E-couragement 07.23

Wise or foolish counselors: Ask a foolish man for an answer and you will get a foolish answer. Ask a wise man for one and you will get a wise one. While this sounds trite, it is amazing how often we do exactly the opposite in business. Business and law schools are more and more inclined to teach people the ways of the world, not the ways of God; and Kingdom leaders often turn to those trained in the world’s ways for counsel or advice. How foolish.

Just because a counselor professes to be a Christian is no guarantee that their counsel will be Godly wisdom. I have found out too often and too late that the ways of the world have crept into the Kingdom.  There have also been times when the counsel I received from someone I doubted to be a follower of Christ turned out to be very wise. We have to be careful who we choose to receive counsel from. For the most part however, wise counselors tend to be people whose source of wisdom is spiritually gained through biblical knowledge and holy spirit insight.

I have struggled with balancing counselors who I knew had very wise insight into spiritual matters with those who understand and apply spiritual insight in a business setting. A great bible teacher may not be a great source of legal advice; just as a great financial advisor may not have a clue about biblical truth. Is it possible to find both? Are there enough wise counselors, skilled in their craft from a business perspective who are also skilled in searching the mind of Christ and sharing His counsel with us? Unfortunately I believe not. Not enough to meet demand that is.

Kingdom Companies is an organization committed to changing this supply/demand imbalance. If we can raise up an army of wise counselors, trained in the ways of business specialties; sales & marketing, operations, credit, finance, legal, accounting, risk management, administration and all other aspects of business that are necessary in today’s complex world of commerce; we would change the landscape of available resources for business leaders. However, business acumen must be balanced with spiritual insight or the wisdom of the world will seem like Godly wisdom when in fact it may be nothing close to it. And the best way to start is to simply start. If each of us reading this were to commit to serve another with wise Godly counsel in our areas of expertise, not for selfish gain or reward but simply to advance the Kingdom, then I believe the King will do the scheduling.

It first takes a commitment on the part of the counselor to represent the King while providing insight. It is very easy to become “puffed” up when providing counsel, especially when it bears fruit. If the fruit we bear rots on the vine, we can blame it on poor execution but when it works, we quite often forget where it came from. I have seen many a wise counselor turned into a fool by believing he was the source, accepting the accolades and forgetting the real source. Give credit where credit is due.

If I help out a brother or sister Kingdom follower in an area of my business expertise but do not bathe it in prayer and seek the mind of Christ, the wisdom may be true, but it may not be true for this person at this time. That is the beauty of the need for balancing business insight with spiritual insight. When we provide both, it often leads to counsel that the world would consider foolish but which considers the way of the King, leading to a result far from what we could have anticipated and one that allows God to be involved in the outcome.

Therein lies one of the fundamental principles of wise counsel; it must allow for God to be engaged in the process. After all, He is more concerned with the eternal impact of the outcome of His counsel than He is with immediate results which are often what people asking for wisdom seek. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. Wouldn’t it be great if more of us could become part of the finding, the receiving and of opening doors into the presence of the King? It takes both being a wise counselor and finding one. 

“Father, there are so many times when I need wisdom to make decisions. It seems the longer I am in business, the greater that need. Please surround me with wise counselors committed to share your mind on my behalf and let me be a wise counselor to others. Teach us your ways Lord so we can help others. Amen.”