Wisdom from Howard E. Butt, Jr.

Who Is Going to Do the Work?

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Andrew Carnegie was a fabulous little Scotsman. He started in poverty and built one of the world's greatest business empires. Once, someone asked him what he believed about the future of his businesses.

He said, "You can take from me all my plants. You can take from me all my money. You can take from me all my equipment. But if you leave me my men, I will build it all again." Carnegie's genius was that he knew an organization is not finances or techniques or equipment. It is human resources.

God's method is always a person. When God chose to speak to human history decisively, to get under the load of human weakness and sin, his method was a person, Jesus Christ, God in flesh and blood.

But the principle of incarnation was not just used during the lifetime of Jesus on earth. It is the principle by which the church operates today. The church is the body of Jesus Christ. God works through flesh and blood, men and women who are committed to his cause. This is the reason that the laity is called today to be God's people wherever they are, whatever they are doing.

One of the critics of Abraham Lincoln's administration of the Civil War once said, "Mr. Lincoln you must throw General McClellan overboard." Lincoln asked who he should put in General McClellan's place, and the critic said, "Anybody." Lincoln coolly replied, "Anybody will do for you. But I must have somebody."

Who is going to do the work of Jesus Christ in deed and in word? You might say that anybody can do it. No, my friend, God must have somebody.

And God intends that somebody be you and me.

God Works Through Human Resources

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The basic need of any enterprise is human resources. Similarly, the first essential for any program or ministry is human resources. As G. Campbell Morgan put it, "God's method is a man." God's message was a man, Jesus Christ, God in flesh and blood.

The incarnation is the unique genius of the Christian revelation. But the principle of incarnation was not abandoned when the earthly ministry of our Lord was concluded. It is the eternal task of the church to reproduce the incarnation, to clothe the spirit of the living God in human flesh. The Holy Spirit must live in the human clay of the Christian's experience and life.

God works through human resources.

What Are You Doing to Transform Your Workplace?

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Incarnational evangelism is sometimes called friendship evangelism. That's the phrase Young Life uses. Think about that for a minute.

Jesus said we are . . .

the light of the world
the salt of the earth
the yeast that makes the whole loaf rise

All three—light, salt, yeast—work by penetration, by permeation, by their influence spreading out. None of these call attention to themselves—they just silently transform, flavor, and lift their environment.

Think about your daily work. What are you doing to transform, flavor, or lift your workplace?

Create a Beautiful Workplace

Howard Butt, Jr. — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Yandall Woodfin, a seminary professor friend, introduced me to biblical importance of pursuing beauty. In the New Testament, two different Greek words are used for "good." Agathos means "good" in a plain vanilla sense. Kalos means "beautiful in form or beautifully good, physically or morally good." Kalos beauty comes from harmony and right proportion. Kalos is pleasing, lovely, and admirable.

The King James version of the Bible (on which I was raised) makes no distinction between the two words. Both are translated as plain vanilla "good." But the original Greek of the Gospels uses kalos—emphasizing beauty as inherent in goodness—substantially more often than agathos. Why? I think the Bible teaches us to appreciate beauty. And to practice it.

Consider Matthew 5:16. Jesus says, "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your kalos [your beautiful deeds, my translation] and praise your Father in heaven." In most translations, the passage reads "good deeds," but that misses the writer's original emphasis on deeds that reflect God's beauty and the beauty of God's creation.

If deeds and actions can be beautiful, then beauty must be something more than a type of pleasant feeling. The Scriptures' use of kalos for righteous conduct connects beauty with the source of all righteousness, God himself. Beauty must be seen then as an aspect of God and God's creation. Beauty is the light of God shining from within the created world. The fact that one person sees beauty where another doesn't has to do with people's different capacities, not the nature of beauty itself.

Why does all this matter? Because if we want to be followers of Christ, we need to join Christ in his work. Through his incarnation, public ministry, passion, resurrection, and ascension, Christ initiated a cosmic renewal. His victory over death began the restoration of God's entire creation to a state even better than its original "goodness."

