Networking at Funerals is Wrong, Unless . . .

Posted in Networking, Uncategorized by Joseph Castleberry

While driving through Casper, Wyoming, I saw this rather amusing sign about networking. I had never considered the question of networking at funerals, but I certainly agree with the sentiment expressed in the sign. You shouldn’t “network” at funerals.

Unless, that is, you understand what the Biblical essence of networking is. If networking means trying to take advantage of people and making a business connection that serves your own selfish interests, then one could hardly think of anything more gauche than “funetworking.”

On the other hand, the biblical concept of networking that I have explained in The Kingdom Net: Learning to Network Like Jesus sees networking as the essential mechanism through which the Kingdom of God–God’s sovereign rule–spreads from person to person. It involves the establishment of relationships through which you can serve the needs of others effectively and with love.

In his own relationship building and service to others, the Gospels clearly portray Jesus as showing up at weddings and funerals. At the Wedding at Cana, he got pressed into service by his mother, converting water into wine and helping the happy couple avoid public embarrassment. That service unquestionably built his network, though nothing untoward or selfish occurred. Jesus showed up late for the funeral of Lazarus in John 11, and while others wailed and mourned and added to the stress of the family, Jesus served them by raising Lazarus from the dead. He did the same at the funeral of a little girl in Matthew 9:23-26. As a result, “The news about this spread all over that part of the country” (GNB). In Luke 7:12-16, Jesus ran into the funeral of a grown man and wound up raising him from the dead. Consequently, “They all were filled with fear and praised God. ‘A great prophet has appeared among us!’ they said; ‘God has come to save his people.'”

Why does anyone go to a funeral? I attend them to offer my sincere respect, affection, and help for the family of the person who has died. I usually see other friends there, and I offer and receive comfort from the renewal, and often, deepening of the relationship. If you see an opportunity to help someone at a funeral, the question “What would Jesus do?” has an obvious answer. He’d step in to help.

In the highest and best sense of the word “networking”–the Jesus Way of Networking–funerals turn out to offer an excellent opportunity for Kingdom Networking that seeks to serve others and express God’s rule in every situation.

Dr. Joseph Castleberry is President of Northwest University in Kirkland Washington. He is the author of The Kingdom Net: Learning to Network Like Jesus and Your Deepest Dream: Discovering God’s True Vision for Your Life . Follow him on Twitter at @DrCastleberry and at http://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Castleberry.

24Mar2014

When One Connection Outweighs A Thousand

Posted in Networking by Joseph Castleberry

Networking can create great excitement, and having lots of friends, colleagues, and connections offers many opportunities for fulfillment as we serve others and as others step up to help us in our needs and projects. Whether you have five friends or five thousand, the more the merrier.
On the other hand, one connection can sometimes outweigh a thousand. In the Bible, the “Song of Solomon” presents a paradigm case. Although some interpreters see this ancient love poetry as a description of one of King Solomon’s many marital loves, the best view understands that the story centers on two common subjects of the Kingdom–a couple deeply in love with each other. Interpreting the song in that way, the Good News Translation draws a striking contrast:

“Let the king have sixty queens, eighty concubines, young women without number!

But I love only one, and she is as lovely as a dove.” (Song of Songs 6:8, 9 GNT)

Before Solomon finished his conjugal adventures, he would have a thousand concubines in his harem, but he would never find what that one common man found–one woman to fill up his eyes, arms, and heart so completely that there could be no room left for any other. I will always thank God that I found such a woman, who fixes my heart so fully in both senses of the word “fix.”

In the sphere of love, one connection can offer more value than a thousand, but the principle goes further. In all of our relationships, the one should usually outweigh the thousand. A common rule of courtesy demands that the person in front of you should feel like they are the most important person in the world to you at that moment. Maintaining real presence in every context you inhabit, giving your whole attention, making each person feel truly important–these basic social manners suffer real threats in a world of mobile phones, instant and constant internet, and multimedia. The clock ticks on, and the next appointment beckons. But when the person you do business with at any time feels they have your total attention, it can create powerful collaboration on any task. Attention to the one means that two can change the world.

