Sometimes, for one reason or another, people decide to just walk off the job. Something brings them to a point when, with no prior announcement, no warning, and no explanation, they just turn around and walk away. The move could be attributed to what many might consider a major problem that finally found its way to the surface – or something entirely different, like the company vending machine being allowed to run out of “Cheese Doodles” one too many times. And these days, it could be triggered by some unsophisticated coworker doing something offensive and unforgivable, like referring to them using the wrong pronoun.
A Different Focus ~
My interest in this area has nothing to do with the state of employee relations. What concerns me is the status of the vital business of the Kingdom of God and the Church of Jesus Christ, both here and around the world. Like many of you, I’ve grieved over the accelerating downward slide in the power and influence of Christianity in our homeland. This decline has been going on for decades, and the disastrous impact is becoming more and more obvious every day. Lots of sociological and theological reasons are cited to explain the decline, but I think there’s something else going on that we’ll get to in a minute. But first, I want to take a look at our relationship with God from a different perspective.
It’s understandable that we aren’t prone to think of our relationship to Jesus Christ in the context of the kinds of business and commercial endeavors going on around us every day. Most people don’t tend to see serving God or following Jesus as having a job to do or holding a position with objectives to achieve. Most probably prefer to picture their relationship with
Him in the context of family, and that, of course, is a foundational truth and not to be diminished. But when we came to Jesus to find forgiveness and eternal life something else happened. We also became part of God’s eternal family (Galatians 4:7). That naturally leads us to think of Him as our Father, not our “Boss”. In light of that, it’s easy to forget that our Father actually runs a family business, and there are all kinds of chores to be done. Seeds to be sown, crops to be harvested, and there are flocks to be fed and attended to. There’s a multitude of tasks to be fulfilled every day. So who do you think He expects to do all that?
Not a Passive Relationship ~
We often affirm that Christianity isn’t a religion. It’s a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ, and we rejoice in that profound truth. Jesus does call us into a personal relationship, but it’s a working relationship, not some passive, detached, inanimate concept we sing about once in a while. He does make us a part of His family, but He also assigns us roles in the family business and sends us to work, just as He came to do.
This hectic world system with its automated gadgets makes it easy to just go about our lives and assume that the work Jesus assigned to us is getting done by somebody somewhere. After all, we’ve got more churches, religious institutions, Christian colleges, seminaries, and specialized ministry groups than we keep track of. Surely, all those certified Christian professionals are ensuring that the Body of Christ is getting its work done.
Not Our Assignment ~
Well… that might be true if the work Jesus sent us to do was defined by having regular meetings, presenting well-designed and entertaining weekly promotional programs, collecting enough money to pay the staff and keep the buildings maintained, and seeing to it that the 
Bible is being interpreted so as to keep up with cultural trends and ensure that it doesn’t offend certain groups. But to be simple and direct, that ain’t what we’re sent to do. Jesus’ intent was that every one of His followers would be individually equipped and personally involved in the work of the ministry. The Apostle Paul made that clear in his inspired letter to the church in Ephesus:
And He [Jesus] Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ… (Ephesians 4:11–12 NKJV)
Then after pointing out that we’re not to conduct ourselves like naive children and reminding all who compose the Body of Christ to be actively connected to its Head, Paul adds this:
…from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:16 NKJV)
The slightest glance at the prevailing moral (or more accurately, amoral) climate in our country makes it clear that we have major spiritual problems. The values and principles Jesus sent us to teach and live out are openly mocked, ridiculed, and in some cases, considered criminal. The scope and rate of Satan’s deceptive and deadly bait being dangled before us is unprecedented, and it appears that we’re experiencing an extended outbreak of what we might call the Demas Syndrome.
