Before beginning his ministry Jesus put himself through a sustained period of personal testing. In the gospel of Matthew (Chapter 4) three particular temptations are reported: physical desire, pride, and power. In each case Jesus rejected the temptations as contrary to his fundamental identity with God.
The passion that drives performance can be difficult to direct. In the Hebrew Scriptures, King David is the classic case of great achievements clouded by failures of equal stature. David succumbed to physical desire with Bathsheba and suffered the consequences (2 Samuel:11); David’s pride in his son Absalom (2 Samuel 13-18) nearly destroyed the kingdom; David sought to over-extend his personal power (1 Chronicles:21) and seventy-thousand died as a result.Scan the business headlines and David is clearly not alone. Great accomplishments are tarnished by indulging a personal preference with corporate money; or a sense of personal pride interferes with developing the next generation of executives; or an attempt to expand too quickly or too widely implodes.
External threat analysis, competitor analysis, and other efforts to understand what is happening outside the enterprise are important. But even more important to developing an effective strategy is internal assessment of competencies and fundamental characteristics. Self-assessment by the CEO and others involved in strategy development is essential.
Jesus began by focusing on his own character. In the wilderness he recognized the powerful potential to confuse his personal needs with the needs of his mission. Throughout his ministry we can see Jesus engaging in self-reflection and encouraging his disciples to do the same.
There is a stereotype of the entrepreneur who can never make the shift from creator to sustainer. A similar stereotype is the successful salesman who can never manage others, or the brilliant engineer who always complains that his creation will work wonderfully if users would just follow the instructions.
In each case the stereotype is most dramatic when the individual has discovered his or her own tsedaq – or personal identity with God – that empowers confident creativity. But in these examples tsedaq is not balanced with mishpat. There is righteousness but not justice. This is self-righteousness.
Self-righteous people are poor strategists. In fact they are dangerous strategists. Like David resisting the counsel of Joab, they tend to get people killed (or at least lose jobs or money).
Righteousness without justice focuses on the self to the exclusion of the community; it promotes the self and, at best, patronizes others. When the power of tsedaq is unbridled from the requirements of mishpat, the self oppresses the community. One of the principal features of the ministry of Jesus is his impatience with the self-righteous. He would reach out lovingly and patiently to sinners of almost every sort – except the self-righteous.
Error – even profound failure – can be helpful to everyone, except the self-righteous. David failed, but he also accepted responsibility. While others learn, the self-righteous blame. Self-righteousness obscures every truth except that which is convenient to the individual’s idolatry of self.
Jesus warned of the unreality of self-righteousness in quoting Isaiah, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.” (Matthew 13)
Cultivating a balance of righteousness and justice – and avoiding self-righteousness – is at the very core of the teachings of Jesus. Only when the balance is achieved can we perceive reality and deal effectively with reality. In more common business terms we might say that cultivating a balance of personal confidence and commitment to the community is fundamental to fulfilling our purpose and potential.
The ancient word from which tsedaq was derived originally meant to clean. To become righteous is to reclaim our original condition, to rediscover our fundamental purposes. To become your true self is to become righteous.
There is enormous power and potential in becoming our true selves. But according to Jesus – building on Isaiah – it is only within community that we become our true selves. The ancient Hebrew for justice originally meant “to fit” as a lintel fits a doorway. Our true self must fit with the needs of the community – not visa versa.
Some true selves – certainly not all – have the ability to be strategists. In the Bible these are men and women who perceive clearly and move forward realistically. They understand the fundamental nature of the human condition and the social environment in which they are operating. They are sometimes prophets, sometimes judges, sometimes kings, and sometimes generals. Their role changes with the needs of the community. They share an accuracy and acuteness of perception.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus outlines eight spiritual disciplines for engaging reality:
Blessed are the poor in spirit…
Blessed are those who mourn…
Blessed are the meek…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…
Blessed are the merciful…
Blessed are the pure in heart…
Blessed are the peacemakers…
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.
Over the next eight days we will examine each of the preconditions for strategic insight.
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