Find out why name changes matter by watching our Truth in Two.
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
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A Huffington Post article about Dr. Martin Luther King Junior tells the story of how King got his name. In full disclosure and attribution, much of what I quote here comes from that article, a link to which is provided at the end of this Truth in Two. Martin Luther King Jr. was given the birthname Michael King Jr. named after his preacher father. King was known as “Little Mike” throughout his childhood, but the name did not last long. Historians tracing this story, believe King’s father changed both their names after the elder King’s 1934 trip to Europe. The trip inspired the name change and forever changed history.
As the story goes, King Sr. joined a group of Baptist ministers on a tour of the Holy Land with stops in Europe. The trip culminated in a weeklong conference in Berlin, during which time the reverend visited many of the historical religious sites where Martin Luther defied the Catholic Church centuries earlier. Luther was a Catholic priest and theologian in the 16th century, at a time when the church went largely unchallenged in Germany. Martin Luther became more and more critical of his own institution, particularly the sale of indulgences. Luther’s “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences,” later known as The Ninety-Five Theses, began what came to be known as The Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was excommunicated for his heresy. King Sr. returned home from the trip so inspired by what he had learned, he decided to change both his and his son’s names to Martin Luther in honor of the German reformer.
Christians can remember a number of name-changes throughout biblical history beginning with Abram to Abraham ending with Saul becoming the apostle Paul. Name changes in God’s Word announced a new beginning in God’s eternal plan. As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, we ought also to remember the Reformational origin of his name. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.
To find out how, watch our Truth in Two (full text below). Don’t miss the “Afterword”!
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
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Recently I was asked, “What do you think the future of America will be?”
Since I was talking with a farmer, my response was “seeds.”
I continued, “The biblical concept ‘you will reap what you sow’ always comes to mind. What is true for individuals is also true for institutions, organizations, and countries. What America sows, she will also reap.” What anyone desires for their future depends on the kind of planting they are doing in the present.
Any kind of future harvest one desires, depends on the seeds one is sowing now. And everyone is sowing seeds. Personally, my investment in the future comes in the form of influential ideas.My gift is as a preservatist; I am trying to conserve the great ideas and ideals passed down to me, passing those ideas on to others. It is my hope as a writer and teacher that influential ideas such as liberty, justice, courage, wisdom, and charity will influence individuals and institutions.
But the thing about sowing seed is you have to wait for the harvest. I can be pleasantly surprised by immediate results; except my view, is the long view. I believe in what Proverbs 11.18 calls “sowing seeds of righteousness” which will produce good fruit into the future.
There are times when people ask me, “Why don’t you speak on a certain social topic or examine specific cultural issues?” My response is always the same. I plant seeds of true Truth so that whatever audience hears my words, those seeds of thought will bear fruit in the lives of those who listen. When I am in my church, I teach or preach directly from Scripture. When I am in public, my declarations often come in the form of application, of biblical wisdom – direct and indirect – in my time and place; so that when I am gone, new growth will arise from those seeds.
For Truth in Two this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth and planting seeds of truth, wherever it’s possible.
AFTERWORD It is important to say that no one can “know the future” with any surety (Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 “you never know,” 3x). Beyond that obvious statement, the Proverbial ideal is expressed in a way that one can know the future of any endeavor by knowingly planting what a person wants to harvest. If I want a crop of beans, I don’t plant radish seeds.In the same way, if I desire broadminded, thoughtful students, I plant a large garden with many points of view. The future of America, of any country, depends on what seeds are sown in the lives of an educated populace. If one is always taught their country is “bad,” young people will likely care little to defend it. If one is always told a religious group is “false,” students may assume the viewpoint has nothing to offer. If a person is always informed that one way of thinking is “wrong,” the individual will tend to belittle the perspective. The future of countries, universities, institutions, companies, or neighborhoods is based on who teaches what is taught, and how any subject is taught, in the present.
Why remember Frederick Douglass to celebrate MLK? Watch our Truth in Two (full text below).
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
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Over the past dozen years I have been teaching at Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary as a visiting professor. One of the courses I have taught is a PhD course titled, “Biblical and Theological Foundations for Ministry.” One project that is assigned is based on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Students are asked to address the question, “What present issue will my fellows or colleagues in the future identify, later saying to me, ‘Why didn’t you address _fill-in-the-blank_?’” By reading Douglass, students are pressed to consider the future, what I call anticipatory leadership.