No sphere demonstrates this truth more than the duet of marriage and the circle of family life. Busy lives do present a challenge, and treating the one as more important than the thousand taxes our capacity at work as much as it does at home. I need to ratchet up my own attention to the Value of One and my commitment to presence. This very moment offers a great time to get on it.

5Dec2013

TKN Audio: When Many Points Come Together

Posted in Networking, Uncategorized by Joseph Castleberry

7-Points in Florence, Alabama

When you reach out to someone to start a relationship, they must accept your offer for a connection to take hold. Successful networking requires a two-way street. The easiest and most delightful networking often happens when two parties reach out simultaneously. Sometimes, even more people will get in on the act as multiple people decide that two people should meet. A two-way street is great, but sometimes networking can come together like the intersection of several roads. I fondly remember a place in my hometown, Florence, Alabama, where seven roads came together in one intersection. When many roads meet in one place, you can expect a lot of options to come together!

Recently, a Seattle Christian radio station owned by Salem Communications, KGNW (820 AM) hosted a pastor’s luncheon and invited me to attend. I had a great time at the event and met several of the people at the station. I met Stan Lander, Senior Marketing Consultant, and he worked with my assistant, Anne Kuchera to book me for two interviews with Doug Bursch, who hosts the Live from Seattle program during the all-important afternoon drive time slot (4:00-6:00 P.M.) After those interviews, they also scheduled me for an interview on their Spanish-language sister station in.

I totally like everybody at the station! Chuck Olmstead, the Director of Ministry Relations, is a real mensch! Stan Lander has become a genuine friend, along with his son, David. Doug Bursch, the host of Live from Seattle, who graduated from Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, where I used to serve as Academic Dean, does a fantastic job as host of the program, and his producer, Nick Shishkowski, bends over backwards to make things easy.

I must not have done too badly as a guest on the show, so the station invited me to host the show while Doug took some vacation time. My schedule would only let me accept one day. At the point where all the relationships converged, I got to host the show last Monday. I fell in love with radio!

Here’s the audio from my program. It focuses on the Faith at Work Movement in Seattle. I hope you’ll enjoy it!

For more ideas about networking, see The Kingdom Net: Learning to Network Like Jesus (My Healthy Church, 2013). Order it in paperback or Kindle edition at http://www.amazon.com/The-Kingdom-Net-Learning-ebook/dp/B00EDO1F6M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376544126&sr=8-2&keywords=Joseph+Castleberry.

Dr. Joseph Castleberry, President of Northwest University in Kirkland Washington, is the author of Your Deepest Dream: Discovering God’s Vision for Your Life and The Kingdom Net: Learning to Network Like Jesus. Follow him on Twitter at @DrCastleberry and at http://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Castleberry.

9Nov2013

The Jigsaw Network

Posted in Business, Networking, Uncategorized by Joseph Castleberry

This morning I heard Sonny Vu, Founder of Misfit Wearables, speak at KIROS, a Christian Business Breakfast group that I regularly attend here in the Seattle area. As I listened to him talk about the culture of their company (and about hiring people who fit the culture of a company called Misfit) I thought about how everyone really feels like a misfit, at least in some situations. In the group that really counts for a lot of people, the so-called “inner ring” or “inner circle,” no one really feels they truly fit in.

I think this sense of not fitting in is based on our individuality. The bright side of our creation as individuals is our uniqueness. But our fallenness converts uniqueness into a burden.

Think of people as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece has its own angles and curves and indentations. In a box of thousands of pieces, the maker has cut each one in such a way that it only fits into a few others. But when each piece has found its mates and the whole puzzle comes together, a beautiful scene emerges.

When people focus on their uniqueness as individuals, either egotism or despair results. The egotist considers himself special because of his particular angles and curves, while the desperate one regards herself as odd or a misfit because of her differences. Both errors result when we regard ourselves only as individuals and not as pieces of a larger social picture. The true meaning of our uniqueness only emerges when we find people whose uniqueness complements ours and hooks us into a coherent whole. When my uniqueness connects to your uniqueness, something truly special occurs, and the more people we connect to, the more the meaning of it all grows.

