“And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, “These that have turned the world upside down have come hither also…”

The business world doesn’t like “Pirates”, but they love “Swashbucklers” and buccaneers. Pirates steal, copy, rip-off and can cause irreparable harm and destroy value and spirit.  In my videogame days there was nothing worse than watching a team of people work and give years of their lives to a product only to have someone leak the product before it was shipped and then to see that same product be pirated into the black market.  It was disheartening and devastating.  Any product or service that depends on their intellectual property as part of their competitive advantage will be constantly concerned and cautious of those who would be pirates.  Now, swashbucklers and buccaneers are a different story.  Business loves the Steve Jobs of the world who out together a band of swashbucklers and flew the pirate flag within Apple to launch the Mac.  Hollywood makes billions off of romanticizing the image of the swashbuckler (from Errol Flynn to Johnny Depp).  The untethered, high risk, high reward attitude of those who can buck the system and sail away on their own is the gestalt of Silicon Valley,  It’s a fine line between pirates and swashbucklers, but we know that we want the latter to ensure progress and innovation.

Are we strong enough in our faith to fly the flag of Christ and march to His drum beat versus the rest of the world?  We have many examples in the Bible of those who took on their own swashbuckling way to spread the word of Christ throughout the world.  The world pulls us into its’ ways and the trappings of work and business can be one of the most draining and eroding environments of our faith and principles.  We must guard against, and be strong to not get pulled in and find ourselves adrift without a course.  It is not easy to sail against the winds, but it is what we must sometimes do in order to be consistent where it matters most.  Do we have enough inside of us today to be like Jason and be called one of those who “have turned the world upside down” for God?

Reference:  Acts 17:6 (21st Century King James Version)