In 2018 I took a course titled, “Civil War Literature and Culture” from the esteemed, brilliant, Dr. Jane Schultz. It was in her course that we read primary source literature from the Civil War era. At the end of the course, I wrote my final project on the theological foundations for the abolitionist movement. You can find the link to what became a peer-reviewed journal essay in this Truth in Two. Using Frederick Douglass as one of my sources I discovered that this former slave quoted the Bible as the basis for his desire to abolish slavery. Douglass looked to the future, to see ahead, to anticipate, the abolition of America’s sin of slavery.
And now, I ask students to consider their anticipatory leadership for future generations. You can find a three-part video series titled, “What Box? Leadership” linked in this Truth in Two which asks us all to consider our future, to peak around the corner, to anticipate future consequences of ideas we promote now. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally thankful for the truths from Scripture, outlined by Frederick Douglass, as we celebrate on this holiday, the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
PROSPECTIVE SOCIAL LEADERSHIP QUERY:
Theological Roots of the Abolitionist Movement in Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” and Angelina Grimké’s “Appeal to the Christian Women of the South”[1]
What sports can tell us about planning for the future
Watch our Truth in Two to find out how (full text below).
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
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“You have to have a good cross-over dribble.” My statement was in response to a question about adapting to new or difficult situations. For those times when things don’t go our way, I have three words for us: flexible, agile, and nimble. Develop the quick life-moves of a crossover dribble in basketball or the dexterity of a football player staying just inside the field of play while running down the sidelines.
I love to watch NFL football. One of the most exciting players to see play right now is Josh Allen, quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. He’s 6’5” 240. A great passer. A tough runner. And he is nimble. You can find video of Allen’s exploits everywhere but look in particular for those times when he jumps over a defender who is just about to tackle the quarterback. Josh Allen is a picture of nimble. Quickness wrapped in dexterity, making split second decisions.
Or consider one of the most feared pass rushers of our present era – another Buffalo Bill – Von Miller. Agile is the best word to describe him. Miller’s speed and defensive technique stymies other offenses and sacks opposing quarterbacks with ease. He is so fast he is smooth, he makes the game look easy, the essence of what it means to be agile.
And flexibility is needed for every coach who wants to succeed. My first choice for flexibility in a coach is Andy Reed of the Kansas City Chiefs. Calling the offensive signals and adjusting the gameplan for the next opponent is a necessary skill in a sport that is constantly changing.
In this coming year, when things don’t go your way, think, flexible, agile, nimble. The leader who adjusts to circumstances, to the demands of the moment, who can move quickly within the structure of his or her organizational mission, has a good cross-over leadership dribble.
For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found, in leaders everywhere.
Find out why Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address matters for Memorial Day (full text follows).
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
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She began to read aloud. We stood, my daughter and I, inside the Lincoln Memorial in 1999. Etched to the right of the president’s statue, Chelsea read from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. The boisterous noise of others around subsided to silence as this twelve-year-old recited the heart-rending words from a leader whose nation had been wounded by The Civil War. Perhaps the audience was suddenly quiet out of respect for a young woman’s voice emboldened to repeat a historical text. But I would like to think that the words themselves brought solemnity to the monument. America, torn by internal strife, reflected the soul of Abraham Lincoln.
Upon the occasion of his reelection, Lincoln chose to be generous with those who opposed him. In part he said,
“Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange . . . but let us judge not, that we be not judged.”
Lincoln, speaking of “the providence of God” and “His appointed time” intoned,
“The Almighty has His own purposes.”
Divine judgment against the sin of slavery was clearly marked as Lincoln woefully acknowledged,
“He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came.”
President Lincoln repented,
“Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.”
Most importantly, Lincoln offered reconciliation, as he concluded,
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.”
Recalling Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address reminds us of what is most important on Memorial Day Weekend: national reconciliation. For all those who have paid with their lives to secure our freedoms, we should seek to “bind up our nation’s wounds. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, personally grateful to live in the United States of America.
Find out why by watching or reading our Truth in Two (full text below).
Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
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Blaise Pascal was a famous French philosopher and mathematician of the 17th century. But today he is most famous for his writings entitled Pensées meaning “thoughts.” Pensées were Pascal’s theological writings collected after his death at the young age of 39. His conversion to Christianity was so abrupt, so transformational that Pascal devoted his final eight years to a focus on God’s work in the world. Blaise Pascal was so changed by his conversion that he wrote the word “fire” on a parchment and sewed it inside his coat, reminding him of the all-consuming fire of his internal transformation.
The word “fire” is a prominent biblical word. When God invited Moses and Israel’s elders to experience Him on Mount Sinai, Exodus 24:17 says “the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire.” “Offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire,” says the writer of Hebrews in chapter 12. Because God alone is God, Scripture often repeats the truth of Deuteronomy 4:24, “Your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Placing our worship on anything else is considered idolatry, the trigger for God’s jealousy.
And so, in the context of worshipping false ideas, God says in Jeremiah 23:29, “Is not my word like fire?” God’s Truth consumes falsehood. How does that experience of “fire” translate into our lives? One of the great lines of Jeremiah 20 verse 9 has always motivated me. The prophet declares that he must speak God’s Word because,
“There is in my heart, as it were, a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot”
I identify with Pascal’s “fire.” I feel it every day. It is the unquenchable fire of God’s Spirit who lives in me. The Word of God is a fire in my bones, and I cannot hold it in.
For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth, with light, from the fire of God’s Truth.
My first stint as an educator was chosen by the clock.
My training was in pastoral studies. But I was being asked to become a high school teacher in a Christian school. In 256 undergraduate-graduate semester hours I had precisely 6 hours in any type of teaching preparation. Just in terms of time, it seems I was unprepared to teach in a formal educational setting.
But then I asked myself how much influence could I have within a certain amount of time?
Since one of my gifts is teaching, I compared the two opportunities:
Teaching once a week for 45 minutes over 50 Sundays a year equals 37.5 hours per year
Teaching five times a week for 45 minutes over 180 days a year equals 135 hours per year
By almost a 4 to 1 margin, teaching in a school won out. The most influence I might have over time made my decision to teach an easy one for me.
Every leader’s situation is different.
All leaders must ask themselves the question, “What is the best use of my time?” Scripture is full of principles for leaders to consider when it comes to time.
Christian Leaders Recognize God Controls the Results of His Work in Us over Time.
I am haunted by one question:
What if I do not see results of my efforts in this life?
I trust the Providence of God to do His work in His time with me, as Paul said,
When David had served God’s purposes in his generation, he died (Acts 13:36).
My purposes are suffused in God’s purposes. The point of my life as a Christian leader is not results; results belong to God, who uses me and my gifts as He sees fit. As the apostle tells the Corinthians,
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to teach. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:5-9).
God controls results in time, which means what the Psalmist said,
My times are in His hands (31:15).
Words like “providence” – God personally plans and oversees all things – are established from the biblical record. In leadership we should not be controlled by a Google calendar but God’s clock. Paul’s desire to preach in Asia but
The Spirit of Jesus would not allow them (Acts 16:7)
A vision was given to Paul to go to Macedonia, the next appointment in God’s plan (Acts 16:8-11). We may desire to see others “face to face” but may be “hindered by Satan” (1 Thess 2:17-18); a situation totally outside our ability to observe. “Hindering” may influence our plans unbeknown to us, directly impacting our intention as good as the plan may be (Romans 1:13).
Reading Paul’s plans to visit Rome from Romans 15 we know two things for sure: (1) Paul did not get to Rome the way he thought he would and (2) Paul never reached Spain, his ultimate destination.
I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints (15:22-25).
We learn from Acts 27 that Paul’s trip to Rome did not go as planned. So, what we consider to be interruptions in our schedule, for instance, are God-given. God controls the results of His purposes in us through time, times we may not fully understand.Five questions make us consider God’s results in time:
How do I talk about “results” of “my” leadership?
What is my attitude knowing “results” of “my” work may not be seen in this life?
How do I talk about words like “providence” to others when I discuss my leadership?
How should I think about “planning” if I know God may change my plans?
Why is it important to understand that supernatural “hindering” may displace my plans?