Networking brings people together. Great networking brings people together for the sake of a larger perspective. The Holy Spirit’s networking enlarges the Kingdom of God and gives it meaning in the context of human relationship, love, and shared mission.

As a jigsaw puzzle works by combining thousands of odd pieces, the best workplace cultures, the most effective churches, the most functional societes result from the skilled collection and combination of willing misfits. As a leader, you sometimes play the puzzler; sometimes you play the willing misfit. Both roles are crucial to great networking.

For more, see The Kingdom Net: Learning to Network Like Jesus (My Healthy Church, 2013). Order it in paperback or Kindle edition at http://www.amazon.com/The-Kingdom-Net-Learning-ebook/dp/B00EDO1F6M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376544126&sr=8-2&keywords=Joseph+Castleberry.

23Oct2013

TKN Audio: The Meaning of Success Podcast

Posted in Business, Employment, Faith and Work, Kingdom of God, leadership, Ministry, Networking, Theology of Work, Uncategorized, Unemployment by Joseph Castleberry

Recently, through my connection with a brilliant social media marketer Alejandro Reyes, I had the pleasure of meeting Zeb Welborn. Zeb has a well-subscribed podcast and agreed to interview me about The Kingdom Net: Learning to Network Like Jesus. The podcast doesn’t usually touch on religious topics, but Zeb was a terrific host and interviewer. I enjoyed talking to him and his audience about the reality of God and about why Jesus was a great networker and how He continues to work the Kingdom Net today. I hope you’ll enjoy listening to the podcast here:

http://ec.libsyn.com/p/c/f/8/cf82062d7a158e90/Defining_Success_Podcast_-_Joseph_Castleberry.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d01c08532d1c8552c13&c_id=6308007

For more, see The Kingdom Net: Learning to Network Like Jesus (My Healthy Church, 2013). Pre-order it in paperback or Kindle editions at http://www.amazon.com/The-Kingdom-Net-Learning-ebook/dp/B00EDO1F6M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376544126&sr=8-2&keywords=Joseph+Castleberry.

14Oct2013

Jesus Wrote the Book on Leadership

Posted in Business, Employment, Faith and Work, Kingdom of God, leadership, Ministry, Networking, Theology of Work, Uncategorized, Unemployment by Joseph Castleberry

Last weekend I spoke for an important Hispanic church conference at Life Center Spanish Church in Tacoma. The leaders there asked me to address the topics of The Leader’s Tasks”” and “The Leader’s Team.” In preparing for the first topic, I instantly thought of the classic book, Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus.

Bennis & Nanus say leaders must employ four strategies to lead effectively: (1) Attention through Vision, (2) Meaning through Communication, (3) Trust through Positioning, and (4) The Deployment of Self (by which they essentially mean putting talented people to work in ways that allow them to fulfill themselves in service). I decided to share these principles, but since I’m a preacher, I looked for a Biblical text upon which to anchor my comments.

As I looked at the launch of Jesus’ leadership in Matthew 4, I was amazed. He began (4:17) by gaining people’s attention through a bold vision: “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” He then began to create meaning through social architecture as he called his disciples (4:18-19) and began to teach them about the Kingdom and their role in it as “fishers of men,” i.e. Kingdom Networkers. Then he established trust and credibility for his organization through positioning as he networked “about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and … disease among the people (4:23).” Finally, after doing these things, he “gave [the twelve] power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness … and diseases (10:1)”—i.e., to do the very same works he was doing.

Those who know nothing but their Bibles, as Matthew Arnold once famously said, do not even know their Bibles. It is amazing how secular literature on leadership can call out principles that open our eyes to things in the Bible that we gloss right over in our daily reading. It’s also wonderful to recognize that Jesus knew everything about leadership. Though he never wrote a word that survived history, we can find no better textbook on the topic than his open-book life.

