The Value of a Good Employee

I read today in Dale Dauten's Great Employees Only: How Gifted Bosses Hire and De-Hire Their Way to Success that in regards to hiring employees "One great person equals three good people." This is one of the founding principles of Kip Tindell's The Container Store chain. Following Tindell's logic, you can pay a great employee double and still come out ahead.

This is a reminder to me of the importance of making good hires. 

The Benefits of Boundaries

Through the Bible God shows us how to best enjoy everything he created.

Created thing: sex
Boundaries: to be shared between one man and one woman for life, no sex before marriage and no sex outside of marriage
Penalties for stepping outside the boundaries: emotional scars, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.
Benefit of staying within the boundaries: all the pleasure with none of the pain

Created thing: alcohol
Boundaries: drink in moderation, don't get drunk
Penalties for stepping outside the boundaries: getting arrested, doing something you'll regret for the rest of your life, doing something you might have to pay for for the rest of your life (like a prison sentence), a D.U.I., loss of license, etc.
Benefit of staying within the boundaries: all the pleasure with none of the pain

Created thing: food
Boundaries: eat in moderation, don't be a glutton
Penalties for stepping outside the boundaries: obesity, heart disease, sluggishness, loss of self-confidence, heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc.
Benefit of staying within the boundaries: all the pleasure with none of the pain

I could go on with many more examples, but I think you get the point. So instead of viewing God's commands as restricting your fun, start believing the TRUTH - that God in fact is showing you how to maximize the pleasure and minimize the pain. God created us and He alone knows how we work best.

A fire within the proper boundaries (within a stove or fire pit) can provide warmth, cook a meal, roast a marshmallow or provide a variety of other useful and desirable benefits. But a fire outside the proper boundaries can produce untold destruction and devastation. Everything God has created has the same potential - it can bring joy and pleasure or pain and destruction. A Christian, by faith, accepts that since God created us, he knows best how we ought to live our lives. This leads to submission to God's boundaries in every area of our lives.

If you've been fighting God's boundaries in a certain area of your life (as I often do), why not pray today that God will help you embrace them, respect them, observe and obey them, and even praise God for them? 

What Does the Bible Say About Same Sex Marriage?

President Barack Obama made history with his recent declaration, "It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married." His statement marks the first time a U.S. president has publicly endorsed gay marriage.

Our President may have endorsed same sex marriage, but does God? In this post I want to answer the question: What does the Bible say about same sex marriage?

1. God's plan for marriage is revealed in the Creation Account of Genesis 2

Genesis 2:18-24, The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” The Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

These verses set very clear parameters for marriage: How many people? Two. Which genders? Both - but only one of each. This is the biblical norm and the biblical standard. If there are exceptions that are allowed or encouraged, we ought to find them clearly delineated - but we don’t. Since that’s the case, this foundational passage should remain the controlling Scripture for understanding God’s design for marriage: Marriage was and is intended by God to be shared between one man and one woman for life.

2. God’s plan for marriage is revealed in the gender specific references to marriage throughout the Bible

Ephesians 5:22-25 says, "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..."

Wives = female gender in the Greek
Husbands = male gender in the Greek

Note: Every single reference to marriage in Scripture is gender specific (between a male and a female).

3. God's plan for marriage is revealed in the numerous references to homosexuality in the Bible

In Leviticus, Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Timothy, homosexuality is mentioned in the context of sexual and immoral behavior. The context is quite clear - a variety of behaviors are prohibited. Homosexuality (along with adultery, fornication, and idolatry) is one of them.

Old Testament

Leviticus 18:22, Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.

Leviticus 20:13, If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

New Testament

Romans 1:25-27, They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Timothy 1:9-11, We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

The Bible, in both the Old and New Testament forbids the practice of homosexuality. Therefore, same sex marriage could never and will never be a part of God's plan for our lives.

