was a
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good investment, I'm getting a good return on
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the money that I put in for this
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product or for this purchase.
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I have a story like that.
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When I was a little kid, I was
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learning about the stock market, and so I
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went to my dad, and I said, Dad,
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I want to buy a stock.
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And dad said, well, you have to go
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through a broker to buy a stock, but
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I can buy a stock for you, and
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then we'll see how it does.
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And so I said, great.
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So I opened the newspaper, and I was
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looking at different listings in the finance area,
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and I saw there was a company called
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World Air that focused on trips between the
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United States and Iraq.
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And it was like industrial transportation type of
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things.
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And I was like, there is a war
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going on in Iraq.
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I bet there's going to be a big
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need for lots of industrial transportation between the
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United States and Iraq.
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So I was like, Dad, buy some of
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World Air.
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And it did really well.
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I doubled my money within the first six
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months or something like that.
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So there's elementary school age Chris profiting over
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global warmongering.
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I'm not sure that's a good thing.
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But then in high school, I thought, oh,
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man, I did this once, I can do
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it again.
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So I asked Dad, Dad, buy some stock
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and build a bear workshop.
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I looked into build a bear workshop.
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So I bought a bunch of stock, more
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money this time for my savings and build
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a bear workshop.
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This was in 2007.
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Then the 2008 crash happened.
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And guess what people don't prioritize during a
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recession?
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Really expensive, customized teddy bears.
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So so I went from having made a
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good decision in elementary school to having made
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a bad decision in high school.
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It really matters what you invest in.
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It really matters what the return on your
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investment is.
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This is obviously a business concept, but it's
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a business concept that Jesus invokes several times
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in the scriptures in order to teach a
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really important spiritual lesson.
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And so as we're in the series about
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bringing marketplace and ministry wisdom together, I want
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to take a look at this idea of
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what is a good investment.
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And I want to cite a particular story
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that's in the news right now of a
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really countercultural decision, a decision to give it
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all away.
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And I think it's a decision that's that's
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rooted in in this person's own faith in
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Jesus.
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But we'll get there.
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So first, let's go to Jesus's own teaching.
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This is in Matthew chapter 13, verses 44
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through 46.
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Jesus gives the same idea, kind of two
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slightly different versions of it in the form
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of parables.
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The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden
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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, the kingdom of heaven is like a
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merchant looking for fine pearls.
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When he found one of great value, he
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went away and sold everything he had and
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bought it.
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OK, what is an investment that would be
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worth liquidating all of your assets to obtain?
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That's what Jesus is putting on the table
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here.
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He's saying, look, there's this man and he's
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in a field.
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He realizes that the field is for sale.
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But in the field, there is a hidden
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treasure that nobody else knows about.
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So he realized this field is massively underpriced.
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There is going to be a huge ROI
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on this field.
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This is like an ancient Near Eastern version
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of like those people that buy abandoned storage
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units, hoping that there's some priceless antique inside.
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And they find the big score and it's
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it's worth, you know, thousands of time, whatever
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they paid for the lot of junk that
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it was presumed to be.
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That's what Jesus is saying.
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He's saying there might be this field.
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Everybody thinks it's just a bunch of dirt.
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But really, there's something immensely valuable in that
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field.
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If you knew that and you knew you
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had a corner on that information, nobody else
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realized how valuable it was.
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Would it be worth selling everything you have
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to buy that field?
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And Jesus, the answer is yes.
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Yes.
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Then in his joy, he went and sold
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all he had and bought that field.
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He was happy to sell maybe, you know,
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his small house.
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He was happy to sell his animals.
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He was happy to sell some of his
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nicer clothes.
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He was happy to sell his jewelry.
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You got to imagine maybe this guy's going
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and talking to his wife and saying, hon,
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we got to get rid of those bracelets.
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We got to get rid of those earrings.
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Don't worry.
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Don't worry.
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We'll be able to buy even better one
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soon.
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But we got to we got to get
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the money together for this down payment on
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this land right now.
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Right.
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And apparently, you know, if this if this
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was a married man in our imagined episode,
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he brought the family together.
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They sold everything they had and they bought
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the field.
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And it was a good investment.
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Jesus tells the same story again, but this
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time it's a little less accidental.
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Right.
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So that was just somebody who happened upon
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the treasure.
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But he says that the kingdom of heaven
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is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
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So this is somebody who does investing.
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This is somebody who's keeping an eye out
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for investments.
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So he's thinking of a contemporary analogy, something
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that just hit the news today.
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The day I'm recording this is the sale
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of the Los Angeles Lakers.
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So there's a there's a businessman named Mark
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Walter, the CEO of a financial firm called
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Guggenheim.
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Lots and lots of money in his life.
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And he likes investing in sports teams.
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And so he bought the Lakers about a
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year ago for 10 billion dollars.
