Leadership Retreat Presentation, June 19, 2010: a Specific Mindset, a New Way of Thinking (Part 1)

We are here this morning precisely because we want to improve our performance as leaders; we want to improve our performance as a congregation, as a church, and as the ministries to which we belong; we want to elevate or raise the level of our leadership; and we also want to live a life of excellence, because, after all, these principles apply to the way we live our lives. And from there, then, flow the other implications of the mindset I want to discuss.

My purpose this morning is to alert all of us to the importance of a type of thinking—what I would call a mindset; some would call it a mental model, others a perspective, and still others a posture toward life—a way of approaching life’s situations, life’s challenges, problems, and the challenges of ministry. It can range from how to resolve the problems in my emotional life and the wounds of the past, to how to approach the structural problems in my marriage, how to be a better professional, and how to be a better homemaker.

This mindset to which I want to refer is like an operational approach; it is a way of addressing any situation. I would call it an interpretive lens, and I know those words are a little complex, but there is no simpler way to put it. Because that is what a mindset is: it is a mental model, an instrument you use in everything you do. It is like a car’s engine: that engine is in there, and it has to be involved in everything the car does, whether it is going to church, taking a 500-mile trip, or going to the supermarket. That engine and that car’s operating system are used for every movement the car makes.

So I want to refer precisely to a way of thinking and approaching things and to alert us to the importance of that way of thinking and living. It is a way of thinking that fits, that is suited to our aspirations as a church and as individuals. We need a mode of operation suited to the world in which we live—the twenty-first century, with all its technological and multicultural complexities, frantic competition, accelerated processes in every area, and little time to do everything. In this twenty-first century in which the church operates and our lives unfold, we need a way of doing things, a way of interpreting the world and approaching the problems in the rest of life, that rises to the level of the complex world in which we live and of the things that we, as the universal Church of Christ and also as the León de Judá congregation planted in the city of Boston, want to accomplish.

In other words, what is required is a paradigm—once again, a very lovely and very complex word. What is required is a paradigm, a mindset, a way of approaching life’s challenges and problems that leads us to success, excellence, and effectiveness in the things we undertake.

One additional thought: most Christians I know do not possess or display the mindset I want to discuss, especially in the charismatic Pentecostal world with which we are affiliated. Generally, if throughout your life you have not subjected yourself to a rigorous regimen of study and academic preparation at an elite university, you probably have not had the opportunity to incorporate the way of approaching life’s situations to which I am referring. But do not worry: you can acquire and develop that mindset if you know the qualities that characterize it and how it can be acquired. And, by the way, that is the work of a lifetime. It is simply a matter of saying, okay, I understand what it is; I have an idea; I am going to begin thinking in those terms; I am going to take baby steps; I am going to focus on it throughout my life; I am going to understand what it is about; and throughout my entire life, I am going to develop that mindset rigorously.

For example, this little device—I have been talking about it everywhere I go lately—the iPhone. That is why I am using it here: because I have seen how useful it is; it incorporates so many things, and I have said, “I have to learn how to use it,” because that goes along with this idea one has. One of the features of our time is the use of technology and the concentration of resources. Everything is right here; this is a little computer, but it has everything. And it also represents this technological world in which we operate and in which we, as Christians, must learn to operate.

So, in this regard, I want to cultivate all the different aspects connected with that mindset, and this is one of them. And so I am determined to learn how to use this. And I have made a covenant with the Lord to master this little device one hundred percent, if possible, because it represents the lifestyle that, more and more each day, I see I need in order to be an effective leader in this day and age.

So it is something that has to encompass your whole life. You understand what it is, and you align all your actions and decisions with that way of thinking, including in your marriage: I have a marital problem; okay, how do I break it down into its constituent parts? How do I establish a day-by-day strategy to resolve it? What things do I need to give up, what things do I need to acquire, what dialogue do I need to have with my wife, what journeys into the past do I need to make in order to analyze where those problems come from, and so on? And then you pursue a strategy to destroy that monster. Because that mindset teaches you to do so, and that is how you approach anything in life.

I could give different names to the mindset I am referring to. No name I could give it, no label, would do full justice to what I mean. Each one names only one aspect of that mindset. But taken together, the different names we can give it define a region, a universe of attitudes and practices that together lead to excellence and the development of the individual.

We can refer to it in different ways; they are like pixels, the dots… You have seen a newspaper, and if you examine it more closely, you see—this is the specific mindset… Have you seen the photographs in a newspaper? If you examine them closely, what they are is little gray and black dots of different kinds, and from a distance those dots together create an image.

