Influence

The Hunt for Real Significance

In 2017, Jay Whitmer was cruising along in the business world. He was recognized as a leading financial analyst for institutional investors, a speaker at national and international trade conferences, a founding partner of Cleveland Research and an advisor to leaders in multiple industries as President of Market Research.

 Then came the signs of some health issues. The removal of an enlarged spleen revealed a bigger problem – a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Jay had barely made it through his chemo series to a clean scan when his leadership team at work was dissolved. Jay lost both his health and his job in a 10-month span.

For many men, the next step would be an aggressive search for a new job. But instead, Jay hit the pause button for twelve months to grapple with what God deemed to be significant in his life.

The following is a summary of Jay’s remarks at the 5th Annual Influencers Forum (April 11, 2019).

The Hunt for Real Significance

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” -Nelson Mandela

Do you want your life to count for something more than living a comfortable life? Something more than success? Do you find yourself asking “does my life matter?”  Are you hungry for more?

Reaching the pinnacle of cultural success or even our own definition of significance often still leaves us dissatisfied.  It’s not enough.  It’s never enough.

There is a material difference between my significance and His significance, my will and His will, my name and His name, my glory and His glory.  We may know this or even say this out loud, but does our heart or do our actions actually align with a life fully surrendered to living for Christ rather than for me?  Have I truly committed to exchanging my life for His?

How will anyone know we have different priorities if we don’t actually have different priorities?  If Christ is not first and preeminent in our life, then we are telling ourselves and the world that God is not important. And that we don’t take His Word and commands very seriously.

So how do we best define and pursue significance?  Paul writes in Colossians that all things were created by Him and for him.  Not by me and for me.  When I live by me and for me, I will never be satisfied because that’s not why I was created.  I will always be chasing something unreachable unless I submit and yield to by Him and for Him.

Therefore, SIGNIFICANCE BEGINS WITH HIM AND EXTENDS WAY BEYOND ME.  And significance can only be defined or measured by our proximity to God.

“The life which the Lord has ordained for us is one of unshadowed communion with him, of doing the will of God, and of total detachment from all contrary things. “–Watchman Nee

Where not to find significance:

  1. Significance is not success – if success is the goal, what happens when you achieve it?  After success, what? Do you want people to talk about your resume at your funeral or your character and influence?  How can we reverse engineer the next 40 years to that we spend our time on what really matters starting now? What we ultimately leave behind will be far more important than our achievements or possessions.
  2. Significance is not safe – significance is not comfortable nor does it rest in the status quo.  It is not satisfied the way things are, and God often asks us to take a bold leap of faith not knowing how things turn out.  Think Esther (if I perish, I perish) or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (we believe our God will deliver us; but even if he doesn’t, we won’t serve your gods). Safety and comfort is at odds with the significance of the gospel.  Do you want a life jacket (neither dying or living) or a life boat to get out of the water and truly live.
  3. Significance is not selfish – our motive can’t be name recognition, nor are we on a self-discovery journey.  We aren’t the hero of the story.  Do we see our life only through a first-person lens and just ask “how does this impact me?”  Or are we on a more intentional track to serve others by releasing, relinquishing, and reinvesting our gifts?  How much of my life will be given away?
  4. Significance is not solo – either we think too much of ourselves or think about ourselves too much.  “I’m the man” or maybe “I’m not man enough.” Moses took the latter approach with God and didn’t think he could accomplish anything.  He asked “who am I” and God turned the question around by pressing him to ask who is “I am.”  And God said I will tell you what to say and show you what to do.
  5. Significance is not subjective – we can’t be significant in our own eyes because we are obviously biased.  We debate who is the greatest among us like the disciples, but greatest according to who?  Everyone has a different opinion when the subject matter is subjective.  How is my opinion any more valid than yours when there is no objective measurement?
  6. Significance is not short – Jesus says do not labor for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life.   And Solomon wrote that God has set eternity on our hearts.  Everything in this world has an ending, yet we have a hard-wired stirring and longing for something that doesn’t end.  Which just means we will never experience ultimate fulfillment this side of heaven.  Our appetite and design is eternal, and therefore anything temporal is simply too short or too small.  If we’re only pursuing earthly significance, we will always be left short and unfulfilled.

