When
the company founded by Andrew
Carnegie was taken over by the
U.S. Steel Corporation in 1901
it acquired as one of its obligations
a contract to pay the top Carnegie
executive, Charles M. Schwab,
the then unheard of minimum sum
of $1,000,000. J.P. Morgan of
U.S. Steel was in a quandary about
it. The highest salary on record
was then $100,000. He met with
Schwab, showed him the contract
and hesitatingly asked what could
be done about it.
"This," said Schwab,
as he took the contract and tore
it up. That contract had paid
Schwab $1,300,000 the year before.
"I didn’t
care what salary they paid me,"
Schwab later told a Forbes magazine
interviewer. "I was not animated
by money motives. I believed in
what I was trying to do and I
wanted to see it brought about.
I
cancelled that contract without
a moment’s hesitation.
Why do I work? I work for just
the pleasure I find in
work, the satisfaction there is
in developing things, in creating.
Also, the associations business
begets. The
person who does not work for the
love of work, but only for money,
is not likely to make money nor
to find much
fun in life."
Bits and Pieces, May, 1991, p.
2.
Transition:
The story I just shared with you
is a true event. In our day and
time, it is a rare occurance to
find individuals who work "just
because they love work."
As a result, most are just "punching
the clock" and giving less
than what they should or could
be giving. In fact, many workers
steal from their employers without
taking cash out of the register.
In
fact, it isn’t
uncommon to hear of workers taking
an extra 10-15 minutes longer
on their lunch breaks. After a
years time, they have stolen hundreds
of hours from their employer who
pays them in good faith.
Unfortunately,
what happens in the work force
also happens within the church.
Today I want to describe to you
what one theologian said years
ago: There are three kinds of
people that you will find in every
church. Which
person are you?
I.
There Are Workers
A. Yielded to God’s
will.
B. Involved in the task.
C. Compassionate to those in need.
D. Accountable to others.
E. Committed to the task.
II.
There Are Shirkers
A. Slightly yielded to God’s
will.
B. Slightly involved in the task.
C. Slightly compassionate to those
in need.
D. Slightly accountable to others.
E. Slightly committed to the task.
III.
There Are Jerkers
A. Fear of losing control.
B. Fear of losing attention.
C. Fear of losing influence.
D. Fear of losing position.
Note:
Reasons Why Workers Do Not Want
To Serve
1.
They lack vision.
2. They do not have a desire to
grow (complacency)
3. They refuse to let go of the
past (we never did it that way
before)
4. They had rather let others
do all the work.
5. They are lazy.
6. They are blinded by Satan.
Conclusion:
The sign in the store window read:
NO HELP WANTED. As two men passed
by, one said to the other, "You
should apply--you’d
be great."
Principles regarding work, Decision-making
and the Will of God, p. 336.
