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Developing a Christian Worldview

As Christians, we are called to engage the culture, not retreat from it. In order to do this effectively (and winsomely, avoiding spiritual weirdness), we need to understand how to develop a Christian worldview.

Philip Graham Ryken’s booklet What is the Christian Worldview is the best short read on how to do this. It outlines the four basic components of the Christian worldview—creation, fall, redemption, and restoration—and shows how they apply to every area of life.

This book gives a good basis for understanding the framework for thinking Christianly about anything, so that you can then apply the framework to your own specific callings.

 

Is It Even Possible to Have a Christian View of Productivity?

Is it possible to have a Christian view of productivity? Is it even wise?

If we’re going to think of our productivity explicitly in relation to God, we need to answer this question. There’s no use trying to develop solutions to problems which are impossible and thus doomed from the outset.

It makes sense for there to be a Christian perspective on prayer. But on getting things done? How can that be?

Considering a seemingly secular subject like productivity in relation to God makes some people uneasy (Christians as well as non-Christians), in part because Christians have made some awkward mistakes when trying to think Christianly about secular subjects. 

Some wonder whether it’s possible at all, others think it alienates Christians and non-Christians on an issue where we should have common ground, and others think we’ll end up ruining the Bible by “importing” secular thinking onto it.

A friend of mine once said to me: “I started doing my Ph.D. on the issue of how Christianity and culture relate, and I concluded that it’s almost impossible to figure it out.” (I think he changed subjects.) 

But we have to figure it out, because as Christians, we have to live in this world. That means we have to know how our faith relates to everyday things like productivity—let alone all the other fields of knowledge and vocations we live among and interact with all day.

Fortunately, we can figure it out. The Bible has clear teaching on this matter, and it’s not that complicated. We don’t have to settle for any of the three options above, and I think it’s easy to see why. Further, seeing this is exciting—and, more to the point, practically helpful for Christians and non-Christians.

Wrong Turns

We do have to admit that there have been many attempts to create “Christian” versions of things that are downright strange. I was in a truck stop once which featured a t-shirt that said “Faithbook: Jesus wants to put you in his book.” That’s just plain odd.

That’s one reason why I’m not a fan of creating “Christian” versions of everything in popular culture. We don’t need to create a “God’s Book” social networking site just because non-Christians invented Facebook. We should use and enjoy the good gifts of God’s common grace right along with non-Christians, and do so in ways that are natural and real, rather than coated with a veneer of artificial spirituality.

Trying to force a “Christian” way on something that is learned from observation and which just plain works is spiritual weirdness. It’s wrong, and we need to avoid it. When I fill gas in my car, there is no specifically Christian way to do that, and to create one would be strange.

Further, we can unnecessarily alienate non-Christians by presenting a Christian perspective on things that are largely in the secular arena. For example, there isn’t a specific Christian way to do heart surgery, and to attempt to create one would likely alienate all sorts of good doctors. 

On the other hand, the Bible does speak to all of life, and we aren’t allowed to segment our faith into a special category as though it has nothing to do with seemingly secular things—including heart surgery or filling gas or, in our case here, productivity.

So what is the right way to think Christianly about secular subjects?

How to Think Christianly About Secular Subjects

The brief answer is that, as Christians, our faith changes motives and foundations, but not necessarily the methods we use.

So a Christian doctor and non-Christian doctor will likely go about heart surgery in the same way, using the best practices of the field and their training. Both will also seek the good of the patient, rather their own ends. But the Christian has an additional motive—loving God and seeking to serve him. This is a difference that is fundamental, but which can’t necessarily be seen.

That’s not always the only difference—sometimes there are variations in our methods (for example, the Christian doctor will likely pray before the surgery)—but it is the main difference.

The other change our faith makes is that it puts our work on a different foundation. We look to God for power to do all we do, including our work, and act not out of a desire to gain his acceptance but because we already have it in Christ.