Scripture reflection:

  • Colossians 1:16-18 (by Him and for Him)
  • Galatians 2:20 (exchanged life)
  • Deuteronomy 8:3 (God makes us hungry)
  • Esther 5:11-13, 6:6 (Haman complex)
  • Philippians 2:3-4 (count others more significant than yourself)
  • 1 Peter 4:10-11 (use your gifts to serve others)

Books for further reference:

  1. The Life That Wins by Watchman Nee
  2. Half Time by Bob Buford
  3. Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
  4. A Life That Matters by Ron Hutchcraft

 

Making the Hunt for Significance a Personal Process

Tom Petersburg  (Influencers Forum, closing comments, 2019)

Each of us probably has a different trigger that brings the issue of significance to the surface in our lives. For some men it is a major disruption (loss of loved ones, health or job). For others it is a career change, hitting the mid-career marker, retirement, dissatisfaction, failure, restlessness or success.

When it comes to turning the hunt into a process, there are TWO things the process is NOT,…and TWO things the process IS.

Significance is not processed by comparison

We often use the word “significant” to describe something remarkable in the eyes of others. We have a tendency to assume what creates the biggest splash, the widest impact or the most attention is more significant.

Bobby Jones of the Philadelphia 76ers was one of the prominent NBA players of the 1980’s. He has a reputation as one of classiest players in NBA history. He was a four-time All-Star, an eight-time All-defensive First Team player and the first recipient of the NBA Sixth Man Award. He accomplished it despite a heart issue and epilepsy.

Bobby tells the story of coming back to Philly for a 76ers team reunion a few years after his career ended. Charles Barkley, who was a teammate during Bobby’s last three years, asked him what he was doing at the time. Bobby told him about coaching basketball at a small Christian school in North Carolina. Charles replied, “Bobby, I thought you would have done better for yourself.” As Bobby tells the story of their exchange, he breaks out laughing—comparisons held little value for him. Bobby was intent on building into the lives of young men, with no regard for the prominence it held.

Significance is not necessarily quantitative. Significance is not measured by what others are doing.

We can’t minimize that God puts some people in places and positions where they can leverage their influence in larger ways. That is simply what God chooses to do with our faithfulness. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be used to the maximum by God. We focus on the depth of our ministry; let God deal with the breadth of it.

If we measure significance by size of the impact, we will chase the wrong things. In God’s economy, size of impact doesn’t equate with significance.

Significance is not processed as a turn-key decision or an ultimate decision.

Many people are looking for a fixer-upper when they are house-hunting. There are also people are looking for a “turn-key” house. They want to open the front door to discover the place needs no repairs and no renovation. From the color of the walls to the shape of the kitchen drawer knobs, everything is just right.

Jay’s hunt for significance was far from a turn-key process. If you talked with Jay during the past 18 months, he would tell you about insights from the latest book he was reading, a conversation with a friend or a passage in the Scriptures that was stirring his thinking.  His conclusions and decisions were coming out of a process. No one dropped a quote or a book or a sermon on him and his questions were settled.

One of the reasons it is not a simple turn-key decision is that the consequences of your conclusions may have a domino effect – at work, with family, marriage, time and priorities. God sorts those out over time.

The process is not so much a locked-down conclusion as it is an open hand, being moveable by God.

In grappling with significance, there are 2 things the process IS—

It is a process of intentionality.

Anyone can make a list of the things to do in this process. That list could include:

  1. Identify next steps (study, prep, read).
  2. Take inventory – what is most important to me – pursuits, pleasure, success, achievement, growth, money, reputation. What has God given me that I can leverage for the Kingdom—gifts, position, relationships.
  3. Order your time with God. Ask Him for passages, people, insights. (Hebrews 4:12-13)
  4. Process your questions and thinking with a friend, advisor. (Proverbs 1:14)
  5. Find some helpful books. (Halftime by Bob Buford)
  6. Put it on paper (or computer) List your questions, answers, quotes, conclusions. Keep a journal.
  7. Take a spiritual gifts test—get some fresh insights on how God wired you.
  8. Join something in progress, observe where your peers serve.
  9. Take a personal 2-day retreat to get undistracted time with God.

The above list in useless except for one thing – intentionality. Those steps rarely just happen, or are sustained naturally. Intentionality is the key to the whole process.

There is a time to put a stake in the ground. Take action on some changes you need to make in moving from a mindset of success to a mindset of significance.

The process is always about Jesus.

The process of hunting for significance will lead us to something besides grappling with significance. It will deepen our relationship with Jesus. When our relationship with Jesus deepens, we will seek to live for Him more than for ourselves.

“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”  2 Corinthians 5:14,15 (NASB)

In the end, significance is found in living for Jesus.

Significance is found in following Jesus, committed to His use, in His way, in His time and to His extent. He will most likely use the gifts, skills, experience, desires and relationships He has already worked into our lives.

Finding what is significance starts with my commitment to do whatever He says before He makes it evident.

Process of grappling with significance will inevitably take us into new depths of our relationship with Him. That makes the process as big of a deal as our conclusions.