The message came from the company president three ways (never a good sign).
First, BJ got a voice mail. The he opened his work email to find another message: “Hey BJ, would you stop by my office this afternoon?”
The knot in the pit of his stomach grew when the president’s secretary stopped him in the hallway and said, “There you are, BJ. Mr. Hawkins just wanted me to check to make sure you got his message, and to ask if you’d come by his office around two. That work OK for you?”
BJ tried to get work accomplished, but the closer two o’clock came, his sense of dread and impending doom grew. What could he have done? How had he messed up? Where could he find another job? What would he tell his wife and kids? The awful questions swirled in his mind until they created a virtual whirlpool which threatened to overwhelm him.
Two o’clock found BJ taking a deep breath as he knocked on the president’s door. His heart leaped into his throat when the door was opened suddenly ... by the man himself. He almost choked when he walked into the office and saw several of the senior management sitting around the president’s office conference table.
Then he noticed something odd. They were all smiling! Mr. Hawkins invited him in and motioned for him to sit down.
“Bet you wonder why I wanted to see you, didn’t you?” BJ waited. The president continued, “Earl, what do you think; should we tell him?”
Earl, the marketing VP for the company, chuckled. “Yep, probably be a good idea, before we have to call the medics to restart his heart and get him breathing again, right, BJ?”
Mr. Hawkins opened the folder in front of him. “Got your personnel folder here, BJ. Can’t believe you’ve only been with us a year. All of us here are very impressed with you. Your attitude. Your work ethic. The way you encourage people. And much more. So, long story short, we want to be sure you’re happy here. We’ve learned a lot by watching how you operate, and we hope you’ve learned a lot in your year with us too. Here’s our offer: We’ve decided you’re the best candidate we could possibly have for the new VP position. You’d be in charge of employee training, coaching and retention company wide. What do you say, BJ?”
BJ opened his mouth, but no words would come out. He thought back to a conversation he’d had the past Sunday with Zane, his mentor in the church’s men’s group. Zane had counseled him, “Let your life echo the encouragement, the life-building, that you’ve found in Christ. You do that, and your life will never be the same.”
As BJ pictured his conversation with Zane, he smiled, and found his voice again. Before he quite knew what he was saying, he said, “Sure, I know I could do that. I think I could make a real difference here.” Mr. Hawkins smiled. “We know you can, and you will. Welcome to the VP team!”
Paul, in Romans 1:8, says, “… I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ for all of you. I do this because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith.”
As I thought about that, I wondered: How would the world be different if that could be said about the church everywhere? This can happen if ... if each disciple of Christ lives with faithfulness to Christ as life’s foundation and ultimate purpose.
BJ was surprised beyond measure to discover the purpose of his being summoned to the company president’s office that day. He didn’t feel like he’d done anything that special or spectacular.
Day by day, BJ simply lived out his faith. Like Mr. Hawkins and the company’s VP team, those who encountered and worked with him observed his attitude, work ethic and habit of encouraging those around him.
They wanted more of that, and they knew BJ could make that happen. Zane, BJ’s mentor in his church men’s group, encouraged BJ to live out his discipleship. Zane took his “holy mentoring,” as he called it, very seriously. In fact, as BJ stepped into his new career responsibilities, the two men met weekly for lunch.
Their relationship demonstrated and defined the Scripture above, which says, “ ... we can encourage each other by the faith that is ours.”
Both men defined that hour as one of the most important in their week.
They’d discovered the incredible power of Christ’s ultimate encouragement.