Well, that is how I want to present this thing: as little dots that trace the profile of this mindset. Each of those names identifies one aspect. Together they define a region, a universe of attitudes and practices that lead to excellence and personal development.

Some names I could give this are: specific mindset, systemic mindset, scientific method, strategic thinking, and also what I would call an ant mindset. Look up Proverbs 30:24–28, where the writer of Proverbs, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, praises the ant, the rabbit, the locust, and one other insect. They are small things, small organisms, but if you look at what they all have in common, it is a systemic way of thinking, a strategic way of thinking. They plan, they structure, they take the long view, they allow their needs to determine their actions, and they think in a concrete, strategic way. That is why the writer praises the rabbit and praises the ant, because it marches in troops, for example.

That is to say, the idea is that… and the spider—that is the fourth one, which dwells in a prince’s palace. Have you seen the structure of a spiderweb? It is the most complex, most powerful, strongest thing there is. It is tremendous.

In other words, these creatures plan, and that is why the Bible praises them. It does not praise the steed, full of strength and vigor. No, no; it praises tiny animals that, through their ability to plan and think strategically and systemically, acquire a capacity far beyond their apparent strength.

Strategic thinking, an ant mindset, a mindset of efficiency—those are possible terms. If we were to break down all these names, including scientific thinking, into their implications, we could see that they refer to a universe of attitudes and ways of acting in life.

Without that attitude, without the mindset toward life’s challenges and tasks to which I am referring, you will not get very far. It does not matter how many good intentions you have, how much effort and passion, or even how much anointing you possess as a servant of God… “Ah, I have God’s anointing; I can do…”

Look, the anointing is useful for certain things, but not for everything. Other important things must be added to the anointing. In the passage in Luke 16:1–9, the Lord Jesus Christ alerts us to the need to think in this efficient, specific, strategic, planning-oriented way to which I am referring.

It is the familiar passage about the unfaithful steward. You know the story: this steward—an employee of a corporation, let us say—is discovered cheating his boss, illicitly taking money from the company’s funds. He knows he has been discovered; he knows that he can expect to be fired or thrown in jail. And so what does he do? In light of his present situation, he begins to think, “What am I going to do?” Then he says, “What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I cannot dig, and I am ashamed to beg. Ah, I know what I will do, so that when the stewardship is taken away from me, the rich and powerful will receive me into their homes.” And calling in each of his master’s debtors, he said to the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He said, “A hundred barrels of oil.” And he told him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.” Then he said to another, “And how much do you owe?” And he said, “A hundred measures of wheat.” He told him, “Take your bill and write eighty.” Look at the reaction here, then: it is Jesus Christ, implicitly through the master, praising this man. And what did he praise? The master praised the wicked steward because he had acted shrewdly.

In fact, the word “shrewdly” is fronismos, from which come the words “frenetic,” “phrenology,” and “frenzy.” It is a very interesting word; it refers to the nervous system, to the brain. When it says “shrewdly”—and it is interesting that the Bible uses that word, sofronismos, for example, or sofronen—it refers to something like a scientific way of looking at things. For example, where it says, “Let no one think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but let him think of himself with sound judgment.” The word “sound judgment” is that word, sofronen, which refers, as it were, to the brain. That is, the very electronic structure, the nervous and neurological structure of the human being. It does not refer so much to wisdom, understanding, or intuition. It refers to something like a specific, scientific, systemic way of thinking.

“…The master praised the wicked steward because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age…”

Everyone say, “This age.” What does that mean? The people of the culture, of time and space, people immersed in the world, people who think only about the here and now, people who live solely for this world and are not concerned about eternity.

“…the children of this age are shrewder…”—again, the word “shrewd,” the same word, sofronen or fronismos—“…in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light…”

Who are the children of light? You know: us.

“…And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous riches, so that when these fail, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings…”

That reference to unrighteous riches is interesting. I would say that, to me, unrighteous riches are precisely all the things this world provides: technology and its way of thinking. We have to learn to use the tools of this world, sanctify them, and use them to advance the Kingdom of God. That is very important: unrighteous riches.

God always takes men like Moses, puts them in Egypt—an impure, pagan, worldly system—trains them, then takes them out, puts them in the desert for forty years to cool down, and afterward sets them to do what they have to do.

