Christianity and Management Part 2

This is Hans Schile from the Finishing Well Podcast.

On Finishing Well, we help you make godly choices about Medicare, long-term care, and your money. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Welcome to Man Talk, brought to you by TAWCMN, talking and walking Christian men's ministry, where they're devoted to breaking down the walls of race and denomination and challenging men to take their God-assigned role. Here's our hosts Will Hardy and Roy Jones Jr., a black guy and a white guy.

Welcome to Man Talk Radio. And again, you have Will Hardy, Roy. He can't be with us today. We're continuing to pray for his situation. So last week we were talking about Christianity and management, so we want to continue with that today, but we also want to give you from the Word of God who I would consider the absolute best manager and supervisor of all when it comes to not compromising himself. And of course, it's Daniel. And in the Book of Daniel, the very first chapter of Daniel, we know that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, he came in and defeated the king of Judah, which was Jehoiakim. And when he defeated them, he took people from like the king's descendants. He took nobles, he took young men, and he wanted some young men before him.

The scripture describes as good-looking individuals did not have a blemish and that they possess knowledge and they were quick to understand, so he wanted some quick studies before him. He wanted someone who could really soak up the information that he gives them really, really fast. And so they brought Daniel and they brought Hananiah.

They brought Michael and they brought Azariah. Now, when they brought them, they wanted them to eat certain foods, which were of the king's table. He wanted them to eat, you know, meats and wine and all this other stuff that the king ate and see the king wanting them to do this would say, I appeal to you so much that I want you to eat what I eat so you could be worthy to sit at the king's table and eat the same food that the king eat.

It's almost like this is a privilege for you to do this. But see, Daniel, he was not compromising. He was uncompromising. He said, no, no. He said this to the chief eunuch. And the chief eunuch's name was Ashpenaz. And he told him, he said, no, no, we don't want to defile ourself because the things that the king eat, our God basically says we can't eat this because it's a defilement before our God.

And we will not defile ourselves by wanting to please the king at the same time. So he, Daniel was, God had given him such wisdom. And so he said, look, he said, let me give you some options.

And this is all again in chapter one. He said, look, let me give you some options. What about for 10 days, you let these folks over here eat the king's food and we'll just eat vegetables.

And after 10 days, you can put us side by side and you can see based on 10 days whether or not we are fairer than the individuals who ate the king's food. So he did it. He gave him an option. And the chief eunuch said, OK, all right, we'll do this, even though the king had given me a command that you're going to eat his food because he's not going to cut my head off.

And again, I'm just paraphrasing here. But Daniel was uncompromising. And it says in verse number nine that God had brought Daniel into favor and goodwill with Ashpenaz, the king's chief eunuch. See, God can soften the heart. God can make things happen when we can't make them happen. So, see, when you're in that supervisory role and you're looking at a situation or circumstance that you feel that you can't get out of, when you call on God, God will not only give you the insight, but sometimes if he doesn't give you the insight, he'll send someone else who have the insight and impart that wisdom and that instruction and that understanding to you so you can carry out your duties. God will not leave you hanging.

He won't do it. If you're walking upright in him, God is going to give you the direction. So to you supervisor, to you manager or to you employee who works for someone who is born again and you yourself name the name of Christ, work with that supervisor, work with that manager because they have responsibilities and jobs to do just as you have jobs and responsibility to do. But we also have to look at, we have to ensure that whatever it is we do, that we're doing it number one heartily as into the Lord and it's not violating God's principles or standards or even an individual's safety or health.

We got to consider that when we make our decision. So they ate vegetables and then word of God says that, you know, at the end of 10 days, they brought him before the eunuch and before Nebuchadnezzar and the king interviewed them. And all among them, all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle and Azaria, which means that they stood the test by only eating vegetables and not defiling themselves with the king's meat. Now, I want you to understand something from chapter one, that one of Nebuchadnezzar's moves that he attempted to do was to change the name of Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle and Azaria. Now, when he did that, he wanted to disconnect them from the creator. So by changing their names, he want them to re-associate themselves with the gods of the Babylonians. Daniel, Michelle, Azaria and Hananiah, they were familiar with who these gods were, but they did not partake in any of those things that these gods had to offer because they served the one true and living God.