With respect to productivity, then, we will likely use many of the same best practices as non-Christians for things like processing workflow or facilitating effective meetings. But when it comes to the motive and foundation of our productivity, the gospel brings in some radical transformations.

That’s the brief answer, though much more could be said.

The upshot is this: thinking Christianly about a subject doesn’t lead to the rejection of good common sense or separating from the world so we can do our “Christian thing.” Christians and non-Christians can have real common ground on a subject, without having to ignore the differences that faith brings about.

Not only can we live and work productively with those who do not share our faith perspective, we can learn much from one another and help each other in these important areas that affect all of us.

Announcing What’s Best Next (The Organization)

WBN_Full_Logo_RGBFor a long time I’ve wanted to update WhatsBestNext.com and turn it into a more complete resource site. I have a few hundred articles on leadership, productivity, and theology that I’m in the process of getting online.

Last summer, my friend James Kinnard and I started talking about these things and we both sensed the articles were just a small part of what is possible. What is really needed is an organization where Christians can be equipped in gospel-driven productivity and leadership from all angles, with new resources, online training, coaching, and more in-person training.

This flows from our passion for helping Christians connect their faith and their work, and takes it another step: giving practical teaching on how to be more effective in our work and all areas of life.

James is a good friend going back many years. He worked at Crossway for the last 7 years, leading their marketing & communications team, making a significant contribution. He is remarkably productive, and has been an enthusiastic proponent of gospel-driven productivity from the start, helping me over the years in refining the concepts. We think very much alike on leadership, management, and productivity, coming from the same framework of Scripture and both having been influenced by contemporary thinkers like Patrick Lencioni, Marcus Buckingham, Jim Collins, and others.

We’ve been sharpening the vision over the last few months, and are excited to launch What’s Best Next.

The Vision

Our vision is to launch an organization focused on helping Christians be more effective leaders, managers, and individual contributors. Through a variety of practical resources, we want to empower men and women in their daily work, from a gospel-centered perspective.

We want to help Christians sharpen the disciplines and skills of knowing what’s most important (c.f. Matt. 6:33, Matt. 40:37-40) and doing what’s most important, in ways that work out the ethic of the gospel.

In other words, whether it’s strategic planning, setting goals, managing email, collaboration, or a hundred other topics, we want to help Christians be more effective in doing good work, all in light of the biblical principles and gospel-centered motivations that drive true productivity.

The Need

We believe that a gospel-centered paradigm for productivity is needed for Christians working in churches, nonprofits, and in the marketplace. The world of work is one of the chief arenas through which the gospel of Christ can impact lives. It’s the main place most of us love our neighbor and serve the common good. And so increasing our personal and organizational effectiveness is a key means of honoring God and serving others.

But few organizations provide focused training in these areas, and fewer still seek to do so from an explicitly Christian perspective.

At What’s Best Next, we want to provide an integrated biblical outlook from the outset—an outlook which not only is based on the Scriptures, but which also takes into account the best business and leadership research from secular thinkers. For their findings are also a gift of God’s grace, and are to be leveraged by Christians.

The Opportunity

Imagine what could happen if churches, non-profits, businesses, and individual Christians everywhere were making plans and getting things done in ways that consistently honor God and commend the gospel.

That’s what What’s Best Next aims to help bring about. We will seek to do this through a range of resources, online webinars, productivity coaching, and workshops.

You can learn more on WhatsBestNext.com, but if you’re interested in receiving updates, productivity tips, and free resources as we go along, the best thing to do is sign up for the What’s Best Next Newsletter.

Support The Gospel Fund, A New Platform for Global Missions Ventures

The Gospel Fund is a brand-new platform that enables Christian missionaries, church planters, non-profits, churches, and individuals to raise money for global mission ventures.

I am incredibly excited about it. My friend Brannon McAllister is one of the co-founders, and he’s kept me in the loop as they’ve been developing the platform. Brannon also co-founded Noise Trade and was a key part of its growth. He understands the web, and is one of the best I’ve worked with.

