A Soldier's Story

1 John 1:7, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

I am truly blessed to be part of a fellowship of men who serve in the U.S. military. All are officers representing each branch of the armed services. I am amused that the same ribbing between  the police and fire professions exists between the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines (when they can keep up of course). Our group gathers every Thursday for lunch at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey to talk about a passage from scripture, to share about our journey of faith and to encourage each other as husbands and fathers. For me, it is one of the most connected fellowships of men I have ever experienced.

This blog post is about how the group began. It is a story about what happens when you ask God to grow your faith and to realize that how He answers is never exactly what you expect. This is a story about Chu. 

Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Chu is a man after God's heart. He reads scripture daily, is the father to two young sons and is a committed husband. He attends Shoreline Community Church weekly, sitting in the second row of the stadium seats, stage right. I spotted Chu one particular Sunday when I was singing on the worship team. He was not hard to miss as I looked out at the congregation. He is built like a linebacker and takes up three seats during worship because he extends his arms wide to receive the blessing of music. He totally engages in worship and the Holy Spirit prompted me to introduce myself and invite him to join the choir. 

Shoreline Community Church is a big congregation and it took a few weeks before I was able to move through the crowd and catch up to him. I suppose it was not very fair to my "new friend" that a stranger would walk right up to him after church, introduce himself and say, "I really think you should sing in the church choir!" Chu was understandably caught off guard. His wife was not. She began to laugh and gave him the, "So what are you waiting for?" look.

He turned me down flat.

Jonah 1:3, "But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord."

It is true that he tried to run but not before I found out that he was a student at NPS. The Holy Spirit was not going to take "no" for an answer so I went to Plan B. 

"No problem. I am starting a men's bible study at NPS and you can help me lead the group! When can we get together for lunch?"

It is important to understand that Chu was praying for God to give him an opportunity to get more involved at church. I showed up the day after he knocked on God's door. Like Jonah before him, Chu stopped resisting and agreed to be part of the group. And so what started with two guys meeting for lunch turned into a group of 12 men laughing together at the absurdities of the life, holding each other accountable and walking together as brothers in Christ.

Chu asked, God answered. I was seeking fellowship and I found Chu. Chu knocked, I opened the door.

In two months, Chu will graduate from NPS and along with him Chris, Josh, Ray and Ken. They will leave Monterey and continue their military serve throughout the world to keep us safe and to protect our freedoms. More importantly, they will go out as Christians; men of faith to shine the light in this dark world. My heart is full of sadness that our adventure of faith is going to end. I will continue to pray for them even though we will no longer join together each Thursday at high noon.

Luke 10:1-2, "After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'"

What is God calling you to do? Who is he prompting you to reach out to and fellowship with?

The Second Mile

Everyone has a detractor; a person who works to undermine your efforts. It might be a peer who gossips about you. Bosses who use their influence to impact your career negatively. A partner who takes credit for your work or manipulates circumstances to make you look like the problem. The Bible is filled with stories of people (and groups of people) who stood against men and women of faith.

Ezra (Chapters 3 and 4) chronicles the effort by the Nation of Israel to rebuild the temple of God following the Babylonian captivity. They had a great start and at moment they placed the final stone in the foundation; God’s people made such a loud, joyful noise that is could be heard for miles. Others living in the region were not so joyful. In fact, they went out of their way to make Israel stop the project from completion. “Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (Ezra 4:4-5) They managed to delay the project for 16 years!

Consider Joseph (Genesis 38, 39-41), a man blessed by God and yet sold into slavery by his brothers, accused of sexual assault by Pharaoh’s wife, and left to rot in prison. Joseph would sit in custody for years and yet, in spite of the jealousy and scheming of many, he would later be the number 2 man in Egypt. He would use his management skills to save Egypt, his family and the people of Israel from famine.

Many years ago, I worked for a supervisor who micromanaged and challenged every decision I made. He spun everything to his advantage. If there was a success, it was due to his leadership and skill. If there was a failure, it was someone else’s fault. He was politically savvy and willing to act in his own best interest regardless of how it impacted his rivals or subordinates. The best option for me was to be out of the office but my job required me to work from a desk. To escape this king (notice the lower case k), I made a deal with a local motel owner where drug dealing and other street crimes were the norm. The owner let me set up a room as my office. I could plug into the internet via an Ethernet cable (no Wi-Fi back then) and get stuff done. Call it an early version of a sub-station. I got a place to work in peace and he had a cop car in his parking lot. Criminal activity slowed down in the neighborhood…imagine that.

One toxic leader or co-worker can devastate individuals and teams. The higher they go in an organization, the more negatively that will impact a workplace. It becomes difficult to be positive, to work hard and to do your job when there is little appreciation for what you do. There were times in my professional life when I figured out what I made a minute and watched a clock as a method to cope with a toxic workplace. And yet…

It occurred to me one day that God might be calling me to be that last hope for a toxic co-worker to experience forgiveness and mercy. Jesus makes this crystal clear in Matthew 5:38-42, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

These are very difficult words when the “enemy” is in the next cubicle. A thorn in your side that you interact with 40 hours a week, 160 hours a month, 2,080 hours a year (give or take vacation, sick or holiday time off). God called Moses to stand before Pharaoh, Paul before the Sanhedrin and you before a toxic person at work. One axiom my father always reminded me of when I was frustrated was this, “Your employer owes you a paycheck; you owe your employer a good day’s work.”

If you are in a tough working environment consider this: Your employer owes you a paycheck; you owe your employer a grace day’s work. What is a grace day’s work? It means to do your job not only to exceed the standards and expectations of your position but to do your job beyond what is expected or anticipated even when it’s “just not fair”. It is to be patient and kind; to not be envious; to eliminate pride and boasting about your work; not to be angry or keep a record of wrongs; to protect; to trust; to hope. In this way, you will be a testimony of the grace God gave to you when He died on the cross and for you to become a light in this dark world. It may be that it is your work testimony that leads your boss to salvation.

My God bless you in this New Year and may He show you the wonders of His creation in your workplace.