He trains Paul in the Pharisaic world, with all its theological, structural, organized ways of thinking—a highly developed university—and then takes him out, knocks him off his horse, makes him blind for a time, baptizes him with the Holy Spirit, puts him away from everything for a few years to cool down, and then calls Paul and Barnabas apart “for the work for which I have appointed them.” He then sends him on one of the most powerful missions in the whole world: to develop His church and develop the church’s theological system—two-thirds of the New Testament. But first He places him in the opposing world, imbues him, fills him, injects him with certain characteristics that are not found in the world of the spirit, and then the Spirit enters him and takes him out.

So that is the idea of unrighteous riches. What do we see here, brothers and sisters? The Lord alerts us to the need to think in a certain way. The Lord does not praise the unfaithful servant for his malice—understand me—He does not praise him for his dishonesty. No, He praises him for his way of thinking. What did this man do? He looked at his reality soberly; he analyzed it soberly, plainly, realistically. He did not say, “Ah, well, perhaps my master will forgive me.” No, he said, “Hey, I am in trouble; they are going to throw me out.”

He did not idealize; he saw reality as it was. He saw his situation. He evaluated his alternatives: I can’t dig; I don’t have the muscles. If I go work in construction, they’ll destroy me. Begging—I don’t even know how to do it; I am a man who thinks so highly of himself that I could not do it. He evaluated alternatives. Then, ah, he said, he determined where his strength lay. My strength lies in my shrewdness, my ability to plan, my mind. So what did he do? He determined a specific plan of action. Ah, I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to do this.

He wrote down, possibly on his computer, four different things. He analyzed, looked at his corporation’s records, and then called; he took his Rolodex, looked at his contact list on his iPhone, and determined a specific plan of action. He executed his plan intelligently. Execution is one of the hallmarks of this way of thinking. I see a lot of people who tell me, “Pastor, it would be so good to do this.” And they have some brilliant plans. I tell them, “Well then, carry it out.” I know people who are geniuses at strategizing, thinking, and conceiving things, but put them to work executing; tell them, “I’ll meet you here tomorrow at five in the afternoon”… “Ah, no, I don’t have time; I’m too tired”… They give you some story and do not show up. Or they go once or twice, and that is where it all ends. Or they conceive some great ideas, some great strategies; they go three or four times, but when things get difficult, that is where it all stops. They do not execute. Execution is one of the greatest hallmarks of leadership.

Do not come to me with tremendous speeches, or poems, or great displays of personal energy. I want to see whether, when the dust settles, you are still there. I adore people who have spent 20 years in the church, serving and working, come rain, thunder, or wind, whether they are recognized or not, whether people kiss their hand or not. They are there, steadfast, steadfast. Execution. He executed his plan; he carried it out.

He thought about the future, he thought long-term, and he was specific in his decisions. Above all, he thought lucidly, specifically, soberly, coolly. He planned and carried out a strategy.

That mindset, that way of behaving, that way of proceeding, was what the Lord said this man should be praised for. Let us not praise him for his lack of honesty, but let us praise him for his way of acting, of proceeding in life, of responding to a challenge, a crisis, a task, a situation.

It is that kind of mindset, brothers and sisters, that kind of systematic mindset, of small actions placed exactly where they need to be placed—sticks of dynamite positioned where the rock will split—that we must adopt as a church, as Christians, as servants, as leaders of different ministries. It would take too much time to describe every aspect of this mindset to which I am referring. I am simply sort of outlining it, putting little dots around it, as I say.

Interestingly, Jesus says something here that is very revealing. He says that this mindset of efficiency, detail, planning, specificity, and strategy is characteristic of whom? Of the children of this age. The secular person, rational, nonspiritual people, those who are immersed in time and space, in the world, not in eternity—here, their lives depend on this world, on temporal affairs, not spiritual ones. The children of God, the believers, the anointed, the children of light.

The Lord says that those who are shrewd in their dealings with their fellow human beings, those who know how to get things done, those who carry out life’s great tasks, are not the evangelicals, they are not the Pentecostals filled with the Holy Spirit and the gifts of God’s anointing. No, they are the unbelievers, the pagans, those who are out there in the world. And that is like an indictment, as they say in English; it is an accusation against us from the Son of God. I believe the Lord said it with a sense of irony and profound sadness.

Revealingly, the Lord draws this parable from the business world. It is a parable that develops a financial situation. It is that business world, the corporate world, that best represents this mindset of planning, specificity, and strategy—to a certain extent; I criticize that world a great deal and believe it is not as efficient as it thinks it is. But in one sense it is, which is why the Lord always uses business situations to illustrate these kinds of things.

