Business and Life

Kathy Branzell

 Spiritual Stewardship - Not Secular Slices


And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" 27 And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 28 And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE." - Luke 10:25-28

Among my friends and family I am known as, “the Pie Queen.” I love pie! Fruit pie, cream pies (especially Key Lime,) Chocolate pie, cold, baked, even chicken pot pie. It is not that I have a big sweet tooth, nor is it is not that I eat dessert every day, or even every week. What I love about pie is that you usually eat it with people who are very close to you.

Think about it; you have probably had many business meals or “eating meetings.” Business breakfast, lunch and dinners are a part of my schedule every week; but dessert is personal, private, savored with the people you are closest to. A sweet slice and a great discussion is a great way to end a day.

Individual servings of pie come in a slice, you may desire the whole pie, but you are given a piece; a small portion of a big pie. Sadly, I hear many Christians talk about their relationship with Jesus as if it were a pie. Somehow we have taken the wrong mentality that our life is a pie and we slice it up between work, worship, family, recreation, rest, and other activities and responsibilities. As Christians we have adopted the wrong mentality and vocabulary of “spiritual” and “secular.” God does not see our life, the life He gave us, sliced up by spiritual and secular activities; it is ALL spiritual!

From our first thought in the morning to our last thought drifting off to sleep, we are consecrated and separated, “holy unto the Lord.” Now I know some of you are thinking, “I have to go to work 8-10 hours every day, or more; how can I dedicate ALL of my life to “spiritual” things? The man who asked Jesus this vital question about life in Luke 10:25-29 was a lawyer, not a religious leader. “What shall I do…?”

The answer is simple, we do ALL that we do; work, worship, family, recreation, rest, etc… with our heart, soul, mind, and strength focused on Jesus. Your place of business is your mission field; it is where God has placed you for His purposes to be fulfilled. We do not live to work: we do not even work to live. We live to live out our personal relationship with Jesus Christ at home, church, shopping, vacationing and at work. We do not slice off a portion of life and give it to God; He gets the whole pie! By committing to pray, and live out Christ’s character through the power of the Holy Spirit in ALL that we do, we fulfill the mandate to love the Lord with ALL of our heart, soul, mind and strength. We also open up every area of our life for His blessing. God is seeking an intimate relationship with you, not a quick nod at breakfast and out into the world we go. He desires to share wisdom, knowledge, strength, joy, discernment and direction all day. We are selfish, and foolish, when we think it enough to give God a slice of our life’s pie when He is the one who gave us the entire “Pie” to begin with. It is His…ALL His. Even the lawyer understood that life, even eternal life is an inheritance; a gift, that we cannot earn, but ought to steward well.

If you would like to find some more information about living out your faith at work, there are many wonderful Marketplace ministry leaders such as John Maxwell, Os Hillman, Ken Blanchard, Michael Anthony, James Estep Jr. and many others, who have written books, share at conferences, and even have daily devotionals or emails you can subscribe to.. Invest some of your time learning and listening about how to live your whole day and your whole life walking and working in the Spirit… nothing could be sweeter…not even pie. Know that I am praying for you!

- Kathy Branzell, Director