Build Your Religious Acumen, & Use It To Move Forward In Faith Confidently!

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.’ (James 1:5); ‘(9b) We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, (10a) so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way…’ (Colossians 1:9b-10a)

When I was a regional and program manager, as part of a large government contracting organization, there was a corporate class that my peers and I had to attend at some point after achieving managerial status entitled, ‘Business Acumen’.  Acumen is a discipline defined as, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, a ‘quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight; a discernment and perception of environment and action.’

Business Acumen therefore is to have the ability, through the lenses of experience, education and knowledge, to judge the landscape of the business environment, perceive opportunities and risks and discern the best courses of actions to take to maximize (or take advantages of) those opportunities and minimize or mitigate any risks that could occur. 

In today’s business landscape, for example, business acumen would see that artificial intelligence (or AI) is a capability that can increase productivity, as a ‘force multiplier’ when added to ‘Big Data’, robotics, and computer-aided processes.  The opportunity is obviously the speed to bring to market services and manufactured goods with less human-induced errors and latency. 

The risks are that while humans can be replaced in some areas, AI cannot reproduce human feelings or emotions; an AI design may be efficient but it may not be esthetic or artistic as a human will provide.  To mitigate the risk while maximizing the opportunity would be to allow human interjection at key points in the development and production cycle, to maximize the strengths of AI-enhanced production (greater speed, less errors) while mitigating the risks or weaknesses (having production or services influenced by human interactions in parts of the process).

Acumen is not just a term for business.  Religious Acumen is having insight, discernment, and perception in spiritual matters.   Like business acumen, for the Christian, religious acumen is used to discern and perceive and understand God’s will and His plan, through seeking and then implementing His wisdom and knowledge, found through the study of His Word.

Jesus understood that most folks would not immediately understand the precepts of God as written.  One can hand a Bible to a non-believer, and the non-believer can read the Bible, memorize it, and recite key verses, but without understanding it would be meaningless and without purpose.  To reach the non-believer, Jesus provided that Religious Acumen would be needed, though he did not use that term. 

When sending out His Apostles on their own, Jesus told them, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16).  In essence, Jesus was telling them to develop and use their religious acumen; look at the landscape of ‘harvest field’ in front of you, the person’s current position in Faith, their societal status, and their needs (food, clothing, etc.).  While remaining Righteous, develop the Spiritual maturity to deal with each individual, to examine and judge the landscape of evangelism in front of them, perceive the opportunities and risks and develop a course of action to share the Gospel message of Jesus with that individual.

We all have this ‘religious acumen’, but like business acumen, it has to be developed and honed.  It is part of Spiritual growth, a maturity to share the Gospel with others, and to also use it to help a Believer gain clarity to navigate their own life challenges.  Gaining greater understanding of the Word and building a greater and stronger relationship with Jesus – through prayer, fellowship, and Biblical study, along with practice of requesting and using Spiritual interaction in both our personal lives and in the lives of others around us, strengthens our acumen of Christian activities.  Religious acumen builds up our church family in providing Spiritually sound encouragement, and holding each Believer accountable, not in personal perceptions based on biases, but by Spiritual Truth based on the Word of the Lord.

We gain Wisdom through the Lord; repeatedly God tells us to ask for His wisdom so we can see what is in front of us from His perspective, and through that allow Him to provide us the ability to move forward with confidence in Him to lead our steps.  Through this, we make the right decisions in accordance to His Will and thus the Lord is pleased, which for the Christian is our goal, to lead a life pleasing to Him.  Ask Jesus to increase your ‘religious acumen’, gain His wisdom and discernment, and pray continuously, stay in Fellowship, and study His Word to use it to the fullest.