The Unexpected Jesus READ Mark 11:12-19 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” Mark 11:17

When Jesus entered the Temple on the day after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, those who had welcomed him the day before no doubt expected something big to happen. Perhaps Jesus was going to announce the beginning of his kingship. Perhaps he was going to raise up an army to oust the Romans. Perhaps something even more amazing. But nobody would have expected Jesus to do what he actually did in the Temple. There, in the holy place of God, in the center of Jewish religion, Jesus drove out the people who were selling sacrificial animals and overturned the tables of the money changers who enabled foreign visitors to purchase sacrifices. In effect, Jesus shut down the operation of the Temple. How shocking this must have been to all, even Jesus’ closest followers. He explained his actions by quoting Scripture. First he cited a portion of Isaiah 56:7 that referred to the Temple as a “house of prayer.” In fact, this prophecy spoke of the Temple as a house of prayer for the Gentiles. Jesus connected this passage with one from Jeremiah that referred to the Temple as a “den of thieves” (Jer. 7:11). In context, this phrase revealed that the Jewish people had been thinking that they were safe from God’s judgment because they could “hide out” in the Temple, even though they were egregiously violating God’s law. Through Jeremiah, God predicted that he would destroy the Temple in Jerusalem and send his people into exile (Jer. 7:14-15). Thus, Jesus not only ransacked the Temple courts and interrupted its sacrificial function, but also quoted a passage of Scripture that pointed to the destruction of the Temple itself. This unexpected action and explanation no doubt distressed those who supported Jesus. It gave his opponents reason and perhaps even the opportunity to have Jesus killed. Even today, when we seek to take Jesus seriously, he does the unexpected. Sometimes this happens as we wrestle with his words and see something that we have overlooked before. Sometimes this happens as Jesus, through the Spirit, calls us out of our comfort zone and into risky discipleship. In these and so many other ways, Jesus overturns our expectations as he seeks to mold us and use us for his purposes. QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: When have you experienced the unexpected Jesus? Do you sense that, even now, Jesus is calling you to something that you had not anticipated? How are you responding? Why?

                     Rethinking Scarcity: Infinite Grace in Finite Settings

Scarcity was already on my mind this morning when, as I waited to order coffee, I overheard a couple whose two young children were fighting over a single water bottle. The little girl would snatch the drink, gulping greedily until it was yanked away by her older brother, who filled his little cheeks with water and glared at his sister as she tried to pull the water bottle back her way.

“Why are they so thirsty?” the dad asked, somewhat concerned. “Should we get them another cup?” The mom smiled knowingly. “Oh, they’re not that thirsty,” she answered. “Don’t get another cup; the water is really good for them, and they drink a lot more when they’re worried about running out.”

I chuckled to myself as I moved away, thinking that scarcity is a powerful motivator. This savvy mom was harnessing that power for good, to keep her children hydrated on a hot summer day. But it’s just as easy to see how scarcity can be a harmful force in the world and in the workplace. Research shows that the ways in which toddlers and mature educated adults react to scarcity—actual or perceived—aren’t all that different. It has real power to shape our perceptions of reality, our priorities, and our overall sense of wellbeing. Yet we live and work in a world that is in many ways defined by scarcity. All earthly resources are finite, and therefore “scarce” in some context.

Marketplace Scarcity

The marketplace around us may be ruled by scarcity of time, talent, or resources, but we need not be. As Christians in the workplace, we have the freedom to reject the scarcity mindset because our ultimate goals and purposes are not tied to any finite resource but to an infinite God.

As Christians at work, there should be “something different” about the way we conduct ourselves. Instead of being constrained by the fear of what we might lose or never attain, we find our ultimate worth and security in our relationship with God. We are, therefore, free to leave fear behind and see opportunities in a resource-constrained environment.

Some of the most important statements I will make about the kind of person (and Christian) I am come in the form of personnel decisions—a manager’s most precious and limited resource. Once when I was working for Trammell Crow Company in Dallas, I was responsible for hiring someone to lead a large portion of our business. The person I hired relocated his family to Dallas to take the job, and he was a hard worker with a great attitude. He was knowledgeable and well connected in the business, but it became apparent that he was simply wrong for the position. Not long after he started, my boss directed me to fire him. I felt terrible and more than a little responsible.