2. Christian Leaders Remember our Time in Life is Short.
We do not know the time God has allotted to us. Ecclesiastes is clear:
Man does not know his time (9:12)
Human time must be measured against eternal time. Because a lifetime is short, a long view of time should compel our actions. The reason for Paul’s exclamation “today is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2) is that no one has the guarantee of life tomorrow. The parable of the rich man in Luke 12 is clear. Speaking to himself, the foolish rich man said,
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ (12:19)
The problem was that the man assumed “many years.” Instead, God says,
Fool! This night your soul is required of you (12:20)
Leaders should be wary not to suggest to young people “You have your whole life ahead of you!” Such a statement, while generous, does not consider the potential brevity of a life.
On the other hand, the evangelist preaches the gospel and friends share the message of the cross with friends because no one knows when someone may pass into eternity. Even our financial and economic plans are judged by James, who tells us
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil (4:13-16).
Since our time on earth is short, leaders should focus on the long view “of declaring God’s mighty works to the next generation” (Ps 71:14-18)
that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments (Ps 78:6-7).
Human time must be layered into God’s time.Here are five questions to consider:
How am I investing in the lives of young people who may live on after I am gone?
How often do I use the phrase “If the Lord wills” in my planning and conversation?
Before any activity, including sleep, do I have my affairs in order in case the Lord takes my life?
Do I remind people, including myself, that life is short?
Do I weigh my statements about time by biblical standards?
3. Christian Leaders Realize How We Use Our Time is Our Responsibility. It is said that an NFL quarterback has a clock in his head, knowing when he should deliver the ball before being sacked. In the same way, the wise person understands life’s brevity and lives accordingly. Proverbs 27:1 is clear,
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
The Psalmist admonishes us, that we should
Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom (90:12).
Psalm 90:9-12 reminds everyone that time is short. In light of the truth, people should calculate, take stock of, or “number their days.” Every tick of the clock brings us one second closer to death. Far from morbid, the statement forbids nonchalance in life.
Why should I be taught to keep track of my days in this life?
O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! (Psalm 39:4).
So, what should we do, knowing we do not control time and my time on earth is short? Paul admonishes that we should be
making the best use of the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).
The lead phrase is best translated as “redeem the time.” The idea is that we literally buy back time, making the most of every opportunity. Our time is made purposeful within His time. In leadership we make the most of our time understanding that our life and death are directed by God. And so we say with Paul “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). The apostle continues the thought in Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
So, I ask myself, “Where is my greatest influence as I live for Christ?” and “How can I make proper use of the time I have been given for His service?” Take the apostle Paul, for instance. God used Paul’s cultural, linguistic, religious, and national status to accomplish Divine directions. He could minister to the Jews because of his Hebrew background (Phil 3:1-6). He could minister to Gentiles because of his birthplace (Acts 21:39). He was a Roman citizen which gave him an international passport (Acts 22:3). Paul could speak multiple languages (Acts 21:37-22.2). Paul was an academic (Acts 17:16-21; 19:8-10). The apostle’s upbringing set the framework for his life under God’s Providence.
I won’t lie. Moving to Indianapolis was the worst “career” decision of my life,humanly speaking. Some people have done bad things to me personally and my “professional” goals throughout my time in the city, humanly speaking. So, in my own way I have been “hindered.” It has been a hard road overcoming multiple obstacles. But I have to say knowing these biblical principles has helped me as the Lord has moved me in directions I did not foresee. As a leader, I ask myself these questions:
What are my present times and circumstances?
What are the gifts and opportunities I have been given?
Who do I know in The Church who will help me?
Am I content to plan while at the same time knowing my plans may be changed?
Why is it important for me to use the phrase “humanly speaking” when discussing my plans?
Conclusion
The following ideas had an influence on my life. They may not be the same for you.
Time was my focus when I thought about the people I would teach. In a pastoral role I would principally interact with adults. In a teaching role, I would teach teenagers. Timeof life mattered in my decision. I operated based on the anonymous mantra
It is better to build children than repair adults.
The most formative time in life is youth. Ideas which begin to root in the early years will bear fruit in later years. Time was my focus when I thought about the people I would teach.
Longevity was another time issue. How much influence would one have over the longest period of time? How would ideas germinate and grow throughout one’s life? More importantly, if I teach younger people, they will most probably outlive me. Would it be better to spend time with people whose influence will impact more time than my own?
For me, the answer was obvious. Longevity over time was crucial in making my decision to teach.
