This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry of Pastor Rick Warren.
Today we continue with our series called Doing Business with God. In this
series, Rick helps you understand why you work, what you should be working
for, and how God can use you in your workplace. Right now,
here's Pastor Rick with the final part of a message called the purpose of Work.
Now we come to the sixth purpose, which is the highest purpose of
all. And this is the purpose not of identity or necessity, or charity
or credibility or maturity. It is the purpose of eternity. And this is
thinking long term about what your job's implication is. Eternity is I use my
job to build God's kingdom. I use my job to build God's kingdom.
You can use your work to bring glory to God. You can use your
career to bring glory to God. You can use your skills, you can
use your business. You can use your workplace to further God's kingdom. So
how do I do that? Oh? There are lots of ways, lots
of ways you can use your business to further God's kingdom. One way is
to use the contacts that your businesses have to spread the good news and to
tell other people about the good news to pass it on. This is why
we have in the peace peace and assist the poor using business people to go
out and teach businesses which will assist the poor to create jobs. Let me
give you an example. While back, I got a call between the services
of this guy named Eric Stamminger. He's a German guy calling from Germany.
He said, my name is Eric Stammiger. I am the president and CEO
of Adidas. You know what Adidas is, you know the shoes and all
that. Actually it's called Adi Das in German because it's named after Adi Dossler,
who is the founder. He said, my name is Eric Stanminger.
I'm the CEO of Adi Das. He said, I have just finished reading
Purpose Driven Life. It changed my life. I've given my life to Christ.
I will come anywhere in the world to meet you. How soon can
we meet? I said, Well, why don't you come to church next
week? He said, I will. He said, I got to go
to China. I got to close the deal in China. Then I got
to go to Tokyo close the deal there. I'll be back over in California.
I'll be there next Sunday. So the next Sunday, the president and
CEO of Adidas came and came to church, and I went back and we
sat down on a couple of chairs in the back and I said, so,
mister Stamminger, tell me how can I help you. He said,
well, I just need to know one thing I've read purpose Driven Life.
It's changed my life. I'm a Christian. Now I want to know should
I resign a CEO of Adidas and become a pastor? I said, let
me show you how to use your job for the kingdom, how to be
a kingdom builder, not just a wealth builder. I said, do you
have an executive team at Adidas? He said yes, there are six of
us. I said, are any of the others Christians? He said,
well, actually two of them are. I said, you start meeting with
those two and start praying for the other three. And your first ministry is
to win your six coworkers to christ That's your first job. That's your first
ministry to win the people close to you. Nobody else is as likely to
win them as you are, So you start working on that. I said,
number two, how many employees do you have an Adidas? I don't
remember. I think he said twenty five thousand. I said, that's called
the megachurch. I said, your congregation is bigger than most pastors will ever
preach to. So you've got twenty five thousand members in your congregation, they're
all employees. You start praying for them, you start being available to them,
you start putting instituting good Christian principles in your business. I said,
would you like to influence other CEOs? I said yeah. I said,
then you need to stay at a CEO, because you'll have far more influence
on them as a CEO then as a pastor or missionary anybody else. I
said, would you like to influence culture? He said, well, yes,
of course I would. I said, then you've got to influence the
culture makers if you want to influence culture, and the culture makers are musicians
and athletes and celebrities and people in the media. I said, do you
do celebrity endorsements? He said yes. I said, of course you do.
And I said, the next time you do a celebrity endorsement, you
bring that pro athlete in, you sit them down and you say, look,
I'm not just your endorser. I'm not just your sponsor. You're going
to make a lot of money off me. But I'm not just your sponsor.
I want to be your friend. And here's my business card. And
when you get in trouble, and when you have a need, please call
me personally. And then you just wait because the problem will come. And
celebrities have rovos. They're just more visible. And I said, they'll have
a slump in their game, or they'll have a drug crisis, or a
marriage crisis, or a health crisis, or an injury, or a financial
crisis, or something will happen and they're going to need you. And when
they come back to you and they ask for your help, then you can
share Jesus with them. You do not move where you are, stay where
you are and be that person. Does that makes sense. I know a
number of Christian businessmen in Hong Kong been there many times who were concerned about
mainland China because the churches were under persecution by the Communist government and they weren't
always allowed the freedom. And so they decided, how can we be planning
churches in China when some of the places we can't plant them. They'd just
immediately be outlawed. So these businessmen began building factories in mainland China and putting
churches in the factories. In today's globalized economy, the new missionaries are businessmen
and businesswomen. If you are a businessman, there's not a country in the
world who doesn't want to know what you're doing. They want to know about
your distribution and your products, stuff like that. There are many countries they're
not going to allow a pastor in, they're not going to allow a full
time missionary in. But you, as a businessman or businesswoman, can go
where nobody else can go. Business People are the missionaries for the great commission
of the twenty first century. That is being a kingdom builder, not simply
a wealth builder. You're using your business for the one thing that's going to
outlast everything else, the Kingdom of God, the Church, God's family.
