Check out this great post that Allana wrote for a friends website!

On the Farm

“By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Proverbs 4: 3-4

Good morning from beautiful Jenners Township Pennsylvania. It has been a busy few months. God has truly blessed us as we made the move to this family property in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Things moved much quicker than we had anticipated as we put our house up for sale at the end of May on the advice of our realtor. It sold in 3 days over a weekend. We are so thankful for Scott Estep and Danbury Realtors. Not only is Scott a wonderful brother in the Lord (you have to love when you end your first meeting with your realtor in prayer!), but he also provided attentive guidance that got us a better deal on our house in Toledo than I could have imagined. This set us up to make the move at the end of June. It was definitely a bittersweet move as serving as a chaplain with Ohio Living Hospice had me working with an incredible team and provided the opportunity for tremendous moments of ministry. My son Robert and his wife Jenny also added to our family there in Toledo just as we moved away, having our 5th grandchild. We look forward to every minute that we can spend with them when visiting the Toledo area. We are just that little bit farther from Chayla as she conquers Ohio State and serves with Chi Alpha. However, we are blessed by the way that God has orchestrated every step of this journey.

The picture above are of the house, garage and some of the property. The bottom center is a picture of Christian Community Church where I am on staff as the Family and Youth Pastor. Sami and Allana have become involved in the children’s ministry and enjoy the fellowship of the Ladies Ministry as well. We are so blessed to have such a fantastic church family. We are looking forward to serving here in Boswell PA for years to come. It is a little strange for me. I have been a nomad for my entire life, moving from place to place. This is the first move where I really have a sense of this being the place I will live out the rest of my life. The Holy Spirit has just filled our hearts with love for the area and for its people. I have been especially blessed as I walk the property that was a safe place for a military brat with no roots. Whether it was fishing in the pond, picking corn, looking over the edge of a strip mine or helping my Grandfather lay gravel for an extended parking area; the property is full of wonderful memories. We certainly miss our Toledo/Bedford family and look forward to every opportunity to visit but God is blessing us here and we are so grateful for his grace and empowerment as we make the adjustment to Somerset County.

Into the New

It has been a year of new things already! In January I started an MBA program at Bowling Green State University. In addition to that I became potentially the oldest pledge ever in the Delta Sigma Pi professional fraternity. I have greatly enjoyed and been enriched personally by both endeavors. My oldest daughters Samantha and Chayla began working for Code Ninjas, a programming school for children opened by a family friend. Chayla who graduates in May from Ohio Virtual Academy has been accepted to Ohio State! We are very excited for her. My son Robert and his wife Jenny moved from Clarkstown Tennessee to South Carolina just outside of Charlotte North Carolina to be closer to his seminary… I started this post in May of 2021. It never got posted. I can hardly believe that it has been almost an entire year since the last time I posted here. It has been quite the year. I guess that I should run down the items mentioned in the 2021 draft. I am set to graduate with my MBA in December. I have really enjoyed my time with Delta Sigma Pi. It has been an interesting ride as the fraternity navigated Covid along with the issues that normally come up for large groups of college students. I have been impressed by the dedication and skills of these young adults and had some fun along the way. Unfortunately the nature of my obligations at 59 years old has not allowed me to participate as fully as I would have liked but I am forever grateful for the grace that my fraternal brothers have shown me. Samantha has moved solidly into a customer service role, working at Biggby’s Coffee and Lickety Split for the year. Chayla just returned home after a very successful and eventful year at Ohio State ( Go Buckeyes! Now there is something I never thought I would say…apologies to my Nittany Lions). Robert and Jenny have actually landed here in Toledo having moved here to help her family after an accident injured her mother. However the big change coming up is that after 8 years (the longest in one city ever for me) Allana and I along with Samantha, Chayla and Nisa will be moving to a family property in Pennsylvania about an hour and a half east of Pittsburgh. Our time in Toledo has been amazing and we have been blessed to be able to serve God along side a long list of wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ in a variety of venues and projects. We are looking forward to the adventures that God has for us as we join Community Christian Church in Boswell Pennsylvania and get to work alongside Pastor Charles Kelly. God has been so good as we move towards this transition. Please pray for his continued grace as we follow his leading.