Gospel-Centered Innovation, Better than Kickstarter

The Gospel Fund is the type of thing I’ve been wanting to see for a long time. It’s like Kickstarter, but for gospel-centered projects — and without the typical poor implementation and graphic design that we often see in ventures like this that are designed for the Christian world.

The Gospel Fund is on the same par in terms of professionally, functionality, design, and execution as Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and similar major sites that don’t have thegospel-centered focus.

I believe this can and will change the future of missions fundraising, and therefore missions itself. It is that important.

Get to Know the Site!

I highly suggest getting to know the site and using it! Read the about page, browse some of the projects, and if you have a project you are needing to raise funds for, consider doing it on The Gospel Fund.

Consider Giving Financially to Help Finish the Build

Beyond that, the main action right now is to consider giving to help finish the building of the site. The front end is done and the site is working. But there is back-end work that needs to be finished so that they can launch well. They are raising $70,000 so they can finish the work.

It is well, well worth giving to. I highly suggest checking it out, and if you can, giving a donation. I don’t say that lightly. This is a fantastic project that is worthy of whatever you can do to help it come to completion and launch well.

The Guys in the Field

Awhile back I referenced this quote from Colin Powell regarding his bias towards the “guys in the field.”  I’ve been asked what biblical principle was behind my thinking.

The biblical principle I was referring to is that those in a stronger position are to use their greater strength (position, power, authority, or even money, though that’s not in view in this post) on behalf of those in a weaker position.

That’s what we see in the example of Christ. Christ has all strength, power, and authority, and uses it to serve those who have less. Hence, he came to save us, and then also gave us that principle to govern all of our leadership (Matthew 20:25-28; John 13:12-20). We also see this throughout the OT–the “righteous” and “just” are viewed not just as those who avoid doing deliberate harm to people, but those who use their resources, power, and authority to stand up for those in lesser positions–especially the weak and mistreated. Paul also bases his argument in 2 Corinthians 8 on these things.

So, how do these principles apply to the specific case of the post? In a ministry or any organization, those in top leadership have certain advantages–more authority, more power, and so forth. Those beneath them have less advantages–they don’t have the same authority to carry out their thinking, for example, and aren’t in on all the leadership meetings, and so have less opportunity to be heard, just by the nature of things.

Hence, Christian leaders ought to seek to compensate for this by giving preference to those who are in lesser positions of formal authority. This will often result in the best insights (though, of course, not always).

Note that I’m not saying here we should be partial. You asses people’s ideas and actions truthfully–based on the merits. What I’m saying is that we should go out of our way to give a greater opportunity for those in lesser positions of authority to be heard. And, along with that, usually those who are closer to the action (in Powell’s quote, those in the field) have more accurate information and so are likely to have informed, good ideas.

H3 Leadership Q&A with Brad Lomenick

Brad Lomenick’s latest book H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle just released at the end of last month.

I highly recommend anything Brad writes. His experience leading Catalyst and working with some of the greatest thought leaders of the day give him a unique angle and depth of insight.

In this book Brad identifies what he describes as the 20 key habits that great leader shave in common, all built within the foundational elements of H3- Humble, Hungry, and Hustle.

Here are a few Q&A’s on the book.

Can you give us a quick overview of the book?

H3 Leadership is an application driven, practical leadership playbook that provides a proven process and much needed guidance on how to not only run, but finish well in the leadership race. Readers of this highly practical book will find it chock-full of easy-to-incorporate tips for catalytic leadership and ready to install strategies for living out the transformational habits of a leader.

Breaking down the “what” and “how daily leadership habits and routines that will awaken and transform the way you lead, H3 Leadership is a strategic guide and roadmap that uncovers and clearly defines the 20 key habits that will build your core leadership framework and establish a clear path to long-term sustainable influence. These 20 key Habits are not grand gestures of power, but simple practices that can easily be implemented into everyday life. 20 Key habits all great leaders have in common and essential to all effective leaders.