So when Nebuchadnezzar made an attempt to change their name, he wanted to disassociate them with the true and living God. See, a position can do that, saints. A position can do that. You can put a person in a position and they will disassociate themselves with the people who they once worked with if they worked among the ranks, as I did, and then was later promoted by management because God blessed me to do an excellent job. And so you're going to be faced with that same thing, that you cannot, well, we use the expression, don't forget where you came from, and that's so true. We have to understand that now that you are a supervisor or manager, that you have to consider there are a lot more deeper things that I need to convey to the people who report to me than simply the rules and regulations of the company. And the company, you know, although you're working for them and you want to ensure that you are abiding by the rules and regulations if they're not violating the principles of God or putting yourself in danger in any way, safety related or health related, then you need to stand up to that.

But Daniel, because he did not, would not compromise himself to the true and living God, I think that that in and of itself told the other three who were with him what kind of man he truly was because Daniel was a spokesman. And see, when you're a supervisor in the management and people are looking for you, you become the spokesman for that company. But don't forget where you came from.

Don't allow yourself to be a person who is a dictator because a dictator can become a divider if we're not careful. God have placed us where we are for a reason. And wherever we are, whether we are among the ranks or whether we are management or supervisory role, regardless of where we are, we need to function to the highest standards.

And again, that's to say we follow the rules and regulations of the company if they're not violating the rules and commandments and sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles. We shouldn't go down that road or if it violates my safety and health, then we need to challenge that because God has a purpose and a plan for each of us. So let's continue now in Daniel. And so now when we look and see what God did through Daniel, God had a plan for his people. And then it was 10 times Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus, God promoted him, God moved him up the ranks and see that's what God does. He moves you up or he'll move you out to a better position. But wherever God moves you to, you have to ensure that you do the absolute best work that you possibly can because you're not working for man.

You're working for God and ensure that all things you do are done heartily as unto the Lord. We're coming up on a break now. We'll be back right after this.

Will Hardy and Roy Jones Jr., a black guy and a white guy. Affordable chiropractic in High Point, as you might tell from their name, affordable chiropractic, even for the cash patient. Dr. Jeff Fricke has been caring for patients in High Point for 34 years. Physical therapy such as ultrasound and spinal decompression for disc conditions such as herniation, comprehensive care for auto accident injury patients with no out of pocket expense. Remember, affordable chiropractic on West Lexington Avenue in High Point. Call 336-885-1987.

And we are back. Man talk radio. We're talking about Christianity and management. How do you as a as a born again believer, if you're operating in a supervisory or management role, how do you reconcile the things of God versus the things of the company? Wow. How do you do that?

What is it that you need to do? And of course, we're taking our direction from the word of God. Turn over with me now to the sixth chapter of the Book of Daniel. And in the sixth chapter of the Book of Daniel, we see that God is promoting Daniel right up through the ranks. And so you have Darius now who is sort of like over the Jewish people and and what he did is he placed what they call say traps or province administrators, you know, in these provinces. And then he set three governors, according to Daniel Chapter six, over these provinces.

So you had so many provinces reporting to one governor, so many provinces performing to another governor and so on and so forth. And Daniel was one of those governors. But because he had favor in the eyes of God, he was actually moving above the other two governors. And so when we look in the word of God, it's in verse number three of Chapter six, it says, then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and say traps because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

Saints of God, did you hear that? This is what God did when there is favor with God. How do I get favor? Well, I get favor by doing what the Lord said, being obedient to his will so that his will can be carried out in and through me. Because when God give you something and you're obedient in that something that he gives you, he'll give you more because to whom much is given, much is required. So just as he give it to you, he expects you to manage it according to his precepts and to his commandments and to his sayings and to his way. And that even comes to people.

So God has given you people. How are you going to manage yourself? Well, I'm going to tell you how I did it. Years and years ago, I went to a course on how to supervise people better. And they taught what was known as the PUSH method. P-U-S-H. And of course, that's an acronym. The P stood for patience.

That you as a manager, you have to be patient with people. See, Daniel, this didn't happen like overnight for Daniel. It happened during a period of time. During a period of time, he gained favor with Ashpenaz, the chief eunuch.

He got in favor with Nebuchadnezzar, with favor with Darius, the Chaldean chief. See, it takes time for you to build a relationship with the people. And as much as we think we know people, we really don't. Because they there might be some things that's hidden in that person's life that they're struggling with. And you don't know about it.

