BLOG: What’s You Word by Kevin White —- Pastor, Speaker and International Best Selling Author of Audacious Generosity
Eat, Buy, Shop
Chick-fil-A’s word is: Eat. They serve quality food, remove barriers to make it easy, and make you feel good about eating at Chick-fil-A.
Amazon’s word is: Buy. They offer quality products at competitive prices, remove barriers to make buying easy now and next time.
Walmart’s word is: Shop. They offer thousands of square feet of products to shop, but only 3 of their 48 registers ever have cashiers. Amazon has overtaken Walmart’s market because Walmart’s word is: shop and Amazon’s word is: buy.
What’s your word?
Knowing your word and aligning everything around it is powerful. It’s the difference between success or failure.
Presence
The church’s word is: Presence, but instead we use:
Faith
Worship
Community
Christian
Bible
Evangelical
Baptist
Hope
Discipleship
Jesus
Salvation
Doctrine
Theology
Education
Joy
Contemporary
Traditional
and on and on and on!
All these words are great in describing what we do, why we do it, and the results, but the whole point of the Bible, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Church is the presence of God.
A great church is absolutely focused on taking people into the presence of God, them hearing God speak and then seeing what God can do through them.
The Church confuses itself and others because we don’t know our word.
Start with Why? by Simon Sinek
In his book, Start With Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Action, Simon Sinek uses real-world examples of great leaders to show how they communicate and how we can adapt our mindset to inspire others too. Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.” Simon Sinek’s first TEDx talk from 2009 is now the 3rd most watched TED talk of all time, sitting at well over 25 million views.
Simon shares how every company in the world knows what they do, which is why it’s the first thing they tell people about. But rationale is a weak way of trying to get us to make decisions, probably the weakest of them all.
The Church is no different than most businesses. Christians spend most of our time discussing what God does instead of why he does it. What God does is not nearly as convincing as why God does it.
Simon Sinek says that’s because emotions trump reason every time. When we make a decision based on a strong why, we own it.
Sinek says, only when we know why we do things, will we feel a sense of belonging. That’s why it’s a much more powerful way of getting us to decide. Once we are sold on the cause of an idea, we’ll go above and beyond to support it with our money and time. And in the cases of some movements, even with our lives.
Great leaders and companies naturally get this right. They start all communication with why they do things, eventually followed by how they do things. And they reveal what it is they actually do very last.
Jesus did this. In Luke 19:10 (NLT) Jesus gave us his why: “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Why? To bring them into the presence of God and bring the presence of God into them.
Simon Sinek says the Apple company is another great example. First, they tell us why they’re here to shake things up, then they tell us how: with easy-to-use, beautifully designed products. Finally, we find out what they make: computers, phones, watches, and tablets. By the time they get to their what, we’re long sold on their cause and are ready to support them in every way we can.
Smart
Apple’s word is: Smart. They provide smart technology that makes users appear even smarter. Apple literally took the ordinary phone and made it smart. They have done the same with software, computers, cameras, security, etc. People love and will pay big for smart. Every competitor chases Apple for their smart. Apple’s word is: Smart.
Each of us, every family, business, and organization needs to know our one word.
My Word
My word is: prosper. Years ago I went from wanting to die to wanting God to live and give through me. In Deuteronomy 30:15 God says, “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.” Everything changed when I committed to spend the rest of my life passionately pursing the presence of God.
Today, I get to serve Global Hope India whose word is: Access. I get to help more people far from God living in the 10/40 Window have access to know about Jesus. That’s true prosperity! I help people radiate God’s presence as he lives and gives through them upon the earth today. As I rely on God, he prospers me and uses me to help others prosper too.
What’s your word?
What’s your word for your business?
Let me know how I can help you know your one word and align to it. I can’t wait to see what God does!
About Kevin White
Kevin White is a Christian pastor, international speaker, and an international best-selling author. As a writer, Kevin’s newest book, Audacious Generosity, is a best new Christian Book of 2020. Audacious Generosity was an instant international best seller in India and the United States of America. Audacious Generosity is the New Book to Read in 2021. Look for it among Christianity books on Amazon and everywhere books are sold. Kevin’s why for life is to extend access to Jesus to all people world-wide. Kevin loves to motivate people how to encounter the presence of God in their everyday life.
As a seasoned entrepreneur, Kevin has started and helped start hundreds of businesses, churches, and nonprofit organizations. Kevin is an expert in church leadership and business development. Kevin’s shepherd’s heart can be seen in his speaking and writing. He integrates Biblical principles and worship into everything he does. Kevin’s strategy is to help people transform into the likeness of Jesus. Find more from Kevin White including his blog, podcast shows, YouTube Channel, and Generously Blessed 1MM One Minute Motivational Series at https://kevinwhite.us
Website: kevinwhite.us
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Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India
About Global Hope India
Kevin White is the Founder/Executive Director of Global Hope India, a Christian mission organization focused on sharing the gospel in India and among Indian Nationals world-wide. We facilitate virtual mission teams to Indiaand short-term mission teams in-person in India. These teams empower the church in India with pastoral training, youth pastor training, children’s ministry, church planting strategy, church planting ministry, and medical missions.
Global Hope India is a Christian charity that raises funds for India. 92% of every dollar given benefits gospel outreach projects in India such as church planting, orphan care, clean water projects, bibles, medical clinics, etc. Our partners in India serve the Baptist mission in India, Church of God in India as well as independent Christian churches. We do one thing – advance the gospel in India. We do it in one way – through the local church in India. Join us today by praying for India, giving to God’s work in India and going virtually or in person to make disciples in India. Find out more information at https://globalhopeindia.org
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