You might remember Demas. Paul mentioned him several times and referred to him as a companion and co-laborer, but his last reference to him is not so congenial. Paul shared a brief comment to Timothy in his last inspired epistle that we shouldn’t overlook. He said:
Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. (2 Timothy 4:9–10, NKJV)
Not a Labor Problem ~
Paul didn’t give us any details about Demas’ departure, but circumstantial issues weren’t behind his decision to abandon his spiritual brother, mentor, and fellow laborer. Granted, Demas had a tough job. Being an associate and co-laborer with someone like Paul was
challenging, but Demas didn’t have a labor problem with the work. He had a love problem with the world. The difficulties associated with representing the Lord pale in comparison to the challenge of negotiating our way through the forbidden pleasures and toxic opportunities that the world system dangles before us 24/7.
I’m convinced that Demas’ decision to bail out and leave his Rabbi in prison wasn’t just a momentary impulse. It was almost certainly the end result of a subtle, continuous, and extended process, and it’s that process that can directly affect us today. Continual confrontation with promises of instant gratification and unrestrained sensual freedom can gradually shift the direction of our affection and undermine our commitment – and the outcome is predictable.
It’s Not the Hours We Work ~
Jesus didn’t send us to change the world with our physical labor. Showing unbelievers how 
many hours we can work won’t change their hearts. It’s the number of ways we demonstrate how much we love Him and reflect that love forward to them that produces the fruit. When the enemy devises his strategies to disrupt the work we’re sent to do, He doesn’t target just our skills and abilities. He seeks to redirect our primary directive, which is to love the One who first loved us, and to love one another like He does.
We can turn back this hate-filled, depraved, dark tide pouring in on us, but it won’t be with more clever religious semantics and more impressive performances by our talented professionals. More than anything, the devil wants our attention – and so does the One who gave up everything just to have an eternity with us. Like Demas, our failures aren’t likely to be the result of labor problems with the work. They’re likely to be rooted in love problems with the world.
There’s a key in Peter’s response to a question Jesus asked when many were turning away from Him:
Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:67–69 NKJV)
If the Demas Syndrome comes calling and you’re tempted to walk away, I would suggest that you stop, pray, and consider Peter’s response … Where else would you go?
“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to Tweet & Share from the pull quotes below. Each quote links directly to this article through Twitter.
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- “It’s easy to forget that our Father actually runs a family business. There are all kinds of chores to be done. Seeds to be sown, crops to be harvested, flocks to be fed and tended to — a multitude of tasks every day. So who do you think He expects to do all that?” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- “Demas didn’t have a problem with the work, but a love problem with the world. The difficulties of representing the Lord pale in comparison to the challenge of negotiating through the forbidden pleasures and toxic opportunities that the world system dangles before us 24/7.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- “I’m convinced that Demas’ decision to bail out and leave his Rabbi in prison wasn’t just a momentary impulse. It was almost certainly the end result of a subtle, continuous, extended process, and it’s that process that can directly affect us today.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- “Jesus didn’t send us to change the world with our physical labor. Showing unbelievers how many hours we can work won’t change their hearts. It’s the ways we demonstrate how much we love Him and reflect that love to them that produces the fruit.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- “When the enemy devises his strategies to disrupt the work we’re sent to do, He doesn’t target just our skills and abilities. He seeks to redirect our primary directive – to love the One who first loved us and to love one another like He does.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
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Check out Ron’s book, “Right Side Up Thinking in an Upside Down World ~ Looking at the World through the Lens of Biblical Truth” 
Gallagher's Pen ~ 
Indeed, Ron, where else would any of us go? Losing anything of value is discomfiting, but losing the Lord would be the greatest of tragedies. May our focus ever stay on Him and what He’s called us to do in this life that we might enter eternal life with joy and thanksgiving.
Challenging and important thoughts here today, as always, my friend. Blessings!
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Thank you, Martha. You are always such a blessing. As you know, those that Jesus called when He was here also walked away from their jobs, but they weren’t so much walking away. from something as they were walking toward something infinitely better. We made that choice, too, didn’t we? And what an eternally priceless choice that was. God bless you for keeping your path headed in the right direction and bidding others to join you on the journey.
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As you so often do, you are both comedic and convicting, humorous and helpful, sarcastic and sage, witty and wise. This morning you led me to a few moments of fond memory and a bit of laughter, yet left me in tears of sorrow and lament.
