Park Cities Presbyterian Church (PCA)

The hard, rewarding journey from humiliation to humility

Examining our motives and priorities in the workplace

By Bill Peel

Published May 1, 2010 in Witness

The March WorkPlace Ministries breakfast was a spiritually enriching time for all who attended. John Hawkins, PCPC elder and 25-year veteran of the Dallas area homebuilding industry, shared highs and lows of his spiritual journey and how his faith and work mix and affect his role today as president of Hawkins-Welwood Homes. When describing his work, John says, “I’m called to serve Christ—and by the way, we build homes.”

Although his company is one of the most successful builders of luxury homes in the Metroplex, John’s road has not been a smooth one. His commitment to Christ has been hammered out on the anvil of personal as well as business adversity.

Defining moments of John’s faith include when he learned “the difference between broke and broke-broke” in the mid-1980s. Then, in 1983, God led him to a men’s study group where he began to understand that his work matters to God and should be done for God’s glory. He says this was a game-changer for him. “I’ve always been driven, but that’s when I knew I was called.”

In 1994, a tragic accident in the Welwood family catapulted John into leadership of the company—before he was ready, in John’s estimation. But under his leadership business grew, and the Hawkins-Welwood partnership was formed. In 2002, at age 45, he suffered a major stroke, which could have been serious game-changer. But the change it brought instead was an opportunity for John and his wife Dianne to claim God’s love and understand that their blessings were in Christ—not in circumstances.

John recovered fully from the stroke and shared how he felt at the beginning of 2006. “Texas had won the Rose Bowl, and I just knew it was going to be a perfect year.” Instead, he says, it was the beginning of the most difficult four years of his life. He lost a dear friend, Dianne was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, the housing market went south, banks called loans, and he faced the possibility of having to close his business. All this brought John to a feeling of deep humiliation, but he says it was a gift from God.

He explained how humiliation brings humility by helping us see what’s out of order in our lives. “Stress reveals your idols, and wrong idols were eating me up inside. Tim Keller’s book Counterfeit Gods really helped me identify misplaced priorities. The only person who ever sought out humiliation was Jesus. Second Corinthians 5:21 says, ‘God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.’ Our humiliation is often necessary for our own good and is small compared to the humiliation that Christ suffered for us.”