In fact, we are invited to be cocreators with Christ in this work, as part of his living body within the world. That means performing kalos, beautiful deeds . . . from anointing the Savior's feet with expensive perfume to building exquisite church sanctuaries; from shaping a beautiful clay pot at the Cody Center to helping widows, orphans, and prisoners; from constructing excellent architecture to putting together vital organizations; from decorating our homes attractively to creating a harmonious workplace.

Praying for kids

Howard Butt, Jr. — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

My assistant’s friend sent her this great quote from John White's book Parents in Pain.

Some of us have broken hearts over our children or grandchildren; some of us have furrowed brows; and some of us have come through the worst of the struggle. But I thought all of you would appreciate this encouraging word.

Catherine Marshall in her book Adventures in Prayer mentions that she wrote the precise requests she made for each of her children's futures on a piece of paper the shape of an egg, which she would then leave between the pages of her Bible. There was no magic in the method. The egg shape reminded her that prayers, like eggs, do not always hatch as soon as we lay them. If a sitting hen was to be preoccupied with the appearance of her eggs, unchanged and unchanging day after day, she would be very unhappy. We, in a similar way, tend to be unhappy if, having committed to God the requests which seem to be conformed to his will, we see no change. Prayers must mature before yielding their contents, and our impatience will do nothing to help.

We Are in the Middle of a Revolution

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Someone on my staff shared this blog post by Clay Shirky, a professor at NYU. (You can read about Clay Shirky here.) His essay is long but worth sharing. Here are some excerpts:

Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable
Gordy Thompson, who managed internet services at the New York Times [said] something to the effect of “When a 14 year old kid can blow up your business in his spare time, not because he hates you but because he loves you, then you got a problem.” I think about that conversation a lot these days.
[...]
When reality is labeled unthinkable, it creates a kind of sickness in an industry. Leadership becomes faith-based, while employees who have the temerity to suggest that what seems to be happening is in fact happening are herded into Innovation Departments, where they can be ignored en masse.
[...]
Round and round this goes, with the people committed to saving newspapers demanding to know “If the old model is broken, what will work in its place?” To which the answer is: Nothing. Nothing will work. There is no general model for newspapers to replace the one the internet just broke.
With the old economics destroyed, organizational forms perfected for industrial production have to be replaced with structures optimized for digital data. It makes increasingly less sense even to talk about a publishing industry, because the core problem publishing solves — the incredible difficulty, complexity, and expense of making something available to the public — has stopped being a problem.
[...]
When someone demands to know how we are going to replace newspapers, they are really demanding to be told that we are not living through a revolution. They are demanding to be told that old systems won’t break before new systems are in place. They are demanding to be told that ancient social bargains aren’t in peril, that core institutions will be spared, that new methods of spreading information will improve previous practice rather than upending it. They are demanding to be lied to.
There are fewer and fewer people who can convincingly tell such a lie.
Read the rest of the article here.

What a Way to Make a Living

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I read this interesting article by Lucy Kellaway in The Financial Times and sent it around to my staff. It's worth reading:

One subject that songwriters labour to avoid
Last week the Guardian newspaper published a list of the 1,000 best pop songs ever written. There were songs about love, sex, heartbreak, protest, life and death. Yet on the subject of work there was almost nothing: Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” got a mention, but that was about it.
Read the rest of the article here.

If you only learn one thing here . . .

Howard Butt, Jr. — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In the last year, our focus as an organization has become even more unified and purposeful.

If you visit this site (or any of our programs) and come away with only one thing, I hope it’s this: What you do, each and every day, matters to God—whether it’s in a board room, behind a desk, in front of a computer, around the dinner table with your family, out in the community, or at church, God cares about it.

You see, there are two foundational truths about the human spirit that drive our working philosophy. First, just like the Trinity, we are relational beings. But since humanity’s fall, we’ve been in the business of messing up our relationships. The good news is that God can heal them even as he heals us by his grace. Those relationships affect who we are and how we navigate the world.

The second foundational truth is this: We’re created to glorify the Creator. And our understanding of the Creator will certainly dictate the way we lead and direct our lives—at home, at work, in church, and in the community at large.

