Coming Home

A Christian CEO Recounts His Spiritual Journey to Help Us With Our Own

John Beckett

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At some point in our lives we will ask: How should I relate to God? I believe this is life’s greatest question.

Most people have some concept of God. Over the years my opinions have covered the waterfront. I’ve viewed him as a higher power, a creator, a stern judge to be feared or a friend to be loved.

I’ve been a skeptic, a seeker, a cultural Christian and now…well, I’ll save that for later.

My Story in a Nutshell

My desire to know who God is and how to relate to him began early in life. It was a rocky and unrewarding road at first.

I was born in Ohio in 1938. My dad had recently begun his own business, a manufacturing company that made oil burners used in heating homes. The early years were tough. The company was under-financed, and with the onset of World War II, he had to make radical adjustments just to survive.

Even with the enormous demands of the business, my parents were deeply committed to my two younger sisters and me. We attended the Episcopal Church in our small town and made family vacations a priority. We never doubted that we were loved.

I decided to follow my father into engineering and was able to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), the nation’s top engineering school. Boston held lots of attractions. Though church didn’t top my list, I regularly packed off to Sunday morning services. Churchgoing filled a niche, but I sensed I was missing something. Many questions went unanswered, especially the most important question: how I should relate to God? Nor did I find answers in calculus classes or at fraternity parties.

Following my first year of college, I met Wendy during a summer vacation in Canada. She and her family were very special – and different! They were warm, engaging people who enjoyed life and spoke easily of a close, personal relationship with God. This stoked my curiosity. But their vibrant faith just didn’t square with my rational, logical approach. I kept searching.

After graduation, I began working in the aerospace industry in the town where I’d grown up. Wendy and I were married a year later, and we began a family. A few years after this, my dad asked me to join him in the family business – a small company with twelve employees. It was a big change, but I sensed it was the right thing to do.

A One-Two Punch

We had been working well together for just over a year, Dad the mentor, me the understudy. I was imagining learning from him for at least another decade – that was until I received a call from the police department on a chilly February morning.

Dad, age 67, had been found slumped over the steering wheel of his car, the victim of an apparent heart attack. Characteristic of my hard-working father, he was on his way to work. At age 26 I had been thrust into the daunting task of leading the family business.

Then, only a few months later, a call in the middle of the night brought the incredible news that our factory was on fire. Only a valiant effort by our local volunteer fire department kept the plant from being totally consumed.

These two events had a huge impact on me. I had always been able to rally my own strength and abilities, but now my confidence was deeply shaken. In spite of the great example set by Wendy and her family, I wasn’t sure where to turn. God seemed so far away. Some said getting closer required “a leap of faith,” but my mind firmly instructed my feet to not leap anywhere.

What held me back? Was it pride? Was it all the things I knew were wrong in my life? Could I ever be worthy of God?

Months passed without answers. Work challenges continued. I found myself discouraged and confused. But quietly, persistently, I sensed God was drawing me to himself.

Small things happened to encourage me. Someone would give me a helpful book, or I’d hear a speaker who would answer a key question. Was I getting closer to seeing daylight?

The breakthrough came when I finally realized there was but one way forward and that indeed it did require a step of faith. I concluded I wasn’t going to resolve this dilemma in the way I normally handled problems.

For the first time in my life I let go, yielding to God as fully as I knew how. I said, in effect, “Lord, I don’t believe I need to have everything figured out beforehand. I trust you, and I want to be fully yours. I release myself to your care.”

What followed was amazing. I experienced a new kind of peace, certain that God had accepted me just as I was – my intellectual hang-ups, my sense of unworthiness and all. I hadn’t earned it. I didn’t deserve it. But he took my cautious step of faith and, in return, welcomed me with open arms. He was no longer distant. I felt washed, clean – for the first time, rightly related to him. Though there was much I had yet to understand, I was convinced I had finally come home.

As I looked back I could see a clear pattern. God had been at work for as long as I could remember to bring me to himself, guiding choices I made, friendships I developed. His hand had been on me. He never imposed nor compelled but waited patiently for me to see my need and respond.

