"The Innovative Marketplace Christian - Blog Hosted by Rick Hubbell"

Main Post of the Week #1 (Week of May 24-30)

Welcome back everyone.

Please listen closely for a minute and take the next few sentences with a grain of salt as I attempt to ‘brag’ for your benefit.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

I have been a senior level corporate executive, company president, pastor and consultant with the opportunity to give more annually than what I used to make in an entire year. I have excelled in athletics, education and other pursuits, traveling internationally to consult with clients. God has used me to touch lives through teaching, training, workshops and ministry. I have an incredible wife and three fantastic kids (one more, Nathan, already in heaven).

People sometimes mention how God has done a wonderful work in our lives which feels great… Yet right in the midst of all of these good things, God stopped me in my tracks to highlight over-reliance on the approval from others…

Don’t get me wrong. I have done my best to grow spiritually year after year, listened intently to sermons that touched on this topic (and a host of related subjects), read fairly widely among related business and ministry books, done my best to serve others and experienced things that you’d have thought could set me free.

But they didn’t. What was my problem?

Relying on the Reactions of Others

That reminds of a story a well known preacher shared years back. This man captivated audiences of thousands every week from behind the pulpit teaching so effectively that often they would rise and fall on his every word. Then one day he was overseas in a remote village teaching a much smaller group, just as it was getting dark. Finally when he could almost no longer see his Bible, they lit a torch near him, but he could no longer see their faces.

All at once a stunning revelation crushed him. He…realized how dependent he had become on the reactions of people to help direct his message rather than simple reliance on what the Spirit was prompting him. From that day forward has never been the same preaching even more powerfully than ever before.

How Tricky This Matter Can Be

Of course we need wisdom and input and need to know if we are losing the attention of everyone and may choose to make adjustments therefore. BUT not at the expense of missing the mark.

Now back to me… It took some thorny business situations and the work of the Holy Spirit to finally bring this whole syndrome to my attention. I’ll tell you more about that later. For now, please consider that this might apply to you even if you are quite ‘successful’ and keep reading.

At its worst, an imbalanced reliance on the approval of others can cause you to not be able to confidently say or act according to what you really believe, even though you may think that’s what you are doing.

Unchecked over time this can become a consistent pattern in your life.

A Destructive Pattern

This is a powerful and frightening predicament. The fear of consequences from certain actions that (1) may reduce your natural position, (2) diminish your recognition level, or (3) reduce your sense of acceptance, can override your beliefs, effectively paralyzing you from being the real you. This can become a driving force that frequently urges you toward things outside what you know deep down is right.

They don’t all have to be major things either and can be seemingly small detours in everyday life. But these small detours can eventually lead to larger ones though. In other words, the approval of man can mislead you. Again I say, this process can advance without your awareness and regardless of your position.

Not everyone struggles with this issue in the same way or to the same degree, but there are countless productive, valuable people hopelessly bound up in this life limiting bondage without even knowing it. That’s exactly why we are talking about this and many are tuning in.

Maybe as you read this, hopefully you wonder if this condition affects you and if so, to what degree? I wish someone had gotten through to me on this topic in a way I could relate to much earlier in my life.

We’ll continue to break it down.

Blessings in Christ,

Rick for Ti-MC

PS Take a minute to browse http://www.ti-mc.com. Lots of cool resources there and more coming all the time.