office politics

Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who 
trains my hands for war, my fingers 
for battle. 
Psalm 144:1

I have a very strong personality. I’m a fixer and a doer. I’m a creative problem solver. So, for me to sit back and let God take control or direct me has been one of my greatest challenges. A few years ago, I was working in a school counseling office. There were two of us with essentially the same job. When my co-worker left for greener pastures, we hired a new, young woman as her replacement. She was fun and interesting. And then she stopped showing up on time for work. And at times not at all. Then she started spending what time she was in the office on personal phone calls or social media. The bulk of the work fell on me to accomplish.

I jumped into fix it mode. Trying to help her figure out a better work style. Talking with our supervisor about how to discipline her. Each morning as I headed into work, I created all the conversations I wish I could actually have with her. I became angry and bitter. I might or might not even jokingly asked God to take her out with a bus.

Fortunately, my faith was maturing. One morning during my commute, the Holy Spirit whispered to me: “This battle needs a different approach. Try praying FOR her.” And so, I did. For one week, every morning I prayed that God would intervene in her life to help her be more successful at work. And that whatever was happening in her home life would not deter her from doing a good job.

And after one week she stopped showing up completely. Two weeks later it was determined she had “abandoned” her job. Essentially, she had fired herself. And in the next hiring process I was able to recommend someone else who was amazing!

He is my loving God and my fortress, 
my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, 
in whom I take refuge, who subdues 
people under me. 
Psalm 144:2

You see, I was fighting the battle all wrong. I focused on myself rather than God. It was an in-your-face lesson delivered by the Holy Spirit.

Since then, I have faced other battles. I’m remembering to pray before I enter the battlefield for God to direct me and protect me. Because I recognize that I can be a bull in a china shop with my “Miz Fixit” personality.

“When I release my weaknesses and blind spots to God, He uses them to help me grow up spiritually.”
Crystal McDowell

I love the visual from 1 Peter 1:13 to “gird your loins.” The saying comes from the concept of tucking your tunic up into your belt so that it doesn’t get in the way while running.

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, 
be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the 
grace that is to be brought to you at the 
revelation of Jesus Christ; 
1 Peter 1:13

And in this verse, it specifically reminds us to pull our thoughts together and have a disciplined mind so we can rest our thoughts on the grace of the returning Christ. We escape from the perils of the worldly mind – trying to fix everything ourselves — with the teaching and guiding hand of God.

Before we make that difficult phone call, head into that important meeting, sit down with the wayward family member we need to “gird our loins” and seek God’s battle plan. Stand confident in prayer and listen to what He really wants you to say or do. For me, He reminds me I need to be silent at times and let Him do His good work.

Most of us are “can do” people. And when it comes to conflict or issues in our lives we so often want to take back command of the battle. But like Joshua before us we need to be fired up and bold in our faith that He will be our deliverer.

Lesson #13: To win a battle you first need to identify your adversary.

For certain individuals whose condemnation 
was written aboutlong ago have secretly 
slipped in among you. They are ungodly 
people, who pervert the grace of our God 
into a license for immorality and deny 
Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. 
Jude 1:4

About 10 years after I started at my first professional job out of college, I decided I needed a new experience. So, I accepted a job at one of our vendors. I was worried that I wasn’t as experienced as the other professional staff because I had only worked at one job. But almost instantly I was able to identify the warring factions.

You see, the fire I went through starting a new public relations and marketing department at the age of 21 prepared me in more ways than I had realized. While others at my new company struggled with office politics I already knew how to work around the “up, in your face, dragon lady” and the “she speaks sweetly to your face and then stabs you in the back.” These two women were powerful forces who worked solely for their benefit and at the expense of others. Had I not quickly assessed the situation I would’ve been tossed about in turmoil like the rest of the staff.

They are wild waves of the sea, 
foaming up their shame; wandering 
stars, for whom blackest darkness 
has been reserved forever. 
Jude 1:13

A number of the letters written by Jesus’ disciples include warnings to churches about the enemies within their midst. It’s appropriate that our next mini-letter, written by our LORD’s half-brother Jude, is a call to arms against the infiltrators. Why? Because it also is the last book before Revelation. It’s almost a final warning to secure the gates, gather the brethren, and stand strong against the enemy before Christ comes.