My world changed. It was soon clear this new relationship would reach beyond my personal and family life into every arena, including my work. To my amazement, I found I could integrate Sundays into Mondays with great benefit to both! That practice, now spanning over 30 years, has reshaped our company’s approach to everyday business, from customer relations to our care for people to handling finances to retooling our core values.

Over the years our small business has grown to become the leader in our industry, and we’ve diversified by developing new companies. We now employ 600 people and generate over $100 million in sales. Our “experiment” – bringing faith and work together – has enabled us to help other business leaders around the globe who are on a similar journey.

Now here is the key point. Even though I had no idea how my life would be different, that step of faith – when I released myself to God and to his care – was a turning point with immense implications. That’s what I want to focus on next in this article. Join me in an examination of this most important of all journeys.

A Business Analogy

I have found an analogy from business helpful when it comes to understanding this idea of a turning point. Suppose our sales people are seeking a new customer. They work hard to build a relationship and create a desire for that customer to do business with us. That process can take a long time. But nothing is ultimately accomplished until a particular event occurs – we get an order or a contract. That transaction is the turning point. Then, of course, we work closely with the customer to meet his requirements.

Success involves three distinct phases: preparation, the transaction and fulfillment.

I noticed there were similar stages in my spiritual journey. Initially, there was a period of preparation during which God was drawing me to himself. He allowed difficulties. He brought me to the end of my own resources. But he had a goal in mind. It was to “complete a contract.” It was to bring me to a place where I could trust him and release myself to his care.

From that point a new and deeply committed relationship began. I can say he has done everything possible to fulfill the commitment he made to me when I committed to him.

Let me tell you why I’ve written this article: I want to help others come to that turning point. I went for years, searching and struggling. For me, the way home was neither clear nor compelling. I understand others who are confused. For the longest time, I thought it was enough to “be good,” to “do kind deeds,” to “be moral” or to serve others. I now realize these are important, but they are not transformational. They’re not the same as coming home spiritually. That only happens when we enter a personal, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

At this critical transition in my own life, I understood very little about the profound change that was taking place. Now, through insights gained from the Bible, from sound teaching and the “classroom of life,” I have a much better grasp of how a person enters and walks out that vital relationship. As I explain how one becomes properly related to God, I’m sure I won’t address every question. But I believe I’ve found a reliable roadmap. I know it would have helped me on my journey. I trust it will help you.

In the Beginning…

Every journey has a starting point. Ours begins in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. The word Genesis means “beginnings.” There we get a glimpse of what it was like when Adam, the first man, walked closely with God. God deeply loved Adam, and Adam responded warmly to that love. They both took great delight in the openness, trust and companionship they experienced in their relationship with each other.

Work was different from today. It was productive and satisfying – free from stress, anxiety, corruption or ethical lapses. But, sadly, Paradise was short-lived. What happened then has touched each of our lives.

We learn from the Bible that mankind inherited a fatal defect when Adam gave in to temptation and rebelled against God. At the root was Adam’s choice to walk independently, forsaking the extraordinary bond he had with God at the beginning. From that point, including Adam and Eve’s own children, man’s nature has been ruled by violence, greed, jealousy, hatred and rebellion. The Bible calls this sin. Its result: death.

The Old Testament is an account of man’s struggle against sin and its consequences. God established temporary methods to cover for this now-fallen nature, but these methods did nothing to change that nature. It remained the same. Nor has it been improved by the passage of time or increasing education or scientific discovery or economic prosperity. Man’s basic or “fallen” nature is unaltered from the time of Adam. 

Shortly after sin entered the human race through Adam, God foretold the coming of one who would remedy the fatal defect. He then identified a people group, the Hebrews, as the family from whom this person would come. Over hundreds of years, Hebrew prophets gave insight into the one who would restore the fractured relationship.

The Remedy

Our journey now leaps forward in time. We find the account in the New Testament.

A unique prophet named John was born. John the Baptist called on people to repent, or to change the way they were living, and to receive forgiveness for their sins. People responded by the thousands and were baptized as evidence they had turned away from their defiled way of living.

John came to prepare the way for the one who would bring full restoration. He took people as far as he could. But he clearly stated that, at God’s initiative, another would follow who would go to the root of the problem, the sin nature itself.