Note: Some people have pointed out that there are certain teachings from the Old Testament that we no longer follow today and wonder whether or not the forbiddance of homosexuality falls into the category of things that are no longer applicable for us who live today. I can totally understand why people ask this question, but let me explain. Certain commands in the Old Testament are repealed in the New Testament, while others are repeated. We who live today are not responsible to practice those Old Testament commands that have been repealed in the New Testament, but that which was commanded or forbidden in the Old Testament and then again commanded or forbidden in the New Testament, must still be observed. As I've shown you above, the New Testament repeats the forbiddance of homosexuality in the Old Testament. Since the teaching of homosexuality as a sin is repeated and not repealed, it is just as unacceptable in God's sight today as it was back in Old Testament times.

Note: Some people, President Obama included, believe the Golden Rule, which states that we should treat others the way we ourselves would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12), requires them to support a lifestyle the Bible clearly calls sinful. They are mistaken. That's as foolish an application of Matthew 7:12 as was Satan's application of Psalm 91:11-12 (see Matthew 4:6). A homosexual person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. He or she may be acting out a lifestyle which Christians understand to be unbiblical; but so are any of us who practice slander, gossip, heterosexual lust, pride or gluttony. So-called "gay bashing" is always wrong. Any action or attitude which demeans a person or makes them less valuable is the opposite of the grace and unconditional love of Christ. With that said, while the Golden Rule does encourage us to treat everyone with the unconditional love of Christ, it does not encourage us to support a lifestyle the Bible calls sinful. 

Conclusion

The Bible teaches that God's instructions, his commands and prohibitions, were given to us for our good, for our prosperity and our preservation (Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 6:24). By faith Christians trust God that since he made us, he knows how we work best. God's best plan for our lives is spelled out clearly in the Bible, and as it relates to marriage God says that what is best is for one man to be married to one woman for life. For those tempted to practice the homosexual lifestyle or for those in the homosexual lifestyle I think God would say: I love you. I created you. I know the best way you could possibly live your life. Don't settle for anything less than my best. For anyone desiring to come out of the homosexual lifestyle, there is hope. After including homosexuality in a list of sins (1 Corinthians 6:9), Paul told the Corinthians "And that is what some of you were. but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11). The same Jesus that gave new life to people practicing homosexuality back then, is the same Jesus who will give new life to people practicing homosexuality today, if they will turn from their sin and turn to Him.

The Distraction Technique

Today I want to pass along something I learned from pastor and author Joe Dallas on resisting temptation. The distraction technique helps you resist the many visual triggers we all experience every day.

For an alcoholic, this might be a Budweiser commercial on TV, or a billboard advertisement on the highway. For a shopoholic this might be storefront windows at the mall or the QVC channel. Or for someone struggling with a sexual addiction, visual triggers are everywhere.

Regardless of what your specific addiction is, suffice it to say there are endless supply of visual triggers that are designed to entice you (to tempt you), but implementing the distraction technique can help. It’s a simple three-part exercise: shift, breathe, recite (and it will help you build some resisting muscle so you can be strong against temptation).

1. Shift

Our goal is to reduce the triggers in the environments we have control over. But there will be times where we don’t have control over the environment and where we’ll experience triggers, even if we aren’t looking for them. These are opportunities to exercise and workout our resisting muscles. And we do that when we choose to shift our attention and focus quickly on to something other than what is tempting us.

Some of you might push back - what’s the big deal about looking? I thought the rule was “look but don’t touch”? I would reply that looking leads to touching! The Bible calls a second look “entertainment” and teaches that it leads to “indulgence”. Take King David of the Old Testament for example.

2 Samuel 11:1-5, In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army...But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba...the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her... 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” (NIV)

Enticement - David saw a beautiful woman bathing

Entertainment - David sent someone to find out about her

Indulgence - David slept with her

Now, according to Scripture at what stage did David lose the battle? The entertainment stage, right? It’s not a sin to be enticed. And as much as we may try to minimize our enticements, we can never fully avoid them. But the line was crossed when he took that second look, when he began entertaining sleeping with her even though she was not his wife. That had to be an idea in his head before it became a reality in his life. The Bible teaches that entertainment leads to indulgence.

