高能力，低順服？
2025年11月10日By Chris Simpson
高能力，低順服？
HIGH CAPACITY, LOW SURRENDER?
現代市場依賴於才華。戰略思考者、富有遠見的企業家、高效的高管。如果你能推動變化，你就會獲得平台。你的簡歷成為你的品牌，而你的成果則代表你的價值。
我見過一些領導者，他們能在早上達成交易，午餐時實現盈利，甚至在晚餐前有時間主講會議。他們是別人心目中的標竿。在純商業的層面上，這確實是標準。但在神國的層面上？未必如此。耶穌在馬太福音23:19中告訴我們，禮物並不是使某事神聖的原因，祭壇才是。
他在與宗教領袖交談，他們的想法正好相反。他們專注於禮物，關注其光鮮的外表和令人印象深刻的效果，卻忽視了祭壇。而祭壇是某事物死亡的地方，是雄心被放下的地方。它是順服的地方，你的奉獻因為被放下而變得聖潔。這不僅僅是第一世紀的聖殿術語。這是在每個董事會、初創企業的推介會或季度評審中的現實，從基多到台南，從邁阿密到阿布賈。
我也經歷過這種緊張。我在公職生涯中磨練的技能——領導氣質、果斷的領導能力、在極端壓力下表現的能力——在職場上被視為金子般的價值。這些技能讓我受到關注，打開了許多機會的大門。在一段時間內，我正如世俗告訴我的那樣使用這些技能：攀登階梯、贏得認可、證明自己在這個桌子上的合法性。
而這確實有效。從表面上看，我在勝利。但在寧靜的時刻，我意識到那些天賦，如果任其發展，是空洞的。它們並沒有承載永恆的分量。
當我把它們擺在基督面前時，一切都改變了。當我停止問“這些如何能為我服務？”而開始問“這些如何能為他服務？”時，我的領導力不再是交易性的，而是開始變得具有變革性。曾經建設我職業生涯的同樣直覺開始建設他人。曾經確保我地位的動力開始推動他的國度。
這就是轉折點：順服。
因為真相是，你的才華並不會因為成功而變得神聖。一位有天賦的領導者可以超越每一個目標，卻仍然錯過神國。一位富有遠見的企業家可以擴大他們的業務，卻從未榮耀上帝。即使是慷慨也可能變得自私，如果它是出於外表，而非順服。
當你將自己的工作、戰略、交易能力和影響力放在神旨意的祭壇上，一切都會改變。它不再是個人利益，而是永恆的影響。你的領導力變成了敬拜。這就是短暫掌聲與持久遺產之間的區別。
我見過一些能力非凡的領導者成為神國工作中的瓶頸，因為他們拒絕順服神賜予他們的東西。高能力而低順服是一種危險的組合——它滋生驕傲，使你與責任隔離，並使你對自己的真正使命失明。
接受禮物是一種恩典。磨練它是管理。但將其放在祭壇上？那是敬拜。那是你的領導力變成神聖之地的地方。所以，我的挑戰是：誠實地審視你的才華、影響力和平台。問問自己——這些工具是在我的手中建立我的名，還是在祭壇上放大他的名？因為最終，只有放在祭壇上的東西才能持久。
© 2025年 Chris Simpson致力於在全球市場內培育一種大膽而勝利的基督教信仰，深信福音的變革力量。在成為CBMC國際總幹事之前，他在公共部門度過了28年的卓越職業生涯——作為美國海軍陸戰隊的指揮官；並在美國特勤局工作，負責保護七位美國總統並領導精英團隊進行複雜的高風險國際任務。Chris與妻子Anna（尼加拉瓜）及三個孩子居住在佛羅里達州博卡拉頓。
反省與問題討論
第一、當你聽到「牧羊人」這個詞時，你會想到什麼呢？你曾經聽過這個詞，被用在一般的工作環境中嗎？如果有，這個詞在那時帶有什麼意義呢？
第二、還有哪些詞彙，會被用來描述領導者呢？請想出同時具有正面及負面含義的詞語。在 你自己的領導角色中，無論是哪種職位，你認為自己是(或者應該要是)被如何描述的呢？
第三、把人稱作「羊」聽起來可能像是一種侮辱，但是正如以賽亞書53章6節所指出，這個描述是有道理的。經文說：「我們都如羊走迷；各人偏行己路……」你認為這句話是什麼意思呢？特別是當它應用在我們人類身上時。
第四、維持安全、支持性的工作環境，對於最大化生產力，以及提升員工滿意度和建立團隊精神來說，究竟有多重要呢？
挑戰思考
你對羊與牠們的行為，有哪些認識呢？本週或許是個好時機，可以做一點研究，了解羊的特性、當牠們處於危險時是多麼徹底地無助，以及牠們多麼倚賴牠們的牧羊人。
接著，請思考你作為你所監督，或是每天共事的人的牧羊人，你的成效如何。你可以和朋友、值得信賴的顧問或導師，或是你的分會會員討論這個問題，思考你如何能夠成為，你的團隊或同事更好的牧羊人。
備註：如果你有聖經，想閱讀更多相關的內容，請參考下面的經文 :
馬太福音6章33節/16章24-25節
6:33 你們要先求他的國和他的義，這些東西都要加給你們了。
16:24 於是耶穌對門徒說：「若有人要跟從我，就當捨己，背起他的十字架來跟從我。
16:25 因為，凡要救自己生命的，必喪掉生命；凡為我喪掉生命的，必得着生命。
馬可福音10章45節
10:45 因為人子來，並不是要受人的服事，乃是要服事人，並且要捨命作多人的贖價。
羅馬書12章1-2節
12:1 所以，弟兄們，我以上帝的慈悲勸你們，將身體獻上，當作活祭，是聖潔的，是上帝所喜悅的；你們如此事奉乃是理所當然的。
12:2 不要效法這個世界，只要心意更新而變化，叫你們察驗何為上帝的善良、純全、可喜悅的旨意。
哥林多前書6章19-20節
6:19 豈不知你們的身子就是聖靈的殿嗎？這聖靈是從上帝而來，住在你們裏頭的；並且你們不是自己的人，
6:20 因為你們是重價買來的。所以，要在你們的身子上榮耀上帝。
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HIGH CAPACITY, LOW SURRENDER?