Blessings,

Sam

Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

This is both a repost and addition to my Glass Wall Series. As the two posts in question were tightly linked and I have allowed so much time to pass, I thought it best to combine them into one post covering 5 characteristics of a Glass Wall. These 5 characteristics are certainly not comprehensive but are the most salient features that I have recognized during my 35 (ouch, just did that math) year career.

Before one can address a glass wall, one must be able to see it. this is no easy task as the cultural design and one of the primary characteristics of this kind of dysfunction is its invisibility. I am going to explore some of the fingerprints that you can find on the glass wall, a place to begin when taking a serious look at cultural barriers to operational success.

  1. Observed behavior contravenes a stated value of the organization.

Value statements have become standard in most organizations. They will be touted in flowery language on web pages, in orientation documents, annual reports, and regular employee meetings. This is perhaps one of the most visible signs of a glass wall in an organization. It is for this reason that it will most often go to great lengths to espouse its “values” at every level. The difficulty can be that organizations that function within their values may appear to do the same. The biggest tell is that the glass wall restricts value communications to being conceptual. Alliterated catch phrases, cool sketches and extended meetings will regularly lay a conceptual framework for the proposed value system. However, there is an absence of behavioral meat to the value system and a lack of accountability particularly amongst the leadership. It is almost impossible for an organization to function for any amount of time without this part of the glass wall getting dirty and more visible. This often triggers point 3 as well-meaning leadership realizes the disparity between the stated values and the actual behaviors occurring in the organization. Unfortunately, all these decisions and actions stem from point 2 and so never actually address the wall.

2. Leadership has an external locus of accountability.

There is a decision side and execution side of every glass wall. This separation results in consistent failure to achieve the stated goals of the decision side. This failure is often not even recognized and is either snuffed under a sudden change in language and goals or mined until some small positive is found that can be heralded as institutional success. The internal double speak that takes place to make this happen is both impressive and saddening. The decision side of the glass wall goes on undeterred and oblivious. However, should a failure penetrate the wall, the culture demands an immediate search for unaccountability. This results in a search for an external locus of control for the event and the institution of a blame game that focuses entirely on the execution side of the wall. It is in this category that anyone who challenges the wall most often finds themselves. In the absence of a scapegoat, or in organizations with a wall that has deep foundations and broad impact, the locus of control and accountability can be set in surrounding circumstances or external influences. This causes the culture to enforce a measure of isolation, and in some pernicious cases, place the blame on the population sector they serve. This lack of real accountability is perhaps the strongest defense mechanism employed by the glass wall.

3. There are regular declarations of a new day in the organization.

This most often happens when circumstances make the glass wall just a little more visible. The culture triggers new language and promises of new behaviors, but it then implements them entirely within the boundaries of the glass wall. The purpose of this characteristic is to “Windex” the wall and return it to its invisibility. There will be a conceptual recommitment to the stated organizational values. Value training as stated above will be required of every employee. New alliterations, graphics and catchphrases will abound. Unfortunately, new behavior and accountability will not. In some cases, new leadership will be brought in, or more often promoted from within to supervise the “reset”, “relaunch” or other “re”. There is real intent to change here, but the constrictions of the wall and the strength of culture to hide its own dysfunction, blunt the effort, and channel the energy back into the wall itself. Once the wall has been “Windexed” the organization will sometimes declare success and settle into its routine patterns of behavior. Other times the initiative will simply fade away once the smeary grime is no longer apparent. In the commercial sector the declaration of a new day may accompany a change of ownership. This rarely has a significant impact on a glass wall unless there is almost complete turnover at the highest levels in the organization. I have watched an organization go through successive ownership changes without significant cultural adjustments until it finally succumbed to its own cultural disabilities. In another case a company was purchased and taken private. The new ownership attempted to work within the constraints of the existing leadership but in the end the conflict between the new owner’s very transparent and successful leadership cultural and the purchased organizations dysfunctional cultural resulted in a complete house cleaning. In fact, the purchased company’s operations center was shut down and all operational control assumed by the parent organization. Leadership was let go lock stock and barrel and after significant operational changes the company reestablished positive growth and continues to thrive.

