Messiah Culture

The Employee Mentality

Working. Taking on more than you can. Working. Keeping the driven edge going. Working. Slaving. Not fully enjoying. Opposite of child like. Working. Slaving. Maintaining the buzz and hype. Slaving. Building kingdoms that will not last. Slaving. The employee for God mentality.

Don't get me wrong. I love God with all of my heart as many of us do. But I found myself with more of an employee mentality for God.

Working. Slaving. Doing. Filling my time with all kinds of activity that is useless when you realize your an employee.

God does not see any of us as employees. He sees us as Sons and Daughters in his redemptive kingdom. A people who bear his name in the earth. Who set him apart as God to the nations. So that when they look at you, they actually see Him. Now that perspective changes everything.

One that I embrace, cherish and desire to spread like a fire.

So as employee you and I miss the intimacy that the Father's heart desires to pour out on us. Bosses don't usually treat employees like sons and daughters.

As an employee our energy is spend on doing, doing, doing. Sounds very American in nature. We are the Country that gets it done. As a child of God our energy is spent on being, being, being. Being child like. Eyes filled with wonder and awe and we enjoy Pappa. Thankfulness becomes a weapon. Invigorated by His very presence. As a child we learn to emotionally connect with God as a father.

I think about Messiah and all of his mentions of being one with the Father. All of his prayers and teachings that we would also be one with the Father. The Spirit of God leads us to the Son and he leads us to the Father.

We work in the Kingdom. But our work is based out of a new identity as his very own child. He speaks to us revelation and we respond with child like faith, that anything is possible with Pappa.

Moving from employee to son is a process and journey. The Spirit is so amazing and gentle in teaching my fragile soul the importance of connecting with Pappa emotionally. To intimately know Him, made possible by a bloody sacrifice.

So that everything that is action in my life is driven by a deep connection of the very God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. The way that Jesus lived is what he prayed that we would discover by the power of his Spirit.

Being American it is so easy to get sucked into bigger, badder, better mentality. To actually be a slave to busyness. To lose your soul. I think of the Braveheart quote, "All men die but few men really live." To be a child of God is to really live.

So I am moving from darkness to light. From employee to son. It changes everything. The world is viewed from a different perspective. Now since I have entered into relationship with God I have been a son from that moment. But our American culture is ever with us and it lures us into paths that we are not meant to walk down.

So I am learning to be His son and my heart is filled with joy.

Let's change the world together. With Pappa anything is possible, even beyond our imaginations!

Brian

Keeping Your Perspective

Have you ever hit a point of burn out or maybe you been on the brink of it and can sense that there is to much going on all around. I know all to well how this feels.

I have recently hit a period of burn out. Doing to much. Burning the candle at both ends. Allowing myself to be navigated by my own drivenness. Busyness is a drug and one I know all to well.

So my journey once again has brought me to a place of reflection and soul searching.

Why?

Why does drivenness and busyness matter to me? Or what am I masking with the drug of busyness?

These are questions I have been wrestling with for a few weeks now.

I am going to write over the next few blogs concerning some things I have learned in this soul searching time.

None of what I have learned is new. It is all stuff I know of, but now the Spirit is calling me into a deeper relationship. A pathway of intimacy, a trail that leads to really knowing God, not just knowing about him. But this is our journey isn't it. A constant coming alive again and again. Our mind being renewed in the new life. So there is no shame at this point of the journey but there is much to gain from intimacy with God. Jesus said in the book of John that eternal life is knowing God.

So the first thing that I have realized about burnout is that I lost my perspective. Now planting a church is not the easiest thing in the world to do. So on one hand there is a lot to get done but on the other hand their needs to be a leadership team implemented to help carry the load. So I am working on equipping leadership team so that together we can help people move from darkness to light. We have a great team at The Grove! I am working on clarifying the vision and improving our serve.

So in all the busyness, whether you are planting a church, raising a family, running a business, ect.. We all can get carried away and lose our perspective. Lose the very sense of connection and conviction that fuels us.

Coming up in the next few blogs I will be writing about the powerful transformation I am experiencing as I have regained my perspective and some of the built in defaults that God has established in order for us to keep it.

I look forward to connecting and the possible conversation this might spark.

Brian