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OK, now you got to ask, what would
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motivate somebody to do that?
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Well, again, in the ancient Near East, looking
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for fine pearls, what is a good pearl?
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What is a pearl that even if I
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have to spend a lot for it, I
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know that I'll be able to sell it
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again for even more because of how fine
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it is.
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I know how to read the quality of
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the pearl when I'm looking at.
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That's how Mark Walter is with sports teams.
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He's looking at the Lakers and he's like,
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I can see the cultural and the financial
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influence of the Lakers in the world of
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sports, in the world of entertainment.
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And even though I'm spending 10 billion dollars,
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I think it's going to be a good
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investment.
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And guess what?
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Mark Walter was right, because just today they
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announced that Josh Kushner, another investor, and Bob
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Iger, the former CEO of Disney, are teaming
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up to buy it from Mark Walter for
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12.5 billion dollars.
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OK, so so think about that return on
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investment.
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Mark Walter spends 10 billion dollars.
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One year later, he sells for 12.5
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billion dollars.
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That's a 2.5 billion dollar profit on
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10 billion.
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That is a 25 percent return in only
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one year.
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That is a massively successful investment.
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Now I'm like, oh, maybe I should look
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at this Guggenheim place.
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Mark Walter seems to know what he's doing
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with money and investments, right?
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This is what Jesus is talking about.
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Somebody that has the eye of a connoisseur,
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somebody that can evaluate something and see what's
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really valuable here, even if other people miss
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it.
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OK, but what is Jesus saying with all
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this?
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He's saying, what is the kingdom of heaven
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like?
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So the kingdom of heaven is like this
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treasure hidden in a field.
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The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
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looking for fine pearls.
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We know because Jesus has revealed it to
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us that the kingdom of heaven is the
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blue chip stock, that the kingdom of heaven
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is what is worth selling everything we have
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to obtain.
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Pastor, I love John Ortberg.
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He was talking about passages like these once.
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And he said, you got to wonder, why
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does Jesus use money so often to talk
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about the kingdom?
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And he said, because for most of us,
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money is the easiest experience we have of
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unforced desire.
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You don't have to twist people's arms to
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get them to take money, right?
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We just want money.
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We know that we can get stuff with
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money.
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We're drawn to money.
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It's unforced desire.
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And John Ortberg was saying, that's how Jesus
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wants us to think about the kingdom.
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If we saw how valuable the kingdom really
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was, we would be drawn to it with
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unforced desire.
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We would willingly give up anything we have
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in order to get that kingdom.
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And then John went on to say, in
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a sense, it really is this simple.
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You just have to want the kingdom of
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God more than you want anything else.
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That's it.
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That's the Christian life.
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That's the gospel.
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That's everything that Jesus came to teach us
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can be summarized right there.
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You just have to want the kingdom of
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God more than you want anything else.
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It's that simple and it's that challenging.
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Because what what do we do?
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We get distracted.
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We look at other things besides the kingdom
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of God and we think this is more
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valuable.
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We look at the kingdom and we say,
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ah, is it really valuable or is it
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just a pile of dirt?
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Is it just a bunch of junk in
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a storage unit?
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It was a sports team that's going to
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get worse rather than better.
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But those who have eyes to see can
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see, yes, yes, it's worth selling everything.
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OK, so now I want to turn and
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just look at a wonderful example from the
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business world of someone who's thinking this way,
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who's thinking about what really matters, what has
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value and thinking of our quote from Dallas
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Willard, that business is a structure of love
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in the kingdom of God.
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This raises a really important question.
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What about succession?
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What happens when somebody who has led the
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business is going to move on?
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They're going to retire or maybe even pass
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away.
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How do you keep the structure of love
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at the core of that business?
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And the same way that person has done.
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It's a stewardship question, right?
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Like one person has stewarded the gifts of
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God to use this business to promote the
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common good in really powerful ways.
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How can we make sure the next generation
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are going to steward it equally well?
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OK, so the story I want to cite
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comes from The New York Times.
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This was released a while back in July,
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so just a few weeks ago as I'm
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recording this.
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And the business owner is a gentleman named
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Eddie Smith, Jr. Eddie Smith, Jr., he owns
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a company called Grady White Boats.
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So he didn't found it, but it was
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kind of a failing company when he took
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it over when he was relatively young.
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And then he and his family worked really,
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really hard for decades and turned it into
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this incredibly profitable venture.
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But it wasn't just a profitable venture.
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Eddie Smith, Jr., also because of his faith,
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really cares about how he treats his employees.
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And so he was thinking about this in
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terms of how can we keep this thing
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going to the next generation?
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But then in 2020, his wife, Jo Alison,
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passed away.
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And then in 2021, his son Chris passed
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away.
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So he no longer had a next generation
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in his family to pass this to.
