( ENSPIRE Business Wire ) Chicago Pastor and HBCU Alumnus Bill Winston Speaks to the Importance of Faith and Ethics in Modern Business
ENSPIRE Contributor: Keegan Kerns
With modern business, it can often be a complex question about how to interact with the world around you while still maintaining one’s personal faith and morals. As we continue towards a global economy, every action carries more and more moral weight. Yet, it can be harder to see the moral consequences, leaving the modern businessman in an almost impossible situation as they try to reconcile their faith with everyday business. However, Bill Winston addresses this and much more in his recent book Revelation of Royalty, using his own experience as a businessman and pastor to speak to this dilemma and how faith can help us deal with this burden.
Bill Winston has used his fourteen years of experience work at IBM alongside his experience as a senior pastor at Living Word Christian Center to speak to the best ways to deal with this modern dilemma of the intersection between faith and business. Bill Winston saw the need to address this issue due to the lack of any other significant writing on the subject, especially during a time in which businesses worldwide have been shaken because of the pandemic. With the Revelation of Royalty, Bill Winston speaks to how finding one’s identity in Christ enables one to have access to God’s portion both in this life and the next, and one should take that attitude and knowledge when approaching business as well.
ENSPIRE was able to talk to Dr. Winston about his own personal journey and how faith has played such a prominent role in his life.
Dr. Winston, you have had a remarkable background and have made a major impact on the Gospel, but you were not always in ministry. Can you tell us a little about that journey?
I grew up in Tuskegee, Alabama, where I was given fairly high self-esteem through my environment. After graduating from Tuskegee University, I entered the military, the U.S. Air Force, and performed very well. After being honorably discharged as a decorated fighter pilot, I ended up in computer sales at IBM through a series of events. I was assigned a sales territory that challenged me in a way I had never been challenged before. That’s when I cried out to God and became born again.
My knowledge of the Kingdom of God was key to catapulting me to the top salesperson in the Chicago office. I was then promoted to regional marketing manager in the Minneapolis office. I received my call to leave IBM (my plan to become president of one of its divisions) and enter full-time ministry.
I left IBM and attended seminary at Oral Roberts University (ORU). Then, I returned to Chicago to start a church and arrived here with my family with only $200 and no place to live. But again, my knowledge of the Kingdom of God caused me to move from obscurity and lack to have a worldwide ministry and vision.
Dr. Winston, can you give us some background on who or what first encouraged you to write Revelation of Royalty?
The book is based on a Sunday message I taught several years ago. The Lord gave me the message of Revelation of Royalty because many of God’s people in the Church don’t know that when they got born again — gave their life to Christ – they became part of the royal family of God, the richest family in the universe.
I have taught and preached faith in God’s Word for many years. I know from personal experience that it is impossible to please God without faith… get things done for God in the earth… or reach our God-given destiny. But, I also have learned that while many believers think they have a “faith” problem, they really have an “image” problem. This is why this book and teaching on Revelation of Royalty is so important.
The book is titled Revelation of Royalty: Rediscovering Your Royal Identity in Christ. What is our royal identity in Christ? How do we discover it?
Jesus came to restore our fellowship with the Father and our image as rulers and stewards (caretakers) over this earth. This means having no sense of shame, guilt, or inferiority; no sense of lack of financial shortage. In Christ, you are a king (this applies to men and women).
The Bible says Jesus is the “King of kings and the Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). A king isn’t oppressed by sin-consciousness…lives by decree, meaning he or she declares what they want (Ecclesiastes 8:4) … and a king has no fear (Proverbs 30:30).
As a royal family member, you possess royal privilege, royal perspective, royal demeanor, and royal wealth. Your new image is revealed in the pages of the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit is your tutor. He is on the inside of us, tutoring us into greatness.
In the book, you write about your wife’s desires for a job and how God met each desire she had. So why do you believe that so many Christians seem to have difficulty coming forth to God with their requests?
Because their minds have not been transformed to who God says they are. For people to receive from God, they must renew their minds.
I believe many people have received wrong teaching and, therefore, have the wrong image. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” How did it say to come? Boldly. Not weak or begging.
