The world is noisier than it’s ever been, which means it’s more important than ever to be a connector in more ways than one. And years ago I read a story in a book called It’s Not the Big that Eat the Small, It’s the Fast that Eat the Slow that illustrated one aspect of being a value-creator that I still share in some settings when presenting and training. As I recall (it’s been a long time) goes like this:
That authors Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton were researching how value is created, and they visited an automobile manufacturing facility with a reputation for excellence. They began by talking to management, of course, but management encouraged them to go talk to anyone.
They approached a guy on the floor holding a broom and asked, “How do you create value here?”
The guy points out at the assembly line which, in addition to people, used a lot of manufacturing robots.
“See those robots? Those expensive things are run by a lot of very expensive computers. Dust is the enemy of computers, and my broom is an enemy of the dust.”
Did you catch that? Whether Mr. Broom Pusher guy was wise, his managers were good connectors, or both, Mr. Broom Pusher connected the value of his daily task to the overall mission.
Now let’s hear what God has to say, and let me start with a little context.
The write of the book of Hebrews is encouraging and exhorting the people he was writing to keep their eyes on the prize. In fact, once when I was reading through Hebrews I noticed this recurring theme of endurance – partly for dealing with persecution, and partly because some had gotten lackadaisical about their profession of faith in Jesus -- so I counted all the times the encouragement was to endure or persist or stand firm, and it was 19 times in 13 chapters! And near the very end, in verses 21-22 of the last chapter, the writer closes with this:
Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21, CSB
The original Advent, of course, was the waiting for the promised arrival of the Messiah. In fact, the Hebrew Scriptures – what we think of as the Old Testament – had more than 300 prophecies and descriptions of what the Messiah would be like. And you can imagine, then, how mindblowing it would have been for the people who knew this to see this arrival, born of a virgin, in the town of Bethlehem, etcetera, etcetera. This couldn’t be just anyone. Even just mathematically they were looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack.
So what does the writer of Hebrews think is so awesome that he needs to close with it?
The resurrection.
If you’ve listened to the podcast for any length of time, you’ll have heard me quote and requote Paul in 1 Co 15 – if the resurrection didn’t happen, we’re all idiots.
But it did happen, and what does that mean for us? It all was to “equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight through Christ Jesus.”
The original Christmas was a beautiful reminder that God keeps His promises. And as the writer of Hebrews tells us, how Jesus’ task connects to His mission. God took on flesh for a reason, but it wasn’t so prayer could be some Jesus vending machine or the Bible could have some pithy sayings of moral instruction. Jesus was born for a mission, and every task, every step was taken in light of that mission -- a mission that wasn’t about making bad people good, but about making dead people live.
Want to make the best connection of your life? Connect your tasks to His promise to help you His mission.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in communications, an award-winning author and speaker, and a passionately bad guitarist. ForTheHope equips on-the-go professionals with biblical principles to engage marketplace relationships with competent humility. On Twitter can follow him @RogerCourville and/or his podcast @JoinForTheHope, or get all updates by email subscription at www.forthehope.org.