Barnabas File

After today’s session of the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit, I have a new business guru to add to my pantheon of Collins, Lencioni, and Greeny.   Adam Grant, professor at the Wharton Business School, began his presentation this morning by saying that his original research dealt with the causes of paranoia in organizations.   Having been part of a number of organizations and having had occasional inclinations to paranoia, I was hooked. Grant explained that most people operate as either takers, matchers, or givers. Takers strive to get more than they give from their coworkers, matchers aim to trade evenly with a fair balance of getting and giving, and givers are the rare breed of people who contribute to others without expecting anything in return.   Although some givers get exploited and burn out, the rest achieve extraordinary results across a wide range of industries.   In the short term, givers may appear to be less productive but in the long ...

“ All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ”—Acts 2:44-45, NIV This passage in Acts portrays the Christian church at its best.   Some have sought to turn this passage into an example of proto-communism, but the message is much more profound. The believers who made up the church in Jerusalem at this time were a very diverse group of people.   Many had come to Jerusalem from many places for the Feast of Pentecost.   When some were converted through Peter’s preaching on the Day of Pentecost, they stayed on in the city to receive the apostles’ teaching.   Of course, they had not planned for such an extended stay, so many found themselves in physical need. Some have interpreted the passage to mean that everyone sold all they had, put it in a big pile, and then they distributed it equally.   The meaning is more powerful than that simple process.   These peo...