Based on over a decade of work with Catalyst and the gathered insights of some of America’s most respected leaders from wide ranging fields, H3 Leadership offers 20 key leadership habits that will teach and train you to be a better, stronger and ultimately a more effective leader. A “how to put your leadership into practice” book focused on the habits a leader must form to lead now, and lead well.

True leadership can be complex. I’m trying to keep it simple with the three transformational habits of leadership: be humble, stay hungry, always hustle. These powerful words describe the leader who is willing to work hard, get it done, and make sure it’s not about him or her; the leader who knows that influence is about developing the right habits for success.

Nearly half the actions leaders take every day aren’t choices—they’re habits. That’s why great leaders are intentional about what habits they develop and why. My goal is to show the path to long-term sustainable influence through these three key leadership building blocks.

Leadership is hard work, so leadership must be habitual work.

How is this book different than your first book, The Catalyst Leader?

My first book, The Catalyst Leader, was a big picture, destination book providing essentials for leadership for the next 30 years. A foundation book you might say. If you think of it in terms of an organization, The Catalyst Leader was the corporate and staff handbook.

H3 Leadership is more of a playbook of discipline that will help get you to the finish line. A practical application, daily practice, process, routine and “on the journey” book that can and should immediately transform the way you lead. What leadership looks like on a day-to-day basis. The organization playbook, daily map and gameplan focused on daily practice and discipline that will make your leadership come alive.

The Catalyst Leader provided the key essentials and H3 Leadership provides the key habits. Essentials are what you become, and habits are how you become the leader you desire to be.

H3 describes the “ready” leadership position. I played basketball growing up, and I remember many coaches talking about the ready position in basketball. The posture from which you can dribble, pass, or shoot. I believe that H3 Leadership describes the ready leadership position — the triple threat posture of a properly prepared leader:

  • Humble is internal leadership. Hearts.
  • Hungry is external leadership. Head.
  • Hustle is expression and extension leadership. Hands.

The phrase “humble, hungry, hustle” is my life and leadership mantra. If he had to describe his leadership style in 3 words, these would be it. So much of what I have worked for and want to see in the next generation is a combination of these three transformational habits. Humble, hungry and hustle describes the leader who realizes it’s not about them, is willing to work hard, and ultimately get it done. H3 Leaders know that influence is about developing the right habits for success.

H3 is practical. In the trenches, a bit chaotic, organic and dirty handed leadership. The dirt under your fingernails kind of leadership learned from digging the ditch, focused on the discipline, process, practice and journey of becoming a better leader. The everyday habits, not necessarily the sexy sizzle. The broccoli and vegetables, not necessarily the steak. Not always pretty but hopefully constantly practical. I’ve tried to be practical at every level. Combining experience and wisdom and practical from the trenches. From my story and the story of others. Put your hardhat on and let’s get to work!

You’re very open and honest about how you’ve led, especially Catalyst? Why did you decide to include so much about, frankly, what you feel like you did wrong?

It was important to me to shoot really straight in this book. The very nature of this book required a bit more transparency. But I would also say that I believe the leaders who will have the most influence and impact are the ones who are willing to be vulnerable and talk openly about their struggles and failures.

And that’s a hard thing for a lot of leaders to do. Many times, when we get to a point where other people are listening to us, and we’ve got something to manage––something to lose––we sort of go into the default mode of “Okay, make sure everything looks perfect.”

Today, people crave authenticity. This need has even influenced the way we shop and purchase our products from organizations. Today, customers buy from those we feel are trustworthy. Equally, we want to invest in people and companies that we can trust, not necessarily because they’re well known or largest or leaders in their industry.

Really, the first couple of chapters of the book are about defining and setting this foundation of “Man, you’ve got to be willing to be real with people around you if you want them to follow you.”

So often, leadership, especially self-help leadership and personal growth literature, can feel very pie in the sky––very esoteric. You’re philosophizing constantly.

Readers need a practical example that they can wrap their arms around––actually feel and see and experience the very specific thing that somebody has gone through. It’s one thing to tell others to be willing to share struggles and to talk about failures. It’s another thing to say, “Here’s what I’ve failed at.”

