Join me for a free seminar on Evangelism to Muslims THIS Saturday, March 2 at Yukon Church (11715 NW 10th street Yukon) from 9-12. Please contact Yukon Church to register.
Hospitality is a recurring theme in my life, especially growing up in the Middle East and Pakistan. In fact, I could not imagine my life without friends, family and yes, unknown people I have brought home for a hot cup of tea. It was getting so bad at one time that my children would come home and wonder why there wasn’t an unknown car in the driveway… they were so used to having women a my kitchen counter that they had never met. I wrote about it in a post called “HospitaliTEA” and you can read it here.
My life has been enriched by most of these encounters (yes, some of them were downright weird, but then that’s just expected!). My notion of hospitality does not come from having a perfect home (I don’t.), a perfectly appointed kitchen (It’s nice, but not perfect in the least), a perfect family (I won’t even go there), or a perfect life. In fact, I have been known to have dishes in the sink, stuff on the counter, and groceries still in the bag when I’ve had people over… why? Because that’s just life.
So, why all this talk about hospitality?
If you’re a Christian, you don’t have to have a special spiritual gift for it (that’s just an excuse) and you should be doing it – see Acts 2:46 above in the image.
Those who are believers in Christ are downright commanded to show such hospitality (see 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7-8; Romans 12:13; Hebrews 11:13). One of my favorite passages in the Bible is when Abraham welcomes strangers to rest after their long journey (Genesis 18:2-8). In Deuteronomy, the act of sharing food (Deuteronomy 14:28-29) to help others is emphasized as a blessing. The early church made it a habit to gather together to break bread as a new family in Christ and praise God (Acts 2:42-47). A beautiful gift of hospitality was given to Jesus Christ by Zacchaeus out of the the joy he had in meeting Christ and salvation came to his house that day (Luke 19:5-6)! What a gift he received in turn from our Lord and Savior!
We miss out on blessings to give and receive when we cordon off a part of our lives to others. The early Christians wanted to be a part of one another’s life because many had their own families disown them. This was my own experience when I left Islam and became a Christian. If others had not invited me into their homes, what family would I have had?
I praise God that He invites us to His table to partake his daily bread – why are we so stingy and miserly in the way we invite others? What grace you have been given in Christ? It’s time to go out there and share the love of Jesus, the Gospel through invitation and watch salvation come to someone’s house!
Yes, I am actually Fed UP! Not with control issues like the shirt implies, but with the Christian slogans I see pasted all over T-shirts at stores. I’ve been reading R.C. Sproul’s book “The Holiness of God.” He starts with the prophet Isaiah who has a vision of the throne room of God (Isaiah 6). As soon as he catches a glimpse of His majesty and glory, he falls to his face and says “Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips!”
That’s NOT what the average American church-goer seems to experience. I don’t see people falling down to worship the majesty of God nor give Him the honor that He deserves. Instead, I see a casual attitude (casual clothes are one thing, it’s the attitude I’m talking about) that bleeds over into a casual approach of Christianity and a cavalier handling of the Holy Bible. In the book, R.C. Sproul reminds us that “The idea of holiness is so central to biblical teaching that it is said of God, “Holy is his name” (Luke 1:49). His name is holy because He is holy. He is not always treated with holy reverence. His name is tramped through the dirt of this world. It functions as a curse word, a platform for the obscene. That the world has little respect for God is vividly seen by the way the world regards His name. No honor. No reverence. No awe before Him.”
This is one of the main reasons why I have had a difficult time with T-shirts that say “I love Jesus but I cuss a little” (by the way, I couldn’t even bring myself to add a photo of that one) or another one I saw someone actually wearing “I love Jesus but I drink a little”… or a lot?
What is that message saying about you? What is that message saying to others out there about what it means to be a Christian? I brought this up to a woman I know and she said with a smile on her face that I was “too judgmental and that you need to accept the fact that no one is as perfect as you.” First of all, I don’t think any true follower of Christ would ever say that they were perfect. In fact, most of us understand the need to be forgiven for the heinous sins we’ve committed against our Holy God and thus receive His mercy and grace. Secondly, why shouldn’t we judge those who say they are “Christians” yet treat Jesus’s name in that shameful manner (1 Corinthians 5:1-13). I don’t think you would EVER find a Muslim person wearing a shirt that says “I follow Muhammad but I cuss a little!” Blasphemous!
Why is it then considered to be self-righteous to condemn “cutesy” versions of false Christian doctrine? These are the very things that get repeated by others and catch on like “I am not a sinner because I have Jesus.” Well, we only need to go to the Bible to see 1 John 1:8 that says “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” It’s not just the T-shirts – it’s Christian Pop songs as well. There was one on the radio that made me wonder if the artist was singing about Jesus or her boyfriend (by the way, yes there is a T-shirt that also says something about Jesus being your BFF, Bro, or BAE). Horrid.
Before I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I had a great respect for Jesus as one of Allah’s prophets. I would have never thought to use his (or any other religious figure’s) name as an exclamation or use it in any way that would bring shame upon Allah, Islam or any of the prophets. When I became a Christian, I did not see this respect by many. There were some who regard Jesus as who He is – the second person of the Trinity, fully equal to God the Father. However, much to my distress, there were the majority who did not seem to have this type of reverence. I was surprised one morning when a woman brought her cup of coffee into the sanctuary… I thought when you were in the sanctuary to worship, you were supposed to be in the presence of God Himself? I would never think to bring in my coffee cup to come into the presence of a CEO for work, much less bring it in to worship the maker of the heavens and the earth.
