Sunday School Class Proverbs 26:22-28
gossip, hate, hidden agenda's etc.
Scripture
Sunday evening Vesper's @ 5 p.m. How does one get 'understanding'
and become 'rooted?' (Matthew 13:18-23)
Wednesday @ 7 p.m. Our Wednesday evening class starts a new series on Personal Leadership
Roles and Responsibilities - and how it affects family dynamics. This Wednesday we look at
“building networks - spheres.” Specifically – bridging moats between
spheres.
Last week Robert was in need of prayer - Carma’s
on the road.
Get your 2007 Givings report today before you
leave!
I am irritated by people who always
make excuses.
Luke 14.1. One Sabbath, when Jesus went
to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2.
There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3. Jesus asked the
Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or
not?"
4. But they remained silent. So taking
hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. 5. Then he asked them,
"If one of you has a son
or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not
immediately pull him out?" 6. And they had nothing to say.
7. When he noticed how the guests
picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8.
"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of
honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.
9. If so, the host who invited both of
you will come and say to you, `Give this man your
seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10.
But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes,
he will say to you, `Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be
honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.
11. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted." 12. Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon
or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich
neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
13. But when you give a banquet, invite
the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14. and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you
will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." 15. When one of
those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the
man who will eat at the feast in the
16. Jesus replied: "A certain man
was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17. At the time of the
banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, `Come, for
everything is now ready.' 18. "But they all alike began to make excuses.
The first said, `I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please
excuse me.'
19. "Another said, `I have just
bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
20. "Still another said, `I just got married, so I can't come.' 21. "The servant came back and reported
this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his
servant, `Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in
the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
22. "`Sir,' the servant said,
`what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 23. "Then the master told his servant, `Go
out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will
be full. 24. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste
of my banquet.'"
I am irritated by people who always
make excuses.
One car repair place, when past the date they were supposed to have
Jean's car repaired, said, "Jim, I am so sorry we don't have Jean's car
done and out of here. We promised you and it is frustrating us. It is tying up
floor space while we are waiting on a part to come in. In the mean time, please
get a rental car and we'll pay for it."
Another place recently made excuse after excuse but never apologized for
keeping my old van for three extra days and $1400.
My advice to any shop manager: Don't act like an incompetent idiot - tell the truth about the
situation and apologize, even if it isn't your fault. Any time a person
tries to 'save face' it only makes the situation worse.
Guess which place I recommend and which one I tell folks to avoid!
Beyond being poor business practice and a sure way to fail - exercising
lousy customer relations isn't the way the Bible teaches us to live and
succeed.
'Saving face' has nothing to do
with living honestly. It's an exercise in ego-protection.
Those who practice it fall into the appearance and category of the sleazy,
greasy, unethical, low-class and incompetent, second-rate huckster.
The one, who in
humility exercises honesty and assumes responsibility for unfulfilled
expectations will be elevated in esteem and usually given the
benefit-of-the-doubt in a less than desirable situation.
This extends to clerks who want to prove that they are 'as good as
anybody who shops here;' waiters who defend poor quality of food or mistakes in
the food order; service/repairmen who left your appliance in pieces two weeks
ago saying they will be back in a couple of days when the part comes in...and you haven't heard from them since; on and on. It is
endemic in our society.
It is an attitude of incompetence and poor quality that we used to attach
to foreign companies and foreign workers. Now, I've found that if I want
something done quickly and done well, without excuses, I call on someone who is
struggling with English. They'll do the job - promptly and with a smile.
American businesses are going out of business, but it isn't because of
foreign labor - it's because of endemic American attitudes:
·
poor service,
·
pathetic
customer relations,
·
lack of
attention to detail and follow-through,
·
failure to
include the customer in problem solving and decision making,
·
and a very
American attitude of entitlement and over-charging!
All of which is engaged in by lots of church people and none of which
lifts the world's perception of a 'Christian America.'
But even all that is going to be covered by excuses because excuses are cheap and easy...not
Christian, but the American way.
Arrogance (lack of humility) and a lack
of gratitude are driving forces behind excuses.
Folks
who are habitually late are making subconscious statements about their worth
compared to yours. It is often a statement of self-importance, “I’m too busy to
operate on anyone’s schedule other than my own convenience.”
Folks
who promise and don’t fulfill have loads of other problems, their excuses are
just the tip of the iceberg. Watch out.
Inconsideration is the opposite quality
of service. It doesn’t work for business and it doesn’t work for one professing
to be ‘Christian.’