Andy Mason (00:01.134)
Hey, how would you know whether you're building a business with Christ at the center or in Jesus' words, you're building a den of thieves? Well, welcome to The Conversation. I'm Andy Mason and you're listening to the Heaven and Business podcast where we help you navigate the messy intersection of faith, family and business real time. So happy Easter. For those of you that are listening to this, it's currently, actually it's Good Friday.
and we're about to hit into the weekend. It's been a great week, but I was sitting and reading my Bible this morning and I thought, I mean, I'm gonna go through the journey of Jesus to the cross. Great time to do that. Not for the sake of remembering something that happened, but to allow the word of God to affect me, to shape my life. And so I'm reading through Matthew 21, I'm in the You version. Shout out to You version. If you're a business person and you regularly use the You version app,
I encourage you jump onto their website and support them, because they're doing a great work. I'm using this and it's informing my life, the word of God. And I want to bless those that are helping me do this really well. So, side, come back to this. This is Matthew chapter one. It's the story where Jesus comes into Jerusalem on a donkey, really confronts what we would think is success looks awesome. No, he comes humbly riding on a donkey. That's some thought for you to start with.
But then it says in verse 12, then Jesus went into the temple of God, whose temple is it? And drove out those who bought and sold in the temple. Now who bought and sold in the temple? It's actually the people providing a service. They were coming to give a sacrifice, birds, doves, lambs, and these guys provided help to do that. That's a good service. What was wrong? Well, we hear or read that actually they were using
wrong scales, different things. So he comes in and he overturns the tables of the money changers. Why? Because they were corrupt. And the seats of those who sold doves, why? Because they were doing it corruptly. And he said to them, this is the key. It is written, where is that? That was actually in Jeremiah and also in Isaiah. This is what he's referring to. It is written, my house shall be called a house of
Andy Mason (02:26.826)
But you have made it a den of thieves. Then the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. People that wanted to come for the purposes for which Jesus was here, the blind and the lame. And these guys were preventing that from happening. I read that verse, verse 13, and he said to them, it is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. That struck me this morning. So what did I do?
I go in and I use, actually I've got a digital coach that we've framed, and I use this to unpack what do the words mean, and then I sit there before the Lord with my journal right here, and I start to point and ask questions. What would a of thieves be like? What would a house of prayer be like? Jesus says, this is the temple of God, well you and I are that temple. Everything we do, everywhere we go,
We are hosting God. If we call ourselves a Christian, a follower of Jesus, that means everything you do, you're walking temple with Christ dwelling in you. Now, here's the challenge. They were doing that on the outside. Their words would say that, yeah, I'm a Christian business. yeah, I'm a kingdom business. I'm the people of God. And yet there were some things that Jesus says, no, no, no, no, any.
flipped the tables and he said, you guys call yourselves a house of prayer, you call yourself a Christian business, a kingdom business, but actually you're a den of thieves. I'm thinking, that's pretty serious. Happy Easter, Jesus. If he came into my business today, would he say the same thing? Those are really, really strong words, a house of prayer or a den of thieves. So what I did is I unpacked it. I'm gonna do that for you.
I did this for myself and I encourage you to do the same for diagnostic questions to help you define or diagnose or self-examine. Am I building a house of prayer or a den of thieves? And how would I even know the difference? So listen up. Here's, just gonna unpack this. I encourage you to do this for yourself. Go back and read it. Read it three times and just ask the Holy Spirit. Here's the cheat sheet. Just ask the Holy Spirit.
Andy Mason (04:47.81)
Where am I living to myself and calling it sacred and spiritual with a sacred narrative? Or where am I truly surrendered and walking in dependence of God in everything I do where he's the Lord of this household? So let's unpack it a little bit. Jesus, he confronted people building in God's name without actually leading it. I'm saying this, but I'm not living it out. Here's what is really going on.
God is defining two completely different ways of living and building under his name. He's not talking to pagans or people that aren't following Jesus. He's talking to the believers. If you're in the USA today, what is it? 70 % of the population call themselves follower of Jesus. And yet we've got a lifestyle that looks completely opposite. Well, let's not talk about them. Let's look about you and me. This is about me starting with me and my life and my business.
So what does it look like? Firstly, house of prayer. What's a house? If you look up the biblical meaning, it's a home or a dwelling place. Now, if it's a house of God, it's the dwelling place of God. It's the place where there is a union or a community or a family, but if it's the house of God, it's where God is the head. I'm not living according to my will, but his will be done. What's a house of prayer?
Prayer is exchange or dialogue of will, desires, dialogue. So what does it look like? It's the dwelling place where God dwells and I come and I am daily. It's not visiting, it's a dwelling and abiding where God abides in me and everything I do and there is an ongoing dialogue and exchange of my will for his will, my desire for his will. What does that look like in business?
