Joe Fontenot's Blog, page 14

The Could/Should line

Coulds are plentiful.

These are the things that life sets us up for. Taking a new job, because we’ve got the resume. Making a new deal, because we were in the right place at the right time.

And, no doubt, God uses these coulds.

Shoulds, on the other hand, are different.

These are the things just for us. They are not about opportunity as much as they are about purpose. In other words, they are less about we can do, and more about what God has placed us to do.

Coulds come from us using our brains and our sweat.

Shoulds come from us spending time with God, listening and obeying.

A good life is finding both.

The post The Could/Should line appeared first on Joe Fontenot.

Christian Arbitrage

In finance, arbitrage is a form of trading that capitalizes on an imbalance somewhere in the market.

In other words, it’s selling high in one area, while simultaneously buying low in another.

The interesting thing about arbitrage is that the more it’s used, the less it’s available. Using it corrects the market and brings equilibrium. It’s kind of a like a good sale: word gets around.

As followers of Jesus, we live in a word of spiritual arbitrage.

Our trade is to go out into the world and spread the message. The discrepancy is the need: so many have not yet found their way back to their Father.

But then, one day, it will be different.

The market will be corrected.

Jesus said, “the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it, and then, finally, the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

The post Christian Arbitrage appeared first on Joe Fontenot.

Gospel negotiations

John 8 is a series of dialogs between Jesus and the bad guys.

It’s a somewhat confusing chapter, if only because Jesus seems to be winding them up. It’s as if he’s trying to be inflammatory.

The setting is Jesus teaching in the temple. While the dialogs of John 8 are between him and the religious leaders, they are being overheard by the rest–the regular people.

Two things come out of this.

First, it’s the regular people who are his audience. Not the religious leaders. It’s the regular people who are hearing how Jesus’ message stacks up against the standard they know and trust. And it’s the regular people who are considering Jesus’ answers.

Second, Jesus knows who his real audience is, and so he doesn’t get side-tracked with objections. The religious leaders he was talking to weren’t looking for the truth. They were looking for a win. They’d already made up their minds. Many in the crowd, however, were listening.

The first rule of negotiation is to know what you want to leave with. Everything gets measured against this. Jesus came to offer truth to those who were wanted it.

And, in John 8, that’s exactly what he did.

The post Gospel negotiations appeared first on Joe Fontenot.

First assignment: raise the dead

“These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them… ‘Heal the sick, raise the dead, clean lepers, cast out demons.’”


– Jesus (from Matthew 10:5-15)

Jesus picks his twelve and then sends them out on their first assignment to, amongst other things, raise the dead?

Seems pretty steep. First time out and all.

And, is such an instruction even remotely realistic?

No, as it turns out. It’s not.

But that’s the point.

It’s not realistic to us. Salvation is not a problem we can handle ourselves. Following God isn’t something we do alone. And neither is going out and doing his work.

But for him…these things are no problem. These things are what he does.

The question for us is not what, but who.

That is: whose name are we going out and doing work for?

The post First assignment: raise the dead appeared first on Joe Fontenot.

Corporate Missionaries

There’s an idea, in some circles, that the holiest vocation is to be a pastor or missionary.

And these are good, no doubt.

But they’re not more important, or holy, than other work.

Like, being an accountant or school teacher or construction worker. These are not lesser jobs.

That’s because the label is not what’s important. It’s what you do with the label (or job) that matters.

Here’s what I mean. Everyone needs the gospel. Everyone needs to know someone who knows Jesus and is willing to talk about him.

But most people won’t go looking for it. And when they do come in contact with a pastor, most people aren’t ready to be transparent. Instead, they feel guilty. And they want to put on a good face.

But this doesn’t happen when those same people are talking to their peers, day in and day out. Over a lunch meeting to discuss a contract. Drinks after work. Or one covering a shift to help another. In these cases, the filter is gone. People are honest.

Paul understood this when he said, “I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life” (from 1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

The bottom line is Jesus came to us because we weren’t coming to him.

And then, he told us: go do the same.

The post Corporate Missionaries appeared first on Joe Fontenot.

This is going to hurt

People don’t want to be sold to. They don’t want to be pressured into a yes, when they’re really just a maybe…if that.

This is why the best salespeople don’t sell. They offer.

They find the clear win for both sides. And they’re upfront about the downsides.