After 30 years of teaching junior high through doctoral students I am still asking myself the same question: what is the best use of my time?
The amount of time, influence over time, and longevity throughout time mattered most in my life’s decision.
For me, impressing young minds with true Truth is where I wanted to spend my time.
For you, it may be something different.
But whatever we do, we do it through time.
There are only two questions left for each of us to answer:
How will I spend the time given to me in this life?
How will I prepare for time after this life?
In my next leadership article, I will continue to develop biblical principles. But in the meantime, consider more insights from the Bible on leadership I have written. Keep reading with my articles from MarkEckel.com
You can order my book I Just Need Time to Think and read the section entitled “Retreat” for an in-depth analysis of some of the ideas found here on work, rest, and sabbath.
Personally seeking truth wherever it’s found, Mark Eckel reminds himself daily of the ancient line “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14).
Mark has been teaching the next generation over four decades.
A clock has been built in a West Texas mountain; its pendulum will swing for 10,000 years. Alexander Rose, the clock’s inventor, says the clock’s purpose is to “is to help humans think about time well beyond our own lives.” Elizabeth Dias of The New York Times reports the time keeping device is called “The Clock of the Long Now.”
The New York Times article asks good questions and notes interesting comments from physicists. “How do we measure our lives?” is the opening query, one that should enliven any Christian leader’s contemplation. “Time is a mystery” is a declaration that deserves a Scriptural response. “All of life’s cycles, in and around us, together define time” causes the biblical thinker to counter, “How can time, define ‘time’?” Further, time is said to be “complicated” and “relative.” A leader reading God’s Word knows the created thing will simply do what it is made to do and is indeed “relative” in comparison to being created. The article ends by saying, “There’s no way to describe time before the origin of our world,” to which the Bible responds, “God is from everlasting to everlasting.”
How we think about time matters. If you’re a leader, another New Year’s celebration is a good occasion to ask yourself, “How do I view time as a leader?” “Should my calendar be reordered in some way to better think biblically about how I do my work?” The concept of time – something we totally take for granted – is an essential discussion point for leaders. Contrary to the idea in the article title above, we do not “make sense of time,” time is rather a gift given to us. Hebraic-Christian leaders do not view time as “mysterious.” Instead, believing leaders view our time as something to be carefully stewarded. Time is not “complicated” or “relative.” Rather, we should view our times as an opportunity to participate in God’s eternal purposes, since He is eternal.
Perhaps the most valuable question to ask is, “Does the Bible give direction about a sense of time in leadership?” Scripture is full of principles for leaders to consider when it comes to time. Here are several from Genesis 2:1-3.
1. Christian Leaders Should View Time as Sacred. God made time “holy,” sanctifying time, filling it with meaning. Genesis 2:1-3 records the all-important passage about sabbath rest. The first instance of the word holy in Scripture stipulates that God wants His people to be different by making time holy. God pronounced a state of holiness within time that once begun would continue. Notice in creation God calls other things good while time is sanctified. The climax of creation is to construct one day out of seven as unique. Holiday—a day set apart—should mark our calendars rather than “vacation,” coming from the Latin meaning to evacuate or leave empty. When time is sanctified, our days are given meaning.
Using phrases such as “I’m just killing time” or “I’m just passing the time” give an air of nonchalance to our hours in the day. The Hebrew language says that God pronounced a state of holiness, existing within time when time was created.
In leadership our definition of “time” should be reordered to consider that everything I do is “time sensitive” because it is God-sensitive. Our every breath is an act of holiness, witness to Jesus’ prayer “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Every moment is Heaven-filled and Heaven-sent accomplishing God’s will in His world.
Five applications of seeing time as sacred include:
Prayer should hover over every thought.
Meditation should wrap every decision.
Wisdom should remind us to “be” and temper our compulsion to “do.”
Eternity should counter “right now” with “until then.”
Creation of sabbath should compel us to make personal retreat a priority.
2. Christian Leaders Must Resist the Temptation to Work All the Time Another prominent principle of Genesis 2:1-3 is that God established a timed pattern of work – rest. God’s accomplishment of creation is a statement about our creative work. The word “work” indicates skilled workmanship relating to one’s business, habits, or skills. The Bible uses the same idea when God gives direction for a sabbath day, a day away from our normal work (Ex 20:9-10). The work we have been given to do is from God, work that can be accomplished with God’s intention for us in mind (Ex 31:3; 39:43). In fact, special times of remembrance can be set aside to consider God’s work in our lives (Lev 16:29).