4. The Glass Wall triggers overt dishonesty in otherwise meticulously honest people in order to protect itself.

In business this can be inventory fraud, payroll shaving, buried expenses or simply lying about the achievement of goals. In order to justify this behavior carefully framed stakeholder language is developed and utilized repeatedly. It is groupthink in all its glory. Terms like “visionary expression”, “creative accounting”, “aspirational language”, “positive spin” and the development of a strong separation of “internal language” vs. “external language” are hallmarks of this characteristic of a Glass Wall. This is perhaps one of the most destructive aspects because it impacts not only the organization but the individual as well. While there are many characteristics of a Glass Wall that can spill over into the personal lives of those affected, this obstruction of accountability can have terrible consequences in the lives of the people affected. The introduction of dishonesty as a value to the organization, when accepted by its stakeholders, can lead to chaos in their personal lives as well. A corollary to this aspect of organizational glass walls is that unfortunately they will attract overtly dishonest individuals as well. These individuals will take advantage of the cultural milieu and of the honest members of the organization to pursue personal goals. In organizations with nascent glass walls, they will accelerate the process. They are often also willing to cross lines of legality that individuals simply caught up in the culture would not otherwise cross. In these cases, unfortunately those who believe they are simply working in the best interests of the organization will often be left holding the baggage left behind when the more dishonest stakeholders walk away or are removed.

5. Anyone who brings attention to the glass wall and attempts to clarify actual accountability will be quickly redirected (at best?) or terminated and vilified (at worst?).

Organizations with significant Glass Walls almost always have high turnover rates. This expensive and negative quality in any organization triggers characteristic 2 and characteristic 3. When a Glass Wall is seriously challenged, the perpetrator will be quickly portrayed as disloyal or someone who has failed to understand the values of the organization. Once a stakeholder has recognized the dysfunction, most simply move on to another opportunity but some will attempt to shine a light on the Glass Wall. However, they most often eventually move on when they encounter organizational resistance. Those who see the value and potential that the organization has to offer and believe that real change is possible, may make a serious attempt to champion change.

Regardless of the type of organization involved, detecting the glass walls within the organizational culture is a necessary step in positively addressing the negative behaviors and outcomes that accompany them. This is most often possible through the utilization of an outside individual or organization. There are several factors that determine the strength and stealth of a Glass Wall.

Elusive Excellence

Everyone is looking for excellence, or at least a lot of people are.  A quick search of books on excellence will demonstrate the ubiquitous desire for this elusive quality.  The books that pop up span the spectrum of milieus.  Personal excellence, business excellence, academic excellence, excellence in sports, excellence in parenting are all represented in even a cursory review.  I have been pondering this topic since I opened a file on it in August of 2019.  I just could never envision the direction that I wanted it to go.  I had an experience that changed that today.

I went to Chic Fil A for lunch.  I have always been professionally impressed with the overall service model that Chic Fil A has developed and even more so that they have maintained (hupomone has a business application too).  Here is what I saw today.  Chic Fil A has been faced with a pandemic just as every other business, organization, school etc. in the world.  Many businesses and organizations have made adaptations in order to continue to operate.  They have also made concessions in quality and service.  They have cut little holes in their paradigm boxes in order to comply or avoid liability.  Others have just given up, not being able to see a way to make their paradigms remotely work.  I am not going to go into the details but what I saw today was an organization that looked at the operational exigencies of a world in pandemic and instead of cutting little holes in their operational paradigm to adapt and comply, accepting the cultural compromises that accompany such efforts, they just blew it up.  They restarted at their core values and said “How can we best express our core values operationally during the pandemic.”  Now I cannot vouch for every Chic Fil A, I have only visited this one recently (unfortunately Chic Fil A does not fit in my current nutritional regimen) but this location’s brand new paradigm is a wonderful expression of excellence in the face of adversity.

The Bible has a lot to say about excellence and being excellent.  The two Greek words that we translate as excellence and excellent (Kalos and Arete) among other things, are used well over 100 times in the New Testament.  Arete carries with it a sense of moral goodness or virtuous thought, feeling or action.  Paul uses this word once in Phillipians,

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Phillipians 4:8

Paul calls us to “dwell on” or meditate on/think about things that have this quality of moral goodness.  However he doesn’t just leave this quality in the thought realm.  In the very next verse he says,

“The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Phillipians 4:9

So we need to dwell on some things, but what things?  Things learned, Things received, things heard and things seen, then these things must become things practiced but it starts with the idea of excellence. Peter uses arete in direct reference to the attributes of God.