I’ve devoted my entire life to encouraging Christian lay people to see themselves as part of the “priesthood of all believers.” God has given all of his people the “high calling” of serving him in every aspect of life. For years, we’ve broadcast this good news to hundreds of thousands of individuals in our Canyon ministries, through radio messages, over the Internet, and through gatherings of business men and women.

Yet, what we’ve done is not enough. God is asking us to stretch ourselves. We are taking bold steps over the next five years to strengthen what we’ve always done. We’re also expanding into new territories. And with help from friends and leaders, we’ve created a strong plan that outlines how we will accomplish these mighty tasks.

Ultimately, together, we will work to encourage civic and business leaders, employers and employees, parents and children, clergy and laity to embrace their high calling as a visible, incarnational witness to Christ. As servant leaders, using the Trinity as our guide, we’ll help contribute powerfully to the realization of a Kingdom that affects far more than just Sunday—where God is a vibrant, powerful, gracious beginning-middle-and-end of everything we do each and every day. The Message translation of Paul’s letter to Philippi says: “Celebrate God all day every day!” (Phil. 4:4).

Let the Quiet Soak In

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The best move I ever made was picking my parents. They were just both fabulous people. Dad with his business genius and mother with this great social sense and the initiative to do something about it.

At the H. E. Butt Foundation, we've worked hard to keep ourselves stretched. Human needs are all the same. There is no such thing as a life of faith without pain and anguish. The essentials are patience and endurance.

The main thing is to let enough quiet soak in.

You can read more about the broad work of the H. E. Butt Foundation in a recent feature article in the San Antonio Express-News. As a bonus, the article has a companion slideshow with pictures from our Foundation Free Camp program and old video footage from the construction of Laity Lodge.

Committees Become Power Structures

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Last week, I mentioned that the Wayne Oates Institute recently reprinted his book The Struggle to Be Free. They sent me a copy to review, but they have also published the entire book online.

Here's another fascinating quotation from that book. Oates tells an anecdote about John Schwab, M.D., head of the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the School of Medicine of the University of Louisville.

Dr. Schwab said he believed in having as few committees as possible because standing committees developed a “life of their own” and became power structures. He preferred to have task forces do a particular job; when it was completed the task force was dissolved and the members could devote their time to students and patients rather than committee meetings! (p. 170)

The Struggle to Be Free

Howard Butt, Jr. — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Wayne Oates Institute recently reprinted his book The Struggle to Be Free and sent me a copy to review. (You can read the entire book online.)

Wayne Oates was one of the "big people" in my life as a counselor and friend. He was one of our first speakers at Laity Lodge. It was good to make contact with him again through this remarkable book. Here is a fascinating quotation from the book that you might find interesting . . . and challenging.

The person who commits himself or herself to the struggle to be free of pack thinking, propaganda, and party-line clichés does best to take a stand for justice for all and mercy for all. Yet this places him or her in the role of a reconciler, a peacemaker, a negotiator, an interlocutor. The hazard is that of being despised by all contending forces for not taking sides. There is a quantum leap of difference between taking sides and taking a stand as a minister of reconciliation. Jesus said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). After forty-two years of this, I can say with gratitude that to know one is a child of God is a source of peace in itself. However, my sense of sardonic or even gallows humor says: “Yes, Lord! But that is not all one will be called by any means!” (p. 69)

Our Current Financial Crisis

Howard Butt, Jr. — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Dwight Lacy is the Chief Financial Officer for the H. E. Butt Foundation. Last week he shared his understanding of the current financial crisis. We think he did a fantastic job explaining a complicated situation in as simple a way as possible, and we thought you might like to read it (or even share it with your friends).

In particular, he has some good words of encouragement for us toward the end of his article.

Some folks are predicting the market will come back as soon as fall 2009. It may do that. . . . We’ve dealt with these issues before as a country. It will be a slow recovery, but we will recover.

Dwight's analysis is called How We Got Into This Mess.

A Better Freedom

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This past weekend, Michael Card led our Labor Day Retreat at Laity Lodge. I wasn't able to be there myself, but I'm told it was fantastic! Mark D. Roberts, our Theologian in Residence, wrote an insightful review of the weekend, and I wanted to share some of what Mark said.