2Oct2013

My Interview on “Live from Seattle” with Doug Bursch

Posted in Employment, Faith and Work, Kingdom of God, leadership, Ministry, Networking, Theology of Work, Uncategorized, Unemployment by Joseph Castleberry

A couple of weeks ago I had a great interview about The Kingdom Net with Doug Bursch on Live From Seattle on KGNW 820 AM. If you have read the book, you may enjoy the additional insights that show up on the the radio interview; if you haven’t read the book, I hope you’ll enjoy the interview!

16Sep2013

The Honor and the Glory of Employers

Posted in Business, Employment, Faith and Work, Kingdom of God, leadership, Ministry, Networking, Theology of Work, Uncategorized, Unemployment by Joseph Castleberry

Many people go out to network, not because of Kingdom priorities, but because they need a job! Most workers want to have an employer, but some don’t want to serve one, so it doesn’t take long for their relationship with an employer to sour. Pop culture music continually resounds with songs about bad bosses, and Marxism has had a long run (150+ years!) of wild popularity in haute couture circles, averring that the very act of paying people money in exchange their time and work constitutes evil exploitation. Sometimes employers do treat workers unfairly, even as some workers fail to appreciate their employers.

In today’s climate of dramatic high unemployment in America (not to mention the rest of the world), I’d like to take a moment to honor employers. In most cases, employers take significant risks with their own money to put people to work. If they win, they may win big or small. If they lose, they can lose big. To everyone who ever put their money at risk and gave me a job, thank you! May you win big and retire well!

Employing people carries intrinsic dignity, but the Bible confers another essential honor on employers in Genesis 2. Long before the Fall or the Curse, work made up an essential element of the Creation, and God honored all workers by becoming the very First Worker (Gen. 2:2). A few verses later, Genesis reveals that God was the First Employer. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15, ESV).

Employing people is a godly thing to do. The honor of employers is to follow in God’s example as the First Employer; their glory is to treat their workers with the same love, grace, and justice God’s workers enjoy. Hooray for employers! May they carry their risks and responsibilities with God’s own integrity.

13Sep2013

Networking: Reaching Out to Reach In

Posted in Business, Faith and Work, Kingdom of God, leadership, Ministry, Networking, Theology of Work, Uncategorized by Joseph Castleberry

Recently I attended The Boeing Classic, a PGA golf tournament at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club. I got the tickets for free because a local business wanted to connect with my CFO and me about a business deal. Knowing there would be lots of great people there, I brought my networking gear to see what other angling I might do. (Golf and fishing–what a combination!)

Just after local favorite Fred Couples birdied the first hole, I ran into my friend Tim Knapp and a bunch of his friends. (Tim shows up in The Kingdom Net: Learning to Network Like Jesus. He models Kingdom networking as well as anyone I know!) One of his friends, Brian Heathman, told me about a new student who had just enrolled at Northwest University (NU). As President of AudioInk (http://audioink.com/), a cutting-edge publishing company, Brian walks the walk on networking. “You’ve got to meet this student! He’s a leader for the future,” he said.

Always interested in meeting future leaders, and having instant access to all NU emails, I popped out an email to the student as soon as my conversation with Brian ended. We met for coffee, and I really appreciated Brian’s good work in bird-dogging me to a really promising young leader right under my nose.

The fruit of the work ripened quickly, as Brian received the following note a couple of weeks later:

Let me first start off by saying that I really appreciate the integrity of your word. When you mentioned that you would set me up with the president of NU I wasn’t quite sure what to think other than, “wow, okay.”

Well, two weeks ago, I received an email from President Castleberry of Northwest University. After a couple emails back and fourth, we set up a time to have coffee. It was a fantastic time of sharing our stories and discussing the impact of God in our lives. All this to say, none of it would have been possible without your connection with Joe and your follow through.

I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to speak with him. It was the beginning to a wonderful friendship.

Bryan, I can not thank you enough.

