Thank God for Taxi Drivers

In the never-ending struggle for truth, justice, and Kingdom-thinking, I am constantly on the lookout for God’s heroes in the workplace. These men and women understand that their work matters to God and see themselves as a Kingdom outpost of God’s grace everyday of the week. They are not just serious about their faith on Sunday, but Monday through Saturday as well. My search this time led me to a cab driver.

In a recent weekly email devotion from my friend Patrick Lafferty, he told the story of Mosab Hassan Yousef, who was following in his father’s footsteps. His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, is a founder of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. After the son was arrested by the Israelis, however, he agreed to work for the Shin Bet Israeli security service. But something extraordinary happened to Mosab Yousef in the course of an ordinary day in an ordinary place. He met a British cab driver.

Unbeknownst to Yousef, when he stepped into the cab, he stepped onto holy ground. You see, the taxi driver was an agent of the Kingdom of God. He gave Yousef a copy of the New Testament and invited him to a small group Bible study. Reading Jesus’ story for the first time, Yousef was “drawn to the grace, love, and humility that Jesus talked about” and in time, embraced Christ as his savior.

You can read more about Yousef’s amazing story in a Wall Street Journal Online posting. But while this sensational conversion tempts us to focus on the terrorist-turned-follower of Jesus, the real story is about an unnamed taxi driver who took his faith to work and walked through an open door with the gospel. It’s a pretty sure bet he wasn’t pushy or aggressive with the “son of Hamas.” I imagine he started a casual conversation like cab drivers do, and because he was spiritually alert, he saw an opportunity to talk about Jesus and he took it.

Your workplace is holy ground as well. There might be people there who Christ is drawing to himself. And you might just be one link in the chain of people who help them come to Christ. That is, if you are spiritually alert.

For more information about how you can take your faith to work click here.

Benedict’s Business Paradigm

In his latest post (10/2/09) at the Cardus website “Building an Economy of Communion“, Bruce Webb asks a thought provoking question,

Is there no way to change the business mindset so that profit is not seen as an end in itself, but as a means to address social needs?

While profit is a moral good in and of itself, a casual reading of Scripture tells us that our business better be about more than that or our accounting before the Lord of the Workplace will be uncomfortable to say the least. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the account I will give before Christ for the work I do. I think it’s something Christians need to ponder.

I would love to know what you think about the business model Pope Benedict proposes in his recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate.  Webb summarizes it at Cardus (a much easier read).

Fishing Is Next to Godliness

Last chance to Join Bill Peel and Chuck Lane in Montana for three+ days of glorious fly fishing: October 15-19. Learn the amazing connection between fly fishing and fulfilling the Great Commission.

More information

One Link in the Chain

Do you know how influential you really are?

Every day, in everything we say and do, we are influencing people spiritually, either helping them move toward or away from a relationship with Christ.

A person’s journey toward Christ is not one giant leap but many small steps of faith influenced by an average of 16 people, individual links in a chain of spiritual influence.

Becoming a spiritually influential person isn’t about convincing people to pray a prayer of faith in Christ. It’s about intentionally joining the Holy Spirit’s work, respectfully helping them take one more step toward Christ, whether they are at the beginning, in the middle, or at the culmination of their spiritual journey.

Every interaction you have with people counts for eternity. You may be the next link in someone’s chain. You don’t have to be the entire chain. Just don’t be the missing link.

Who are you helping move toward Christ? Remember everything counts.

Reflections on 38 years of Marriage

Bill and Kathy cut the cake

I was the perfect man: charming, irresistible, polite, discerning, protective, and passionate. I was a hunk and man of God rolled into one ideal package.

… at least in Kathy’s mind.

What she actually got was an amiable but insecure, protective but selfish, polite but socially clumsy, passionate but lustful, fit but undisciplined, pursuer of God with millions of miles to go on my spiritual journey.

I am always amazed at the faith women have in the belief that men will change for the better once the aisle has been walked and vows repeated. Fortunately for those of the male gender, the women who love us see us for who we could be, not who we are in reality.

Of course that can be dangerous for a woman. Besides the fragile grip on reality, it is fraught with temptation to take the taming of the cave man on as a woman’s personal mission and prerogative.

Actually I was significantly self-righteous for many years about the fact that I didn’t want to change Kathy—like she wanted to change me. I wanted the woman I thought I married. However, when I read Paul’s instructions to husbands in Ephesians 5, I see a different attitude commanded entirely. Being a good husband is all about helping to change the woman I married—not into the image I had in my mind, but into the image that God had in mind for her when he created her. It’s not about shaping her into the perfect woman who will meet my needs, but helping her become all she was created to be.

Today, as I look back on 38 years of marriage, I am so thankful that Kathy Peel is not the cute little adoring coed I married. Despite my help much of the time, she has become a beautiful woman of God: smart, winsome, fiercely loyal to our boys and their wives, committed follower of Jesus, tenacious business woman, graciously confrontive wife, and passionate lover—and did I mention, she’s my best friend.

What Is the Recession For?

My wife Kathy recently began blogging for AOL’s Parent Dish. She offers great information for Family Managers who want to make their home a great place to be. But, it’s not surprising that her editors ask her to give her blogs an economic twist. Not a bad idea at a time when everything else sounds trivial compared to the economic realities we experience daily.