Michael’s subject was not one that would immediately jump out at you as something you’re dying to learn more about. In six messages he addressed the issue of slavery: in the Old Testament, New Testament, and in our lives. Though he mentioned the ethical crisis of slavery in today’s world, his focus was not so much on questions of justice as it was on what it means for us to be slaves of our Heavenly Master, the one who took the form of a slave in giving himself up for us on the cross....
The main point of Michael’s study of slavery was to challenge us to consider how we can be truly free by submitting ourselves fully to Christ as our Master. The point is not bondage, not at all. It is experiencing the freedom of the Christian life, a “better freedom,” as Michael calls it. If you’re interested in what this is all about, let me point you to a new song Michael has written, called “A Better Freedom.” It is not available on one of his CDs yet, but it can be found on the “By/For” website.

You can read more of Mark Roberts' review on his website.

Listening to God

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Jesus had an amazing way of responding to people's questions. His answers often pierce through what's being asked to more important matters: what's on the person's heart and Jesus' own identity and mission .

For example, when a man asks Jesus to tell his brother to divide the family's inheritance with him, Jesus cautions the man to be wary of greed. Then he tells the story of the Rich Fool who dies on the very night he's contemplating his windfall profits (Luke 12:16-21).

When a Pharisee invites Jesus to dinner, a prostitute interrupts the decorous occasion by washing Jesus' feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, and anointing them with perfume. The Pharisee believes the woman's actions prove Jesus cannot be a prophet, because a prophet would never let a prostitute touch him (Luke 7:44-47).

In reply to the Pharisee's unspoken doubts, Jesus tells the story of the money lender who forgives two debts, one for five hundred denarii and the other for fifty. He then asks which person will love the money lender more.

The Pharisee replies the one who had the bigger debt canceled (Luke 7:42).

Then Jesus speaks to the Pharisee's discourteous reception of him and the Pharisee's doubts, which lie behind his behavior. He points out that the Pharisee has totally neglected the common courtesies extended to dinner guests. He has supplied no water for Jesus to wash his feet, he did not greet Jesus with a brotherly kiss, nor give him oil for his head. But the prostitute has transformed these common courtesies into profound acts of love. "Therefore I tell you," Jesus says, "her many sins are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little" (Luke 7:47).

Jesus not only answers the unspoken question of the Pharisee—"Is this man a prophet?"—by intuiting what's in the man's heart; he proclaims that he is more than a prophet by forgiving the woman's sins. In the process, he lets the Pharisee know that his own hardness of heart keeps him from being forgiven.

This pattern of questioning and transcendent response is found again and again in the Gospels, from the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-7) to the Pharisees' question about paying taxes to Caesar (Matt. 22:17-22). Jesus knows the unworthiness of the woman's accusers and the power politics behind the tax question, and he points out to both groups that they should be most concerned about their own relationships with God.

The answer Jesus gave to the most pointed question he was ever asked contains the secret of his incomparable ability to answer the question behind the question.

In the eighth chapter of John's Gospel, the Pharisees are haranguing Jesus, questioning his authority on various grounds. Finally, in their perplexity, they come right out and ask, "Who are you?"

"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him" (John 8:28-29).

I do nothing on my own, Jesus says. I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. Jesus proclaims here that his entire ministry—everything he taught, every answer he gave to a question—originated in his communion with the Father. The Son listened to the Father, communed with the Father, and out of this communion Jesus taught. Out of this communion he answered questions spoken and unspoken.

We usually think of Jesus' communion with the Father, his prayer, in terms of specific, dramatic instances. We remember Jesus' Temptation in the Desert, his retreats to the Galilean hills, the ecstasy of the Transfiguration, and the agony of Gethsemane. But in Jesus' replies that pierce peoples' hearts and proclaim his identity and mission, we overhear another aspect of his prayer: his continual communion with the Father—his prayer without ceasing.

We might say that Jesus never had a simple, two-way conversation. The Father and the Holy Spirit were always there as well. Jesus' conversation had a Trinitarian character. He brought the Father and the Holy Spirit's witness into the midst of every conversation.

