Friday, December 12, 2014
Compartmentalization
Kruse Khronicle:
And by the way, I don't have any problem with the idea of God withholding blessings from anyone. I am pretty certain He has done so at some periods of my life. It is a way of guiding us - it is a big clue that what we are doing is not really in line with what we are supposed to be doing.
But more importantly, God is about who we are far more than He is about what we do. It is about character, not activity. Well developed character will, of course, affect what we do. But I do not think God is in the business of carrot and sticking us to good character. There is no quid pro quo, many people of bad character succeed and people of good character fail. But it has certainly been the case with me that my failures have helped me develop my character.
character integrating life
What I worry about is the compartmentalization of our faith and the business world. If the businessperson claims all credit for achieving success in creating a sustainable profitable business, then we chastise her for attributing success to herself alone. But if she talks about being blessed in her work (i.e., God had a hand in her success), then that also is taboo because she is saying God withheld blessing from someone else who didn’t do well. In short, if you are in business, then you are only entitled to have vague feelings of gratefulness but not to see God as present in your daily life.God cannot be compartmentalized from any part of our life. Period. This dichotomy seems to exist for many people in many pursuits. We tend to compartmentalize God - it is a way of controlling Him.
And by the way, I don't have any problem with the idea of God withholding blessings from anyone. I am pretty certain He has done so at some periods of my life. It is a way of guiding us - it is a big clue that what we are doing is not really in line with what we are supposed to be doing.
But more importantly, God is about who we are far more than He is about what we do. It is about character, not activity. Well developed character will, of course, affect what we do. But I do not think God is in the business of carrot and sticking us to good character. There is no quid pro quo, many people of bad character succeed and people of good character fail. But it has certainly been the case with me that my failures have helped me develop my character.
character integrating life
