In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed piece finance titans Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett, respectively chairmen of JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway, advocate for doing away with quarterly earnings-per-share guidance. Why? Because this guidance “often leads to a focus on short-term profits rather than long-term strategy and growth”.
Reading Dimon’s and Buffett’s article made me think of a similar tendency we have as Christians – a short-term focus that, while good and necessary for both meeting needs and living faithfully, often crowds out the longer-term perspective of building character, of developing substantive relation-ships with people both older and younger, of thinking about our vocational calling in light of 40-50 years – to name just a few key facets of living faithfully in light of our calling.
The short excerpt above from Acts relates to Paul and Silas’s ministry in Thessalonica. Throughout their ministry they preached boldly and often. But they also laid the groundwork for the church of Jesus Christ that stands today, not just in the cities of Asia minor but around the world and in every culture. They formed theology, habits of Christian community, disciplines of teaching and worship and service—all of which formed the building blocks of the networks and institutions that sustain the church today. They thought and acted beyond the “quarterly earnings guidance” of our faith.
The 2018 CU Cities Conference later this month will address this theme, They Turned the World Upside Down, in the context of faith rooted in community and the key building blocks for shaping cultural norms, values and actions. If you haven’t registered for it there is still time. And you can look at the program here.
Finally, in partnership with Concerts of Prayer and Grace & Mercy Foundation, CU New York is sponsoring a monthly prayer hour to listen to and read scripture, and to pray for New York. This takes place on the second Wednesday of every month from 6:30-7:30pm. We will send emails each week prior with the location listed.
Thank you for your involvement in the work of the Kingdom in New York. Please join us in praying for the city and in working toward specific ends of seeing redemptive transformation in this place.
Blessings,
Scott Crosby
Ministry Director
Christian Union New York
For more information on New York City Christian Union Bible Courses and activities, or resources available to you please contact Scott Crosby.
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates, via email, on how to pray for City Christian Union, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
