Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Bob

I'd like to tell you about the interview that changed my life. But first some background.  I grew up in a great home and I decided to be a "Christian" as a child.  My parents were Christians and their parents where Christians so it made perfect sense.  On top of that, I grew up in a great church.  It was a big part of my life.  Most of my friends were at that church.

I went on to college, grad school and a career.  My career had been successful.  I reached the point where I had made partner.  In that world, that was your only reason for living!  Achieving that took blood, sweat, and tears.  Thousands and thousands of hours of work.  It was success, however there was a price that came with it.  Lot's of time away from family and lots of time dedicated to things that quite honesty, did not mean much in the scope of eternity. That's when I met Bob.

Bob was president of a company about 10 minutes from where I sat. He was looking for someone to join the leadership team for a company he owned with some other partners. Bob had an incredibly successful career and invested in a start-up. It was company who's mission was big.  They were out to "change the moral fabric of our society" through art.  They made films that taught Judeo Christian values to kids. They did it really well. They spared no expense and did it right.  They made films that were well constructed; great story telling, beautifully made and cutting edge at the time.

I was intrigued, all though there was no way I could make the kind of money I would make if I just stayed where I was. From a financial point of view it didn't make a lot of sense.  I went to talk to Bob anyway.  I walked into to his office and we sat at a table.  He pulled out a pad of paper as he was saying: "I only have one thing to offer you."  He proceeded to draw 3 circles and put a letter in each.


He said 'Steve if you're like most men you are pretty good at compartmentalizing your life'. He then told me that what the 3 letters were.  They represent your Spiritual life, your Family life and your Career.  Many men (I suspect women too) have the capability of separating these 3 life areas.  Talking about your faith at work is intimidating, not to mention the fact that we are so busy that most of the time we just don't even think about it.  So it not unusual for your faith life to be separate from your career life.

Hopefully your spiritual life over laps with your family life.  But for many even that gets compartmentalized.  In fact many churches today separate the kids from the parents at the door.  You each have your own service tailored to your needs.  Church is not the same family experience it was a generation ago.

Family and career are sometimes diametrically opposed.  Both want more of your time. I lived in a high pressure world. "Important" people demanded my time. I worked for a great company. I loved it.  The company talked about the importance of  'work life balance', but honestly if you practiced that you would never make it to the top. It's probably a familiar story to some of you.

So there I was, staring at this piece of paper with 3 circles.  It had never occurred to me that I had been living more than one life, but Bob's simple diagram hit me hard.  Bob said "All I have to offer you is the chance to live one life. To make your Spiritual goals, your Career goals and your Family goals line up."

Bob's simple chart changed my life.  It is amazing how beautiful life becomes when you live one life.  When you have one set of goals for every area of your life. God did not design us to life compartmentalized lives. He designed us to live one life. This simple lesson led to my understanding that God's goal's, not mine should lead every area of my life.

Thanks Bob for teaching me one the most important lessons I have ever learned. I will always be grateful for your leadership, mentoring and friendship.




"If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me.  If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me." 
- Jesus,  Matthew 10:38-39

1 comment:

  1. Great to read this Steve! Thanks fo the message in it. Great example! Bless, Reint (holland)

    ReplyDelete