That is the world that controls all the other worlds of culture. It is the corporate world; it has always been that way, including the military, governmental, cultural, scientific, and academic worlds. Think of someone like Bill Gates, with his multibillion-dollar philanthropy, The Gates Foundation, I believe it is called. Think of Warren Buffett, who also gave billions of dollars to that Bill Gates foundation and plans to give all his money to that philanthropy when he dies. Think of Richard Branson. If you think about those great philanthropic organizations today—the Rockefeller Foundation, The Ford Foundation—where do they come from? From the world of businesspeople.

Think about the sixteenth century, the Renaissance, the Medici. Who made people like Michelangelo and Raphael and others possible? Who is ultimately responsible for the great development of culture in sixteenth-century Italy, during the Renaissance? The great merchants who also had the idea, “Okay, I am going to use my money to develop culture.” It has always been that way.

But it is money that controls everything else: philanthropy, universities, the cultural world—everything comes from there, from money.

So the business world’s operational mindset, the mindset they use to carry out their operations, gives all those other things access to that world of money. That mindset used by the corporate world, in turn, gives it access, power, and control over all the other worlds of culture.

So the conclusion is this: we conclude, brothers and sisters, that it is not money that gives power. Some people say, “Oh, whoever has money has power.” No. What gives power is the way of thinking and operating; it is the modus operandi, the methodology, that provides access to money.

If you have the methodology and the modus operandi, that paradigm to which I am referring, you can potentially gain access to all the other things. What truly produces power, control, and influence is a way of operating, a way of approaching the situations of life.

Wherever that way of thinking resides, wherever you find it, there you will find power, influence, excellence, effectiveness, impact, and control. Wherever that way of thinking exists—in any group, any institution, any long-term social, cultural, or political movement—wherever that way of thinking resides, there you will see progress, effectiveness, and achievements.

Now, this truth that I am outlining here is eminently applicable to the Kingdom of Heaven. God wants His Church, with a capital C, and His church, with a lowercase c, here at Lion of Judah, to learn and cultivate this way of thinking and apply itself to it—this is important—without neglecting the dimension of the Spirit. Because if we neglect it, then we are lost.

No, I am not referring to one thing or the other, but to one thing and the other. That way of acting and working is not comfortable or natural for us—what I was referring to a moment ago—because it is in apparent conflict. Please say, “Apparent.”

That mindset I am outlining—strategic, intellectual, scientific, whatever you want to call it—is not comfortable for us because we believe, or it is in apparent conflict with, another mindset to which the Word also calls us. I would call that other mindset a supernatural mindset or a spiritual mindset. That is another kind of mindset. And we think—we instinctively feel—that there is a contradiction, and so that is why… We are uncomfortable thinking in that way because we feel that the supernatural or spiritual mindset to which we subscribe as believers, and especially as charismatic Pentecostals, conflicts with the other one I have just described.

That supernatural mindset I am describing depends not on reason, nor on the effort to which I am referring, which is important, nor on intelligence or strategy, but on what? On spiritual resources, on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, anointing, prayer, fasting, holiness, divine intervention, praise. See? So, on the one hand, I am saying, “No, you have to make an effort, study, plan, exercise discipline, execute.” And then the supernatural mindset tells you, “No, you have to… I raise my hands when I have a thousand problems…” And then the anointing comes, and you move forward and sail on wings of blessing, et cetera, and the solution comes. You see?

That supernatural mindset seems to compete with that other mindset of systematic effort, the repetition of small things, persistence, and the accumulation of pressure upon a reality until it explodes. On the one hand, it says, “No, no, commit your cause to the Lord, and He will prosper you.” Then others tell you, “No, work hard, make an effort, get to work.”

A classic text concerning this is Zechariah, chapter 4, verse 6. I would say that it is the classic text for this kind of mindset, where it says:

“…then he answered and spoke to me, saying, ‘This is the word of the Lord concerning Zerubbabel, which says: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts…’”

Do you see the supernatural mindset? It is not through strategy, it is not through technological systems, it is not through computers or iPhones; it is through My Spirit. So fill yourself with My Spirit, and you will succeed in life and do the things you need to do. Pray a great deal, and you will succeed. That is the supernatural mindset. It is the mindset found in Marcos Barrientos’s chorus, “It is not by might nor power.”

