Taking G od Into Business
businessmen
Here an outstanding businessman outlines some p re requisites for maintaining a spiritual glow
O ne of the most potent testimo nies to the saving and keeping power of the Lord Jesus Christ in our present day is the active, vir ile witness of literally thousands of laymen. They have shaken off their lethargy and exercised genuine spir itual maturity by showing concern for their business associates who have not yet found the only way to peace and happiness here and hereafter. And that is as it should be. The spiritual glow must be maintained by those who profess faith in Christ, and certainly that includes the Chris tian businessman. If the Saviour in whom we place our trust is not equal to the trials and problems of the work-a-day world, then He is not one to be recommended. But, praise God, He has proved to be all that He claims to be, and more. The month of October marks the end of an eventful year in which it was my privilege to travel from north to south, and east to west, as inter national chairman of Christian Busi ness Men’s Committee. The things I saw and heard encouraged my heart: businessmen, humbling themselves daily before God, seeking His direc tion into avenues of service, witness ing in the office as well as in jails, hospitals and service centers. Not the average type of Christian business man, the kind that is satisfied to sit in the pew on Sunday morning and receive a spiritual innoculation that is intended to last them for the week. No, this is a new variety: business men who are burdened for the lost, particularly for the “up-and-outer” and those who are not reached by the churches.
troit at the fifth annual convention of Christian Business Men’s Commit tee International. To my amazement, scores of businessmen—bankers, law yers, doctors, clerks— testified to the Lord’s' leading in day-by-day, per sonal contacts with their associates. Here were laymen who believed in something so strongly that they zeal ously went about to win others to the Saviour, reaching into areas pre viously untouched. It was a revela tion that made its impact on me, and caused me to re-evaluate my service for the Lord. One after another, men told of wak ing up to the opportunities all about them after becoming acquainted and affiliated with a local CBMC. In ad dition to being pillars in their lo cal churches, these CBMC’ers believed in going the second mile and reach ing out to unchurched people. Even the most backward and timid of them could, and did, invite their business associates to breakfasts, luncheons, dinners and banquets where a fine meal and good fellowship were cli maxed with a ringing gospel testi mony by a leading layman. What a joy to see their business friends, one by one, come under the sound of the gospel, with an increasing number of them coming to the real ization that here was something real, something worthy of their careful consideration. Fired with all the en thusiasms of a new convert, they have come into more than 310 local CBMC’s in various corners of the earth to encourage one another in the most holy faith and then to go out and win the lost one by one. But it is not an easy matter to
The spiritual “ shot in the arm” that opened my eyes to the respon sibility that faces born-again believ ers in Christ, laity as well as clergy, came just eleven years ago in De A b o u t th e A u t h o r T. (for Theophilus) E. Mc- Cully is the kind of top execu tive that most big companies fervently hope to have in their organization. McCully (53, 224 pounds, six-foot) is the vice- president and general manager of the Carpenter Baking Co., Milwaukee. Chairman of the Christian Business Men’s Committee In ternational, McCully finds time to keep some 80 speaking en gagements yearly. But perhaps his most effective ministry is man-to-man contacts. He de liberately steers conversations along spiritual lines. Friends say that one of McCully’s fa vorite approaches is to say: “ I’m making a little survey and I would like to ask you a ques tion: If someone was dying and they asked you how they could be sure of getting to heaven, what would you tell them? ” He has found this frank ques tion inevitably opens the way for a clear gospel presentation. In his private devotions, Mc- cully reads the Bible through consecutively and at the start of each year he asks the Lord for a key verse to guide him.
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T H E K IN G 'S BUSINESS
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