Ambition, Egos and Leadership
Our Mission
To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.
Hebrews 10.36 encourages, you need endurance to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. Endurance is one of those qualities we admire in others but struggle to manifest in ourselves. We see the marathon runner and we marvel at their endurance then say they are crazy to train then run that kind of distance. We hear the testimony from the mountain climber and wonder what it would be like to stand on the top of the world only to hear of the cost and dismiss it as too hard.
Endurance is modeled by the few but desired by the many. Perhaps this is why God said few are on the road that leads to life but many are on the road leading to destruction. While we have marketed Christianity as a ‘one-time’ purchase, it is taught in the Bible as requiring a lifetime of perseverance. We try to get people to make a decision, pray a certain prayer and then assure them they will go to heaven when they die never teaching them to give the rest of their lives to obeying everything Jesus has commanded us.
The book of revelation warns us of such a false narrative when the Lord Jesus turns upon His infant churches and commands them all to persevere otherwise they will miss the eternal reward they hoped to receive when they started calling Him God and Savior. The cross Jesus demands His followers to carry was to be embraced daily, Luke the physician records in his account of God’s life on earth as man.
Endurance, perseverance, are necessary because daily we battle the three enemies of our soul. The first enemy is God’s enemy who prowls the earth looking for a soul to devour. Through his voice of discouragement and numerous temptations he targets the children of God in order to make them sons of hell with him. God tells us to pray daily that we not fall into temptation but that we would be delivered from the evil one.
Second, we have to endure the rebellion of our fellow man. Some people do terribly evil things to other people. This has been true throughout the history of humanity. The actions of others sometimes leave terrible scars on our hearts and minds. God tells us to pray for them and to forgive them just as He has forgiven us our many trespasses against God. God knows it is in forgiving that we receive healing.
Finally, we have our own issues, our own brokenness creates problems for us. Most of our trouble is the result of our own failure to act or the result of poor actions. In either case we are often our own worst enemy. God tells us to pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven for it is in obeying Him that I find the life I so desperately am searching for in all the wrong places.
Faith and trust in God is manifest through obedience to His ways for then I demonstrate that I truly believe He is good and His ways are the wisest. Christianity is not a sprint but a marathon. The good news is while we are weak He is strong and He will carry us through if we will submit ourselves into His control of our lives.
His Opportunities
- Michigan Prayer Breakfast May 18th at the Lansing Center. CBMC has a table. Tickets are $30 each. Breakfast is 7.30-9am. Email if you would like to attend. Norm Miller, Chairman of Interstate Battery will be the speaker.
- Next CBMC Special Luncheon is June 8th. Eagle Eye GC. Brig Sorber, Executive Chairman of Two Men & A Truck International will be our speaker.
- CBMC needs your help to continue its ministry to men in the marketplace. Please support CBMC today. DONATE
MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
May 8, 2017
Ambition, Egos and Leadership
by Robert J. Tamasy
These days we seem to assume that ambition, inflated egos and leadership go together like a yolk, egg white and shell go together to comprise a fresh egg. Leaders want desperately to advance their organizations and themselves, so strong, even overbearing egos appear necessary if their ambitions are to be realized. In fact, their boards and stakeholders often encourage a “whatever it takes” mindset for governing their leadership tactics.
However, my friend Randy, a pastor, recently offered some thoughts that challenge such thinking. Why should business and professional people be concerned about what a clergyman says? Because, as he wrote, “We are like small business owners fighting to get the people’s attention through advertising. Part of attracting folks…is attracting them to ourselves. Our advertising, whether through constant participation in social media or hyping our stories, can easily blow up our egos, sense of competition, and conceit.”
One particular danger, Randy pointed out, is the temptation to give preference to those in a position to help us to maximize goals and ambitions. “When we are loved by powerful, important, influential, well-known, or wealthy people, it is quite easy to make them a priority and steal time from the poor, the isolated, the insignificant, and the overlooked.”
Without question, powerful, influential and affluent people – often customers or investors – are critical to the survival and growth of organizations. But if as followers of Jesus Christ one of our foremost goals is to serve Him and point others to Him, then we must remember what He said: “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28). In a similar way, one of the best ways for representing Jesus is to serve others, especially those that cannot reciprocate.
This may run counter to the philosophies and values of many in the marketplace, but the truths and principles presented by Jesus often ran counter to the cultures in which He and His followers lived as well. The apostle Paul, for example, wrote, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others as better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). In no way did he suggest there might be exceptions for those engaged in business or commerce.
To be honest, the employers and bosses that impressed me the most over the course of my working career were those who seemed to regard me as more important than themselves, who made special efforts at times to seek me out, ask how I was doing, and even assist me in my job if the need and opportunity presented itself. I can assure you, knowing they genuinely had concern for my well-being inspired me to work even harder in trying to fulfill and exceed their expectations.
As Paul wrote elsewhere, “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited” (Romans 12:16). This works for people regardless of their status or the work setting, whether in the marketplace, education, politics, media, or vocational ministry.
© 2017. Robert J. Tamasy has written Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies; coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring, and edited numerous other books, including Advancing Through Adversity by Mike Landry. Bob’s website is www.bobtamasy-readywriterink.com, and his biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.
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