"Everything you have heard up until now is wrong!"

Imagine the keynote speaker getting up and delivering this bombshell at the end of a sales conference at a large insurance company. Tony Campolo, professor of sociology at a large U.S.A. university opened his speech with this after some power speakers instructed the audience how to "set up" clients, push the right emotional buttons and close the deal. Tony's task was to 'psych up' the audience for a last big motivational push. You can imagine the shock, when he said "everything you have heard today is wrong!" (Word Books, ISBN 0-85009-587-5)

"People are not things to be manipulated with the right techniques; not economic objects; - they are entitled to love." The audience was enthralled as he made a case to make "love" a verb demonstrated daily in the office and the factory. The February 2002 issue of the magazine "Fast Company" led with an article entitled, "Love Is the Killer App!" In the article, Yahoo senior executive Tim Sanders wrote, "The most powerful force in business isn't greed, fear, or even the raw energy of unbridled competition. The most powerful force in business is love." He gives a powerful definition - love "is the selfless promotion of the growth of the other."

Loving people never came easy. We tend to be selfish and greedy instead of seeking the best for the other! So how do we tap into the source? "He shall tie his donkey to the Vine, the colt of his donkey to the choice vine…" (Genesis 49:11). These words given by arch father Jacob to his fourth son Judah give the secret to an unending flow of love. Park your donkey (your business, assets, career, assignment) alongside the true Vine, which is Jesus Himself, and experience how the life of the Vine flows through the branches, into the donkey and bears fruit - the greatest of which is love.

Tony Campolo describes love at work. "Although I have the communication skills of men and angels and have not love, I sound just like a clanging cymbal. If I can predict business trends and have a total grasp of the latest production techniques, and have the kind of positive thinking that people say is the secret of success but have no love, it really does no lasting good. And although I make all the sacrifices so that there can be better wages for my workers, and make sure they have all the fringe benefits possible and do not show them love, it will still leave them grumbling and discontented. Love teaches me to put up with a lot of things that would ordinarily make me angry, and it makes me into a listening, sensitive person. It keeps me from acting like a big shot and going on ego trips. Love keeps me from being rude to even the lowliest person in the company. It keeps me from demanding that things always be done my way; it keeps me from blowing up at the least little thing. And it prevents me from keeping files on all the mistakes made by people working for me. Love gets no satisfaction out of the failures of others - even when their failures guarantee that I will get a promotion" (a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13).

Want a new source of assets to invest in your company? Tie your donkey to the Vine, and let the dynamic life of Jesus flow, giving you energy and power to love! More next week!

Peter Briscoe

Peter J. Briscoe, currently serving as European Regional Director for CBMC International and Europartners. He lives in Leiden, The Netherlands.