Be Careful How You Build

 

"Anyone who comes after me and listens to my teachings is like a person who builds his house on a strong foundation laid upon an underlying rock. So when the rain and the floodwaters come, that house will stand firm because it was well built. By the same token, those who fail to listen to my teachings are like a man who builds his house without a strong foundation and when the floodwaters come and beat upon the house, it will come crashing down like a house of cards." ---Luke 6:47-49 (paraphrased)

For the sake of argument, the strong foundation Jesus eludes to here is those individuals who have committed themselves to hard work. The weak, or not strong foundation, are those individuals who rely on their good intentions.

Far too often in our culture, intention counts more than action and displaying emotion outweighs effort in many instances.

When I began working many years ago, work ethics were not like those that exist today. Back then, having good intentions, but failing to get the job done, would have netted an individual a trip to the boss’s office with a strong warning to get it right, or "hit the road, Jack."

Today, not only are the work ethics of employees’ undesirable, but managers have a higher level of tolerance for poor performance. Good intentions are becoming an acceptable norm.

In the face of staffing shortages and rising unemployment, the theme of "zero tolerance" has taken a backseat.

An example of this decline in work ethics was shared with me recently. An employee was discovered as she prepared to administer an incorrect dosage of medication to a terminally ill patient. When questioned about her error, she replied "He’s lucky to get anything from me tonight because I am tired and don’t want to be here anyway. She displayed no feelings of remorse nor did she give an explanation to the individual who attempted to discipline her. Fortunately for that patient, the establishment, and the many other individuals she would have rendered service to, that young lady’s employment was terminated. Does this seem unbelievable to you? Unfortunately, this attitude is becoming all too common in workplaces all over the world.

People seem to think that simply showing up on the job is enough. The discussions at the water fountain and in the break room do not center on performance improvement or teamwork, they are focused on one central theme—making more money. People just "want to get paid."

When we accept individuals who intended to get the done but failed to do so, everyone suffers. Our society has become too tolerant of those individuals who say their intentions were good. We are so preoccupied with having a warm body that we have forgotten the importance of hard work. This "warm body theory" has progressed to the degree that those individuals who would have disciplined an individual in the past, now accepts poor job performance and attitudes of apathy and indifference.

I am from the old school. When I see individuals who whine more than they work, I just want to go up and tell them the words of my grandma, "Wake up and smell the coffee. Whining doesn’t make one successful, hard work does."

My mom and grandmother instilled in me a sense of pride and integrity. From a young child, I knew the value of hard work and understood the importance of setting goals. This sense of pride in myself occurred because of expectations that were placed on me during my early years. My grandma didn’t play, she wouldn’t have dreamed of telling me to do anything twice. Today, we tell our children the same thing over and over and yet the job doesn’t get done.

As I compare the ethics of individuals during my era and the youth of today, it is apparent that the values of yesteryears do not exist. The fireside chats about hard work, devotion, and self-pride have been replaced with television and the Internet. We are too busy for family hour and weekly Bible discussions. Vital ingredients like integrity, morals, trust, and self-esteem are missing in the home.

Our children have this amazing notion that the world owes them something. As parents, we are responsible for teaching them the value of hard work. There must be a theme of zero tolerance in our homes. Our parents lived by it, and we are better because of these disciples of discipline. No one advocates getting paid more than myself, but the wage should be equivalent to the labor. Ebonically speaking, "you git what you worth."

I can recall a time when I, too, thought having good intentions was noble. I remember an incident that abolished any future ideas I had about saying that my intentions were good. I remember coming to mom after being chastised about something I failed to do. My reply to her was, "Mom, I’m sorry I didn’t finish my work, but I had good intentions." The impact of her reply is as powerful today as it was back then. She replied, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Boy, did our parents and grandparents have a way with words. Many times physical discipline was not necessary, they could say things that would cut to the core of your being. Although sharp, and sometimes harsh, their words were life sustaining. I feel that our society still exists today because of their strong sense of purpose.

Today, those values have not only declined, in many instances they don’t exist. Instead of parents using discipline in the home, our children are disciplining and entertaining themselves. As a result, they lack values, integrity, self-esteem, and perseverance. The end result is what we see today: emotionally unstable individuals incapable of caring for themselves, not to mention their fellow man. But guess what America? We have good intentions.

While America is making excuses for her inaction, Jesus is still demanding accountability. In his parables concerning the kingdom of heaven, everyone Jesus mentions is performing an action (plainly stated) they were working. Consider the story of the man who sowed good seed in the field, the precious jewel a man found, and a dragnet, which was cast in the sea. An excellent example is the story of the owner who hired laborers to go work in his vineyard. And He said to them, "You go also into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will pay you. And about the 11th hour he went out and found still others standing around, and said to them, Why do you stand idle all day? They answered him, "Because nobody hired us." Well check this out, Jesus wasn’t about to hear those excuses, instead, he said to them, "You go out into the vineyard also and you will get whatever is just and fair. (Matthew 20: 1-7.) The "just and fair thing" stated here refers to compensation for hard "Work", not good intentions.

In closing, lets remember that Jesus (who is our example) came to serve (to work) not to be waited on.

- By Travestine J. Wright