It says, “…it is not by might nor power, but by His Holy Spirit; the weapons of warfare are not of this world, they are mighty in God…”

Notice: “…they are not of this world, they are mighty in God. The power of His love is the greatest force; worshiping Christ in unity, His truth gives us victory in His name…”

It is not what you do, but aligning yourself with God’s strength, God’s truth—that is what gives you… So you see the apparent contradiction. On the one hand, Christ essentially tells us, “Proceed and think like the children of this world,” and on the other hand He tells us, “Your souls are not of this world.” So, do you see the contradiction?

We subconsciously identify that apparent structural contradiction and resist it because we naturally identify more closely with the world of the Spirit. And so, when they tell us, “No, learn English, learn to use a computer, learn to use email, travel to Europe if you want to be a great musician, a great artist; immerse yourself in the culture of centuries ago and learn. Sing a hymn there that seems not to say very much but has anointing, rather than a chorus with 5 drums and 7 saxophones.” So there is a structural struggle there.

That is why we do not see more cultivation of that strategic, business, entrepreneurial mindset that the Lord and all of Scripture recommend we adopt. Secretly, unconsciously, we children of God, saturated with the supernatural paradigm, resist it because we are more interested in the supernatural, miraculous mindset.

Ironically, brothers and sisters, and this is very important, that is why today, in the modern world, the church of Jesus Christ operates on the margins of power and influence, in a world parallel to but separate from the world where the spoils are divided, where the great decisions are made.

Obama makes his decisions and does not care what evangelicals think; he manipulates them and prepares, as he does—forgive me if you… I would say the same thing about other people; I am not… but that is the truth… The people of this world, Kerry or whoever it may be, Obama, prepare themselves decades in advance, when they are at Harvard, in those places, and they say, “I could become president. Ah, but I need to appear evangelical because without the evangelical or African American vote, I am not going to make it.” Then one day they convert somewhere along the way, they see the light—forgive me if I… I am among trusted people here. They prepare their résumé, attend a church for a while, and when the time comes to run for president, they already have their evangelical membership card. But when they come to power, they forget everything they promised us. They manipulate us because they think strategically.

We are there saying, “Oh, our savior,” looking for any reason to vote for him: “Ah, well, he is evangelical; at least he says he is evangelical.” Where are his attitude, his position, his driving force? That world manipulates us, but it does not… They do whatever they please. Universities pay no attention to what evangelicals think or want.

We produce—we have an entire film industry, a book industry; we have more bestsellers than the secular world; we have better artists than the secular world—but we make no impact. We live in a parallel world.

That is what intrigued me about that book—which, by the way, I highly recommend to everyone who can read it, not so that you will believe it, but so that you can critique it effectively—“To Change the Culture.” I referred to it recently; it is by James Davison Hunter. It is a very interesting book; that is precisely what he says. Now, his conclusion is that, for that reason, we should not try to change the culture. Personally, that conclusion seems diabolical to me. And the sophisticated, intellectual evangelical world is moving more and more in that direction. But I believe that we need to understand how complex it is to change the culture and then operate accordingly.

The fact is that we evangelicals move within a parallel world. We do not affect the worlds of business, politics, culture, intellectual life, the social sciences, or the hard sciences, because we have not learned to use the strategy that the Lord—and indeed all of Scripture—recommends that we adopt. Secretly and unconsciously, the children of God who are saturated with the supernatural paradigm resist it for that reason. And that is why we find ourselves in that parallel world, but separated and isolated from the world of power, influence, and excellence in science, literature, business, government, finance, and law.

What we do is throw stones at them over the fence they have erected. We throw stones at them, criticize them, rail against them, establish evangelical universities, develop an evangelical publishing industry, produce evangelical bestsellers, make evangelical movies, and have some evangelical leaders in positions of influence, as well as evangelical foundations and think tanks; but we do not affect the world where the decisions are made—the world that determines wars, the distribution of goods, and culture. We do not affect it because we have not learned to use that mindset.

We produce many things, many cultural objects, but we do not penetrate the elite world where the great decisions are made. That world is reserved for secular man, who practically has a monopoly on that strategic way of thinking.

In fact, brothers and sisters, I dare say that until the Church of Jesus Christ and the servants of God cultivate and learn to employ this kind of thinking and operating, we will not succeed in conquering the world for Christ, developing churches of excellence, producing outstanding leaders, or producing influential thinkers. We will not succeed in influencing culture and discipling the nations as Christ has commissioned us to do. To accomplish that, we need to learn to exercise this kind of thinking in our individual, personal lives as well as in our involvement in any area of ministry.

