I regularly get the privilege of welcoming new employees into our company. As part of our orientation and new hire training process, I go over our company history (three generations!) along with a deep dive of our company’s mission, vision, and core values statements.
The other day I was thinking about all of the worthy Christian ministry organizations I have become aware of in the past several years (e.g. TrueLife Mission). I thought about how much money they are all trying to raise in order to accomplish the mission God has given them. At one point I even thought about how much I could help them if I could just win the lottery!
Now before you start commenting one way or the other on the morality of a lottery or anything like that, please know that this post is not at all about the lottery itself. We are simply going to take a look, in this post AND the next one, at how we would (and should) handle such enormous wealth if it were at our disposal.
Have you ever thought about it? Have you ever dreamed of winning the lottery? I have and I don’t even play it! In fact, I have thought often about what I would do with that kind of money. Whether it came from a sudden windfall (like the lottery) or even from a successful business endeavor – what would you do with a huge sum of money?
Certainly, when you look at the stories of many of those who HAVE won the lottery, it is sad to see how it has so often destroyed the winners. So many lottery winners have had a short and wild ride, but then end up in worse financial condition than they were in before the lottery paid them.
There are many reasons for this, I am sure. One, they are not trained in how to handle such large sums of money. Another reason may be that with their additional income, they likely see themselves in another “class” of people. They feel they have to spend more to keep up with these people.
I am sure they also underestimate how expensive the higher class lifestyle can be. The more expensive house comes with higher property taxes, higher utilities and maintenance costs, etc. The expenses begin to snowball before they even realize what has happened.
An obvious reason is likely that they are not focused on what God would have them do with the money. While some are charitable to a point, many spend more of their time trying to protect their wealth from anything or anyone that may threaten it rather than seeing how they could give more.
If you have ever thought about what you would do if you won the lottery, then you have likely told yourself you would never let those things happen to you, right?
You have probably said, like I have, that you would first tithe on the winnings. Then you would probably plan to give away a huge portion of the lottery winnings to other organizations. I have picked out several mission organizations that would benefit from my lottery winnings.
You likely determined that the next amount would be carved out to pay off all of your debt. Then, you would probably be determined not to let that debt get so high ever again. If you cannot afford something with your new lottery winnings, then you just won’t buy it!
You have also probably said that you would never allow your expenses to outrun your winnings – even unexpected expenses. You probably decided, like I did, that you would carve out another portion for savings – to be used in the event of an emergency. This is just smart thinking, right?
I would also bet you thought about how you would not allow yourself to fall into the trap of trying to keep up with others (the Jones’) who had similar or greater incomes. In fact, you have probably determined that this winning would not really change who you are or how you live today (for the most part).
Finally, if you are like me, you probably decided you would set aside some of the money for those small, unpredictable times when someone you know is in need. You would want to be able help those around you when they come upon a crisis and with your newfound wealth, that should not be a problem.
If I have left anything out, please let me know in the comments. Otherwise, stay tuned for the next post where we look at what I think we SHOULD do if we were to win the lottery. You may have some idea of where I am headed with this…we’ll see!
Have you thought about this?
What thoughts would you add?
What would you offer for our next post’s discussion?
For the past year or so I have been writing this blog, one of the ideas I have been trying to explain is that we are all called to play the part of minister or missionary. I believe that, as Christian business owners and leaders, we are just as called to ministry as those on the church staff. While I have argued this from several angles, the following quote from C.H. Spurgeon makes our mission clear!
Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor.
– C.H. Spurgeon
What is your reaction to that quote? Do you say, “Yeah! I buy that!” or do you say, “Huh? That can’t be right.” when you read it?
I think most of us would agree that the truth of this quote rests on how we define one word – missionary. If we immediately assume that a missionary is someone living in a hut in the jungle of South America, then I would have to disagree with Spurgeon. I personally do not believe we are all called to leave our homelands and run off to some remote region for mission work.
Another thought from many is that a missionary may be someone that stays in their homeland, but they certainly quit their job and live off of the support of others. Maybe they volunteer full-time in a ministry or even live on the streets in an effort to reach those who have no other choice.
What does the dictionary say?
Most people think that being a missionary requires leaving wherever they currently live and work to go somewhere else and spread the gospel. As you can see, this definition does not specify leaving anything. We can be missionaries if we are (1) on a mission, and (2) in a territory! Who says your “territory” can’t be where you are right now?
Most people have never considered this possibility that THEY could actually be a missionary without changing their address or their job.
I have to admit I was a member of that group at one point! In fact, I went so far as to try to walk away from our family business because it never occurred to me that I could do ministry and business at the same time! Once God showed me the two can coexist, I have been a missionary in the marketplace!
In light of this revelation, I see Spurgeon’s quote as on target. If we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ, then a change has occurred in our lives. If this change is real, then there is no way we should be able to stay quiet about it. If the love of God is in us, then we cannot help but spread that love to those around us.