“But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” 1 Peter 2:9

How awesome is that as people set apart by God for His Glory we have the opportunity to proclaim His excellencies! The same qualities that we are called to dwell on and then put into practice. This is why our walk of maturing in Christ never ends. We should always be learning, receiving, hearing and seeing! This is how God works in us.

Peter then echoes Paul’s call for diligence and equates God’s excellence with our own as he summarizes the spiritual process of maturity.

3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:3-8

Here, Arete meets Hupomone as we are transformed into his likeness and become “neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” How amazing is it that when we apply ourselves to the process diligently, the Holy Spirit honors our commitment and we begin to evince the fruit of the Spirit and and take on the excellence of our Father in Heaven!

So how does all this relate to Chic Fil A? Chic Fil A has anchored the excellence of their brand not in a series of procedures and practices. If this had been the case, as they attempted to adapt to the pandemic they would have clung to their old way of doing things, believing (as many do) that excellence resides in those practices. What I saw in my visit was an organization that understands what is excellent in their industry. They put the customer experience before their operational manual and understood that in this case they didn’t need to make as minimal adaptations to their practices as they could to operate under these conditions. Instead they blew up the manual and took all they had learned, received, heard and seen and molded it into a new thing that pursued true excellence. If you are doing things because it has always been done that way, maybe it is time to stop.

“8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8,9

Finding Pasture

 

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I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
JOHN 10:9

I think that right about now, we could all use some good pasture.

Humanity has a tendency to spend much of its time looking for good pasture. We do that in many different ways and with just as many different expectations. The unfortunate reality is that I think that few find what they think they are looking for. I would suggest that the core of this problem lies more in our definition of what a good pasture really is. The Gospel of John chapter 10 contains Jesus’ beautiful parable of the Good Shepherd. Jesus contrasts the voice of the Good Shepherd with that of the thief who comes to coax the sheep not to pasture but to destruction. He then makes a second comparison, the hired hand. The hired hand is not a bad person. He does not carry the stigma of the thief. His intent is not destruction but he is not the shepherd. He does his best to lead to good pasture and he does “his job” the best that he can but when the wolves arrive on the scene, he flees. The sheep are snatched up and scattered.

If you have followed me long you have read about Hupomone. This concept is beautifully applicable here. Our humanity wants to focus on the pasture, the circumstances of our lives. In fact we come to rely on the pasture and when the pasture doesn’t live up to our expectations we are devastated. We think that we have done something wrong or that God has somehow turned his back on us. The reality is that the pasture of circumstance, as beautiful as it can be is a changeable and potentially dangerous place. Bad things happen in pastures. Storms crash, wolves hunt, lions prowl and thieves lurk, all in pastures. They are attracted by the presence of the sheep. Sheep that are focused on the pasture miss the mark in two ways. Peter remarks on the first in 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” Sheep that are focused on the pasture are not alert. They do not see the danger coming. The second way that sheep who are focused on the pasture miss the mark is found in Hebrews 12, “And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Sheep that are focused on the pasture have taken their eyes off of the shepherd who is the true source of their health and peace.

The value of the Hupomone pasture is not in the circumstances but in the Shepherd. When we are focused on the pasture we can make very bad decisions. In the old testament the kingdom of Judah relied on Egypt during their rebellion against Assyria. Lot looked at the pastures around Sodom and Gomorrah and decided they were where he should be. A phrase that comes to my mind when I think of this type of pasture focus is…it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The flip side of the coin is demonstrated when the nation of Israel had just left Egypt. Things got a little tight and uncomfortable. Suddenly the pastures back in Egypt did not look so bad. It was only Moses’ Hupomone focus on God that kept them moving forward in the care of their loving shepherd. Then as they approached the promised land they sent out a dozen spies. 10 of the spies returned with the report that this pasture was too difficult. They took their eyes off of the God of the miraculous who had delivered them from Egypt. This resulted in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

One of the greatest pasture stories in Scripture is found in Daniel 3. Three young men of Israel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to compromise their faith in their shepherd. Along with Daniel they had come to a pasture that made every effort to distract them from their focus on God. This culminated in their refusal to bow down to a golden idol of King Nebuchadnezzar. As they stand before the King in this pasture at this time facing death in a furnace they say this, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if he does not, let it be known to you O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” God did indeed physically rescue them from the furnace but even if he hadn’t, these boys were (and are) safe in the hands of the Great Shepherd.