Another way you can do it is by making money in your business and giving
that for kingdom causes. And I know many businesses like that. One of
them is hobby lobby. It is one of the most profitable businesses ROI return
on investment in America, and because it's all built on Christian principles, they
tie their money to help other things and God continues to bless that business.
Bless that business. Bless that business, because they're using the profits for God's
kingdom. The employees are better paid than anywhere else. I keep raised on.
They're making great wages, and because the people at the top are generous,
that blessing is on that business, and they keep going on and on.
So I talk to the Greens about one of the projects we're working on,
what we're calling the Final Frontier, which is one of our ten decade
of Destiny goals. Twice in the New Testament, twice in the Book of
Revelation, it says that in heaven one day there will be people from every
tribe, every nation, and every language around the throne of God in heaven.
I take that serious. That God wants people from every nation, every
language, and every tribe. Somebody is going to be there in heaven.
Here's the problem. There are three four hundred tribes in the world that have
no Christian no Bible, and no church. So there's nobody going to be
in heaven from that tribe. Yet somebody's got to get to that tribe.
We call that the Final Frontier. And I began to enlist other churches to
help us do this. And when I'd go out and speak, I'd encourage
others, and people were signing commitment cards, and I was asking a church
to adopt a people group. In the last two years, we've taken four
hundred off that list. Used to be thirty eight hundred. It's now thirty
four hundred. Can you imagine getting to heaven one day and you say,
yeah, you know, my business it wasn't that big. But we helped
fulfill the great commission. We helped raise the money by the stuff we sold
to help get the Bible in the last translations and get churches in the last
tribes that needed to be done. Let me show you some amazing promises and
we'll close. They're on your outline. Matthew six thirty three is a good
verse for businessmen. Jesus says, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom
of God, more than my business. Yeah, even than more than your
business. Be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and what He
requires of you. And he God will provide you with all the other things.
So what do you need more of? Well, I need more staff
that goes into all the other things. I need more distribution that goes in
all the other things. I need a smarter salesforce that goes in all the
other things. I need an innovative idea for my business that goes in all
the other things. Be concerned with God's kingdom and what it requires you.
He will provide you with all the other things. Look at the next verse
there on your outline. We know that the same God who raised Jesus will
also raise us one day. That's in heaven. And as God's grace brings
more and more people to Christ. In other words, as the kingdom is
built, as it spread, as we build the Kingdom, as God's grace
brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving and God
will receive more and more glory. Kingdom builders reach one more for Jesus.
Matthew six point twenty. Jesus said, store up for yourselves treasure in heaven.
Circle the phrase for yourselves. Did you know that you can store up
for yourselves treasure in heaven, not say to store up for God? God
that needed God says, you can create a bank account in heaven that is
eternal, pays the highest dividends and nobody can steal it. From you.
You can store up for yourself treasure in heaven. That's the best investment you'll
ever make. How do you do that by using your work and using your
business to get people there? The only way you can in heaven is to
invest in people who are going there. Your business isn't going to heaven,
your car isn't going to heaven, your house isn't going to heaven. But
people are. And when you invest in people getting them into heaven, you
are storing up treasure in heaven to use for eternity. So here's the big
question. I wrote it on your outline. Will I be a wealth builder
or will I be a kingdom builder? You can use your work to build
wealth. That's okay, nothing wrong with that. Trying to make a living,
make a profit, fine, But it's short sighted. God says,
don't just be a wealth builder, be a kingdom builder. Which of those
are you going to circle? Will I be a wealth builder? Circle that?
Or will I be a kingdom builder? Circle that? Now, let
me close this. You don't realize how important your work is. You may
think your work is I work at a Starbucks. You know, I work
at a fast food place. I help clean in a certain place. I
don't care what you do, whether you are a mother of preschoolers or you're
the CEO of a corporation. Your work has far more significance than you realize
because it wasn't meant for simply necessity. God says, I want to use
your work, no matter what it is, for identity. I want you
to express your talents through that. I want you to use it for maturity.
