Are unions like fire insurance? When I was in England I loved to tour old churches and cathedrals for their architecture. Every aspect had a story to tell and everything was placed with purpose. One of the more interesting things was the little “faces” throughout the structure. These faces seemed to represent the various emotions of mankind, but I found out later that they were the faces of pagan gods. The people who built these churches were often pagans and were unsure about Yahweh’s preeminence. In case he wasn’t, these men incorporated the faces of their pagan gods into the structure so they could show on judgment day how they were faithful to either: the god whose church they built or the god whose face is in every corner. Today, some call this fire insurance. These are the folks that are trying to avoid the fiery pits of hell by claiming Christ as their Savior. It’s understandable though. Many understand “the security of the believer” principle from Hebrews and other books. What I find interesting is the behaviors associated with people that “convert” and never change their behavior at all. In fact, how many actually get worse because they have…you guessed it…fire insurance!? How is this different from union or even government jobs? These positions come with a great deal of security. In that position of security we feel empowered to behave differently than we would if we lacked that security. Getting rid of a government or union employee is difficult so again I ask, “What is their incentive to serve or perform at a high level?” I would argue that most of the incentives come from within the individual rather than the organization. Look at this. Union and government workers, like Christians, come in three flavors. 1. Those who take advantage of their security by doing as little as they can get away with: slothful. 2. Those who go along to get along and just do their job: lukewarm. 3. Those that recognize their security is a gift and try to do the most with it: empowered. The first two options look like fire insurance while the last uses security as a fire to light their way. Throughout history, greatness is achieved by only a handful of regular people. Some refer to these as “the remnant” because they are all that remain after the others have fallen by the wayside. These folks were sustained by something different from the rest. These people clearly have a fire that purifies in their life. Colossians 3:22-25 “Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.” What about you? Where does your security come from? How does your security affect your behavior? Which of the three options above do you trend toward? To my shame, I have chosen all three of them at one point in time or another in my life. I need to do a better job of choosing option #3.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 09:21:30 +0000
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