Once God completed His task, there is a repetition-escalation in the text: it looks like this in Hebrew:
“God finished
the work He had done
from all the work He had done
from all the creation work He had done” (Genesis 2:2-3)
These phrases, building on each other, explain what “God finished” means. First, there is no longer a physical creation going on. Second, rest is the end of creation, an anticipation of something yet to come. Third, there is a marker of the world to come, namely, eternity is the goal; people are made for eternity. Notice that the normal end phrase to the first six days is not repeated here; “the evening and morning” formula is absent. If eternity is the goal, evening and morning are unnecessary. Hebrews 4:9-10 summarizes: Rest is God’s original intention. Rest is the eternal anticipation of His people.
Here are 5 questions for you to consider as you think about your rhythms of work and rest:
How do we intentionally anticipate eternity in our temporal lives?
What specific actions do we undertake to make intention, reality?
Why is a focus on eternal completion something for leaders to ponder?
Who is impacted by my discussion about future “rest”?
How can I as a leader incorporate the concept of “rest” into my business plan?
3. Christian Leaders Must Find Rest in Something Other than Their Normal Work. Well-meaning Christian folk may suggest that doing yard work on Sunday goes against God’s design not to work on our day of rest. The idea comes from statements in Exodus 20 or Leviticus 23 that precludes agricultural work. But there are two important ideas to remember. One, the First Testament Israelites lived in an agricultural culture. For God’s people then, working in the fields was their normal work. Two, the word for “work” in Genesis 2:2-3 carries the concept of what a person usually does; we would call this kind of work our “vocation” or our “calling.” Whatever we do in our daily work should be stopped for a time. For the leader, if we are reading, thinking, studying, researching, visioning, writing, teaching, or leading, that activity should be set aside for the pattern, “God rested from all His work He had done in creation.” Some leaders may rest by doing yardwork, shooting skeet, painting, attending concerts, going to museums, and, yes, spending extra time with their children or grandchildren!
Christian leaders sometimes think that they must fill every moment with activity. We should reconsider such an approach to our days, to our work. We must intentionally decide distinctive ways that we will honor God’s sanctification of time. We should be wary not to let others fill our time for us. Yes, Providential interruptions happen. But thinking that the response to those interruptions is immediately our responsibility should be carefully considered. Celebrations with family or community should be built into our calendar. Feasting, for instance, is part of God’s celebratory purposes. Special times of giving to others is a personal, practical way of exercising the holy-day God has given.
Here are five questions leaders could be asking themselves about resting from their normal work:
What does my leadership position usually demand of my time?
Do I deliberately stop myself from doing my usual leadership tasks on my day of rest?
How do I actively plan my day of rest stepping away from my normal responsibilities?
Have I intentionally developed my sabbath activities?
Am I accountable to others for my time by demonstrating my application of rest?
In my next leadership article I will continue to develop biblical principles on time. But in the meantime, consider more insights from the Bible on leadership I have written. Keep reading with my articles from MarkEckel.com
You can order my book I Just Need Time to Thinkand read the section entitled “Retreat” for an in-depth analysis of some of the ideas found here on work, rest, and sabbath.
My shelves are full of leadership books. I teach in a PhD leadership program so the stacks of books I have read on leadership should come as no surprise! But what I’ve discovered in all my reading is that the Bible is the best leadership resource.
And you must agree! You are reading this post because you too believe the Bible is the best place to discover leadership principles! So, I’ve begun a list of Scripture passages about leadership that I hope will encourage you, inspire you, and, hopefully, challenge you to lead well, wherever God has placed you.
This is not one of those posts that just gives you a list of texts. Since this entry is the first of a few articles on leadership, I’ll begin with a focus on key leadership themes. In this post the verses will focus on a leader’s work and requirements.
Most of us are moving through life quickly. We all know that in the age of 240-characters via Twitter, or Facebook Reels, or Instagram stories that information comes in short bursts. Folks like get-to-the-point, ideas. So, for each leadership ideal a brief commentary is included for the sake of context and explanation.