And sometimes it’s those downsides that move the deal forward. Transparency and honesty about the risk.

And you know it’s a good deal when you can be completely honest about the downsides and still have a better upside. Because the risk or time or cost is worth it.

Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).

That is, according to Jesus, his followers must (1) put his desires before theirs, (2) embrace death, and (3) submit to a totally different path.

That’s either the worse sales pitch ever…

or the best.

The post This is going to hurt appeared first on Joe Fontenot.

For fighting dragons

To the point of being painful, the pattern is almost always the same.

You get out of church—where you’re holy, where you had spiritual conversations about spiritual things—and then you get into your car.

Here is where it usually goes south.

Kids yelling, drivers swerving, you running yellow lights (which are red lights).

Like muscle memory, you’re back to your old self.

Are you a hypocrite?

Maybe. Some of us are, anyway.

But most us, I think, aren’t. Most of us are just stuck. We want to be the person we are at church…yet we are constantly pulled back to be the one in the car: the version of ourselves we don’t want to be.

What’s the solution here? How do we become the good version that we want to be?

The answer is in something called self-talk.

This is the running narrative we tell ourselves. It’s us choosing to focus on the good (being intentional) over the bad (our default).

In Philippians, Paul gives an example of this when he says to “rejoice in the Lord always.” That’s not just a song or hyperbole. It’s an instruction. It something we’re actually supposed to do–even when we don’t feel like it.

The key here is to keep doing it, in spite of our mess ups.

It’s to keep reminding ourselves: “I’m saved by grace, and so I show grace to others” (Ephesians 4:7, 29). Or, “My life is Christs, and so dying is only gain” (Philippians 1:21). Or, “Is this what I should be caring about?” (Matthew 16:26).

The post For fighting dragons appeared first on Joe Fontenot.

Eulogizing job descriptions

Here’s a thought someone shared with me once:

Nobody talks about job descriptions at funerals.

Nobody talks about how well he maximized the 401(k), or how many hours she did or didn’t put in at the office.

Instead, those of us left always talk about what that person did for us—how they used their life to make ours better.

As Christians, this is the essence of the Great Commission. Jesus told us to make connections with others, to develop relationships built on trust, and then to pass on the best part of life—him.

That’s what “making disciples” is.

From Jesus:

Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world (Matthew 28:19-20).

The post Eulogizing job descriptions appeared first on Joe Fontenot.

Most of us can call off the search

“Go home to your friends and tell them”


– Jesus (Mark 5:19)

Jesus teaches the crowds. So many had gathered, so great was his fame, that they were becoming dangerous. Jesus tells his disciples to cross the lake, and says he’ll catch up shortly. But during the night, a storm comes. The disciples, still in the boat, begin to get desperate. Until they see, strangely, Jesus walking to them…on top of the water. Jesus makes the storm go away.

On reaching the other side, they find a man with freakish strength, possessed by demons, and terrorizing the local town. Jesus fixes him, too.

And then, the man–overcome with Jesus and his power–asks if he too can go with Jesus. And in one of the most interesting parts of this narrative, Jesus tells him: no.

He tells him to go back to those who know him best, because that’s where the greatest impact of Jesus’ work will happen.

In his master-strategy sort of way, God had already placed the man–prior even to his conversion–exactly where he wanted him.

Often it’s like that for us, too.

We don’t always need to leave to follow.

We just need to follow.

God has a way of working out the rest.

The post Most of us can call off the search appeared first on Joe Fontenot.

Helplessness of ministry

I retiled my bathroom over Labor day. At one point I had to make a quick run to the store. My three-year-old, Hadley, said, “I want to come!”

“Because,” she added matter-of-factly: “I will help you.”

Help me, I laughed to myself. This will definitely not be helpful.

But then I thought, isn’t this just like us and God?

There’s much to be done in the world. Stuff we see all around us. Yet, how much do we really contribute to it?

We can make noise, and move things around. We can even knock things down. But are we really helping?

And still, God has us busy working. In fact, he’s called us to work (Matthew 28:18-20).

It’s easy to forget how much of our work and results are really God’s work and results.

When we got to the store, I stood at the aisle thinking. Almost immediately, a little voice: “Can we go now, dad?”

“Just a minute…”

“Okay, I’m going to count the tiles.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

The post Helplessness of ministry appeared first on Joe Fontenot.