Living by the Inner Scorecard

            Back in 1999, one of the world's richest men, Warren Buffett, appeared to be losing his touch. Numerous newspapers and business magazines were asking, “What's wrong with Warren Buffett?”

            His mutual fund was trending downward; meanwhile, technology stocks were soaring upwards. He received much pressure to surrender and purchase technology stocks, which he considered to be poor buys for the future.

            Warren Buffett did not surrender. He chose instead to follow what he called his “Inner Scorecard.” (See my post of 6/13/12.)

            Buffett said he was the type of person who, were he painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, would have ignored advice from passerby’s. It was HIS painting, and he would work on it for the rest of his life because, in his mind, it would never be finished. That would be living life by the Inner Scorecard.

            Buffett would ultimately look like a genius. The technology boom turned to bust, but Buffett’s trust fund grew in value. Buffett was spared loss and humiliation because he followed his Inner Scorecard.

            The Bible is full of people who followed their Inner Scorecard. Here is how the writer of Hebrews chapter eleven puts into his own words the concept of the Inner Scorecard: But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Heb. 11:16.) NLT

Source: THE SNOWBALL WARREN BUFFETT AND THE BUSINESS OF LIFE by Alice Schroeder

The Inner Scorecard

            The world's richest man, Warren Buffett, says there are two types of people in this world: those who follow their Inner Scorecard, and those who follow their Outer Scorecard.

            Buffett himself follows his Inner Scorecard. He explains his reasoning with the question, “If the world could not see your results, would you rather be thought of as the world's greatest investor but in reality have the world's worst record? Or thought of as the world's worst investor when you were actually the best?”

            Buffett would prefer to be known as the worst… and in reality be the best.

            Buffett applies this to parenting. He says that parents, when their children are at a very early age, emphasize one of the two. Those who emphasize concern for what the world thinks will cultivate an Outer Scorecard in their children—and vice-versa.

            I believe we parents should cultivate an Inner Scorecard within our children. It should be a scorecard directed toward God, and not bound by what anyone in the world thinks.

            I believe this concept lies behind these words in Deuteronomy 6: 6 Memorize his laws 7 and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. 8 Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them. 9 Write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates. CEV

            

Source: THE SNOWBALL WARREN BUFFETT AND THE BUSINESS OF LIFE by Alice Schroeder

Gyroscopes

           The 1960s were a time of great turmoil in the U. S., especially on college campuses. William Manchester, in his book THE GLORY AND THE DREAM, described the students coming out of America’s universities in the sixties in this way, "The upshot was that millions of pupils approached the age of awareness equipped with marvelous radar but no gyroscopes." They were receiving many college degrees; however, Manchester wondered if, without being taught values, these students were receiving an education.

            I appreciate Manchester’s imagery—students of any age, who are not taught values, are receiving radar but no gyroscopes.

            How are we doing these days?

Sunday School for Atheists

I’ve often wandered what atheists do on Sunday mornings. Well, according to a story in TIME magazine I read a couple of years ago, apparently more and more are taking their children to Sunday school.

"When you have kids, you start to notice that your co-workers or friends have church groups to help teach their kids values and to be able to lean on," the magazine quoted Julie Willey as saying. Consequently, she and her husband, both atheists, would weekly take their four children to the Humanist Community Center in Palo Alto, California, for what they called atheist Sunday school.

The Willey’s are not alone in their quest for non-religious training. Other communities of non-faith have sprung up in locations as diverse as Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Portland, Oregon. Moreover, more and more secular camps are opening up for children of atheists.

Bri Kneisley was one parent, who sent her son to a camp saying, "He's a child of atheist parents, and he's not the only one in the world." She became aware that she needed to teach her son her secular values after the child of one of her neighbors began to show her son the Bible. "[My son] was quite certain this guy was right and was telling him this amazing truth that I had never shared." So Kneisley made the decision to be proactive in sharing her faith.

More and more atheistic parents are coming to grips with a truth that fewer and fewer Christian parents recognize: the importance of parents actively sharing their faith with their children. They are taking pages out of the church’s playbook to assist them in their mission. Maybe that is one reason why their numbers are growing, while Christian numbers (some studies show that 18 out of 20 children of evangelical Christians grow up to leave the faith) are shrinking.