When people repented from their sins in response to John the Baptist, their hearts were prepared to deal with sin, the underlying problem. The true significance of Jesus – God’s perfect representative in human form – is that he, and he alone, had the credentials to deal with the root.

Jesus was like Adam in certain ways. Both men were born free from the defect of sin. Both were tempted and capable of sin. But here the two took radically different directions. While Adam succumbed to temptation, Jesus did not. He led a perfect life, serving as an impeccable example of how man should live.

But more than his life, his death and resurrection form the basis for our personal transformation. Because it is so vital that we understand the uniqueness and scope of what Jesus accomplished, we will now take a fresh look at this watershed moment in history. It is, as one author described it, “The Greatest Story Ever Told!”

What God Did in Jesus

As we have seen – in the beginning God creates man. Almost immediately man falls through rebellion. Then after thousands of years of preparation, at just the right time, God impregnates a young virgin girl named Mary who was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. A son is born, the Son of God himself.

As a young man, Jesus goes to work in his father’s carpentry business. Facing the temptations each of us faces, he grows up without sin. About age 30, Jesus leaves his trade to begin proclaiming the message of his heavenly father’s kingdom. Tens of thousands follow him, scores are healed, even the dead are given back life.

Religious and government leaders see him as a threat. They collaborate and arrange his death on trumped-up charges. Jesus is betrayed, arrested, tried, whipped and nailed to a cross. His sentence of death by crucifixion is one allotted to common criminals. He does not fight back but goes voluntarily, though he could have summoned a huge number of angels to rescue him. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, he is led like a lamb to the slaughter. He dies.

On the cross Jesus says, “It is finished.” This is the most dramatic point in all history, for Jesus is referring to not only his life, but to the problem of sin. Jesus has become God’s remedy. By his obedience, he has satisfied God’s requirement as “the perfect sacrifice for sin.” This is why Christianity, stripped of the cross, is not Christianity at all!

Jesus is laid into the tomb of an influential Jewish leader. The tomb is sealed. Three days later, to the astonishment of even his closest followers, Jesus is raised from the dead. His disciples find the grave empty and are shaken to the core.

But Jesus appears to them, then to hundreds of others. He comforts and reassures them by affirming these incredible events have been at the very heart of God’s purposes.

After 40 days he goes up to heaven where he is reunited with God, his father. The father then bestows on his son the supreme high honor of headship over everything on earth and in heaven. Jesus is made both Lord and Christ – positions he holds today. “Lord” refers to his rulership. “Christ” refers to his capacity to save. He and he alone becomes the savior of mankind.

From this place of authority, Jesus invites us to become his followers – new creations!

Who can say this is not utterly amazing? I’m not sure the human mind can fully take it in. What kind of love is this – a father sacrificing his only son? Yet this occurred, very literally, for one central, majestic reason – so you and I can reestablish the kind of personal relationship with God that he intended from the beginning. He made it possible to come home.

That process – how we come home spiritually – is what we now want to look at more closely. It is the consummation and purpose of our journey.

Believing

Thus far I have sought to establish two basic ideas. The first is the way in which our lives were corrupted with inherited sin. The second is that Jesus came as the remedy. According to the Bible, these are completely dependable facts.

Now, I want to consider the relationship between these two realities and the possibility that we can build on them to be personally transformed.

The key in appropriating these truths is to believe them and apply them to ourselves. (The word “believe” conveys the same meaning as “have faith in…”) Let’s look more closely at the concept of believing as it is used in the Bible, for in the New Testament we find the word used nearly 250 times!

First, what believing is not. Believing is not wishful thinking or unfounded hope. It is not about earning a relationship with God. It is not about doing good deeds or just being a “good person.” We do not become believers simply by affiliation with a religious institution or by following tradition or by being born into a Christian family.

Believing requires an object. It is to place our confidence in someone or something. It is an action word. It involves making a conscious decision. We choose to believe – or we choose not to believe. Both involve a decision.

In the biblical meaning, believing engages the depths of our hearts, not just our minds. When we believe, we link the realities mentioned earlier with a commitment to anchor our hope in the person of Jesus.