Scripture operates as a building’s cement footers for a leader’s stability; my brief commentary acts as the frame in which the cement is poured. Each Bible passage is one base supporting the Bible’s leadership foundation. My commentary is but a set up for the important work and needs of leaders.
I encourage you to allow the verses below to give strength for your leadership opportunities.
Verses about a Leader’s Work
What exactly is a leader’s task from the Bible’s point of view? The list you find here is by no means exhaustive but includes some of the jobs of a leader we see highlighted in Biblical examples. And notice that these tasks are ongoing (the “-ing” ending) for your current context.
But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter because they will share it with you. Exodus 18:21-22 (NIV)
A first work of leadership is peacemaking. These words are spoken by Moses’ father-in-law, who is giving him some advice about how to carry on his labor. In any group of people there will be conflict and part of the work of a leader is to help bring resolution to these conflicts.
When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, ‘This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.’ Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out together as one. When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand. 1 Samuel 11:6-8 (NIV)
A second work of leadership is protecting. Leaders have enemies; people who stand against us or our beliefs. For us, it is not typically enemies like Saul was facing. But there are forces of evil at work around us and in others that are constantly trying to attack and break down the good that exists in any group or organization. A leader needs to identify the threat and lead others in opposing it.
Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness. May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor. Psalm 72:1-4 (NIV)
A third work of leadership is ensuring justice. This Psalm is describing the ideal king. The ruler makes sure justice is done – especially when it comes to the weak and vulnerable. We are all tempted to overlook those who seem unimportant and who have few friends and advocates. As leaders, we need to be especially attentive to those others neglect and make sure they are treated fairly.
Teach them his decrees and instructions and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. Exodus 18:20 (NIV)
A fourth work of leadership is modeling. This is Jethro again, reminding Moses of his most important duty to the people. Indeed, setting an example for people is probably the most important activity for any leader. Note there is a dual viewpoint here: the leader both teaches and shows the way to live. I have emphasized “modeling” here because if we don’t live it, our words of instruction to others will sound hollow.
Verses about a Leader’s Requirements
If leaders are going to perform their work well, Scripture highlights over and over three necessities.
By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength. Proverbs 24:3-4 (NIV)
Leaders need wisdom.A leader faces so many challenges and it is part of the nature of leadership to point the way forward through ambiguity and risk. Making good choices in such circumstances takes wisdom. The whole book of Proverbs is a meditation on what it really means to be wise.
Okay, but how do we get wisdom? Glad you asked.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)
Leaders need to fear the Lord.A leader needs a sober appreciation of who God is and what a personal relationship with God means for all of life. If God is God, I am not. If God has made me, I am His and all I have comes from Him. If God is real, then He has the right to declare what is true and to determine what is to be done. In short, a leader needs to acknowledge and submit to reality: the starting point for wisdom.
The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice. Proverbs 12:15 (NIV)
Leaders need humility.Lowliness of mind, not thinking we are better than others, is related to the fear of the Lord. Part of knowing reality is knowing my own limitations, having a proper regard for my own thinking. I don’t know everything; I must be willing to listen to the wisdom, knowledge, and guidance of others. If I don’t know how to be taught, I won’t know how to lead.
There are many books published on leadership. But there is only One Book which gives Heaven’s view of how to lead on earth. May these principles of leadership, drawn from the Bible’s leadership texts, be the cement for your leadership foundation.
Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
“THIS is how you treat people!” I proclaimed, a quiver in my voice.
Just before Christmas, 1995 a textile mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts was destroyed by fire. About 1,400 people worked at Malden Mills. The owner of the mill, Aaron Feuerstein, spoke before the employees’ days after the fire. “I am not throwing people out of work two weeks before Christmas,” was his famous line. Feuerstein then and there declared that he would pay his workers their wages, even though the mill was closed, and they could not work.
It was early in 1996 that an NBC News feature covered the incident. Feuerstein’s reputation as a beneficent corporate citizen soared. Feuerstein continued to pay his workers for months– without a product being produced – while the mill was being rebuilt. I showed that news story to my high school students for years, always ending with my line above, “THIS is how you treat people.”