SO THE KEY is to stop temptation at the enticement stage by SHIFTING our attention quickly to something else before we begin to entertain the enticement.

So when you’re hit with a visual trigger, you have to shift visual gears, by refocusing your eyes immediately to something safe. When you do this you are mentally changing the channel. If you’re watching TV and your kids are in the room and something scary comes on, you change the channel quickly, right? Why? Because you want to quickly divert their attention to something else before what they see begins to negatively affect them. Similarly, when we encounter a visual trigger, we want to quickly divert our attention to something else, before the trigger begins to negatively effect us (and before we’re so enticed we begin to entertain). Temptation acts like one of those blood pressure cuffs the nurse uses to check your blood pressure. With every squeeze the grip tightens, right? Similarly, every second you continue looking at whatever is tempting you, temptation's grip tightens. As you know from getting your blood pressure taken, it doesn’t take long for the grip to get real tight.

Jesus alluded to the power of our eyes in Luke 11:34 when he said, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness.” The principle here is that: what you focus on has more impact than you’ve probably realized. This is especially true regarding temptation. You have to look away quickly before you’re unable to break free from temptations grip.

And that’s what “shifting” is all about.

2. Breathe

Isn’t it true that breathing can actually help us regain control? If your kid is crying and can’t be consoled, what do you tell them? Take a deep breath, right? If you’re so angry you're ready to punch someone in the face, a good friend might try to calm you down saying “hey, take a couple deep breaths”. If you've been in a car accident and are frantic and the paramedics arrive, they will instruct you to sit down and take a couple deep breaths. God designed our bodies in a way where breathing can help us regain control. And we should take advantage of this fact when battling our addictions.

3. Recite

The best way to battle temptation is to do it the same way Jesus did. When tempted Jesus fought temptation with Scripture.

While there are a number of verses that could be specifically applied to your specific temptation, let me share a good general verse you could recite when tempted, regardless of what the temptation may be. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” Recite this verse to remind yourself that your temptation doesn’t have to take you because God will always show you a way out.

I want to encourage you to start practicing this technique the next time anything in your environment tempts you. Shift your focus, take a couple deep breaths to regain control and recite some appropriate Scriptures. Every time you do, you are exercising your resisting muscles and strengthening your ability to say no to sin, and yes to God.

Where the Battle is Won

Sin is cyclical (it happens in cycles, in predictable patterns).
First comes enticement - you’re tempted by something that’s appealing to you, and you decide whether or not to entertain the temptation (i.e. you struggle with a food addiction and suddenly and unexpectedly out of nowhere a chocolate glazed donut appears in the break room at work. You immediately begin salivating. You also immediately remember that you are now trying to resist foods like this. Will you resist or indulge? This is the enticement stage). And this is what the apostle James was writing about when he said in James 1:14 “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed...”

Second comes entertainment - you entertain the temptation (i.e. you take a second look at the donut, you smell it, you imagine what it would be like to eat it, you flirt with it by sitting next to it at staff meeting all the while telling yourself you’re not going to actually eat it) The apostle James also spoke of this stage when he said in James 1:15 “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin...”

Finally comes the indulgence stage - you give in by acting on the temptation (i.e. you grab that donut and stuff the whole thing in your mouth all at once. then go in search for more.) The apostle James speaks of this stage too in the second part of James 1:15 saying “and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

The battle against temptation is won at the enticement stage. It is not a sin to be enticed (to be tempted), but the Bible is clear: entertainment leads to indulgence (when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin). Knowing exactly where the battle is won or lost helps us know where to concentrate our efforts.

For tips on how to win at the enticement stage, check out my post The Distraction Technique.