Years ago, when I was fairly new in the ministry, I was begging God for a Sunday message. It was Saturday night, and I was “dry as a bone,” meaning no revelation. I prayed and cried, asking God to give me a message. Here’s what the Lord said to me, “What are you doing? Is that how you come to me?” He rebuked me because He told us to come boldly to His throne. When I changed my approach and attitude, revelation flowed like a flood, and I received my message for the next morning,
How has Revelation of Royalty helped you in your own walk with Christ?
It gave me clarity concerning God’s grace. When I was born again, I thought I had to sell my Corvette sports car and buy an old, rusted-out car as the way to please God. This was my attempt at being humble. This is what I thought it took to be humble. I now realize that getting rid of my Corvette – selling it for a ridiculously low price – was not humility but religious stupidity.
I could please God by works, but it takes faith to please God. Therefore, our entire relationship with God is by grace through faith.
What kinds of prayers and declarations should Christians speak to become fully empowered through the Spirit of God?
The Apostle Paul had a revelation of our royalty — who we are in Christ — and taught it to the early Church. His prayers in Ephesians chapters 1 and 3 and Philippians, chapter 1, would be good to start.
Also, on our website, billwinston.org, we have many prayer confessions, such as “Who I Am in Christ,” that people can download and pray.
How do we combat the fear that Satan places in our minds that we aren’t worthy of God’s blessing?
Fear is a spirit, and you have to defeat a spirit with a Spirit. The Word of God is spirit and life (John 6:63), and it brings revelation. When revelation comes, fear leaves. When revelation exposes the many thoughts and works of darkness, fear disappears. What is Fear? False Evidence Appearing Real.
This is why Christians must renew their minds to the Word of God. By meditating on God’s Word, they uproot old thought patterns…. thoughts of shame, inferiority, unworthiness, not good enough, and so on. (See Romans 12:2.)
How can the messages of Revelation of Royalty help people in their everyday lives?
I believe this message will give them hope and inspiration, and the faith to pursue their dreams. After reading this book, I think they will realize that God has so much more for them in this life, not just for when they die and go to heaven. No matter their color or their country, God’s best is their portion. They are royalty.
How does Revelation of Royalty relate to things that are happening in the world today?
I believe much of the poverty, violence, crime, and hatred we see today stems from people not knowing who they truly are. If you receive a revelation that you are royalty and that you have all of Heaven’s government – the Kingdom of God – and its resources at your disposal, you won’t be jealous or envious of anybody; you won’t have to protest or riot.
As a king, you can decree a thing according to the Word of God, and God’s spiritual host of angels are assigned and available to carry out your request and command.
What is the biggest thing you want readers to take away from your book?
I want readers to remember this: In Jesus Christ, God has given you great and wonderful precious promises — divine healing, deliverance, provision and abundance, safety and protection from evil….as the Bible says, everything that pertains to life and godliness. God has already provided whatever is needed or required to fulfill your God-given assignment on the earth.
These promises are part of your divine inheritance. But, your inheritance comes only in proportion to your identity. Said another way, there are levels you can’t go or achieve without the right image. Only those who know who they are can receive the things that rightfully belong to them.
Galatians 4:1 AMPC says, “that as long as the inheritor (heir) is a child and underage, he does not differ from a slave, although he is the master of all the estate.”
This is why I wrote this book…. To help God’s people receive ALL that Christ died to provide them.
While the Revelation of Royalty can be a great tool for upcoming and current workers to deal with the intersection of faith and business, Bill Winston continues to deal with this issue alongside many others in his other endeavors. He is the founder and senior pastor of Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park, Illinois, and the founder and president of Bill Winston Ministries. Combined with the nationally accredited Joseph Business School and the Living Word School of Ministry and Missions, Bill Winston can share messages of faith worldwide while also teaching how to deal with nuanced issues such as the intersection of business and faith so that all can feel inspired to succeed both economically and spiritually.
Related Articles: Nia Allen Talks About Faith and Her #1 Billboard Single ‘Wait’
