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.          

Jude 1.3-4, commands, Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

The need of the hour is for men to contend for the faith. Where are the men who stand with Christ and for His gospel? So many perspectives, beliefs and advocations of thinking and living that conflict with Biblical truth and morality are propagated by our culture, particularly in education and media. Our children are saturated by these institutions with messaging that leads them further and further away from Christ.

The first-place men must contend for the faith is in their own homes; teaching and modeling before their family the way of God as prescribed in the Word of God and exemplified in the person of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Men are to engage their family, their workplace, their neighbor with Biblical truth when the discussion promoted is counter to that truth. To contend for the faith men must be grounded deeply in their faith.

While Jude wrote to encourage the believers in their faith, he switched subjects instead urging them to contend for their faith. While they needed more information, they needed more to take what information they had to the streets and wield it against the ungodly thinking that was causing men to sin against God. This is the goal of our struggle: for all men to walk in obedience to Jesus.

The Word of God is given to us so that we can know the will of God and do it. The Spirit of God has been given to us so that we are no longer cowards before men but selfless promoters of Him Who gave His life for all men so that all men can be restored to God and receive eternal life. It is time for the man of God to live as a man of God, to become a contender for the faith at home and in the marketplace.

Our Opportunities

1. CBMC wants to help you know God better in 2021. Join us for lunch on December 22nd as we explain how you can consistently meet with Jesus and grow in your faith. This luncheon seminar will equip you with an effective strategy for meeting consistently and meaningfully with God. It will also help you develop your spiritual leadership practice at home and in your business. Join us December 22nd at the CBMC office, 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917,  from 11.45am - 1pm. Lunch is included so bring $15 to cover the cost. Register HERE 

1. Its that time of year when CBMC sprints to the financial finish line. We invite your end of year investment in our work of creating prayer teams, evangelizing businessmen and discipling men in their faith. Please help us reach our goal of $40,000 this month. We are currently at $5213. You can make your gift now, HERE 

CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917  / 517 481 5996 www.lansing.cbmc.com

MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

December 14, 2020 

The Potential Downside of Expertise

by Rick Boxx 

English-born, Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell has written a number of books offering unique perspectives on the social sciences. in his book, Outliers, he made popular the concept that 10,000 hours of work in any certain field is necessary to become an elite performer in that industry. For example, airline pilots with 10,000 hours of time flying aircraft, or pianists who have devoted more than 10,000 hours to practice on the keyboards. It makes sense – if you had to undergo major surgery, would you prefer a surgeon who has performed the procedure thousands of times, or a novice with very limited experience? 

Gladwell makes a good point – having expertise in any field can be extremely valuable. However, an abundance of practice and experience can also have a downside. You can become so accustomed to how your particular industry conducts business, you may find yourself unwilling to consider new and fresh approaches. Even ones that could work better than “we have always done it this way” methods. 

Taking the attitude, “I am the expert, and this is the way things must be done,” can present obstacles to finding and implementing new, innovative approaches to problems both old and new. Putting it simply, pride in your industry knowledge can limit your future success. 

The Bible has much to say about the value of humility, and we can easily apply its principles to the business and professional world. For instance, Proverbs 18:12 teaches, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, but humility goes before honor.” It may seem hard to understand how trust in one’s expertise can lead to “destruction,” but we have seen countless examples of businesses that have failed or stagnated because their leaders’ prideful refusal to step outside their areas of expertise to make necessary changes. 

Overreliance on expertise can cause us to conclude, “I know everything there is to know about this.” But in an ever-changing world – particular in areas affected by technology – this attitude can be devastating. Whether it be transportation, medicine, bookkeeping, graphic design, food production or space exploration, each of these fields of endeavor has advanced dramatically as the “experts” willingly set aside their expertise to explore new ways for getting things done. 

Proverbs 11:2 tells us, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Can you imagine the people who laughed when the Wright brothers were making their first crude attempts at flying? “Man will never be able to fly,” the “experts” declared, based on their expertise at the time. Yet those flight pioneers, and the many who followed them, proved human flight would even take people to outer space. 

In his classic business book, Good to Great, author Jim Collins cites common characteristics held by leaders of high-performing companies. He describes “Level 5” leaders, individuals driven to do what is best for the company. One of their shared traits was great humility, deferring their expertise to encourage the contributions of others. 

Whether they realized it or not, they were living out the admonition of Proverbs 19:20, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.” As Collins shows, humility is an important quality for all experts. Presuming we know all the answers because of past expertise can lead to disastrous outcomes, especially in our age of rapid, unprecedented change. 

© 2020, Unconventional Business Network  Adapted with permission from “Integrity Moments with Rick Boxx,” a commentary on issues of integrity in the workplace from a Christian perspective. To learn more, visit www.unconventionalbusiness.org. His latest book Unconventional Business, provides “Five Keys to Growing a Business God’s Way.” 

CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996  lansing.cbmc.com

 MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

December 14, 2020 

Reflection/Discussion Questions 

1. Have you ever heard of Gladwell’s “10,000-hour rule”? Can you think of anything you have done, investing that amount of time – or close to it – to achieve some level of expertise? 

1. How would you define “expertise”? Why is it important? 

1. Do you agree with the idea that overreliance on expertise can actually prove to be a liability? Can you think of an example – either from your own professional experience or from history – that shows that to be true? 

1. What does it take, in your opinion, to achieve a balance between expertise and humility? Why do you think humility is often lacking in people that have established expertise in their respective areas of endeavor? 

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: Proverbs 11:14, 12:15, 15:22, 16:18, 21:4; Colossians 3:12; 1 Peter 5:5 

CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996  lansing.cbmc.com