The best way to enjoy the pastures that God has for you is to enter through the door provided by Jesus Christ and focus on and follow closely the Great Shepherd. It is not about the circumstances of the pasture around you, it is about the Shepherd that you are with.

“Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom”

Isaiah 40:11

Saturday

 

I Tend to repost this during Easter but as we finish up 2020 and the stories of difficulty and loss pile up, I felt that it was a good word as we move forward into 2021 I feel a weariness as the shock and awe of the pandemic fades into a daily grind and we look to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

We celebrate Good Friday.  We celebrate Easter.  What about Saturday?

Sandwiched between the suffering of the greatest sacrifice ever made and the glory of the most magnificent triumph ever won, past present or future, is What? I am going to call it Hupomone Day! because it is the Saturday’s of our life that grow true perseverance.

How often do we find ourselves on Saturday.  That blank day between the suffering and triumph.  At least as we watch the events unfolding we can focus on the horror, the pain.  We can anticipate the miraculous escape, the triumphant turning of the tide as God magnificently brings the victory.  Then it doesn’t happen the way we want or expect.  The night falls,  a restless night, perhaps without sleep, certainly with disturbed dreams.  Then what about Saturday, what do we do?  The dawn rises, but all that we can see is Friday’s darkness.  The birds are singing, but all we can hear are the screams and jeers of the crowd; the hammering of the nails; the moans of his mother; the pounding of our own heart.

What about Saturday.  What do we do?  What should we do?  Some will run.  Some will hide.  Some will lose faith and return to the life they had known before they felt the Master’s touch.  Some will struggle and doubt, but:

struggle and doubt + faith = Hupomone

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1

Some of us have longer Saturdays than others.  Take Thomas.  I often hear people make fun of doubting Thomas.  I can only imagine that his fellow disciples gave him some ribbing but here is the deal:  Thomas Stayed!  He made it through a Saturday that was longer and more intense than any of the others.  I can only believe this made his Sunday morning all the more amazing.  Thomas grew through his Saturday.  He walked away with an understanding of Hebrews 11:1 straight from the lips of his Savior:  Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” John 20:29.

If Friday is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter Sunday; Saturday is Hupomone Saturday.  Saturday is when we remember His Word.  Saturday is when we remember His touch.  On Saturday the fellowship of our brother’s and sister’s in Christ becomes paramount.  On Saturday we scream out to God.  On Saturday we worship, we cry, we hurt, we heal…in-spite of ourselves.  On Saturday we grow and mature as on no other day.  Perhaps that is why Saturday is in God’s plan for us.  I have experienced a few Saturday’s in my life.  Some I am still experiencing.  While the Sunday mornings are great!  It is the Saturday’s that draw me close to God and close to God’s people.

It is in the midst of Saturday the I make strides towards Philippians 2 , learning humility, allowing God to work in me. It is on Saturday that God makes those subtle changes in me that draw my spirit, soul and body closer to having His attitude and His values and to truly having His love.

It is on Saturday that we practice Hebrews 11:1 like no other day.  Do we trust the promise?  Are we certain of our hope? It is on Saturday that we say in the midst of it all with Joshua, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”

Unfortunately I think that it is also on Saturday that all to many lose faith, not being able to hold on to the promise.  It is on Saturday that as brother’s and sister’s in Christ we fail each other as on no other day.  Perhaps this is because we do not realize that everyday is someone’s Saturday.

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 

Are you in the midst of Saturday?  Be certain Sunday morning is coming, and when it does the most miraculous thing, the most miraculous change will not be in the situation that you are experiencing, it will be in YOU!

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Gospel Hupomone: Luke

Luke 2:43

43 and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware * of it,

Luke 8:15

15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

Luke 21:19

16 “But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, 17 and you will be hated by all because of My name. 18 “Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 “By your endurance you will gain your lives.

The writers of the Gospels use the word Hupomone or Hupomeno (the verb) six times. Five of the references are the gospel writers quoting Jesus and the sixth is a reference to Jesus himself. I love these references because they make a real statement about the nature of Hupomone living and they connect Hupomone directly to our savior. In my previous post we looked at these passages in Matthew and Mark. Today we will see how Luke utilized my favorite Greek word.