I want you to let it make you a more stronger and a more
mature and a more patient Christian. I want to use it for credibility.
I want you to use your platform to influence the people you come in contact
with for the good news and the gospel. I want you to use it
for charity. I want you to figure out how to live on a little
bit less so you can give a little bit more so you're storing up treasure
in heaven. If you're behind on your tithe, you get caught up on
that. But you learn to be generous. And I want you to be
a kingdom builder, not just a wild builder. I want you to have
a priority in your life. You can waste your life, you can spend
your life, or you can invest your life. And the best use of
your life is to invest it in the King of God because it's the only
thing. It's going to last forever. One day, God is going to
do an audit on your work. Did you know that You're going to have
a job interview? One day, God's going to do an assessment on your
work, last versa on your outline. It is going to come a time
of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder is
done. Where you're a wealth builder or were you a kingdom builder. Everyone's
work will be put through the fire that means mine and yours to see whether
or not it keeps its value. What's the value identity, maturity, credibility,
charity, priority, eternity. Everyone's work will be put through the fire
to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the
fire, that person will receive a reward. But if the work is burned
up, the builder will suffer a great loss. The builders themselves will be
saved, but like someone escaping a fire. In other words, this has
nothing to do with salvation. You're in heaven, but you're going to lose
reward. So here's the question. Have you had a shallow conception of your
work. You just thought ought just get money, put food on the table.
No, no, no, far more significant than that. Are you
ready to step up to all six of God's purposes for your work? Will
you become a purpose driven businessman with these six purposes? Will you become a
purpose driven business woman? Will you become a purpose driven owner operator? Will
you become a purpose driven employee? Will you become a purpose driven professional?
Will you say, God, I'm going to give you my work for not
just one, but for all six of the purposes that you planned for my
work to be. That's power heads. As I pray, follow me in
this prayer, Father, I realize that while I'm at work, you're working
on me, and I want you to use my job for all six purposes
in my life. Please use my job to express what you made me to
be. Help me in this series to find the right job for my shape.
Use my career to develop my character. I want to use my job
as a platform to bring people to you, to share the good news.
I want to use my job to be able to help others financially and to
give to others. I want to use my job to help further your kingdom,
and I want to use my job to prepare to serve your purposes in
eternity. I want to be a kingdom builder. Please use this series to
help me succeed in my work, and I will honor you with my life,
with my time, with my tithe and by giving my best, knowing
that I'm really working for you. If you've never invited Christ in your life,
said Jesus, Christ, become the CEO of my life. Become the
manager of my life, the president, the chairman of the board. Jesus
be the director of my life. I want to be under new management and
I want to follow you from this day forward in your name. I pray
Amen. Hi everybody, this is Rick, and I hope you enjoyed today's
broadcast. You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the very first
time, or you just recommitted your life to Jesus again today, would you
let me know about it. There's something real about sharing your commitment. So
write me Rick at Pastorrick dot com and say, Rick, I prayed that
prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ, and I'll send you
some material that will help you on your journey with Jesus, and I'll also
pray for you. God bless you. Thank you so much for listening to
Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We've got some great news to share with you.
Very generous friends have given a ten thousand dollars matching grant to this ministry.
That means every dollar you give right now to help Daily Hope share the transforming
love of Jesus with people around the world will be matched up to ten thousand
dollars. Here's Rick to tell you more. You know, I just want
to take a quick second to say thank you everybody. Because of your generosity,
we're able to take the hope of Jesus Christ into places where there are
no Bibles, no believers, and nobody of Christ, no churches at all.
Now, as you pray about giving, I want to ask you to
ask God about sending a gift that's the largest you're able to give. Because
at this point of the year we have a donor who is offered to match
your gift. That means what you give will be doubled. We get twice
the bang for the buck. In other words, so please respond quickly and
a give in such a way that we can maximize it. Through this matching
gift, and I want to ask you this, would you pray for us
at Daily Hope. Pray as we reach out to people around the globe with
hope that people will find Christ by the thousands and tens of thousands and hundreds
of thousands. So thank you for being a partner with me. To getting
the message, just go to Pastorick dot com or text the word hope to
eight hundred, six hundred five thousand and four and have your gift matched up
to ten thousand dollars. That's Pastorick dot com. Or text the word hope
to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Be sure to join us
next time as we look into God's word for our daily hope. This program
is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support