Blessings,

[Name]

I think this case provides an interesting example of reaching out to reach in. Making a new connection off campus became the conduit to an important relationship with someone right under my nose. In years to come, as this young (freshman) leader would have emerged at Northwest, I would have followed his progress from my perch as president. The fact that we got off to a fast start through a networking-brokered relationship will mean that I will be more likely to have closer relationship to a key student leader all the way through his career at Northwest. The benefit needs no further explanation.

Is there an important connection within easy reach that you remain unaware of? The key to making that close connection may lie in someone who stands at a distance.

1Sep2013

Networking to Wake Up a Spiritually Sleepy Nation

Posted in Business, Faith and Work, Kingdom of God, leadership, Ministry, Networking, Theology of Work, Uncategorized by Joseph Castleberry

The moral and spiritual situation of America seems to have hit an all-time low, especially if you haven’t lived for all time (i.e., for all of us). Marriage disappears as births out of wedlock predominate. Divorce puts an end to half of marriages. Pornography and foul language proliferate, even among our national leaders. Corruption in our society runs rampant. Church attendance continues to slide. Historic denominations not only lose members, but drive them away by taking unbiblical, unorthodox doctrinal and moral stands. The church unquestionably needs a revival and the society needs an awakening.

Nevertheless, the idea that we face an all-time low in faith bears further consideration. Recently a friend of mine facebooked the following quote from J. Edwin Orr, a greatest historian of revival:

Not many people realize that in the wake of the American Revolution there was a moral slump. Drunkenness became epidemic … Profanity was of the most shocking kind. … Women were afraid to go out at night for fear of assault. Bank robberies were a daily occurrence.   What about the churches? The Methodists were losing more members than they were gaining. The Baptists said that they had their most wintry season. The Presbyterians in general assembly deplored the nation’s ungodliness … The Lutherans were so languishing that they discussed uniting with Episcopalians who were even worse off. The … Episcopal Bishop of New York … quit functioning… The Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall, wrote … that the Church “was too far gone ever to be redeemed.” Voltaire averred, and Tom Paine echoed, “Christianity will be forgotten in thirty years.”   Take the liberal arts colleges at that time. A poll taken at Harvard had discovered not one believer in the whole of the student body. They took a poll at Princeton, a much more evangelical place: they discovered only two believers in the student body, and only five that did not belong to the filthy speech movement of that day. Students rioted. They held a mock communion at Williams College; and they put on anti-Christian plays at Dartmouth … They took a Bible out of a local Presbyterian church in New Jersey, and burned it in a public bonfire. Christians were so few on campus in the 1790s that they met in secret … and kept their minutes in code so that no one would know.   In case this is thought to be the hysteria of the moment, Kenneth Scott Latourette, the great church historian, wrote: “It seemed as if Christianity were about to be ushered out of the affairs of men.”–J. Edwin Orr (see http://www.jedwinorr.com)

One of the most powerful functions of the Kingdom Net (what I call the global network of people who submit to Christ’s Kingly Rule) involves our ability to call each other to prayer. God has seen America descend into spiritual chaos and sinful squalor at several times over our history. (Remember the Wild West, the Gay ‘90s, the Roaring ‘20s, etc.) Things have been as bad as they are now, and we can indeed see a new revival of the Church and another Great Awakening in America.

And it can only happen as we use our personal networks to let God’s call to repentence and faith spread. It does not start with railing accusations of the sin of others. It starts with personal prayer and repentence. It starts with our own testimony of renewal. May it start soon, before the damage goes any further.

As Kingdom networkers, would you join me in repentence, sorrow, and earnest prayer for the awakening of our nation?

The Kingdom Net

Jesus came to proclaim the Kingdom of God; he built the Kingdom Net to keep the word and work of God spreading.

Tag Archives: Christian relationships

Networking at Funerals is Wrong, Unless . . .

When One Connection Outweighs A Thousand

TKN Audio: When Many Points Come Together

The Jigsaw Network

TKN Audio: The Meaning of Success Podcast

Jesus Wrote the Book on Leadership

My Interview on “Live from Seattle” with Doug Bursch

The Honor and the Glory of Employers

Networking: Reaching Out to Reach In

Networking to Wake Up a Spiritually Sleepy Nation