You're just carrying on the company's business as it's another day in the neighborhood. But you have people that on your team that might be hurting. Now, the question is, is do they trust you enough to impart to you the thing that's hurting them? Because a person will not reveal anything if there's no element of trust. So trust is a big factor.

So PUSH method. Be patient with people. Daniel was patient.

You have to be patient. As he was patient, God began to lead him, guide him. And now he was being looked at as being set over the whole kingdom.

The U. The U in the PUSH acronym is uncompromising. Don't compromise the will of God by doing something that the company might tell you to do. But it's going against what God has said. And we have to look at all of the aspects of that, because everything that we may see on a printed page when it comes to the company that we're employed with, even though we see things on a printed page, there is a reason why certain processes and procedures are in place.

And we can go on and talk about that for a long, long time. But they're put there for a reason. But again, you are also a representative of the kingdom of God. So what you do is going to have everlasting consequences on the people who you are managing or supervising.

And what you say and what you do to them will have an everlasting effect on them going forward. But again, we must not compromise ourselves. It's just like when it comes to the government. There are things that are legal within the governmental system, one of which is abortions. Abortions is legal around the country.

But do we as born again believers uphold such a law? No, we don't, because we value life. And there is no excuse given on why we should terminate a life.

That life should be able to live. And if that mother, she slipped up, slipped up and, you know, got herself in such a way because a man convinced her, if you don't love me, then if you really love me, but if you don't love me, then we won't do this. But if you really love me, we should do this.

We should do it. So he'll pressure you, pressure you, pressure you. Don't allow yourself to be put in a situation like that. But that child, if you do, that child deserve life. Give that child up for adoption. Amen.

The S, the S in push. Be sensitive. Be sensitive to the needs of the people who report to you. Because everyone, you know, if you say something or you look at them a wrong way, they may sort of like go into the shell and, you know, they may get hurt and we're going to hurt people. But is that hurt? Is that something that we intend to do? Or if is this something that because we're getting pressure from our manager and we say, we got to get this point across to these people and they're going to do this regardless of what. We have to be careful, saints. We have to watch and pray. And finally, the H, be helpful. Be be a mentor to the people who report to you, because there may be things that you have a lot of value that you can give to the people that report to you.

I mean, you can give so much to them, but if you're hoarding that, then how can you be helpful to them when there's something that you should be doing as a manager or supervisor in attempting to develop them? So, again, we have to take the way of Daniel because God. He watched after Daniel and see there when you start doing the right thing, there are people who are going to come against you to try and convince you to do the wrong thing.

And see, again, this is what happened to Daniel in chapter chapter six, when Nebuchadnezzar and all them gave the order, you will bow down and you will, you know, when you hear the sound of the cymbal and the horn and all these instruments playing, you bow down and worship to God. And they said, no, no, we're not going to do it. We're not going to do it, King.

We are not going to do it. They were determined to not allow themselves to be compromised. And so as a result, Daniel remained faithful. And as you as God's representative here on Earth, you must remain faithful. There are times to when you're going to be tried right to the edge of that cliff. You're going to you're going to be pushed to the limit to do something that is against the will of God. And don't use the excuse, well, if I go ahead and do this, Lord, I can just ask for forgiveness later.

Hmm. You're putting yourself in dire strait when you do that. And I say, don't let yourself be a puppet for the enemy. God has cut all of Satan's puppet strings. And you and I are free from the power of sin. We are free from sin. And we don't have to no longer become sin slave. Do what Daniel did remain faithful, even if the consequences are severe. God will have something else for you.

And you might be saying, well, that's easy for you to say. Well, not really, because, you know, as I was going through my career, there was many times to where my manager threatened me. But he knew that I had to work because I had little children at home. So be the Daniel of the day. Don't allow yourself to enter into a compromising situation, because only the Lord God will give you exactly what you need when you need it and how much you need.

And if you stay faithful, just as Daniel stayed faithful, there is nothing that you can overcome. I'm Will Hardy, Man Talk Radio. We will see you next time. As we wrap up today's show, be assured that TAWCMM, Talking and Walking Christian Men's Ministry, is building a community of men that are Christ followers with the desire to be servant leaders in their homes, communities, churches and work environments. Check out our website for upcoming events and regularly scheduled meetings. Drop us a note for topics that you would like to have us visit in the future. Thank you for joining us on Man Talk today. Visit us at www.tawcmm.com. Men walking the talk.