Where is the reverence gone? Is it because of the secular approach to Jesus? Is it because we focus more at Christmas time on Santa than on Christ? Is it because we think about his humble birth as a baby and less (if not at all) about the price he paid on the cross for the remission of our sins? Should we continue to watch as we and other Christians continue to sin without remorse?
Let’s start holding one another ACCOUNTABLE as Christians. Let’s stop conforming to the standards of the world and be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). We are all sinful, that’s true BUT we should still be working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) and not have a casual attitude about things that might cause others to stumble. I want to end with another thought by R.C. Sproul:
“The simplistic way of not conforming is to see what is in style in our culture and then do the opposite. If short hair is in vogue, the nonconformist wears long hair. If going to the movies is popular, then Christians avoid movies as “worldly.” The extreme case of this may be seen in groups that refuse to wear buttons or use electricity because such things, too, are worldly. A superficial style of nonconformity is the classical Pharisaical trap. The kingdom of God is not about buttons, movies, or dancing. The concern of God is not focused on what we eat or what we drink. The call of nonconformity is a call to a deeper level of righteousness, that goes beyond externals. When piety is defined exclusively in terms of externals, the whole point of the apostle’s teaching has been lost. Somehow we have failed to hear Jesus’ words that it is not what goes into a person’s mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of that mouth. We still want to make the kingdom a matter of eating and drinking.” ― R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God
This Christmas, the best gift you could give yourself, your friends and your family is to ask them to hold you accountable and to ask the Lord for forgiveness for treating things that are His without the respect that He deserves. That is also my own challenge and daily prayer. Amen.
Lately, I’ve been asked by my Undergraduate Business students about what I consider to be the most important skills to get into the Human Resources field. There are a variety of things to consider when looking for a career change or entry into HR. It is a wide and complex part of an organization. However, I do believe that in my 20+ years of HR practice and teaching, there are 7 essentials for any HR professional.
In most organizations, there are job descriptions that state what’s necessary for a position. Candidates come for the interview process and list off their attributes. For those who have been practicing in the field, some of these skills may be out of date or worse – nonexistent! Let’s see how many of these you have or might need to brush up on:
Agility – The idea of Change Management has been around for some time, but with increasing technology, politics, HR law, and trend, the landscape can change quickly. The HR professional needs to not just keep on the cutting edge, but ahead of the learning curve. There are trends and fads that may or may not be good for the organization. Human Resources is the change agent and also the gatekeeper for what would work and what may not be something to follow.
Globalization – I had the chance to do consulting work for a large corporation a couple of years ago. When I was discussing their overall business vision, I said the word “globalization” and the executives said that they were a national company, without any offices overseas. One does not need to have a physical structure in another country in order to see the effects of globalization. There are many things happening in the world that affect us right here in the United States. Human Resources not only needs to bring these effects to light, but also should have an understanding of the impact it can have on local business.
Diversity – The first two points naturally lend themselves to this third skill of Diversity. With the changes globalization bring to the United States, managing diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age and disability is key. The HR professional needs to be able to manage not only across departments, but across culture!
Advocacy – In my experience, HR does not tend to do a good job in this arena. I do not find many who can be an employee advocate and also be an advocate for management. Many times, I find HR choosing one side or another, leaving hard feelings on both sides. I believe that Human Resources should truly act as a third party liaison for both sides, being able to bring peace in negotiations and handling difficult situations for employees and leadership.
Conflict Resolution – Again, this skill works in tandem with the ones mentioned above. Allowing Human Resources to act as a true “resource” for the organization will go a long way towards problem solving and increasing employee engagement. Conflict resolution skills should not only be taught to others by HR, but also practiced daily through diplomacy.
Strategic Planning – One of the most important things I learned during my time with the Campbell Soup Company was how HR should work with the corporate offices as a Strategic Partner. Human Resources was directly involved in the creation of the 5 year business plan, succession plan, and ensuring the vision, mission, and management objectives were clear. Key Performance Indicators help the entire organization to be aligned and held accountable for productivity through Performance Management systems.
Business Acumen – Early in my Human Resources career, I had an opportunity to take a course in my Master’s program on ROI – Return On Investment. I learned quickly that HR is not there just to throw birthday and retirement parties, but we must have quantifiable knowledge of how human capital impacts the bottom line. Being able to grasp and relate the cost of a vacant position; the cost of attrition, recruiting, training, productivity values, and overtime can make or break a company.
I hope this list was helpful. It is something I have personally gleaned from decades of experience and hope to pass it on to those who might be considering a career in Human Resources or simply want to know what are the industry trends. Human Resources is a rich, vibrant area of expertise. It is extremely gratifying to know that you can impact the lives of employees and leave a legacy for those to follow.
Mona Sabah Earnest is a Human Resources Professional who has over 20 years of experience working with corporate, state, and non-profit organizations. Mona holds her Master’s degree in Human Resources Organization Development from the University of San Francisco and she teaches Undergraduate Business for several universities. She is the author or two books and is an accomplished speaker on Diversity & Inclusion.