Aaron Feuerstein was a rich man who had made millions from his plant. He could have easily, as he said in his first news interview, claimed the insurance money and walked away. But he didn’t. Feuerstein not only continued to pay his employees, but he also rebuilt the mill, and created an innovative, cold-weather material. The mill continued to produce for another decade before economic hardships closed its doors.
Aaron Feuerstein was 95 when he died this week. I just read the Boston Globe story, tears filling my eyes. My mind has not changed since I first read of Feuerstein’s care for his workers. As you might imagine, his workers cheered and wept in response to Feuerstein’s magnanimous empathy toward them in 1995 and beyond. As one man remembered in the NBC feature, “I have never seen so many grown men cry.”
I can only imagine how long the funeral procession will be for Mr. Feuerstein. When asked what he wanted his tombstone to read, his response was immediate, “Hopefully it’ll be, ‘He done his damnedest,’ you know, that I didn’t give up and I try to do the right thing.”
Something that is missing in all the mainstream reportage of Mr. Feuerstein is the answer to the question, “Why did he do it? Why did he continue to pay his workers when he didn’t have to?” The answer, according to Mr. Feuerstein, is found in the Torah, the Jewish law code embedded in the Bible books Genesis through Deuteronomy.
Feuerstein was invited to speak at MIT the year after the mill fire and his generosity on behalf of his workers. It was in that audience of MIT business leaders Feuerstein revealed the answer to the question, “Why?” It was there he said,
“I remember as a young boy, five or six years old, sitting at my father’s table,” he told the audience during the question-and-answer period. The discussion was about his grandfather who, when he started the business, insisted on paying his workers before sunset. His father explained that the practice was cited in the Torah, in the book of Deuteronomy (24: 14-15). Mr. Feuerstein read the passage in Hebrew and English.
“`You should not oppress the worker. He is poor and needy, whether he be thy brethren or a stranger’–and by stranger they meant all people, all faiths, all races,” he said. “`And the very day of his work, you have to pay him his wages. And the sunset should not appear upon these unpaid wages because he can’t afford it, and he would cry out against you to God, and you would have sinned.'” [“Malden Mills Owner Applies Religious Ethics to Business.”]
“THIS is how you treat people,” is based on Hebraic law. Employers everywhere still have much to learn from Mr. Feuerstein. And I, tears still filling my eyes, want everyone to know the story of Malden Mills and the Hebrew teaching that motivated one man’s care for others.
Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
Picture Credits: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat, Boston Globe, sfchronicle.com, list23.com, Eagle – Tribune
AFTERWORD It is important to say that no one can “know the future” with any surety (Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 “you never know,” 3x). Beyond that obvious statement, the Proverbial ideal is expressed in a way that one can know the future of any endeavor by knowingly planting what a person wants to harvest. 
My first stint as an educator was chosen by the clock.
A vision was given to Paul to go to Macedonia, the next appointment in God’s plan (Acts 16:8-11). We may desire to see others “face to face” but may be “hindered by Satan” (1 Thess 2:17-18); a situation totally outside our ability to observe. 
2. Christian Leaders Remember our Time in Life is Short.
3. Christian Leaders Realize How We Use Our Time is Our Responsibility. It is said that an NFL quarterback has a clock in his head, knowing when he should deliver the ball before being sacked. In the same way, the wise person understands life’s brevity and lives accordingly. Proverbs 27:1 is clear,
The lead phrase is best translated as “redeem the time.”
I won’t lie. Moving to Indianapolis was the worst “career” decision of my life, 
Personally seeking truth wherever it’s found, Mark Eckel reminds himself daily of the ancient line “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14).
A clock has been built in a West Texas mountain; its pendulum will swing for 10,000 years. Alexander Rose, the clock’s inventor, says the clock’s purpose is to “is to help humans think about time well beyond our own lives.” Elizabeth Dias of 
1. Christian Leaders Should View Time as Sacred.
2. Christian Leaders Must Resist the Temptation to Work All the Time
My shelves are full of leadership books. I teach in a PhD leadership program so the stacks of books I have read on leadership should come as no surprise! But what I’ve discovered in all my reading is that the Bible is the best leadership resource.
Scripture operates as a building’s cement footers for a leader’s stability; 
A first work of leadership is peacemaking.
A third work of leadership is ensuring justice.
Leaders need wisdom.
Leaders need humility.
Aaron Feuerstein was 95 when he died this week. I just read 