In the transition from one webhost to another, I lost this story, so I am reposting it.
A few years ago, my wife and I were driving around the Wal-Mart parking lot in Gulf Breeze, FL one day. It was pouring down rain, and so we took the extra time to try to park up front. As we drove by the garden department, we saw a Wal-Mart employee standing in front of the store where they have plants displayed on the sidewalk. He was holding an umbrella in one hand, and a hose in the other. Yes, he was watering the plants in the rain. I wish I had taken a picture. We laughed about it and watched him complete his task. I told Cindy that I supposed he would go inside, find his afternoon checklist, and mark that item as completed. He did not recognize that God had already done that one for him. There’s a sermon illustration for you!
It also illustrates the difference between employees that can be self directing, and employees that require direct supervision to accomplish their tasks. Wal-Mart may be ok with this, deciding that it is better for workers to be automated rather than self directing. They may not want an hourly worker to be burdened in deciding whether or not a plant is getting enough water from the rain. During my internship at Disney, I found that Disney often employs the same practice to ensure a task is performed the exact same way every time. If you work the Jungle Cruise, for example, and deviate from your spiel by adding a joke that is not part of the script, you could lose your job. It makes sense in this instance, because the script is carefully constructed to consider the diverse cultures that may be represented on the Jungle Cruise at any given time. Disney does not expect an hourly worker to possess that level of discernment.
News agencies reported Friday that the drug Zelnorm, prescribed for Irritable Bowel Syndrome sufferers, may be associated with a risk of heart attack or stroke:
WASHINGTON Mar 30, 2007 (AP)— Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG will stop selling a drug to relieve constipation after it was linked to a higher chance of heart attack, stroke and worsening chest pain that can become a heart attack, federal health officials said Friday.
Novartis agreed to withdraw Zelnorm at the FDA’s request, the agency said in a public health advisory.
The drug recall is an example of something that is meant to be helpful, but it might ultimately do more harm than good. This type of paradox can be seen everywhere. Fire can be good and bad. A locked door can be good and bad (a friend of mine locked his keys in his trunk last week). I have been looking at Psalm 69:1-3 lately. These verses are filled with vivid, yet deadly, water imagery:
Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. (Psalm 69:1-3 NRSV)
We need water for our survival, but it can also be deadly. The Psalmist is drownig in water, but has a parched throat. Did the Psalmist not take the time to drink the water to refresh his throat? The same is true of church. Going to church and being involved in the life of your congregation is great, but you can also drown in it if you do not stop to take a drink. This is especially true for pastors. Pastors are surrounded by religion every day. Our tasks can be stressful and tedious. If we are not careful, we can drown. We must take the time to drink from the well of life. If we do not, our ministry becomes much like how the FDA described Zelnorm: the benefits no longer outweigh the risk. You cannot lead others to Christ if you are too busy trying to keep your head above water. You could die trying.
One day as I was returning from lunch in one of my previous churches, the receptionist asked me to call the church administrator. He informed me that he had received a forwarded email that contained a warning about a serious virus file that had been popping up on computers. The email included instructions on how to locate and delete the infected file.
Our administrator had checked three computers and discovered the file on all three. He was growing concerned that the virus had spread across our entire network. He asked if I had time to help him get the file off of all of our computers. I told him to relax. The email was a hoax designed to trick people into deleting system files. Luckily this email identified a mostly useless Microsoft system file, and he didn’t do any damage by deleting them. (more…)