Your discussion of business v. family immediately drew a response of, “But I tried to do business like family.” As I read, you introduced “family business” and I knew you had turned on your hidden camera again and had been listening in. 🙂 Perhaps before you ever knew me.
When I was still in the “corporate world”, I always did my best to build teams that felt like they were family members instead of employees. The result was having the most dedicated, hardworking, focused, high-performing, and successful teams in the company. As capture and proposal professionals, my team’s job was to form ad hoc teams from across the company (consisting of folks who did not report to us, and we had little control over) to meet a time-constrained project goal. That meant I had to prepare each of my team members to lead other teams that were not nearly as proficient, productive, or focused as ours. Part of that was because leading this project was our job, for all those ad hoc team members it was in addition to their regular job. And yes, some walked away because the lure of their job was just too strong. They never understood my team’s message of, “The work we are doing will save your jobs in the future.” Sadly, there were a few companies that learned just how true that was. Failing to secure new business leads to reductions in force (layoffs and firings) and ultimately business closure. Has anyone other than you ever stopped to consider how that concept applies to churches too?
Alas, back to the family business, or as I like to put it, the business of family. In my last position, my small team of eight was so closely aligned that we actually had a team member we affectionately called “Mom.” While she was not the one in charge of the team, she was the one responsible for its care and feeding. She didn’t clean up after us as she too had specific managerial job duties to carry out, but she did look out for our health and wellbeing. Eventually, she became the Executive Director of the Win Center, after my and my replacement’s retirement. The key to our team’s success was that we treated each other like family. The good was a bond of camaraderie and friendship that reached beyond the workplace. We actually cared about one another and not just caring about how well the other performed at work. The bad (perhaps) was that we held each other accountable to the higher standards we set for ourselves that we all worked far too many nights, weekends, and holidays because we would never want to let one of our team members down. To be honest, there were a few “Demas” types who left because they could not and did not want to be a part of the family business. As you pointed out, the lure of the world (their fun life outside of work, “hey, this is just a job man”) for them was too strong for them to commit to the job and see it through.
Appreciated your viewpoints on active versus passive, and thought “yep, he’s a writer.” 🙂 I recognized though how during my career I always encouraged my team members to be active and not reactive. I wanted them to look for that next thing that needs doing and address it before it becomes the “firedrill” that they MUST address immediately. Passive team members didn’t last too long in our teams. We simply couldn’t afford to let them linger about in fears that it would begin to rub off on the teams we were responsible to form and lead. You can’t be passive and lead a 30-person ad hoc team of diverse personnel, all with varying skill levels and experience, to develop a 12-volume, 35,000 page proposal, to win a 100-million-dollar contract, in less than 90 days that met a set of requirements you had not seen before. In the same way, I too see the church of Jesus Christ today with far too many passive pew dwellers who are most happy to sit and comment on the performance of those active members who are actively working to carryout the mission of Christ’s church.
We have a motto at our church that reads, “A great commitment to the Greatest Commandment and the Great Commission will build a great Church.” I wish more churches today held that mindset.
I also thought about compensation. As an executive (at least that’s what they called me), I was able to participate in what was known as “Deferred Compensation.” While I earned what I earned, I deferred a percentage of those earnings to become an addition to my pension contributions. This meant that in retirement I would be receiving that which was deferred PLUS the interest that was earned from that deferment. In much the same way, the work we do in God’s name here becomes an investment in our Spiritual Retirement Account (SRA) rather than the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) we sow into in this world. Trust me when I tell you, the dividends in my SRA will be much greater than any I ever earned with my IRA. The rest of my spiritual compensation package? That payment is the manifold blessings, peace, comfort, rest, and spiritual growth that allows me to draw ever closer to Him.
