The Prize

2023-06-29 Invite Champions Weekly

1. THE PRIZE

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”— Paul of Tarsus, writing in his letter to the church at Philippi

Of course, it is good to have a goal and a focus, to stay on target, to push through even when you’re not feeling it. I still try to teach my young adult children daily about the value of personal discipline and responsibility. And while I get fatigued more easily at age 52, I have also discovered that the older I get, the more dogged stamina I have toward the things that matter.

But Pauls’ athletic metaphor about “pressing on” and “straining ahead” to achieve his goal is a phrase often taken out of its context to focus simply on the value of determination and continued, steady effort.

To what end or purpose are we straining? To “press on” is indeed, in some sense, about perseverance. But it is not about our efforts to make change in the world or to accomplish good things. It is not about our work at all, even on mission. We are not disciples of Jesus for the purpose of a stated goal of transformation of the world; we are disciples of Jesus, and world transformation is what happens when we fully understand what it means to simply and completely be a disciple of Jesus.

The former is akin to being a good employee for Jesus, and the latter to being an owner. Even the best employee has a very different mind about her work than an owner. The former is about fulfilling a sense of duty or responsibility, which ultimately may be detached from the work’s purpose. The latter is all-in. The former is a transaction. The latter is a covenant.

After what Paul has just written in his letter to the church at Philippi about the worthiness of truly and simply knowing Christ Jesus, versus the relative “trash” of just being a good employee for Jesus, Paul now says that he speaks humbly of such things. He has discovered the difference, but has not yet fully realized the intimacy of complete knowledge of Jesus. He is still on the journey.

Even Paul, after all of this time, is still applying the same basic command that Jesus once gave the disciples on the Sermon on the Mount: Paul is still seeking first after the kingdom (presence) of God and his righteousness. We would be wise to pay attention.

As we work and build, as we live our lives on mission, the ultimate question is, what is the prize? After what do we seek? It’s not about hitting a mark, getting the final offer, growing the church a little more, acquiring more money, or any of those things we name in our private dreams and in our strategy sessions.

The goal is simpler yet more elusive. The prize is Jesus. Only Jesus. Just Jesus. John Wesley called it “entire sanctification.” All of our work is just the front porch; the house is full intimacy with God. There is no loftier goal on which we can set our whole self.

Takeaway: To be a champion is to understand the difference between working for Jesus and seeking Jesus in all of our lives, including our work.

2. CHAMPIONING INVITE

I am told that one of the things that makes Invite unique is that we are approaching publishing as a ministry. Certainly, if there’s one thing I care about, it is a sense of mission and calling about work. While we want to practice the art of business well, we are not a business; we are a ministry.

To this end, our mission is to share the promise of Christ’s New Creation. We are not “values agnostic”. We are high on Jesus, which means in my mind that we are also low on politics and biased toward innovation. In my theology, the second and third stem from the first.

In the coming weeks, I am going to get into a lot of strategy and tactics about where we are headed as a ministry and how you can maximize your ministry and work as an author and a champion of Invite. But we need to start here, with the “why” of what we are doing.

I hope Invite’s why resonates with you. If it does, I invite you to share what we are doing with your friends and colleagues in ministry, and get to know other Invite Champions through our Facebook Group or through email.

I am grateful to partner with you on this journey.

Len