The first verse is pretty cool because it establishes something about Hupomone in a very concrete way. Luke chapter two is the Gospel Wikipedia on Jesus under the heading “early childhood”. It takes us from His birth up to His baptism by John the Baptist. It includes this story about a trip to Jerusalem with His family for the Feast of the Passover. This was not an unusual trip for Mary and Joseph. They went every year to this special celebration in the city that was the center of the worship for the Jews. It is verse 43 that makes it unusual and is why Luke includes it in his Gospel.

43 and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware * of it,

When everyone else gathered up and returned home, Jesus stayed behind. Luke says that Jesus “Hupemeinen“. I would suggest that Hupomone is not a function of action, but a function of position. Luke further emphasizes this when three days later Joseph and Mary finally track down the missing boy.

“When they saw Him they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:48-49)

Jesus is not focused on behavior. He is focused on position. He doesn’t say that he is learning or teaching or ministering. He simply needed to be in His Father’s house. Everything else followed that. Matthew quotes Jesus on this very point, “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) Jesus understood the importance of Hupomone. In his parable of the sower found in Luke chapter 8 he first describes the lack of lasting impact that the Gospel has when Hupomone is absent. Luke is the only Gospel writer that tags the positive end of this parable with “Hupomone”. It is this positional quality that Luke recognizes as the difference between the unproductive soil and seed and the productive soil and seed. Indeed the soil must remain positionally with the seed and the seed positionally with the soil in order for the Gospel to flourish (Matthew: “bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty”)

The final verse that we are considering in Luke is a retelling of the discourse on the troubles facing God’s Hupomone people. Luke here highlights the separation between circumstance and Hupomone. He presents the dichotomy between the perceived human condition and the reality of Hupomone living in Luke 21. This is the same discourse that we find in Mark 13 and Matthew 24 .

16 “But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, 17 and you will be hated by all because of My name. 18 “Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Amid all of the betrayal, persecution and even death , “Yet not a hair of your head will perish. By your Hupomone you will gain your lives”. Our life does not depend on our parents, brothers, sisters, relatives or friends. It does not depend on our life circumstances at all, even to the point of physical death. Our life in Christ Jesus depends on one thing, Hupomone, remaining under Him regardless of what this world brings. It is a matter of spiritual position. Paul puts it this way in one of my favorite chapters of the Bible, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) This is the Hupomone Gospel.

Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

Before 0ne can address a glass wall, one must be able to see it. this is no easy task as the cultural design and one of the primary characteristics of this kind of dysfunction is its invisibility. I am going to explore some of the fingerprints that you can find on the glass wall. This is by no means a comprehensive list but it is a place to begin when taking a serious look at cultural barriers to operational success.

  1. Observed behavior contravenes a stated value of the organization.

Value statements have become standard in most organizations. They will be touted in flowery language on web pages, in orientation documents, annual reports, and regular employee meetings. This is perhaps one of the most visible signs of a glass wall in an organization. It is for this reason that it will most often go to great lengths to espouse its “values” at every level. The difficulty can be that organizations that function within their values may appear to do the same. The biggest tell is that the glass wall restricts value communications to being conceptual. Alliterated catch phrases, cool sketches and often long-winded exhortations will regularly lay a conceptual framework for the proposed value system. There is an absence of behavioral meat to the value system and a lack of accountability particularly amongst the leadership. It is almost impossible for an organization to function for any amount of time without this part of the glass wall getting dirty and more visible. This often triggers point 3 as well-meaning leadership realizes the disparity between the stated values and the actual behaviors occurring in the organization. Unfortunately, all of these decisions and actions stem from point 2 and so never actually address the wall.