As we pray, as we listen to God, we need to bring God's presence in Christ into the midst of our own conversations with other people. And into every circumstance, as well. We are not on our own; God is with us, but God cannot make his presence felt unless we invite him into the midst of our lives.

I find that when I keep soaking myself in Scripture, consulting with Christian friends, and prayerfully waiting on the Lord, he keeps clarifying what I need to do to make my relationships right with other people. He gives me insights into troubling situations I would never have otherwise.

Friendship Teams

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Should a boss ever become personal friends with his employees? Some management specialists say no, believing it makes tough decisions too difficult. I understand their point, but I think differently. The most effective organizations I've been a part of have been led by friendship teams.

My experience of people enjoying each other's company while working together began with my family. My parents played their appropriate roles as disciplinarians and moral guides, but that did not keep them from nurturing a close family culture of friendship. I remember walking the streets of Corpus Christi on grocery company trips—as a four or five-year-old—Dad holding one hand, Mother the other, and being swung between the two up over every curb. What exhilaration! The three of us (and my brother Charles and sister Eleanor as they came along) used to travel Texas highways visiting the stores—I was regularly taken out of school for a day or two on selected occasions. My mother prepared notebooks full of poetry and special stories for us to recite and read to one another. I will always remember Dad's booming voice declaiming, as from ancient Rome, Thomas Babington Macaulay's "Horatius":

Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the gate:
To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods . . .

When I finished my schooling and was ready to begin my working life, guess what I wanted to do? Go into the family business, of course. And I did, first managing a new store in San Antonio and then transferring to where the headquarters had moved, from the Valley to Corpus.

The 1940's-50's Baylor—and then southwide—Youth Revivals, which launched me into our subsequent and current ministries, were a team affair. I was the only layman—18 years old!—in a remarkable group of preacher-boys. We toured the cities of Texas and the South together, splitting up the speaking and leadership responsibilities—just a gang of fellows boosting each other, sharing our witness to the Good News.

The lay theological movement I've been a part of since then grew through the friendship team that led the Layman's Leadership Institutes. From 1956 - 1975 these sessions took place in a wide variety of locations, gathering key businessmen and professional people from across the nation. Duke McCall and Billy Graham with some of his team helped us get started. The key people were laymen themselves. Bill Mead, head of Campbell Taggart Bakeries, was pivotal in the effort, along with Fred Smith, Sr., vice-president of Gruen Watch Company. There were many others, like the apparel industry executive Maxie Jarman (famous for his shoes), the oil company magnate J. Howard Pew, and the pacesetting surgeon J.V.D. (Jack) Hough. As I played a key role in the sponsorship and leadership of these sessions, I grew close to many of these men. Every new Institute brought with it a celebration of friendship.

Reprinted from an article in the Summer 2002 Connections.

In Business to Serve

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As a boy, I traveled with my father and listened to him speak at various personnel meetings. I remember how store employees gathered around, sitting on 100-lb. sacks of pinto beans or cases of merchandise, as Dad stood and hammered at his core beliefs:

“The customer signs your paycheck. The customer is your boss. We’re in business to serve the customer.”

Much later, I realized I’d heard from Dad the deepest lessons of corporate governance. The people who produce, market, and consume useful products share no small common grace—we serve each other in trust. Such secure, unconscious, everyday business interdependences find their deepest roots in the West’s centuries-old Judeo-Christian ethical heritage. Cut off from these vital roots, one of the most dramatic casualties is our common and mutual trust. Goodness plummets and fear, guilt, self-doubt, negativity, and distrust spread within and among us.

The Joy of Trust

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

One of my earliest memories is walking between my mother and father when I was perhaps three or four years old. We stepped off the sidewalk, and as we approached the upcoming curb, I hesitated. My parents, sensing my apprehension, both pulled up on my hands and swung me above the low cement ledge. They made an exhilarating little game of it with each curb we encountered. This remains a crystal clear memory for me, the pure joy of trusting the grips of my mother and father as they lifted me over those obstacles.