That means I come before him on a daily basis. Firstly, I have time and say, God, what are we doing today? What do I need to know? What do you need me to know today? What are we gonna be facing? These situations, not just asking God to bless what I've decided to do, but actually yielding my will, my ways, my nature to him so that Romans 2, 12 becomes a reality. I'm transformed by the renewing of the mind so that the word of God doesn't just become book on the shelf.
Andy Mason (07:13.762)
but something that is informing my decisions on a daily basis. Okay, so what about that? If that's the house of prayer, what is a den of thieves? Well, the den of thieves is not the place where they commit the crime. It's actually the place where they come for safety. A den is a refuge or a safe place. And what's a thieves? Thieves are not people that just do petty crime. It's an ongoing systematic.
Like that's crazy. A culture or a system of exploitation.
And yet, how could this be? How's a prayer or a den of thieves? The temple of God has become a den of thieves. How would that even be possible? Where you're going out and you're exploiting people for your own advantage and then you come back and you hide yourself in the place of God with your language, with your attendance, with the checks that you write out.
but actually your heart is far from him. It's dependence just solely on yourself, your will. How would I even know? Now the more I got into this, the more I realized, I've done this. I came downstairs yesterday from my office and I just blurt, hey Janine, what do you think about we have this person speak at the conference? We've got this conference coming up in Frisco, Texas, end of August. It's gonna be really cool. And I got excited about who we could have to speak.
And Janine has gotten used to me. I allow sometimes the excitement, the culture, the system, the momentum to determine my decisions rather than pausing. Holy Spirit, what do you want us to do? This is your business, your way. It's not my household, it's his household. It's not my temple, it's the temple of God. If I'm the temple of God, I wanna live his way. What does that look like? And Janine's so good, she's like, well, have you prayed about it? Give me a moment.
Andy Mason (09:19.67)
And actually yesterday I came down and it was different because I had prayed about it. I had a conviction that we'd have this person and I reached out to them as a result of gaining agreement with Janine. So it wasn't just God said, it was, I had a prompting or a conviction and then I submitted it to wise counsel and challenge. This is really, really interesting. What's a dinner thieves? We go out and do what you want the way that you want, but you hide it behind God said or Christian or.
Hey brother, Gino Gias's loves you. I've got all the words, but I've got a life that is in opposition. Are you integrist in every part of what you do? If the curtains got pulled back, the way that you are at home, at work with your employees, with your customers, is it the same? Is there integrity or am I exploiting people for my personal gain and advantage and calling it a sacred narrative? Yeah, ouch.
Ouch. this is, I don't know about you, but this is a good, this is a checkup for me. Easter is not just about remembering what Jesus did for me. It's about examining myself according to the cross, allowing the cross to get into my life. The word of God is sharper than any two edged sword piercing. When was the last time that pierced me and shaped me? Or am I the ruler of my throne and I'm just wearing Christian clothes?
Hey, I got the sweatshirt. Hey, I got some pretty cool swag and it was bought by a Christian company. That is not what saves you. It's walking with Christ as the head of my life and all of my decisions. Jesus says this, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. You who exploit others and you call it sacred, but you're living far from me. Why? Because you're living independent of Him.
It's not His will be done, it's your own. That's the Tower of Babel people, that will crumble, it will not produce lasting fruit. So let's just carry on. If you call yourself a Christian, now if you don't, and you're listening this far, hey, it's the greatest thing ever. And He is raising the standard. But if you call a follower of Jesus in business, is God just a guest in your life, or is He dwelling in you?
Andy Mason (11:46.754)
Does he remain? How would I know? Well, where are you feeding yourself? When was the last time you picked up the word of God and read that? Is that informing your decisions or are you just making decisions based off of best practice or the latest business book? Am I living in communion with him? Prayer is an exchange of desires. And when was the last time that you surrendered your strategic plan, your business plan? How quickly could you respond to what he is saying?
or have you become just so focused on achieving and accomplishing that you've left God far behind? This is a great time to recheck, realign, and recenter. So, let's just jump straight into some questions to challenge you and me around where we're really at. These are four things. Diagnostic, check. Number one, your authority. Do decisions start with what do we think? Or do they start with, God, what are you saying?
What do you think about this? I'm sensing to do this, to step this way, to price this way, to pay my customers, sorry, to pay my employees this way, to put my products this way, to deliver this way. God, what do you say? Examine me, Psalm 139. Search me, God, and know me. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me in the path everlasting. That might have been Psalm 16. I'd have to fact check that. You should fact check this.