2. Leadership has an external locus of accountability.

There is a decision side and execution side of every glass wall. This separation results in consistent failure to achieve the stated goals of the decision side. This failure is often not even recognized and is either snuffed under a sudden change in language and goals or mined until some small positive is found that can be heralded as institutional success. The internal double speak that takes place to make this happen is both impressive and saddening. The decision side of the glass wall goes on undeterred and oblivious. However, should a failure penetrate the wall, the culture demands an immediate search for unaccountability. This results in a search for an external locus of control for the event and the institution of a blame game that focuses entirely on the execution side of the wall. It is in this category that anyone who challenges the wall most often finds themselves. In the absence of a scapegoat, or in organizations with a wall that has deep foundations and broad impact, the locus of control and accountability can be set in surrounding circumstances or external influences. This causes the culture to enforce a measure of isolation, and in some pernicious cases, place the blame on the population sector they serve. This lack of real accountability is perhaps the strongest defense mechanism employed by the glass wall.

3. There are regular declarations of a new day in the organization.

This most often happens when circumstances make the glass wall just a little more visible. The culture triggers new language and promises of new behaviors, but it then implements them entirely within the boundaries of the glass wall. The function of this particular exercise is to “Windex” the wall and return it to its invisibility. There will be a conceptual recommitment to the stated organizational values. Value training as stated above will be required of every employee. New alliterations, graphics and catchphrases will abound. Unfortunately, new behavior and accountability will not. In some cases, new leadership will be brought in, or more often promoted from within to supervise the “reset”, “relaunch” or other “re”. There is real intent to change here, but the constrictions of the wall and the strength of culture to hide its own dysfunction, blunt the effort, and channel the energy back into the wall itself. Once the wall has been “Windexed” the organization will sometimes declare success and settle into its routine patterns of behavior. Other times the initiative will simply fade away once the smeary grime is no longer apparent.

Gospel Hupomone

Matthew 10:22

22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

Matthew 24:10-14

10 “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Mark 13:13

“You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

Luke 2:43

43 and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware * of it,

Luke 8:15

15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

Luke 21:19

16 “But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, 17 and you will be hated by all because of My name. 18 “Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 “By your endurance you will gain your lives.

The writers of the Gospels use the work Hupomone or Hupomeno (the verb) six times. Five of the references are the gospel writers quoting Jesus and the sixth is a reference to Jesus himself. I love these references because the make a real statement about the nature of Hupomone living and they connect Hupomone directly to our savior.

Hupomone Living does not rely on the approval of others

Matthew records the first New Testament uses of Hupomone. In chapter 10, Jesus has invested the twelve with authority and power to heal all kinds of diseases and to cast out unclean spirits. He then commissions them to go out into the Jewish communities around them and proclaim the Kingdom of God. This commissioning speech is an exhortation to Hupomone. It embodies the separation of the Life in Christ from the circumstances in the world and then establishes the basis of Hupomone living on the overwhelming love of the Father and our identity in Jesus Christ.

“And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.” Matthew 10:7-8

Hupomone living has a purpose. It extends from the very heart of the Father. It is repeated throughout scripture. It is not a set of behaviors to receive spiritual brownie points or to enjoy some mystic experience. Jesus proclaims it again just before returning to the Father in what we term “The Great Commission”. The disciples model it throughout the book of Acts and Paul proclaims it when he says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone…” Romans 1:16

Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell the story of Jesus and the disciples exiting the Temple after a session of teaching (Matthew 24 and Mark 13). For the sake of his concise style we will be looking at Mark’s rendition.

The disciples marvel at the beauty of the Temple and Jesus replies with a prophecy that the Temple will be destroyed. I can just imagine the disciples gathering and quietly discussing the bombshell amongst themselves before approaching Jesus and asking the obvious questions, “Excuse me Jesus, when is this going to happen?”. This launches Jesus into a long prophecy of persecution and hate directed at the children of God, but our focus is not on the circumstances but on the response. Jesus opens his instruction in Mark with, “See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he’ and will lead many astray.’ In Ephesians 4 Paul says it this way, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” While Jesus walks through the circumstances to come, He separates the behavior of His followers from those circumstances with 4 instructions and then a conclusion.

  1. Do not be led astray. Mark 13:5
  2. Do not be alarmed. Mark 13:7 (Do not be Anxious. Mark 13:11)
  3. Be on your guard. Mark 13:9
  4. Bear witness before them. Mark 13:9 (Say whatever is given you…Mark 13:11)

All of this circumstance and instruction is followed with a conclusion.

“But the one who hupomeno to end will be saved” Mark 13:13

Boom. Mic Drop.

In my next post I will explore the balance of the Luke passages as I think they have a lot to say about Hupomone.

Blessings!

Sam