People tend to respond to the trust we put in them. While I do not recommend naiveté, I know that in receiving my parents’ trust, I was enabled as a man to extend similar confidence to people I serve in my family, in the business community, and through our foundation. I know that the strengthened grip of trust among people, companies, and nations is traced to affirming others.

Regaining Our Grip

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A generation ago, as a young executive in my father’s grocery business, I was put in charge of advertising. I wrote an ad for one local market, saying we had the lowest prices in town (which I believed), but Dad unceremoniously vetoed my copy. He said, “You can say we have low prices, but if people found one little jar of pickles less expensive in another store, we’d be telling a lie, and it would destroy the customers’ trust in our company.”

My father, succeeded by my brother, built one of the largest privately owned regional supermarket chains in America by putting their force of character behind a now-threatened linchpin in our national community: trust.

We all know the painful effects of trust betrayed. A sabotaging coworker fuels a suspicious, tense workplace. A friend’s duplicity spreads uncertainty into other close relationships. A cheating spouse erodes faith in a marriage. Then come life’s pedestrian betrayals: repairmen who don’t show up, the auto mechanic who recommends needless repairs.

On the national level, political polemics seem to allow for no thoughtful middle ground. Negative campaigning is standard, personal, and vicious. Financial scandals roil Wall Street and rock millions of middle-class investors. Accounting fraud, tainted stock-market research, and undisclosed machinations for personal gain besmirch and poison the economic atmosphere. Lawsuits proliferate; trust plummets.

This leaves us with little but a question: is it possible to revive prevailing trust in our homes, towns, businesses, boardrooms, and civic life?

Perfect Humility, Confident Leadership

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

At TheHighCalling.org and Laity Lodge, we are grappling with a problem that is individual and institutional and social and organizational.

We don't understand the priesthood that Christ has given us. Where does our priesthood come from? It comes from the Trinitarian God we worship. Somehow in Jesus Christ, the secret of our priesthood and the Trinity itself has been made open.

We are beginning to understand that the God we worship is the Three in One. He is both individual and social. He is both personal and organizational. And the God we worship is both the leader and the follower. You worship the Spirit of the Father and Son. You worship the Spirit of the leader and follower.

In Col 2:9 there is this staggering statement: "For it is in Christ that the full being of the Godhead dwells embodied."

The Holy Spirit in Jesus was the spirit of the Trinity. I do not understand how God can be Father and Son and Holy Spirit. I don’t understand how God can be as much Three as if he were not One and as much One as if he were not Three. This is the mystery.

I’ve read that Jesus favored the title “Son of Man” as a description of himself because he loved his followers. I am sure that is part of what you saw in the humility with which he related to everybody. The service, the responsiveness to what they wanted him to do, what they needed him to do. The sense of being so alive and yet the calmness that his human life was not demeaning to God.

Remember, he said, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).

Jesus had perfect humility, but he was also absolutely bedrock sure of his leadership. Jesus has both the spirit of a follower and the spirit of a leader. He has the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the Trinity.

And we can, too! When we learn to celebrate our priesthood, we are learning who Jesus is, who God is, who the Holy Spirit is, who the Trinity is—and, of course, who we are.

Bold Leadership, Real Service

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

What is Trinitarian Servant Leadership? Picture an equilateral triangle. One side is the Son, or submission, or servant. There is the Son, Jesus, the Son of God, submission and servant, that’s the side representing the cross. Another side is the Father authority, leadership, resurrection. The final side is the Holy Spirit, unity, creativity, and flexibility. It is all about the flexibility we need to relate most creatively to each other, in unity. Now the whole of life is this flexibility of servant leadership appropriate in each situation. This is the life in every believer. This is the God life that is in every believer when we are allowing Christ’s life to live through us.

The concept of servant leadership, which is a biblical concept, has two perils. One is that the servanthood of the leader renders him passive and impotent. As organizations become more truly democratic, the danger is that leadership gets lost or forgotten. A good example is that of the early Greeks, who founded democracy. It ultimately failed because in a totally egalitarian society, they did not allow for leadership. There was no one to provide an over-arching vision and direction. All went their separate ways, and the result was chaos, not freedom.