When we believe, we are responding to God’s love towards us. That love is so profound and so comprehensive it provides the overarching context for all he has done for us, and all he expects of us. Jesus passionately wants us to be complete in our relationship with him.

The Way Home

Let us look more closely at the key elements by which one becomes reconciled to the Father. Each is vitally important. Any, if absent, could keep our new relationship from being complete.

Our Condition

First, we must understand that we are separated from God. The chasm dividing us is both wide and deep. We inherited a fatal defect at birth. As a result, we have lived our lives independently from him. If we can’t come to grips with the reality that sin separates us from God, we’ll never come home spiritually, for there is no need for a savior. We might say before God, “I realize I am separated from you by a nature flawed by sin. All the human effort in the world won’t change that.”

God’s Remedy

Second, we need to be very clear in understanding who Jesus is and what he has done for us, in order that we might confidently place our faith in him. He bridged the chasm separating us from God.

Jesus was not just a good man, a great teacher, an inspired prophet. He came to earth as the Son of God. He was born to a virgin. He led a sinless life. He died. He was buried. He rose again on the third day. He ascended into heaven where he became both Lord and Christ.

Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf satisfied God’s requirement – complete provision for our sin. This Jesus, and he alone, is qualified to be the remedy for my sin and yours.

Our response: To repent and believe

The Bible emphasizes that personal repentance is vital in the transformation process. Repentance literally means “a change of mind.” We repent when we specifically decide to change the direction of our lives. To repent is to say to the Father, “I want to turn toward you and away from the life I’ve lived independently from you. I am sorry for who I’ve been and what I have done. I am committing my heart and mind toward a permanent change.”

Do you think God hears a prayer like this? He absolutely does, and in his love and mercy towards us he forgives our sins. Many at this point experience a remarkable “washing” from a lifetime’s accumulation of all that has degraded the human soul and spirit. Whether or not we sense that forgiveness, we can be very certain we’re forgiven. Our certainty is based on God’s promise to us, not how we feel.

Completing the Journey

If we prepare our hearts in this way, the completion of our spiritual transformation is very straightforward. It is to believe.

Earlier, I described what it means to believe in the biblical sense. When we believe, we place our faith in what God has done in Jesus. We accept him – not just with our minds, but also with our hearts – as the one who died for our sins, who was buried and was raised from the dead. Should you desire, you could personalize this statement, making it your own prayer.

Does what I’ve said seem disarmingly simple?

Unfortunately, the concept of coming to Jesus in this way has been so obscured, so wrapped up in extra ideas and extra words that many have been robbed of the wonderful simplicity of its truth. How important it is that we not allow this to happen to us.

The possibility of personal transformation is evident throughout the New Testament. John’s gospel states: “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Personal transformation results in a completely new nature. It replaces the old, which had been corrupted from the beginning. The Apostle Paul describes it this way: “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

In reality, we have experienced a second birth. The first was a natural birth, which came with a fallen nature. The second is a spiritual birth, free of this basic defect. It is a brand new start. We become a new person!

Jesus says: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” Something of heaven itself – alive, active and imperishable – indwells the new believer.

This, to me, is the greatest miracle we could ever imagine – truly coming home to our Father in heaven – for all this means in this life and in eternity.

Entering a New Orbit

D. Elton Trueblood, author, educator, philosopher and theologian, states succinctly the magnitude of this change: “The new character, being finite, can still make mistakes and actually does so; but that is not the primary fact. The primary fact is that all of the person’s powers are employed in a new way and that his movements are dignified by a new direction. He is a wandering planet which becomes stable in its movements by entering a new orbit.”

I now realize this is what happened to me, back at the point when I yielded my life to Christ. I had been a wandering planet, but through the generosity, patience and mercy of a loving father, my life was stabilized. I was brought into a new orbit – welcomed into, and made a member of, God’s own family.

A Lifelong Journey

Once a solid spiritual foundation has been set in place, we are able to grow into the new life God has promised us. The Bible calls this “maturing in Christ.” As I can readily attest, it is a lifelong process.