Now, at this point in my presentation, the logical thing would be to describe in greater detail, point by point, what that strategic, entrepreneurial mindset consists of and what specific elements make it up. But that would actually require a second lecture. What I want to do here is simply sketch its contours and describe it broadly, from a bird’s-eye view; the next step would be to go into detail about it, perhaps at another time.

I am going to take another text from Scripture, one very close to the first, to demonstrate, number one, the biblical basis of my point of view—I want to shore that up so that you can embrace it; how biblical what I am saying is. Number two, how urgent it is for us to learn to think this way; and number three, how necessary this mindset is if we are to conquer the world as God wants us to do at this strategic moment in history.

Turn to Luke 19, where we have the parable of another useless servant, as well as faithful and useful servants, which illustrates the importance of the entrepreneurial, strategic mindset for conquering the world. Here we have another text that says:

“…As they heard these things, Jesus went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear immediately…”

The disciples believed that the Kingdom of God was about to come, that God was going to install it, that a great platform—a flying saucer—with everything needed would descend, and the Kingdom of God would be installed on earth overnight. And the Lord said, no, that is not how it works, my brothers; you have to roll up your sleeves, you have to sweat, you have to get to work, you have to establish systems, develop governments and strategies, train leaders, establish institutes, schools, and seminaries, write great books, and set about leavening the whole batch of dough. It is not simply that Christ comes and everything is instantly ready. No, there is a task to be done. They thought it was going to happen that way, but no, that is not how it works. So he gave them a parable for that purpose and said:

“…A man went to a house—a nobleman, Christ, went to a distant country to receive a kingdom and return—and he called ten of his servants—put employees, ministers, religious leaders there—gave them ten minas…—put gifts, talents, and abilities there—and told them, ‘Do business…’—that word is very important. This passage hinges on two things: key words and an atmosphere that develops—‘Do business until I come…’—that is the way to operate: doing business—‘but his fellow citizens hated him,’ etc.…

“…Then it says that when he returned after receiving the kingdom—put the Second Coming there—he ordered those servants to whom he had given the money to be summoned before him…—put the judgment there, which is not for salvation but to see what you did with your money, what you did with the gifts I gave you, how you used your time, and how you used the resources I placed within you—‘to find out what each one had gained by doing business…’—doing business, the same word again.

“…The first came and said, ‘Lord, your mina has earned ten minas…’ You know the story: each one told him, ‘I produced a return on what you gave me; I multiplied it fivefold, tenfold, onefold.’ There was one who said, ‘Lord, I was afraid; I thought too much about the consequences. I did not use my talents. I was afraid of you. And I allowed myself to be ruled by emotion and fear; I did not think strategically.’ And the owner of the firm says to him, ‘Stupid! Why didn’t you at least put the money in a bank so it could earn me one percent? I do not know how much it pays nowadays; one percent is very little, but at least it would not have been hidden under the mattress. Why didn’t you think at least a tiny bit like a businessman?’

Notice that the parable refers to the Church’s activity in the world while Christ is coming for the second time. The context here is eschatological. Notice also the atmosphere and tone of the business world, the military world, and the organizational world found in this parable. I give you this, line you up, tell you what you must do, and delegate authority and responsibility to you; after a while I return, and I want you to give me a report on how much you earned. A clear business mindset has been established.

Notice that there are specific orders; performance without excuses is expected, profit is expected, and efficiency in the way one operates is expected. Here we see principles such as decentralization, delegation, vision, organization, long-term thinking, and so on. There is not much sentimentality—pray, seek God’s anointing, declare the blessing of the Holy Spirit, and then come and do what you have to do. No, get down to work. There is not much sentimentality, spirituality, or mercy in this parable. What we find instead is sobriety, efficiency, planning, business, and strategy. It is the mindset of the business world.

In the context of this culture, Christ has told us, “Conquer it for me. I give you gifts; use them for a purpose.” The Lord does not want excuses; what the Lord wants is performance. Do not come to me with sad stories about your ministry. This got left behind; I forgot that; the people are difficult. No, no—execute, do it; that is your problem. Ask yourself why it is not working. Do not blame others. Look inward and find a solution. That is the atmosphere here.

The key to this parable lies in the word “do business.” It is the word pragmateusase, a word I love: pragmateusase, from which come the words pragmatic, practical, pragmatism, and praxis. It refers to the business world and to repeated, systematic, persistent, disciplined, meticulous, and specific action undertaken to obtain clear, measurable, predetermined results, as is done in the world of secular institutions, finance, and business. That word pragmateusase is the word translated “do business.”