But the leaders I respect the most are the ones who continue to run the race well until the gun goes off, whether that’s because their life is over or they retire. That’s the posture of hungry: the idea that you constantly are learning and getting better. That’s the kind of leader I want to be. I think that’s the kind of leaders we need today.

I think it’s important for people to realize this is an ongoing journey.

Management as a Liberal Art

 

Peter Drucker:

Management is deeply involved in moral concerns—the nature of man, good and evil. Management is thus what tradition used to call a liberal art. Managers draw on all the knowledge and insights of the humanities and the social sciences—on psychology and philosophy, on economics and history, on ethics—as well as on the physical sciences. But they have to focus this knowledge on effectiveness and results—on healing a sick patient, teaching a student, building a bridge, designing and selling a user friendly software program. For these reasons, management will increasingly be the discipline and the practice through which the humanities will again acquire recognition, impact, and relevance

If You’ve Benefitted from My Books or Blog, Here’s a Chance to Help Financially

A Special Message from Matt Perman

My mission in life is to build up Christians in the faith so they might point people to Christ, transform their communities, and do all the good they can to the glory of God.

The chief way I aim to do this is through public theology––leveraging the writing, teaching, and organizational gifts God’s given me through various media, speaking, and consulting opportunities. For 13 years this was expressed in different roles at Desiring God, including leading the web department, serving as director of strategy, and helping build the ministry for greater spreading.

Over the past few years, my two biggest projects have been publishing What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done and creating content for WhatsBestNext.com, a resource site focused on applying theology to leadership, management, and the world of work. I have also been doing a lot of speaking at churches, conferences, non-profits, and businesses.

Your Help: Why and Why Now?

With the humbling success of What’s Best Next and the passionate feedback I receive, one thing has become increasingly and compellingly clear: there is a deep hunger for more training in these areas––especially in the realms of gospel-empowered productivity and management.

Many Christians today are hungry to do work that matters, but they’re simply overwhelmed. They want to honor God and serve people in their work, but aren’t always sure how to do that with less friction and frustration.

I believe What’s Best Next has a role to play in meeting this need, but I keep hitting two major roadblocks:

  1. I can’t expand these ministry initiatives on my own
  2. Living expenses and family commitments prevent significant financial investment

In order to dedicate my full-time attention in this next season, I need help from a team of generous catalysts. I created this GoFundMe campaign to ask if you’d consider a gift of support to make the following strategic projects possible.

What Your Support Will Accomplish

Your generous support will enable the following:

  • Producing an online training course in Gospel-Driven Productivity (GDP)
  • Creating a much-requested book on GDP (more accessible than What’s Best Next)
  • Editing, organization, and making available over 600 unpublished articles on theology, leadership, management, and the world of work––all from a gospel-centered perspective. These will be free on WhatsBestNext.com
  • Start-up funds for building a WBN team

What Supporters Will Receive

If you’re able to support these efforts, I want to say thank-you in the following ways:

  • For gifts over $25, you will receive a free digital copy of the GDP book (when finished)
  • For gifts over $100, the book and free access to the online course (when finished, estimated $250 value).
  • For gifts over $500, the book, the course, and a free coaching session in the realm of personal leadership and personal management that customizes GDP for you.

Thank You

Thank you for your prayerful consideration of this opportunity. I am deeply appreciative of your support.

In Christ our Savior,

Matt Perman

[Help Support Matt’s Ministry Projects]

 

The Three-Fold Method for Evaluating Daily Work

This is a post from a while ago that contains an important framework that is always helpful to keep in mind. I’ve found it helpful in a new way recently, and thought you might as well.

David Allen very helpfully defines three different types of “work” that we do when doing our work:

  1. Doing predefined work
  2. Doing work as it shows up
  3. Defining your work

Many people get caught up in number 2, and let 1 and 3 slide.

