For those of you who don’t quite know my background, I have 20 years experience in information technology with over 10 in project management; I also went to seminary and have background in church leadership. So my perspective on things is often just a little different
Over the past 3 years, I have been thinking of what it actually looks like when, as Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:11, “May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” As one who believes in what the Bible says, I know what God’s “will” is in general; it is improve our lives through additional wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (which comes through getting to know God more by his Son, Jesus) so that we can both show the world His love and purpose, and manage the earth and its resources to a better place. For those of you who don’t quite get this, we’ll do a follow up later.
So, I take this literally. As a project manager, how does this “on earth as it is in Heaven” look for me and my profession and those that I impact? With my profession, I need wisdom and creativity directly from my home country and storehouse (which is Heaven) in order to accomplish and succeed in what I do. The people I work with are currently going through a transition from pure chaos on one side and over-rigid procedures on another side into a new cultural paradigm (dang, been a while since I last used that word) called Agile. Agile is an idea of empowering peoples and groups to be self-organizing, self-managing, and self-succeeding. The PM role there is one of removing distractions, clearing the way, and protecting the team. There is no “overlord” mentality or presumed superiority. This aligns very closely with the ideas of servant leadership where we actually lead to serve and serve to lead. This requires a spiritual attitude that I simply must walk as Christ, being willing to serve those around me while understanding and not letting down the reason for being here – something Jesus accomplished, well, perfectly.
What this is mostly about is that we have a ridiculous idea in western culture that we can effectively separate the parts that make us up – spirit, soul, and body – and exclude certain aspects from our areas of life. This is absolutely absurd! Who you are (your spirit) will come out in everything you do. As we continue this conversation, we’ll talk about gifts and some examples of what this looks like. Oh, and if you aren’t already reading some of this stuff, you have to check out a dude named Lance Wallnau. . . well you just should.
Joshua Thinks 