John Ortberg tells the story of a young seminary graduate returning home from an interview to be pastor of a church in another state. Here is the pastor’s account of the flight home….
I barely had time to exchange my suit for a comfortable pair of old blue jeans before boarding the plane home. After showing the flight attendant my ticket, scanning the seats, I settled into the last unoccupied space, catching a glimpse of the person beside me.
He’s about my age. His appearance proclaimed him as a business man, conservative blue suit, tan attaché case, Wall Street Journal. Of course, there I was – faded blue jeans, tattered off-white T-shirt, abused attaché case and tennis shoes. I wished I’d waited until later to change. So I quietly made a resolution: look straight ahead, hide in a book, above all, don’t get involved in a conversation about jobs. Obviously he had a good one, and I had none yet. Stay out of conversation.
But all that changed because he had already turned and greeted me. I said I was fine, of course.
Realizing I had to beat him to the punch, I asked him what he did, and he was only too eager to respond.
“I’m in the figure salon business,” he said. “We can change a woman’s self-concept by changing her body. It’s a very profound and powerful thing.”
His pride spoke between the lines. “You look my age,” I said. “Have you been at this long?’
“I just graduated from the University of Michigan’s Business School. MBA. They given me so much responsibility already, and I feel very honored. In fact, I hope to manage the Western part of the operation.”
“So you’re a national organization,” I asked, becoming impressed despite myself.
“O yes, we’re the fastest growing company of our kind in the nation. It’s really good to be part of an organization like that, don’t you think?
I nodded approvingly and thought, “Impressive. Proud of his work and his accomplishments. Why can’t Christians be proud like that? Why are we so often apologetic about our faith and our church?”
Looking askance at my clothing, he asked the inevitable question. “And what do you do?”
The Spirit began to brood over the face of the deep. Order and power emerged from chaos. A voice in a whisper reminded me, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
“it’s interesting that we have similar business interests,” I said. “You’re in the body-changing business. I’m in the personality-changing business. We apply basic theocratic principles to accomplish indigenous personality modification.”
He was hooked and I knew he would never admit it. Pride is powerful.
“You know, I’ve heard about that,” he replied, “but do you have an office here in the city?”
“Oh we have many offices. We have offices up and down the state. In fact, we’re national. We have at least one office in every state of the union, including Alaska and Hawaii.”
He had a puzzled look on his face. He was searching his mind to identify this huge company that he must have read or heard about, perhaps in his Wall Street Journal.
“As a matter of fact, we’ve gone international. And Management has a plan to put at least one office in every country of the world by the end of this business era.”
I paused and said, “Do you have that in your business?”
“Well, no. Not yet,” he answered. “But you mentioned management. How do they make it work?”
“It’s a family concern. There’s a Father and a Son…and they run everything.”
“It must take a lot of capital,” he asked skeptically.
“You mean money?” I said. “Yes, I suppose so. No one knows just how much it takes, but we never worry because there’s never a shortage. The Boss always seems to have enough. He’s a very creative guy, and the money is, well, just there. In fact those of us in the Organization have a saying about our Boss, ‘He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.”
“Oh, he’s into ranching too?” asked my captive friend.
“No, it’s just a saying we use to indicate his wealth.”
My friend sat back in his seat, musing over our conversation. “What about with you?” he asked.
“The employees? They are something to see. They have a Spirit that pervades the organization. It works like this: the Father and Son love each other so much that their love filters down through the organization so that we all find ourselves loving one another too. I know this sounds old-fashioned in a world like ours, but I know people in the organization who are willing to die for me. Do you have that in your business?”
“Not yet,” he said. Quickly changing strategies, he asked, “But do you have good benefits?”
“They’re substantial,” I said with a gleam. “I have complete life insurance, fire insurance — all the basics. You might not believe this, but it’s true: I have holdings in a mansion that’s being built for me right now for my retirement. Do you have that in your business?”
“Not yet,” he answered, wistfully. The light was dawning.
“You know, one thing bothers me about all you’re saying. I’ve read the journals, and if your business is all you say it is, why haven’t I heard about it before now?”
“That’s a good question,” I said. “After all, we have a 2000-year-old tradition.”
“Wait a minute,” he said.
“You’re right,” I interrupted. “I’m talking about the church. Want to sign up?”
Posted by svshaw 