On the other hand, leadership can become authoritarian, insensitive, and tyrannical. The challenge is to find the balance between strong leadership and servant leadership. No one leads until someone serves.

Trinitarian Servant Leadership provides a model for merging three disciplines that I believe are vital in today’s business world: relational theology, behavioral science, and management strategies.

Find Fulfillment in Your Work

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

If you keep up with what is happening in the business world, “faith in the workplace” is becoming a significant topic in our day. Our reflex reaction when we talk about the workplace is not usually about “faith.” We think about “toil” in the workplace, or “stress.” We think about the bottom line, about paychecks, and about profits in the workplace. We think about exhaustion, monotony, and boredom in the workplace. We think of competitions, rivalries, and jealousy in the workplace. We think of struggles in the workplace.

But recent bold experiments in opening the window of faith into the workplace have helped us see a new range of options and potential. Now we’re talking about enjoyment in the workplace, about meaning and a sense of fulfillment in the workplace. We’re talking about caring and servant leadership and teamwork and mutual support in the workplace . . . about motivation and productivity and excitement and excellence and unity and peace. The very things that make work a high calling.

An organization will not become healthy, in terms of human relationships, without leadership that puts a priority on human relationships. The source of all relational leadership comes from a relational God. Out of this principle arises the concept of Trinitarian Servant Leadership, which I hold is the maximum path to executive effectiveness in changing the culture of a corporation or institution. That style of leadership requires flexibility; and the healthiest flexibility comes from this divine source.

Everyone on the Globe Is a Leader

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Through servant leadership, we love the people around us appropriately. Servant leadership is what has driven us to the three values that motivate this organization, of which the Laity Lodge ministry is a part.

The three qualities are excellence, service, and unity. These are our values. If you experience love and acceptance and encouragement at Laity Lodge or through the message of TheHighCalling.org, it is the spirit of God working through our efforts to live by these values.

We have emphasized this since the 1960s when Laity Lodge was young. Even then, we believed in the leadership potential of everyone who works with us. And today we believe in the leadership of every person who visits our website. In fact, everyone on the face of the globe is a leader.

The only question any of us face is this—what kind of leader are we going to be?

Consider the Culture of Your Workplace

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Every organization, every institution develops a culture peculiar to itself. This culture is actually distinct from any individual in that particular organization. It can be either good or bad.

A good organizational culture builds you up. A bad organizational culture tears you down.

That is the reason the culture of your organization is so crucially important. Be very jealous of anything that might damage the progress you have made so far in the culture of your workplace. Work continually to improve the cultural ambience of the experience of those who work with you and of those you serve.

The culture of an organization is crucial to the health of the people who are involved in it. How's your health? Is the culture of your workplace therapeutic or destructive? What are you doing to improve the culture of your workplace?

A Vision for Our Work at TheHighCalling.org

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Here is our hope for all of Laity Lodge programs:

So that God may be glorified and the nations come to faith . . . our vision is to equip believers in Jesus Christ to practice servant leadership as modeled by the Holy Trinity to renew ourselves, families, institutions, and society.

This vision is central to everything we're doing, and we continue to hammer at this. We continuously repeat it to ourselves. We stay after it. We may even make people bored with it.

But we are going to keep focusing on this vision, because I need it. We all need it constantly, and we need to get it from each other.

In our offices, we ask each other a jillion times, "How does our work fit into the vision?"

What vision has God given you for your work? Remember that vision when you talk about spending money. Remember that vision when you talk about raising money. Remember that vision when sales go up. Remember it when sales go down. We need to think about every aspect of our vision for work.

We need to ask ourselves, "How does this task fit in with my vision?" Does it match? If it doesn't match, it may be a great thing to do, but it's somebody else's thing to do. Remember your vision. Remember what God has given you to do.

At Laity Lodge and here at TheHighCalling.org, we have been given one niche in the Kingdom of God. I happen to think it's an historic niche. I happen to think it's the niche of the future. I think it's the niche that's going to change the church, but it's just one little niche—to empower the laity to see their daily work as service to God. We want to help people practice servant leadership and to recognize the high calling of their daily work.