So number one, authority. Do my decisions start with, God, what are you saying? What do you want me to know? Or just what do I think? Hey, it's worked yesterday. Let's just keep doing it rather than check in, check in, check in. Can I be questioned or does spiritual language shut it down? Hey, I was praying with that and I think this is what we're gonna do. Or hey, I have a sense or a conviction that this way, but please let's examine this so that we can apply this with biblical wisdom.
with a conviction, biblical wisdom, and due diligence, be as innocent as a dove and as shrewd as a snake. I'm led by the Spirit and I'm not afraid of due diligence because that which is of the Spirit, the Word and flesh, lasts and is okay to be tested and challenged because it's proven to be true. Where is that in the Bible? Proverbs 30 verse 5. Every word of the Lord is tested, refined,
Andy Mason (14:12.928)
and proven to be true. So if you can't be tested or refined, if no one can disagree with you, something is wrong and you're hiding behind a sacred narrative that you'll find is empty because you find yourself as a den of thieves. Number one is authority. Number two, process. Is prayer occasional or is it governing? Do you spend time every day listening?
to what he wants to say and then micro pauses through the day or you just blow through the day. I've checked off my quiet time and now I'm just gonna do what I wanna do. Do you test what you hear? Scripture, with counsel, with reality or just with what you're feeling? Hey, when I'm feeling this, I'm just going with this. Hey people, let's do this. Or are you just actually pausing, listening, checking, inviting wise counsel, inviting feedback?
When was the last time somebody disagreed with you? How'd you handle that? Three, culture. Are people flourishing or are they burning out quietly? Is truth safe or is it managed? Are you protecting the brand more than you're protecting the people? There's some great challenges here. Number four, outcome. What defines success? Is it growth? Is it profit?
Is it efficiency or is it obedience? I'm to put these down in a connect or like a list below that'll help you actually check this and examine yourself. Here's the hard truth. You may be a den of thieves if your business succeeds without God's input. If you haven't changed anything based on God's voice recently. If spiritual language is strong but dependence is weak. If you defend what's working more, then you submit it and check it.
and allow for input and pushback and feedback. Really interesting. Finally, Jesus didn't critique the temple, he overturned it. What about you? What about me? What is Jesus wanting to say, hey, I wanna overturn that and reestablish the place where the blind and the lame can come and pour in to get healed? So here's the reset for you. Number one, take a decision. One decision you've already made last week. Just think of.
Andy Mason (16:33.142)
What's one decision that you made? Now go back and be candid with yourself. Did you just do what you thought was right, not even pause or think? Did you call it spiritual language when people were actually questioning? Or if people so got used to you doing what you want and clothing it with Jesus' language that they don't even question it. Check on that. How did you make the decision? And if Jesus is truly the Lord and the head of your household, did you dialogue with him? Or are you subtly drifting?
into a of Number two, identify one system running on autopilot. How we set up a product, how we deliver, how we pay our employees. Pause, just take that before the Holy Spirit. Say, Holy Spirit, you're the Lord of this. I want this to be a house of prayer, a place where I would dialogue and exchange with you my desire for your desire, my will for your will. If I truly say, our Father in heaven, hallowed your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.
on earth as it is in heaven. If you truly believe that, say that, call yourself a Christian business. When did you last submit your systems, your culture to him and say, hey, input on this. Where do I need to bring increased change or edits? And then finally, what's one thing that you can do immediately? What's one thing he's speaking to you about today that you could say, you know what? I want to build a business where he is Lord and this is a place of
prayer, my house will be called a house of prayer, a place where there is an exchange. You know what, here's the greatest thing, Psalm 103, it says, and forget not the benefits. When I bless the Lord with everything I am, my whole soul, my whole being, he's the Lord of my life, I'm dialoguing with him, not just a one-off, but a continual, a continual dialogue, relationship and exchange. It says, forget not the benefits. He removes my shame.
He forgives my iniquity, that's what that does. I can walk shame free in my business. He heals all my diseases. Everything, no brokenness, no dysfunction, every aspect, not just personal, but physical, financial, mental, emotional, relational. He forgives my iniquity, he heals my diseases, he redeems my life from destruction. If your business is headed for a crash, know, number one, I wanna be obedient.
Andy Mason (18:57.87)
But true, I have an expectation. He's the God who redeems dead situations. If I bless him with everything I am, if I'm aligned with him and walking this way, then I submit to his will and his way. And I expect him to redeem dead situations, to turn them around, to see things that are broken become life-giving. He redeems life. He crowns me with loving kindness and tender mercies so that my youth is renewed like the eagle.
Where are you weary, broken, discouraged, downtrodden? He comes and he breathes in fresh life, fresh hope, fresh significant satisfaction and security that comes from him. He renews my strength like the eagle. He makes me lie down in green pastures. All of this is so good and this is the word of God. This is true. If I call myself a follower of Jesus in business, what is that looking like in my life?
not just sacred language, not just a spiritual narrative, but a true relationship with Him in all of life. Hey, if this is helpful, make sure you share it with somebody. And I encourage you, sign up to this weekly newsletter that we send out with a podcast, with a blog. Join us at an upcoming event, and I look forward to seeing you in person there.