Another thought of how our spiritual job compares to our worldly job is that both has/had a performance-based merit system. The last few positions in the corporate world were structured around a “Pay for Performance” system, wherein your performance determined your raise, or merit increase, each year. While capped of course, it was designed so that the higher performers on your team received a higher percentage of the merit-based increase each year. The fallacy of that system though was that when I had team of high achievers and top performers across the board, there was very little differentiation between the merit increases each year. The HR folks could never quite grasp the concept that I had very few (if any) team members like “Demas.” They usually “chose” not to stick around too long, but when they tried to, they found themselves on the outside looking in when it came to merit increases. While our spiritual merit increases may not be as visible as our raises here in ‘the world”, I believe that people should see them by the fruit we bear. The more increase we are given through the act of sanctification and our commitment to it, the more fruit our lives will bear.
Last, I wanted to address the concept that I always tried to teach my fellow team members. “Work smarter, not harder.” It was based on the concept of the “Seven Ps” I learned in the military. “Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Pretty Poor Performance.” Knew you were going to ask. 🙂 What is meant by this is that the better prepared we are to do something, the easier it is to do. In the world of proposals that I was immersed in for many years, this meant that “the less time you have to accomplish something, the better you had to plan.” Translated, it means there isn’t enough time to go back and start over again. Prepare well and plan your work and you can make small adjustments as things change in “real-time”, but you won’t have to go back and correct mistakes because you had not properly planned the work you were going to do. Too many Christians don’t ask God, “What’s the next thing You have for me Lord? How can I help You in preparing me for the next task You want me to accomplish for Your kingdom?” Instead, they fall into the “busyness trap” and they think that if they just stay busy doing this and that, and that, and that, that God will be pleased. They fail to recognize that God is pleased when we are doing His will and not our own. Sometimes that means ministering to your own family rather than leading a Bible Study at church or serving in a children’s ministry. Sometimes, that means we need to spend time working on our own spiritual health and less time teaching Sunday school lessons that are most likely ineffective anyway when we’re not spiritually healthy ourselves.
Brother, you probably didn’t expect such a long reply, but know that it comes from the passion I share with you for the “state of Christ’s church” today. I too have been watching it wane through deception, division, and discourse for the past four or five decades. I see how many have become more like the world than the Word, and its effectiveness has steadily declined. I literally shed tears reading your post because I had to ask myself, or perhaps I was convicted, about what role I played in that decrease. Was I complicit in allowing it to become deceived, weak, and ineffective by fearing I might “rock the boat” by saying “that ain’t right” and showing them where it went against God’s teaching? Was my silence another “nail in the coffin?” I know I’m forgiven of my sin when I confess it and repent, so I’ll be busy for the next hour or so this morning. Thanks brother, for having the courage to say what God has placed on year heart to say. And thank you for exhorting me through your efforts. God’s blessings my friend.
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Wow, Brother… I’d make an appropriate reply to this response if I was capable of it. There is so, so much fascinating insight in this review of your considerable and very impressive experience in the corporate world. I wish I could take some of the wisdom you unveiled and transmit it to our grandson, who has been building his landscaping business since he was in his mid teens. He’s learning so many things the hard way, but many of those lessons are being much more effectively imparted than they would have been if he’d only been sitting in a classroom taking notes. I think I’ll pull up this response and share it with him the next time he comes over. Your work was obviously different, but the boy has a couple of crews now and there are people on his payroll who depend on him to provide a paycheck for them every week. He’s learning that running a business is more than just giving people tools and sending them out to use them. There are relationships involved and the guys have different skills, capacities, interests, and unfortunately, may practice different moral codes. I think reading your reflections would be instructive for him and help him see the opportunities he has to not only build his business, but to do some spiritual building in the lives of his people.
You mentioned the question of your own complicity in the decline that has been plaguing our churches for decades, and I resonate painfully with that issue. I have spent quite a lot of my own prayer time in confession and repentance for allowing so many distractions and so many spiritually worthless endeavors into my life and the churches I’ve been a part of. My prayer is that multitudes are beginning to do the same thing and refocusing on our original mission and the commitment we made to carry it out.
Your reaction is much more powerful than anything I said and I am so blessed and encouraged by it. Your words are nourishing, enlightening, and inspiring, and Diane and I needed a dose of the kind of wisdom you sent along this morning. Please pass along our prayers and our deep appreciation for everyone who helps you do what you do with the ranch and the writing God has gifted you to do.
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