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And so now I'll start quoting from this
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The New York Times article.
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After the deaths of his wife and son,
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Mr. Smith was forced to reconsider his succession
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planning.
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He first hired an investment banker to explore
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a sale of the company.
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Offers came in, including several for around 400
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million dollars.
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But Mr. Smith didn't believe that any of
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the potential buyers would retain the company's culture.
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Grady White offers its 350 employees extensive benefits,
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which include generous retirement plan funding, a profit
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sharing plan, financial literacy programs, on-site health
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care and a company chaplain.
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Preserving these perks was a major reason Mr.
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Smith decided to give the company to a
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purpose trust.
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I had no confidence that a new owner
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would keep that kind of culture going, Mr.
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Smith said.
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This company has a soul and I didn't
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want to lose that.
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OK, this is such a beautiful example, so
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one, it's beautiful because of what has already
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been built.
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This is not just a company focused on
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the bottom line of profits.
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This is a company that really cares about
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how it treats its people.
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It's giving people really good health benefits, financial
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literacy, education, profit sharing.
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So Mr. Smith, right, he understands even though
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this company is making money, that money shouldn't
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just go back into my pocket.
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It should go into the pockets of the
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laborers, the people that are making it so
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successful.
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Beautiful vision of shared fruit of labor.
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And he even has a chaplain at the
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company.
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So, again, you can sense he has this
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care about people's practical needs, but he also
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wants there to be opportunity.
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If somebody is open to pursuing something with
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the Lord, there's an opportunity right there in
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the workplace for them to ask some questions
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and get some care.
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So this is incredible in terms of what's
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already been built.
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But then what's also incredible is that Mr.
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Smith realizes what good is 400 million dollars
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going to do me at this point in
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my life?
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He's planning for his transition from this life
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to the next.
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Right.
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You can't take it with you.
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Why would he sell the company for 400
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million dollars?
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It's not like he's going to massively change
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his lifestyle or something in the last few
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months or years of his life.
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No, he's like, what is way more valuable
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to me than 400 million dollars in my
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pocket is to make sure that this company
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will continue as, I would say, a structure
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of love in the kingdom of God, or
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as he says, this company has a soul
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and I didn't want to lose that.
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He's so focused on maintaining it.
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And so what does he do?
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He finds out about this financial structure called
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a purpose trust.
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And the New York Times article digs into
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that more if you're interested in learning about
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what a purpose trust is.
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But it's basically a way of saying, here's
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something that has a purpose.
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In this case, a company.
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We are putting it into a trust to
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maintain that purpose into the future and prevent
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it from ever being sold to anyone that
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would not honor that purpose.
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Isn't that cool?
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What a cool concept, right?
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Now, that doesn't mean that selling a company
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is wrong.
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We had Joe Slawek on for an interview
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a few episodes ago.
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He sold his company for a great price
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to McCormick.
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And as far as I know, the culture
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that he helped build there is still being
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honored.
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Right.
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So it's not like this is a commercial
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for purpose trusts.
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This is an example of someone who sees
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the value of the pearl of great price.
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Right.
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Right.
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Eddie Smith, Jr. He sees what God is
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doing in this company, which he has been
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involved in for decades, and he sees that's
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what's valuable.
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More money in my pocket isn't what's valuable.
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Preserving this culture is what's valuable.
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Honoring what God has done here through this
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business is what's valuable.
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How can I go and sell everything that
14:50
I have and get that?
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How can I go and pass on a
14:55
$400 million offer and preserve the soul of
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the company?
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Beautiful example.
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So as we think about what Jesus is
15:05
inviting us into, he's saying, sell it all.
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Give it all away.
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Pay attention to what really matters.
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And what really matters is the kingdom of
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God.
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So I want you to think in your
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work, what really matters?
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In your work, how is the kingdom of
15:19
God breaking in?
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How are you caring for the common good
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of your community or caring for your, your
15:24
colleagues and your work relationships?
15:26
How are you being present with the spirit
15:28
of Christ in just the day to day
15:30
of getting the work done?
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How can you make sure that's what you
15:33
focus on?
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Maybe you have a decision coming up.
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Uh, if you're a business owner about succession,
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or if you hold a job, maybe about
15:40
switching roles, don't just think about more money
15:43
in your pocket.
15:43
Just don't just think about how to get
15:45
the highest price or the highest salary in
15:47
your next job change.
15:48
Think about how can I sell it all?
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How can I give it all away for
15:52
what really matters?
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So you won't be disappointed.
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Lord Jesus, thank you that you help us
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see what's a truly good investment.
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Guide our thoughts, guide our work that we
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would give it all away for the sake
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of your kingdom, right in the work that
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we have before us today, Jesus do your
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work in us as we do our work
16:16
with you.
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Amen.
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Thanks for listening.
16:23
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16:24
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16:27
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