These people are blemishes at your 
love feasts, eating with you without 
the slightest qualm—shepherds who 
feed only themselves. They are clouds 
without rain, blown along by the wind; 
autumn trees, without fruit and 
uprooted—twice dead. 
Jude 1:12

So how, as Christians, are we to discern who the “blemishes” are in our churches and protect our hearts and minds from them?

Let’s first state that every false teacher, every apostate comes from Satan. He is the enemy. As the Great Liar, Satan has plenty of fodder to create chaos in our midst. When our motivations stem from fame or popularity, greed, lust, and more, Satan is quite happy to make us like yeast — using us to spread his lies about God and Jesus.

I am currently looking for a new church. But I’m going about it much differently than in the past. For the first time I’ll be able to truly evaluate whether the teachings of a church are biblically based. It’s amazing how what God has led us through in our lives always serves to prepare us for the next trial. I could never had known that starting a small Bible study over a year ago would be one of my greatest weapons against falling prey to apostasy.

apostasy ^[^uh^–^pos^-t^uh^{-see ]}
a total desertion of or departure from one’s religion, principles, party, cause, etc.

When I first started going to church, we selected the church of my husband’s family. I trusted my in-laws’ choice and therefore felt comfortable with attending the same denomination. As for the theological ins-and-outs, I really didn’t understand them or care to know much about the details.

And there lies the dangers. Satan loves when we are ignorant about God. Sometimes we take more effort dissecting the ingredients in our cereal than what is taught to us from a pulpit. We think, “Hey, they’ve got training and approval from someone higher up so they must know what they’re talking about.” And for the most part that’s probably true. But there’s plenty of churches that have few ties to standard, accepted, religious teaching. There are also all the authors, TV and radio preachers, podcasters, Instagrammers, and yes, bloggers.

Dear friends, do not believe every 
spirit, but test the spirits to see 
whether they are from God, because 
many false prophets have gone out 
into the world. 
1 John: 4:1

My younger daughter was mentoring a new, young member of her church. This young woman was distraught and thought she had failed God. Why? Because she couldn’t speak in tongues. Her church, in which she had grown up, taught that every single person who truly is a follower of Jesus speaks in tongues. In one short conversation based on scripture this woman’s life was changed. Because of the truth of the Bible.

My parents are in their 80s. I find that when they speak to their doctor, they treat what he says with almost reverence. They don’t question a word any doctor says. I keep telling them that doctors are just people. They also don’t always have the best bedside manner. So, questions go unanswered. And fears and missteps with their health abound.

The same is true with faith leaders, be they pastors, priests, elders, deacons, Bible study leaders, famous authors, or church committee members. They are all people. Yes, they may have at some point received a calling but they are still people. And people sin. Some get greedy. Some lie to protect themselves. They all make mistakes. It’s our responsibility as Christians to know the Word of God enough to question if something doesn’t sound right.

The short letter of Jude has an emphasis on sexual immorality and its promoters who have burrowed into our Christian lives. How many of us are willing to say to our pastor search committee that our applicants must not be living with someone outside marriage or can’t be homosexual? In fact, our major denominations have decided neither of those is a “big deal.” And I ask, is that biblically based?

If we want to escape the (Christian) struggle we have but to draw back and accept the currently accepted low-keyed Christian life as the normal one. That is all Satan wants. That will ground our power, stunt our growth and render us harmless to the kingdom of darkness.
A.W. Tozer

The struggle, the battle, the enemy. The Christian life is not a playground. Yes, we have peace in the fact that Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit have our backs. They direct us and empower us. But to truly live a complete Christian life is to face the enemy. We are to be always on watch for those that would twist the Word of God.

It sounds harsh to say but according to the renowned Bible commentator Warren Wiersbe an apostate is not a true believer who has abandoned his salvation. Instead, it is a person who said they accepted the truth but then turned away from the truth.

These are the people who divide you, 
who follow mere natural instincts and 
do not have the Spirit.  
Jude 1:19

As Christians we want to live by Jesus’ admonishment to love one another, especially our brethren. But at the same time, he called out the “den of vipers.” Jesus has never asked us to forgo the truth in the spirit of getting along. Our first steps are to be honest as to who our adversaries are and to acknowledge that Satan is always at work creating chaos. Only then can we pray for direction and preparation for any battles that may ensue.

Tag: office politics

Battle Strategy

Identifying The Enemy