David Platt described it this way. Imagine a friend of yours walked up to you and apologized for being late to meet you for dinner. Imagine they offered the excuse that they were changing a flat tire on their car when an eighteen-wheeler hit them from behind. They go on to tell you that though it really hurt, they got up, dusted themselves off, and finished changing the flat tire so they could finally meet you for dinner.
Would you believe them? Would you think they were nuts? Certainly someone that has been hit by an eighteen-wheeler would look and act differently after that impact, don’t you think?
Well, Platt asks, shouldn’t someone that has come face to face with Jesus, the creator of the universe, look differently as well? Should we not be forever changed as a result of our salvation?
If this is true, it would be reasonable to expect someone that experienced a life-saving experience with Jesus to share that experience with others, regardless of the setting or circumstances. Someone filled with God’s love should be eager to share it with anyone in their immediate circle of influence – and beyond!
Today, I encourage you to be a missionary right where you are! I am not suggesting you take a bullhorn to work, but that you start spreading the love of God wherever you go – work, school, or the soccer fields. Spread this love to anyone that needs it. You do this and you are full-fledged missionary!
Have you already realized this truth?
What are you doing differently now versus before?
What is God leading you to do next?
Recently, I included the following brief message in our monthly employee newsletter. Read the message and then I want to explain how this fits into employee engagement through employee recognition.
No organization cares about you. Organizations aren’t capable of this. Your bank, certainly, doesn’t care. Neither does your HMO or even your car dealer. It’s amazing to me that people are surprised to discover this fact.
What are your thoughts at this point? Do you agree with what he says? Aren’t we part of a dealership “family” that cares about each other and our customers?
The truth is we are not!
The truth is (and Seth goes on to say this later in the blog) that only people care. Organizations, companies, and teams are incapable of caring, but the people that make up these groups are the ones that care.
Here is the difference…if you think and act like the groups are capable of caring, then you are actually attempting to relieve yourself of the responsibility for caring. If everyone else does the same thing, then no one cares.
If, on the other hand, every individual in the organization takes personal responsibility for caring, then it ends up looking like the entire organization cares.
It is in this kind of organization that we all prefer to work. It is this kind of organization that draws customers. It is this kind of organization of which we can be proud.
What about you? Do you care?
This message is one of many that I send in an effort to get our employees thinking outside of just doing their job and going home everyday. I want them seeing the world around them and getting involved…engaged.
Our company’s mission is to honor God by impacting the lives of our employees, customers, and community. Our vision statement is “Moving people.” This plays on the transportation theme in our business, but carries a deeper meaning as well.
As people movers, we want to take other employees, customers, as we as those in the community, and “move” them from their current position or circumstances to a better one – whatever that looks like.
I also want them to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Not only does this reduce the likelihood that they will leave to go to work somewhere else, but it also gives them fulfillment that we all so desperately need. A good way to do this is with employee recognition.
In addition to consistent communication through the employee newsletter and other methods, we created a couple of awards to reinforce this idea.
The first is called an RPM (Recognizing People Movers) award. This award recognizes anyone that has shown care for someone else by doing their job exceptionally well and going the extra mile. They are nominated by the other employees. We typically give out four to six of these awards in an average month. All of the award winners each month are put into a random drawing. We give the winner of the drawing a gift card for $100.
One example of a winner of an RPM award was a salesperson that responded quickly to a crisis with a customer. Something went wrong with a scheduled after-hours delivery of a new vehicle to the customer’s home and it did not happen. The problem was that the customer was an elderly lady that had to drive herself to the doctor the next morning. That new car was her only way to get there.
With little time to respond, this salesperson piled her family into the car and delivered the new car to the customer herself. This delivery was over two hours away and happened at 10pm…on her day off!
The second award is called a Lightning Strike. This award goes to someone that has shown extraordinary care for someone else. They have done this outside of the normal course of the job…often not even related to their job or our company at all. Each winner of this award gets a $100 gift card.
A notable Lightning Strike winner was a young member of our detail department. My brother received a call from a well-to-do older lady from his church. She asked about this employee by name. She wanted to know if he indeed worked for us. Sensing trouble, my brother answered that he did and then waited for the complaint.
Instead of complaining, she explained that she had been at McDonald’s earlier that morning, had placed her order, and went to pay. That was when she realized she had forgotten her wallet. As she stood there wondering what she was going to do, this employee stepped up and told her he would pay for her breakfast.
The kicker is that this position is an entry level position that is responsible for washing cars and therefore does not earn much money. Also, when the older lady asked the McDonald’s cashier if she knew our employee, she said she did not, but she did know that he had done that same thing on multiple occasions before!
These two forms of recognition are not all we do, but they do play a role in helping us to get our employees engaged in our mission and vision. As long as I keep hearing stories like these, I will feel we are on track!