As I look back as a multinational company, I had the authority to fire and hire employees. Although it would have been perfectly acceptable business practice and best for my career to follow my manager’s instruction, I knew that it would be wrong of me, personally, to fire this employee without trying to find him a better fit within the company. While he wasn’t a fit for this job, I knew that he would be a fit for a job within the company, and I started looking for the right opportunity for him. I went out on a limb, and I convinced our CEO to let me move him to another line of business. That was over ten years ago.  Today, that same employee is still with the company, and he’s become a key leader in that new business line. Even though it wasn’t the easy or comfortable thing to do at the time, it turned out to be the right decision not just for me but for my company as well.

Finite Resources or Infinite God?

Over the years, I’ve had many opportunities like this to live out my faith at work in ways that reject the fears and anxieties that scarcity dictates. I certainly haven’t always made perfect choices. Looking back though, I can see that I made my best decisions when my eyes were firmly fixed on the infinite God of the universe, rather than on any finite prize or what was in my immediate best interest.

Liberated from the constraints of scarcity, we enjoy the freedom to go “all out” and to make mistakes. We have the freedom to make the nonstrategic—but right—choice, to turn down the promotion that’s wrong for your family, or to offer forgiveness to a colleague who maybe doesn’t deserve it. Your responses to difficult situations and attitudes at work will say more to people about your faith than words ever could.

Four Tips for Sharing Your Faith at Work

Do you want to share Christ in your workplace and/or marketplace? It may seem like a tricky proposition and perhaps a bit scary, but all it takes is a humble, caring heart and a desire to glorify the One you love so much. Here are four tips for sharing your faith at work.

1. Comfort People in Need

Paul opens his second letter to the Corinthians praising God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (1:3-4).

I wonder how many times we miss blessing others and ourselves because we simply find ourselves too busy—deadlines, long to-do lists, or quotas to make. As a non-believer, I remember when a coworker unexpectedly visited my hospital room. He prayed for me that all would go well. What an impact that made! Obviously, I am writing about it today. Years later, as a pastor, I visited people who were sick or hospitalized because of the impression it left on me.

2. Carefully Share What God is Teaching You

Paul tells his young apprentice Timothy to share his teachings to other reliable people so that they might teach others (2 Timothy 2:2).  

As a young Christian, I wanted to learn everything I could about Jesus and what He wanted for my life. My wife and I were involved in everything from individual to group bible study, scripture memory, and quiet time. I shared with anyone who would listen about what God was teaching me. I learned quickly that not everyone (church member or not) was open to my enthusiasm. Rejection is a cruel teacher, particularly when it is family. Jesus words came to me, “be careful how and to whom you share” because not everyone is open, seeking, or friendly toward things of God (Matthew 7:6).  

3. Willingly Show People Your Shortcomings and Hardships

The great apostle Paul wanted to be like Jesus in every way, but he admitted, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Philippians 3:12). And the honest truth is that we become more like Jesus when we suffer, “because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3-5).

Both non-believers and churchgoers have to see that there is a real difference between how they face life’s problems and sufferings without Christ and how a true believer faces these same issues with Christ. We all know that talk is cheap. People need to see how we apply the scriptures to real life situations.

They want to know that what we believe is actually what we believe. They need to see if what we believe truly makes a difference. They are watching to see if what we believe has direct application to life’s situations. They are skeptically watching to see if what we believe is genuine and not just buzzwords, slogans, or catch phrases.

4. Witness to the Gospel by What You Do (and NOT Do)

The writer of Proverbs 6:16-19 reveals seven things that God finds “detestable.”

Some of these are pretty easy to steer away from in our work settings. As much as we might want to, we probably won’t be killing any of our coworkers. But some of these are much easier to succumb to at work. God hates “haughty eyes” (a look of pride or arrogance), deception (lying), scheming to get ahead of somebody else (devising wicked plans), spreading gossip (a false witness who breathes out lies), or openly stirring up conflict for other Christians (sowing discord among brothers).

Non-believers are gleeful at the prospect of the seeing Christians compromising their beliefs through nonverbal miscues and the contradictions between what we say and what we do! They notice when Christians easily use curse words at work. They scoff at Christians who are lazy in their assignments. They think Christianity is a joke if we are participating in office politics or gossip.

This reminds me of two college girls who were excited about their mission trip overseas. The trip was all they could talk about in and out of the classroom. At the same time, there was a girl in one of the classes which they openly treated with contempt. A teacher called them aside and pointed out the incongruity. At that moment, they realized that the explicit message of their words and the implicit message of their conduct were different. They were sending conflicting messages to other students.

We really do the cause of Christ no good when we go to church on Sunday and compromise our beliefs Monday and throughout the week.  As representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must be careful what we communicate to those around us.