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    VIP: How to Influence with Vision, Integrity, and Purpose
    VIP: How to Influence with Vision, Integrity, and Purpose
    VIP: How to Influence with Vision, Integrity, and Purpose
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    VIP: How to Influence with Vision, Integrity, and Purpose

    By O. S. Hawkins

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    About this ebook

    The Bible says that God has “assigned to you an area of influence” (2 Corinthians 10:13). The question is what will you do with it?

    In his newest book VIP, O.S. Hawkins takes readers through what it takes to create a life of Vision, Influence, and Purpose. Through inspirational stories, biblical examples, and charged challenges towards greatness, O.S. Hawkins illuminates a path for you to uncover what it is going to take for you to become a VIP.

    Following the great success of his books The Joshua Code and The James Code, VIP is the next step on your journey toward the life God has for you.   

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateMar 8, 2016
    ISBN9780718086565
    Author

    O. S. Hawkins

    O. S. Hawkins, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, is a graduate of TCU (BBA) and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDiv, PhD). He is the former pastor of the historic First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and is President Emeritus of GuideStone Financial Resources, the world’s largest Christian-screened mutual fund serving 250,000 church workers and Christian university personnel with an asset base exceeding twenty billion dollars, where he served as President/CEO from 1997-2022. Hawkins is the author of more than fifty books, including the best-selling Joshua Code and the entire Code Series of devotionals published by HarperCollins/Thomas Nelson with sales of more than two million copies. He preaches in churches and conferences across the nation. He is married to his wife, Susie, and has two daughters, two sons-in-law, and six grandchildren. Visit him at OSHawkins.com and follow him on Twitter @OSHawkins.

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      Book preview

      VIP - O. S. Hawkins

      INTRODUCTION

      Acronyms! We who speak the English language are obsessed with them. In fact, in every facet of life, we are hard-pressed to communicate without them. When we were in elementary school, our parents went to PTA. If we grew up in a rural area, we participated in FFA. When we hoped to get into the college of our choice to earn a BA, we paid careful attention to our GPA and studied hard for the SAT. Sportscasters would be at a loss for words without talking about a pitcher’s ERA, a hitter’s RBI, or a kicker’s PAT. In business we speak of a man or woman who is a CEO, a COO, or a CFO who holds a CPA degree. In the political world, the president is POTUS and the Supreme Court is SCOTUS. We communicate with one another with FAQ, FYI, and IMO, and we conclude our letters with a PS. In the health arena, men should frequently check their PSA. Those in the military who desert their post are AWOL. We sit at the lunch counter and order a BLT. And what would church life have been the past several decades without VBS? Then, of course, the new social media craze has a language all its own . . . LOL.

      Perhaps no other single acronym has muscled and maneuvered its way into our mainline English vernacular like VIP (very important person) has. Being important seems to be the personal goal of many who are climbing from rung to rung up the ladder of perceived success and recognition. This insatiable desire for importance is virtually universal. We have seen it in business circles; it is more than obvious in athletics; it is grossly revealed in politics. Even in ecclesiastical circles this desire for importance too often raises its ugly head. Yes, to have others see us as important is the driving force for many of us and, unfortunately, is the root of the destruction and demise of too many relationships.

      This desire within each of us is nothing new. In fact, it predates mankind. One has to go back even before the beginning, way back into the eternal council of God in eternity past. Lucifer was an angel of light, the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty (Ezekiel 28:12). He was placed by God Himself to be an important part, if not the leader, of the praise that was happening around the throne of heaven. But one day Lucifer decided he wanted to be a VIP. Motivated by pride and the desire to be somebody who was admired and exalted, he said, I will be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:14)—and Lucifer was expelled from heaven, thrust out forever. But gifted with the power of persuasion, he enticed one-third of all the angelic hosts to join him in his prideful rebellion (Revelation 12:4). Today we know this fallen angel as Satan, and when our first parents were walking in the garden of Eden, he appeared and successfully tempted them to follow suit. We inherited our sin nature from Adam and Eve, and that nature has its own subtle and sinister way of playing into our own pride.

      We came by our prideful desire to be important honestly, and we learned it early. Taking our first steps as babies opened the door to the arena of center stage for each of us. And we liked it! We liked the applause, we liked the affirmations, and we liked the adoration. So we took another step . . . then another. Being the center of attention—being the most important one in the room—had and continues to have quite an appeal.

      This unquenchable thirst for importance doesn’t end when we learn to walk. It stays with us for a lifetime. It shows up in all sorts of self-promoting ways no matter how subtle we may be. As we grow older, this VIP syndrome, as I call it, pushes us to want the perceived comforts of being separate from the more common types; it drives us to want the best seats in the house; it fuels our sense of being entitled. We can be absolutely consumed by the desire to be noticed and recognized—to be a very important person.

      If, by chance, you are reading these words and thinking they are directed toward someone else, let me ask you a few questions. How often do you check your Facebook, Twitter, or other social media pages? After you post something, do you hurry back to see how many likes you have, how many favorites are listed, or how many pats on the back you received? Does the number of likes have any impact on how you feel about yourself during the day? If we were truly honest, most of us would have to admit to at least a little bit of ego-driven narcissism, and social media can help us recognize that in ourselves. Today’s social media craze has a dual effect on our culture. Facebook, for example, can be a great tool for reestablishing relationships that have lain dormant for years. But in too many cases, this desire within us for importance has led to the destruction of longtime relationships, even marriages. More than one divorce has occurred due to someone reconnecting with an old high school sweetheart after many years.

      For any of us who may be thinking we are already pretty important, let me say that everything is relative. Case in point, standing on the beach in South Florida and gazing at the Atlantic Ocean, we are overwhelmed by its massive power and its vastness stretching before us, thousands and thousands of miles, to the horizon and beyond. But is the Atlantic really that large? The next time we lull ourselves to sleep with our own false sense of self-worth and self-importance, let’s remember this: We might think the Atlantic is big; our earth, huge; and our planetary system, vast; but the known universe is home to at least ten trillion other systems like ours. In reality, then, the earth is a very tiny planet. (In fact, there are planets in our own solar system that one thousand earths could fit inside!) Furthermore, our own solar system, with its eight planets revolving around our sun, is only a very small dot in a very tiny corner of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is over 120,000 light-years wide and contains at least 100 billion planets, and it is but a speck in a super cluster of galaxies we call the observable universe. And—to stretch your mind a bit further—what we know and can observe of this vastness is nothing in relationship to infinity!

      And in the midst of all this are some strange little creatures standing on their hind legs, consumed with their self-importance, wanting to be noticed, and desiring to be VIPs. The next time you’re feeling pretty important, go to your computer and Google Messenger Spacecraft 2005 video and watch this YouTube video of the earth receding into the cold, black darkness of space until it is out of sight. Not even a trace. Still interested in becoming a VIP? In light of all that is around us, our own importance is a bit relative, to say the least.

      One of the greatest stories ever told is commonly referred to as the parable of the prodigal son. It was told by Jesus Christ and recorded for all posterity in Luke 15:11–32. There was a man who had two sons. The younger one became a bit bored at home. No doubt he had heard tales of the bright lights of the big cities. He took his inheritance and left home. What started out as a fun adventure ended—as it does so often—with all the money gone and nowhere to turn. The

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