MONDAY MANNANov 10, 2025
HIGH CAPACITY, LOW SURRENDER?
By Chris Simpson
The modern marketplace runs on giftedness. Strategic thinkers. Visionary entrepreneurs. High-performing executives. If you can move the needle, you’re given the platform. Your résumé becomes your brand. Your results become your worth.
I’ve met leaders who can close the deal in the morning, turn a profit by lunch, and still have time to headline a conference before dinner. They are the kind of people others look at and think, That’s the standard. And in purely business terms, it is. But in Kingdom terms? Not necessarily.
Because Jesus tells us in Matthew 23:19, the gift isn’t what makes something sacred. The altar does.
He was talking to religious leaders who had it backward. They were obsessed with the gift, how polished it looked, how impressive it sounded, while neglecting the altar. And the altar is where something dies. It’s where ambition is laid down. It’s the place of surrender, where your offering becomes holy precisely because it is laid down.
That’s not just temple talk from the first century. That’s Monday morning reality in every boardroom, startup pitch, or quarterly review from Quito to Tainan and Miami to Abuja.
I’ve lived this tension. The skills I honed during my years in the public sector—command presence, decisive leadership, the ability to perform under extreme pressure—were considered workplace gold. Those skills got me noticed. They opened doors. And for a while, I used them exactly the way the world told me to: to climb ladders, to earn approval, to prove I belonged at the table.
And it worked. On paper, I was winning. But in the quiet moments, I realized those gifts, left to themselves, were empty. They didn’t carry eternal weight.
Everything changed when I laid them before Christ. When I stopped asking, 'How can these serve me?' and started asking, 'How can they serve Him?' That’s when my leadership stopped being transactional and started becoming transformational. The same instincts that once built my career began building people. The same drive that once secured my position began advancing His Kingdom.
That’s the pivot point: surrender.
Because here’s the truth, your talent doesn’t become sacred just because it’s successful. A gifted leader can exceed every target and still miss the Kingdom. A visionary entrepreneur can scale their business and never glorify God. Even generosity can become self-serving if it’s about optics, not obedience.
When you place your work, your strategy, your deal-making, your influence, on the altar of God’s purposes, everything shifts. It stops being about personal gain and starts being about eternal impact. Your leadership becomes worship. And that’s the difference between temporary applause and lasting legacy.
I’ve seen leaders with extraordinary capacity become a bottleneck to Kingdom work because they refused to surrender what God had given them. High capacity without high surrender is a dangerous combination—it feeds pride, isolates you from accountability, and blinds you to your true mission.
To receive a gift is grace. To sharpen it is stewardship. But to lay it on the altar? That’s worship. That’s where your leadership becomes sacred ground.
So here’s my challenge: Take an honest inventory of your gifts, your influence, and your platform. Ask yourself—are these tools in my hand to build my name, or are they on the altar to magnify His? Because in the end, only what is placed on the altar will last.
© 2025. Christopher C. Simpson is dedicated to fostering a bold and triumphant Christian faith within the global marketplace, driven by a deep conviction in the Gospel’s transformative power. Before becoming President of CBMC International, Chris dedicated 28 years to a distinguished career in the public sector – as a Commanding Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps; and serving in the U. S. Secret Service, responsible for protecting seven American presidents and leading elite teams in complex, high-stakes international missions. With his wife Ana, a native of Nicaragua, and their three children, Chris resides in Boca Raton, Florida.
Reflection/Discussion Questions
1. What gifts or abilities has God given you that you are tempted to use for personal recognition and advancement, rather than for Kingdom purposes?
2. What would it look like to lay those gifts on the altar today – fully surrendered for God’s glory, not for yours?
3. Where in your leadership have you focused more on impressing others than serving them in Jesus’ name?
4.What ways are you using your influence to encourage and strengthen others in their relationship with Jesus Christ – rather than to build your own platform?
Challenge for This Week
So here is the question for today: Are you leveraging your gifts for your name, for your honor and recognition – or for God’s? Are you stewarding your role in the workplace for earthly gain or eternal reward? Because only what is placed on the altar will last.
What practical step can you take to begin turning your workplace into an altar, not just an office? Think about discussing this with someone this week – a trusted friend or advisor, or perhaps your CBMC group.
NOTE:
If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages:
Matthew 6:33, 16:24-25; Mark 10:45; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
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