Rich Kao

E-mail, in my mind, is still the killer app.  Yes, we've got IM, blogs, facebook, twitter, Skype, and more coming down the pike, but e-mail still remains the workhorse king.  It actually helps you get work done, and it actually helps you MANAGE organizations.  I am living proof that virtual organizations work and that the world has indeed become flat, as Thomas Friedman has so eloquently posited. 

Here's my story.  I run five organizations (5S, SCI, CTP, HISG, GH) from my "command central" at home.  I pastor a church, and head four other non-profit organizations.  My church has office space, but they are all taken up by our staff.  So I operate out  my 12 x 15 study (with nice cathedral ceiling and bookshelves).  Between these organizations, I have people working in the US (four different cities - New York, Atlanta, Nashville, Minneapolis) and staff in China (two major cities) and Canada (Vancouver based).  That's operations, administrative, and ministry personnel in seven different cities across the world.  Our working head count is 15 people.   How does this happen?  By e-mail!  I communicate and manage work flow, logistics, ministry responsibilities and projects by e-mail, (followed by the phone, and then by face-to-face meetings).  It's absolutely incredible that in the 21st century we can do this and do it well.  It cuts down on overhead, office space, commutes (it's green), and much, much more.  Course, you don't have the daily face-to-face interaction, but the relationships are maintained by regular phone calls and in person visits. 

It's pretty amazing that organizations can function like this at a distance, with people in separate places; virtually.  And the best part is this is being leveraged for the Kingdom.  This is our new "Roman Roads."  Paul leveraged the roads and trade routes of his day to expand the kingdom, and us modern day servants are doing the same - leveraging the new digital roads for Jesus!

One of the most helpful concepts I've come into in the last few years is the idea of "biblical echo."  If you've never heard this term, it refers to truth / principles / instruction which reflects, or "echos" the bible but is not explicitly stated.

I first heard this concept through EQUIP, a non-profit leadership organization founded by Dr. John Maxwell, who took the business and leadership principles in his plethora of books and "reversed engineered" them to fit in the non-profit, church ministry space.  This sounds bad, like eating from the heathen's table, but in fact, Dr. Maxwell is a fine Christian, and was a very succesful church pastor before he went into speaking and book-writing for corporate America.  He never lost his Christian moorings or convictions, and as a result his writings were all "bible echo" material in the first place.  Thus reverse engineering his books was not about making them something they weren't  but rather letting them go back to their original roots and color.

Fast forward to now.  Since being introduced to this term, I have seen examples of biblical echo all over the place.  So many of the books out there that are successful or effective are in fact thus because they have in them the seeds of the bible.  It resonates with people because it echos the bible, they just don't know it.

Here are some examples from the business world:  Good to Great.  If you can't see the bible being preached in this book, you'd have to be blind.  Jim Collins research so validates the teachings of scripture, it's scary.  No wonder he's become a popular speaker at ministry conferences.  I just reviewed Winning by Jack Welsh.  Again, many of his lessons are bible echo lessons.  From the counseling realm:  Relationship Rescue by Dr. Phil McGraw,  even the Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by famed Nathaiel Branden (clearly not a Christian) have strong bible echos (Branden's book less so, particularly his idea of self-esteem, but how to build self-esteem back resonates with scriptures in many ways).  My posted clip on God's love is another example.  I could go on and on...

Why does this happen, where non-Christian, even heathen authors end up "preaching" the bible without knowing it?  Because they are tapping into the way God created us and the world!  You can't get around it.  It's the ultimate validation of creator God.  In fact, creation is the first "bible echo" picture given to us:  Rom 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made."  This is the ultimate scriptural underpinning for the biblical echo concept.

Then recently I found none other than the great reform theologian John Calvin having penned this in his famous Institutes:

"In reading profane authors, the admirable light of truth displayed in them should remind us that the human mind, however fallen and perverted from its original integrity, is still adorned and invested with admirable gifts from the Creator. If we reflect that the Spirit of God is the only fountain of truth, we will be careful, as we should avoid offering insults to Him, not to reject or condemn truth wherever it appears. In despising the gifts we insult the giver."  (Italics mine)

Amazing insight, which further echoes (no pun intended) what I'm saying here. 

Why do I love biblical echo material? 

Beacuse it expands our ability as ministers to illustrate the wonders of God's truth in every area of human endeavor, thought, writing, enterprise.    Jesus' use of metaphors was in fact a way to echo and reinforce truth.   Biblical echo material also conveys God's truth in a non-religious way, that is refreshing and accessible.  Many times, people trip over religious vocabularly, but use "secular" terminology, and they find it easier to understand.  Our job is to point them to the real truth behind the "truth."

The use of biblical echo material is a skill Christian leaders should employ to expand and enrich their ministries.

After you've lived long enough (I'm getting there), and you've been in ministry long enough (I'm also getting there), by the grace of God, you find / develop / come into some methods for living, doing ministry that actually work and become transferrable.  When you hit that place, there is a great sense of empowerment.   There is a feeling you can actually give something to someone that has value in it.  You can train them, instruct them in the ways that will help them succeed.  I know some people come into this earlier than others, but not me.  I'm a bit more dense, and a bit more self-conscious that I have anything to offer, but then it happens.  Call it time.  Call it rites of passage. Call it  what you may, but you suddenly feel like you pass into a place where you can tell those coming up the ranks, with some degree of confidence, a few things that can help them along the way.  Now mind you, I'm not ready to actually tell you what areas I feel like I can contribute to others,  but some day I will.  In the meantime, I'll keep it  to myself, and just carry a secret grin on the inside.  Bottom line:  I encourage you in this life to cultivate methods, advice, skills you can "own" and pass on to others.  You will feel greatly empowered and your sense of significance will increase proportionately.  We're not here to exist, we're here to give.

The apostle Peter makes this amazing promise:  "If these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless or unfruitful..for as long as you practice thes things you will never stumble."  2 Peter 1:8,10.   

You can't state it much stronger than that.  It's as close to a divine guarantee as you can get.   What are the "qualities" Peter refers to?  They are 8 of them listed in v. 5-7 -- diligence, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

These qualities are the basis of what I call Peter's Path to Discipleship, the "Discipleship Matrix"  or The Disciple's Development Grid.  Here's a visual of how I look at it:

There are a couple important points to note:   1)  These 8 qualities are organized in the sequence just as Peter states them showing how they build upon each other.  2)  These 8 qualities are also organized in a grid to indicate that our growth process may focus on one or more of these at different times, in differing intensities, but it still fits into an overall discipleship "program or system."  They key thing is that we commit this grid to memory and keep them constantly before us as the 8 areas by which, if we nurture them constantly, we will experience spiritual maturity and growth.

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There are two kinds of discipleship:

1. Self-mentoring - "Build yourself up in the most holy faith."  Jude 1:20
2. Assisted mentoring -"You have countless tutors, yet not many fathers."  1 Cor. 4:15

In self-mentoring, we take it upon ourselves to grow our faith through the 3 step process I mentioned in my earlier post MAKING DISCIPLES DEFINED.    In assisted-mentoring, we have someone that helps us along this path.  Of course, ideally, we have both of these two dynamics at work, so that we have as much reinforcement as possible.  There is currently a dearth of spiritual fathers, and a real cry for spiritual mentors.  I believe God is turning this around, but we must not decry this situation and let it be a reason for us to not become vibrant disciples.  Self-mentoring is really being mentored directly by God as we give ourselves to studying the bible, learning to love Him, and walking it out.   And many times, it's those one-on-one with God the father that provides the most lasting lessons.