That's what we're called to do. What are you called to do?

God's Vision for Your Work

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In Christ, all of us are called to a life of total and complete discipleship. In Jesus, the secular and the spiritual are one. That's the original vision. Don't neglect that magnificent prelude chapter to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 19. What is the vision? "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests unto God."

All of us, priests!

That was the original Mosaic vision that was fulfilled, incarnated, in Jesus. He called ordinary people, not professional religionists, to be his disciples. Our calling fundamentally shows itself where we live and work. It shows in the quality of our lives and our character. It shows in the excellence of our work. It shows in the caring and sensitivity of our human relationships. These are the tests of our spiritual reality.

How Do You Think About Your Work?

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Our reflex reaction when we talk about the workplace is not usually about "faith." We think about "toil" in the workplace or "stress." We think about the bottom line, about paychecks, and about profits in the workplace. We think about exhaustion, monotony, and boredom in the workplace. We think of competitions, rivalries, and jealousy in the workplace. We think of struggles in the workplace.

But recent bold experiments in opening the window of faith into the workplace have opened up a whole new range of options and potential. Now we're talking about enjoyment in the workplace, about meaning and a sense of fulfillment in the workplace. We're talking about caring and servant leadership and teamwork and mutual support in the workplace . . . about motivation and productivity and excitement and excellence and unity and peace.

Our Core Values

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The following verses represent the core values of the H. E. Butt Foundation—which include all Laity Lodge ministries and this website.

We value excellence:

Eph. 3:16-21: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

We value service:

Gal. 5:13-14: You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

We value unity:

Eph. 4:2-7, 11-13: Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. . . . It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

And we represent our three core values in different ways across different circumstances. Organizationally, we strive for excellence, service, and unity. Psychologically, we strive to work with authority in some areas, submission in others, and unity within ourselves as we switch between these roles. Theologically, we believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

May we hold fast to this vision in all of our programs in the years to come.

Our Site's Unique Mission

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

At the first Laity Lodge retreat in 1968, Dr. Elton Trueblood said, "The reformation under Martin Luther came when the Bible was opened to the common man. The twentieth century reformation will come when the ministry is opened to the layman."

Here we are in the twenty-first century, still working to help lay people recognize the ministry of their daily work.

You see, the purpose of Laity Lodge was never just to run a good retreat center. That's not it. The purpose of Laity Lodge is lay renewal. That's our unique mission.

The purpose of this website is not just to have another good devotional site. Our purpose here is lay renewal.

Other people have their retreat centers and their websites, but please don't miss our unique mission here. And that is to create lay people by the grace of God who can change the world.

Renewal Is Our Mission in Society

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Laity Lodge has a simple vision, and yet it's vastly complex.

We want to help ordinary lay people, secular people, non-church professional people to be able to experience the sacredness and the spirituality of our daily, ordinary, down-to-earth lives.

We want everyone to feel the same sense of divine calling and divine approval and divine involvement as our clergy feel. I believe that is not only possible; I believe that was intentioned from the beginning, before any of us were born.

We can all recognize ourselves as servant leaders. As we go about our daily work, we can focus on the Triune God as the model for all organizational love.

We call this lay theology.

Find Beauty in Your Daily Life

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Not everyone who listens to The High Calling radio messages knows this. Many of the folks who visit us here at TheHighCalling.org don't even know this. Many of the things you read here started in the Texas Hill Country in the Frio River Canyon.

I believe God led my father to one of the most beautiful sites in this part of the country. I wish you could see it.

And I think back to our beginnings in the Frio Canyon. If we were trying to start this vision somewhere on a barren stretch of rocks—it wouldn't fly. It's the beauty of this place. It's the beauty of nature and the way it speaks to people.

Most of all, the beauty of the Frio Canyon reminds us of the beauty of our daily lives. And we remember that we are all called to serve people. That's all we are about. We are called to serve people.

You're not called here to serve an organization. You're not even called just to serve your boss. You're called to serve people, and through them, you're called to serve God.