Though my audience is primarily church leaders who are interested in ministry strategy, sometimes a post that really has nothing to do with churches or ministry strategy strikes a chord. Here’s one of those posts. It was the ninth most popular article on my site in 2011.

Unconventional Wisdom

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to share a short message with the volunteers at the Oak Leaf campus (now the West Ridge Cartersville location). Among other things, I talked about how God’s wisdom is different from conventional wisdom. I’ve always found this verse to be both challenging and encouraging in my spiritual journey:

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

It’s with that foundation that I have practiced what, to the rest of the world, must seem like a backwards approach to life in many ways. For example…

• I’ve made it a practice to not work one day out of every week. My “business” continues to grow even though I’m not doing anything work-related one day each week. (Exodus 20:11)
• Emily and I routinely leave our kids at home to go spend time by ourselves. We love our kids, but they aren’t the priority–our marriage is. By making the kids take a back seat to our marriage, our marriage is healthier…and so are our kids. (Ephesians 5:25)
• Last year, Emily and I gave away more than one dollar of every five dollars we received before taxes. I can’t explain it, but the more generous we try to be with our church, other ministries and people in need, the more “rich” we feel. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)