He then notes:

Your ability to deal with surprise is your competitive edge. But at a certain point, if you’re not catching up and getting things under control, staying busy with only the work at hand will undermine your effectiveness. In order to know whether you should stop doing something and start dong something else, you need to have a good sense of what your job requires and how that fits into the other contexts of your life.

Don’t Divide Your Christian Principles from Your Practical Decision Making

This is well said by Phillip Johnson, in his foreword to Nancy Pearcey’s Total Truth: 

Every one of us has a worldview, and our worldview governs our thinking even when — or especially when — we are unaware of it.

Thus, it is not uncommon to find well-meaning evildoers, as it were, who are quite sincerely convinced that they are Christians, and attend church faithfully, and may even hold a position of leadership, but who have absorbed a worldview that makes it easy for them to ignore their Christian principles when it comes time to do the practical business of daily living.

Their sincerely held Christian principles are in one category for them, and practical decision making is in another. Such persons can believe that Jesus is coming again to judge the world and yet live as if the standards of this world are the only thing that needs to be taken into account.

That’s a very profound statement. It is worth re-reading and reflecting on.

I remember experiencing this dichotomy in my own life. My senior year in college, I had an internship as a claims adjuster at a large insurance company. One of the things we were taught was that the popular dictum “the customer is always right” would bankrupt the company.

The reason is that customers often had an inadequate conception of their insurance policies, thinking that certain things would be covered when they are in fact not. If we granted the wishes of the customer in each of those cases, we would be paying far beyond what the policies were designed to cover, which would indeed spell disaster for the company.

In this case, of course, the reasoning is correct. The policy rates were set on the basis of the limitations on the policy spelled out in the contract, and to go against those would be to over extend the capacity of the company to pay the claims. I don’t think there is anything unbiblical about sticking to agreed upon characteristics of the insurance policy, especially since the customers are able to read and agree to the policy with full knowledge and consent when they sign on.

The problem, though, was that this could easily have an unwelcome side effect. Even though the company did not advocate doing so, nonetheless this reality could easily create an adversarial mindset toward the customers of the insurance company. You could go in expecting them to disagree, and your mission was to make sure not to give in. Your task could easily become not seeking to maximally serve the customer within the constraints imposed by the policy, but standing your ground against the customer. And justifying that by saying “this is what the policy states. You just have to deal with it.”

That would be an example of following the standards the world often follows — and thinking you are justified in doing so because, of course, you really can’t pay out for things the policy does not cover. Right?

The problem here is not with upholding the policy. The biblical answer here would not be to go against the agreed upon characteristics of the insurance policies. The problem is with what is being left out — namely, humanity. 

The biblical answer here was not to go against the policies, but to remember compassion and understanding. As claims adjusters we might not be able to give the customers what they really wanted in certain cases, but we could always accompany that with saying “I understand this is frustrating. I am sorry about this. And perhaps the conception of this policy is not as helpful as it should be, and we will need to look into that. But this is the policy that was agreed on, and this is what we have to stick to.”

That is a very different approach than just giving people the cold hard facts and saying “deal with it.” It seems so obvious. This is a way of treating the customer with dignity and respect, even when they are not “right” and cannot have their way.

Yet, that that is the type of thing you don’t always see. Perhaps some people think that showing understanding opens them to liability or risk. To acknowledge the person’s frustration, they think, is perhaps to acknowledge that the policy is indeed bad, thus opening them to a lawsuit.

But fear of risk is never a good reason to fail to take the actions that are necessary for affirming a person’s dignity. People’s concerns need to be validated. Even if the company is technically “right,” as was the case most of the time in these situations, it is never right to toss that out as a cold hard fact that a person just has to “deal with.”

This is just one small example of how Christian principles can be set aside in the name of seemingly doing “the right thing” according to a certain (even legitimate) set of standards, and how a Christian view can come in and provide what is missing so that people are always treated the way they ought to be treated.

There are lots of other examples that are more extreme and more significant. Regardless of the situation you are in, always remember to ask not only “what are the typical practices for handling this situation in my industry” but also “what does God have to say about this type of thing, and how does that apply to me as well?”