God’s intent is that as new believers, we become different people. We are “under construction.” We’re being transformed from the inside out. The chief architect of these changes is God himself. As a loving father, he comes alongside to personally direct our growth.

From my experience, and in observing others, some dramatic new patterns emerge. Harmful habits change. Attitudes, thinking and language move to a new level. Motives come under scrutiny. We ask, “Why on earth did I do that!” God shows us how to behave differently and we move on.

The process continues. Selfishness gives way to service. Relationships with others are restored. Bitterness, envy, jealousy and hatred diminish as love increases. We experience a new dimension of joy. Not overnight, but steadily, progressively. Profound adjustments are underway. We realize it is true – we really are new creations because Christ is living in us!

These inward changes soon become visible. The new believer wants to get together with others who also have a faith in Christ. We’re not alone! Fresh bonds of trust, love and mutual respect are forged.

The Bible, God’s own inspired word to us, becomes a newfound friend, now more relevant and understandable. We encounter the Holy Spirit, the indwelling presence of Jesus himself. We discover he is an incredible guide if we give him access.

But our new relationship brings needed constraints. It is not “anything goes,” for we see that our God is a holy God. He is to be honored, revered and obeyed. As we embrace the high standards he has set for us, we realize even they are for our benefit. In fact, everything he provides us and does for us is for our good.

Our new life in Christ is not one of unbroken success. There are fresh challenges. Old habits and old associations don’t change easily. Conflicts arise. There are even spiritual forces that oppose us. We doubt. We become discouraged.

Yet it’s different. We’re not on our own. We have entered a new and living bond with Jesus Christ. He leads. We follow. Our faith is set on a new foundation – and that foundation is Christ. How wonderful and reassuring are his words to us: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

In time, the transformed life impacts everything we are and do. Recall the relationship Adam experienced with God before the fall. Would not the Lord want to see that kind of fellowship restored, even in our work? As one business owner commented in a 1999 Harvard Business Review article: “I would love to get the workplace as close to the Garden as possible, knowing we can’t. But I shouldn’t stop trying.”

Alan’s Story

When I think about the transformed life, I think of Alan, a colleague in our industry. While he was doing well professionally, he was struggling personally. Setbacks at home and at work had left him discouraged. As with myself years ago, Alan was searching.

One day when Alan was making a business call, a customer told him about the radical change that occurred when he yielded his life to Jesus. Alan listened respectfully, but didn’t see how this applied to him.

Then, during a trade show, Alan and I arranged to meet over breakfast. As he poured out his difficulties, I could see that he longed for personal peace. I shared my own story. Then, right at the breakfast table, Alan took that same bold step we’ve been talking about. He acknowledged his fallen condition, asked forgiveness for his sins and trusted his life to Jesus Christ. He then broke into a broad grin and, with tears streaming down his face, said, “John, I don’t think I’ll ever be the same after this morning.”

Alan and I have stayed in touch, enabling me to see his steady progress. Recently, we celebrated the third anniversary of his coming to Christ – again over breakfast at our annual industry trade show. I saw in Alan a man whose life is peaceful, rewarding and purposeful. Though he continues to work through challenges, he knows he’s a new person, experiencing a joy and freedom he never knew before.

The Next Step is Yours

It is no accident that you are reading this article. Maybe you’ve been searching for answers for your own life, including the answer to life’s greatest question – how should I relate to God? Or maybe you’ve begun your faith journey but need to solidify basic understandings.

Perhaps you’ve been a long way from home as I was years ago – uncertain about life’s purpose, its end, about eternity. Wherever you are, once a solid foundation is in place, the adventure of growing and living in Christ never ends. 

The next step is yours. I urge you to rise to the challenge. If these thoughts and words are timely, please reflect on them and, with God’s help, act on them. With all my heart, I believe they are your reliable roadmap to the way home.    

John D. Beckett is the chairman of the Beckett Companies in Elyria, Ohio, and the author of  Loving Monday: Succeeding in Business Without Selling Your Soul, published by InterVarsity Press. John invites you to visit www.lovingmonday.com and www.beckettcorp.com, and to send comments to him at johnbeckett@beckettcorp.com.

© 2004 by John D. Beckett. All rights reserved. Used by permission.