Influencers Weekly Devotional

Truth or Consequence by

Rocky Fleming

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.”(ESV)

Ok, I realize this devotional might get me tarred and feathered by some of you men who have a different opinion on what I am about to say. Before doing so, please allow me to complete my thoughts before you draw a conclusion, for ultimately I will ask you to process what you read with prayer, and seek how God may be leading you to rethink your modus operandi. So here goes: In the passage above, we see something that has occurred the last 2,000 years, regrettably many times over. One would hope that a true follower of Christ would understand the conflict he is in by going down a same path Simon the Magician traveled. But in matters of marketing our self or our services, instead of asking ourselves, “How would Jesus do it?,” we often attempt to create a hybrid strategy that borrows from one to make the other look credible. Like the Magician, we fail to understand that going down this path leads to regret and failure. What we see in the above verse about the businessman Simon the Magician is that he is trying to buy Christian influence. He has already professed Christ with his mouth, and has identified himself publicly with Him. He probably thinks this act makes him look the part to the people he wants to impress. But, I’m not sure he really understands Christ by the way he thinks or follows Him. He outright tries to bribe Peter into giving him the Spirit of God, so that this Spirit could in turn empower his business. Like many professing Christian businessmen and ministers since that time, we see a person trying to capitalize on the name of Christ, and use the Spirit of God for personal gain. Peter looked him in the eyes and told him, “I see that you are in the gallof bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” He also told him point blank, “your heart is not right before God.” Simon the Magician was not thinking with the “heart” of Christ, but as an unethical businessman trying to leverage the name of Jesus to promote his business. Know anyone like that? How about you? Have you tried to leverage your relationship with Christ to help your business, or to impress someone? It is not just with businessmen who call themselves Christians that do this. It happens in other religions as well. As an example, I was in Egypt a few years ago. Like most tourists, I went through the shops. Muslims ran most of them. I noticed that some of the Muslim merchants had smut on their forehead, and others didn’t. I inquired of our guide as to why, and was told with a sneer that both men prayed several times a day as required by Muslim law. But the men who left the smut on their forehead, instead of washing it off, were trying to impress their customers that they were pious Muslims, and as a merchant, they could be trusted. Did I say the guide told this to me with a sneer on his face? No matter if you follow Christ, or a false religion like Islam, most people detest a hypocrite, and hate to be manipulated. Only today, I spoke with a pastor who recommended a roofer to his Elders based on a common bond in Christ. This roofer had entered his relationship with this pastor and his church because of having been involved with a similar discipleship process, and he professed to be a man of integrity. The pastor was assured that the roofer could be trusted because of a “heart” in common with his. In talking to the pastor, I heard a sad story of poor quality of work, overpricing, and failure of follow-up by the roofer. I also heard embarrassment for recommending him, and regret. Listening to this, I felt a grieving by the Holy Spirit that His name would be used to promote a business like was done, and worst of all that the man who did it would bring shame to the very relationship he connected himself with. What we see is an example of a man following the path Simon the Magician traveled, and it led to an integrity failure. Before giving myself to full-time ministry, I worked in the business sector for almost 40 years. While in business I had to battle a conflict within me. Because of my love for Christ, I wanted to be identified with Him. I wanted my clients to know that I was a Christian. I wanted to be trusted because of it. I saw other godly businessmen who felt the same. Some of them attached some sort of Christian symbol to their card, or advertising to be recognized as such. Many did not. For those who did, some of them lost customers because of it. Some gained customers because of it. I was torn, for I wanted to be courageous, and faithful to identify with Christ as a businessman, but I wasn’t sure of my motives, nor how Jesus would want me to present my testimony. I prayed about it and what came from it was that God was more delighted in my being a witness than giving a witness. I also felt Him speak to my heart: “How you identify yourself is not my concern. However, how you live your life is. I want people to get to know what you are all about not because of how you promote yourself, but rather how you treat them. They will know the truth of the man you truly are not by you leveraging My name, but rather by Me leveraging you. It is My Spirit in you that testifies of your honesty and integrity. Trust Me with this. You do not have to promote yourself if your heart is right with Me. I will do it for you.” As businessmen we need to keep the marketing of our services, our businesses and our products separate from connecting them to a tacit endorsement by Christ to buy those services. Trust Him instead. If you are the real deal, He will promote you better than you can yourself. If you do add His logo to your calling card or advertisements, you better be the real deal or you will be found out as the roofer was, and it will be a great embarrassment to you. It will hurt you and your business. Whether you promote yourself as a Christian businessman or not, make it your purpose to have a right heart with Christ and with your customers. In both cases, go the extra mile. Let them see Christ in you by the way you talk, the way you act, and the way you serve them. Let this be your strongest voice of self promotion. When you do this, they will be attracted to Him who is in you, and you will bring your Savior great honor. And, oh, I almost forgot. He will be the best PR agent you will ever have. Download file