At the 2015 Global Leadership Summit, one of the presenters was a gentleman by the name of Horst Schulze. Horst Schulze–a man of adorable demeanor, inspiring passion, and an endearing German accent–is the founding president and former COO of the Ritz-Carlton group and currently chairman and CEO of Capella Hotel Group. He is intensely passionate about what he sees as his mission: caring service in his industry.

“You are partially defined by the work you are doing and by the reputation of the company you work for.”

If I am defined by the work I am doing, then how am I defining myself and how am I affecting the reputation of One I work for? Is my life, my work, living up to the reputation of the God I claim to work for and serve?

Over the past few years, I have had some people tell me how surprised they are by my desire and determination to live out Jesus’ command to love God and love others. No rules or conditions, just to love. What dismays me is that this experience brings back to me again and again just what a reputation does the Christian religion have for people to be so surprised by a Christian choosing simply to love. For it to be such a surprise for me to try to meet people as they are and show kindness and grace and love, the same that has been shown to me. It’s obviously a reputation I don’t like. I don’t want the reputation that belongs to the religion. I want the reputation that belongs to Jesus. I want my work to define me as a lover of God and a lover of people. 

I shall try to see if I can put my other thoughts and musings from this past weekend into words but, for now, I think this is a good place to start.