The economy is even making it into the pulpit. And I say thankfully so. We need to hear what the Bible says about what we’re all thinking about. A friend send me a copy of John Piper’s sermon from February 1, 2009 entitled the same as this blog. I highly recommend it for anyone not wanting “to let a good crisis go the waste.” Here are “some” of reasons for this economic downturn according to Piper:

1. He intends for this recession to expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.
2. He intends to wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.
3. He intends to relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods, in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.
4. He intends to advance his saving mission in the world—the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church—precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.
5. He intends for the church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.

What do you think?

Click here to listen, read or watch.

Pursuing Your Calling in a Down Economy

Job layoffs and an anemic economy are pushing many Christians to question the purpose of their lives, yet I meet very few who are thinking in terms of the “good works” God had in mind when he designed them. Each of us has a high calling we are obligated to follow, and when we do, this brings God great glory and us great joy.

The quest to discover our calling should begin with four facts we know for certain … To read more go to The High Calling.

Everyone’s Responsible for Spiritual Influence

In this blog I’ll address the fourth Big Idea that can change the way we do church.

Big Idea Four: Being a person of spiritual influence is every Christian’s calling, not just the responsibility of a gifted few. The greatest communication success story in human history is how the gospel message spread across the Mediterranean world. Followers of Jesus grew from a few hundred on the day of Pentecost to more than six million people by the end of the second century. That’s an amazing number, considering the only media were word-of-mouth encounters and hand-written letters.

The evangelists of the first century were the nameless thousands of men and women who followed Jesus without fanfare or notoriety. Even the Apostles were quite ordinary men. Before they were biblical heroes, they were someone’s neighbor just trying to make a living. They were street-level men with a noble mission that moved them beyond their fears and beyond themselves. Yet while their efforts were important, more important was the attitude of ordinary Christians, who recognized that sharing the message of Jesus was everyone’s mission. The gospel spread like wildfire from house to house (the workplace of the day) as men and women personally gossiped the gospel to friends, relatives, acquaintances, colleagues, masters, slaves, students, teachers, customers, shop owners, and fellow soldiers in their everyday networks.

Because ordinary men and women lived out and then shared the gospel with their colleagues, customers, and clients in their workplace, the early church grew as it did. If men and women in the workplace today seize the spiritual opportunities they have and work together to have an impact for Jesus, who knows what extraordinary things God will do with the ordinary workplace moments they give to Him.

These four Big Ideas are discussed in detail in Going Public with Your Faith. To order a copy click here.

4 Comments »

1. Hi Bill, you recently picked up on a blog post I made about workplace witness. Thank you for connecting. Over the past few years I’ve been trying to develop principles and ideas that make evangelism more achievable for the non-evangelist, much of which connects with the principles in your book.
   Here in the UK, the workplace is often undervalued and misunderstood when it comes to reaching and influencing people for the kingdom. Thank you for your insights and the help they are in developing the process of change that needs to happen if we are going to make the most of the larger part of most people’s waking hours.

   Comment by Richard — February 11, 2008 @ 3:09 am

2. Richard, I didn’t realize you were from the UK. I’m sure you are aware of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity and Mark Greene. I met with them last year when I was in London. Also, you may want to connect with the Christian Medical Fellowship (http://www.cmf.org.uk/). Kevin Vaughan there teaches a course for medical professionals entitled The Saline Solution which I co-authored and formed the basis of Going Public. Kevin is very “keen” on these ideas and a good friend.Comment by Bill Peel — February 11, 2008 @ 8:28 pm
3. BillWonderful piece. I used it to springboard to a piece called “What’s my excuse” found over at
   http://redletterbelievers.blogspot.com/2008/04/whats-my-excuse.html

   It’s amazing that God used such ordinary people to spread the first century message. I wonder what is holding us back from a similiar success today?

   Thanks for your heart and your ministry

   David

   Comment by David Rupert — April 2, 2008 @ 12:07 pm

4. “ordinary Christians… recognized that sharing the message of Jesus was everyone’s mission.” In my job I study what makes word of mouth campaigns effective. People have to believe in the message. Really believe it. Enough that they can’t help but talk about it.Sometimes I wonder how many of us Christians really believe this stuff in our guts. And I’m including myself in that.Comment by Mark Goodyear — April 3, 2008 @ 9:29 am

Discover What God is Doing Before You Open Your Mouth

In this blog I’ll address the third Big Idea that can change the way we do church.

Big Idea Three: Our job in evangelism is to discover where God is already at work in people’s lives and join him there. This means that being a person of spiritual influence can begin with something as easy as having a cup of coffee with a colleague, listening compassionately when a customer shares why she’s had a hard week, or doing something above the call of duty for a boss or employee who’s under the pile. We don’t need to be the office pariahs, poised to attack unsuspecting souls at the water cooler with Gospel tracts. Instead, small actions and simple acts of service in the course of everyday life have a bigger impact than the “spiritual interruptions” that we often attempt out of guilt.

These four Big Ideas are discussed in detail in Going Public with Your Faith. To order a copy click here.

Will the Real Heroes Please Stand Up

Most
people think of the heroes of the Bible as religious leaders, yet 75
percent of these champions of faith made their living in the workplace, not the
place of worship. God is looking for these kinds of leaders
today—work-world followers of Jesus who take spiritual responsibility
for themselves and those around them. People committed to
shaping—instead of becoming shaped by—their environment. People who
remain faithful in the midst of faithless surroundings. People willing
to lead and influence culture against seemingly insurmountable odds.

This is the kind of
spiritual leader we need today, not “rock star” pastors, but “ordinary”
Christians who take their Lord and their spiritual impact seriously.
That’s my kind of hero.