In other words, work systematically until I return. Work with a corporate mindset; work by thinking specifically and pragmatically; be pragmatic. Why are we here today? Precisely—we are not here to… We had a time of prayer because it is important, but the point is for you to roll up your sleeves and work hard, even tediously.

In fact, one of the great hallmarks is the ability to discipline one’s emotions and work on things that are small and boring but important. That characterizes human action in its strategic mode.

The work of the universal Church, as well as that of each congregation and each male or female servant in his or her personal and ministerial life, must be conducted with that same mindset and according to that same pragmatic methodology.

And as I conclude, I am going to take just one more example from Scripture to break down some of the constituent elements. I cannot cover them all, but I now want us to do a tiny, minuscule case study of some of the constituent elements of this kind of mindset, because I want to leave it planted there in your spirit and your mind: how that strategic, entrepreneurial mindset works in reality, how it performs in reality. Let us turn to Nehemiah, chapter 2, verses 4 through 16.

To me, Nehemiah is the classic scriptural example of the strategic thinker, the scientific leader, the leader who sets a goal and carries it out. The entire Book of Nehemiah is a book you should read and drink in. Do not study it so much up here; instead, let Nehemiah get inside you and possess you.

Now look at what we see here. One day Nehemiah is reading the newspaper on the internet and discovers on NPR or The New York Times website that there is tremendous destruction in Jerusalem: the walls are destroyed, the people are living in disgrace, there are no defenses, prestige—all of that was implicated in the destruction of the walls—the economy is a disaster, and the people are demoralized. And he understands: if I build the walls—the walls are for protection—we can develop the city, because once the people have the walls, they will move to Jerusalem. He understands that prestige is implicated in this. I believe all these things were in Nehemiah’s mind.

Why did he concentrate on the walls? Because the walls were essential; they were the pivoting point, the point of leverage. That particular intervention would make many other interventions possible, because Nehemiah is a strategic thinker, and that is why he thinks. So what does he do? We know the story: he prays, because always—I mean, there is no competition with the supernatural—he fasts, seeks God’s anointing, seeks clarity, cries out to the Lord, lays himself bare before God, and then dries his eyes, takes a good bath, and now knows what he has to do. Then he goes before the king and says, “Lord, open a door for me.” And one day he is there, looking a little gaunt; who knows whether he himself put on a little gray powder to look gaunt, to see whether the king would ask me what I need to do. Then verse 4 says:

“…The king said to me…”—after he says to him, “Hey, what is wrong with you? Are you sad? Are you sick?”—“…the king said to me, ‘What are you asking for?’”

Do you see how the world thinks? It says, “Well, all right, you look bad, but what do you need? What can I do? How are we going to solve this problem?”

“…‘What are you asking for?’…”—that is how secular man thinks—“…then for an instant he prayed…”

I believe that in half a second Nehemiah said, “Lord, wow, this is the moment. What do I do?” He did not say, “King, I will come back tomorrow and tell you….” No, he had already thought it through; he had already strategized. All he said was, “Lord, I entrust myself to you.” Period. When you pray, when you live an anointed life, you do not need to be so spiritual. The anointing is within you; it comes out through your pores.

I believe that the more spiritual you are, the less spiritual you appear. The more supernatural you are, the less you have to depend on “thus says the Lord” and on angels speaking to you, because the anointing and revelation are within you, and you live the anointing; you are prophetic. Your mind is sanctified; your mind is permeated by the paradigms and thought patterns of Scripture. You read continually; the life of Scripture has entered you and unfolded within you. You do not appear very spiritual, but you are a spiritual ninja. You have some little throwing stars there that you hurl at the giant and destroy him. The others walk around with huge bazookas, so they are identified, shot, and immediately neutralized.

Spiritual people do not appear spiritual, because they manifest their spirituality where it counts. So Nehemiah is there, entrusts himself to God, and then says to the king:

“…If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, and I will rebuild it…”

That is Nehemiah’s mission-vision statement. I want to go to Jerusalem, and I want to rebuild it, period. A very, very clear vision.

“… Then the king said to me—and this is interesting about Nehemiah’s mindset—… and the queen was sitting beside him….”

Why does it say that? Because Nehemiah is a man who thinks. The book of Nehemiah is very detail-oriented. That detail about the queen sitting beside him sets the scene for me exactly, because he loves details. He is very specific in his manner. That is what convinces me that this is a true and real book. It is very detail-oriented. And then it says:

“…. And then the king said to me, how long will your journey be, and when will you return?...”

The king wants to know—write this down for me—he says that he is leaving on June 20 and returning on September 10. I want you here that day. How long will your journey be? Not, well, all right… go over there and then do whatever work you can, and then come back whenever you can. No: how long will your journey be, and when will you return?

“…. And it pleased the king to send me, after I had given him a time….”

Now notice this: “… moreover I said to the king, if it pleases the king, number one, let letters be given to me for the governors beyond the river, so that they may grant me passage; and a letter for Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates and for the wall of the city and the house in which I will stay….”

This man had thought of everything: details, the governmental and legal aspects, the permits I need, the house where I am going to stay, the timber he needs. I think he also slipped in there, give me nails and tools, all of that. Resources. He thought about all these things. And then he went to work, and the last thing is interesting, that scene from verse 11 onward.

He arrives in Jerusalem, and after being there for 3 days… what for? To rest, relax, recover from the destructive journey that those trips were, from where he had set out for Jerusalem. He recovers because time for rest is needed. The strategic mindset thinks through and factors in all those things: family life, devotional life, married life, if he has one, or whatever it may be. He develops all of that, thinks it through, and then:

“… I arose in the night…”—one night he quietly gets up and takes along a group of close associates, strategic people, his closest leaders. “… and a few men with me, and I told no one what God had put in my heart to do in Jerusalem….”

The strategic mindset first conceives things, plans them, lets them mature within, and then begins to release them at the appropriate times.

“…. Nor was there any mount with me except the one on which I rode,” and then Nehemiah conducts strategic reconnaissance; he walks. He does not depend on his imagination or on prayer. No, he wants to kick the tires. He wants to kick the tires to see whether they work before buying the car. So he goes, analyzes, visits this site, and takes note. Ah, look, here are these walls. Wall A, B, C, D, 1, D2, 5, 3, what do I know? He develops a strategic vision. He sees reality, identifies it, and puts labels on it.

“… and I went out by night through the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Well and the Dung Gate; I observed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates, which had been consumed. Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the mount on which I rode to pass. And I went up by night along the brook, observed the wall, turned back, and entered through the….”

Why does this matter to us? He is a specific, strategic thinker. He gives details. He took note of all these things. He has to go to those places and see what is happening. Then finally, in verse 17, after conducting his reconnaissance, taking his notes, seeing reality, and developing a strategy, he goes to the people—he goes to those who have the money, the resources, the bodies to do the work—gives them a report, instills vision in them, and tells them what is happening. He diagnoses their reality for them and says, we are in disgrace. Look at how he speaks to them:

“… I said to them: You see the trouble we are in, that Jerusalem lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire. Come, and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer be in disgrace. Then I told them how the hand of God had….”

He instills hope in them. He tells them, I am not just anybody; I have the king’s authority, I have his permission, I have his commission.

“… And they said, let us rise up and build….”

He has the solution because he used a strategic, systematic way of thinking; he brought the people together, and his leadership inspired the others.

We have to develop the ability to inspire others with our vision, tell them clear, specific things, and remain committed to it. And that then gave him the success he needed.

Read chapter 3 afterward—I do not have time—and you will see how the tasks were divided. This group took this section of the wall; this other group took another section; this other group took another section. There was opposition, there were difficulties, because every great project has difficulties, opposition, unexpected things, bitter experiences. There were people who persecuted them and wanted to destroy their anointing, but at every moment he always did what he had to do.

I conclude. Stand up, and time is already… give me 10 seconds. Stand up for just a moment. Conclusion: in the complex and challenging world in which we live, dominated by technology, knowledge, multiculturalism, and fierce competition, we Christians need, as never before, the skills and knowledge that will enable us to develop lives and ministries marked by excellence, efficiency, and productivity.

This is key: we are required to cultivate a kind of mindset that does not come naturally to us but is absolutely essential if we want to set up machinery that will conquer the world for Christ. That strategic, specific, and scientific mindset does not contradict the supernatural mindset. Rather, it complements and enriches it. We must study what that way of thinking and operating consists of. We must determine what its constituent components are and launch ourselves into cultivating it day by day.

Finally, we must make it a philosophy of life, a personal vision that determines every one of our actions and decisions each day of our lives. May the Lord bless you.