I was expanding my attic storage, and
went down to a local lumber yard and gave this young man my order. He was
respectful and well-mannered. I asked the man this, “If I allow you to fill my
order without me going out in the yard and handpicking every board myself, how
can I be sure you will not ship me defective lumber in the mix?” He replied, “I
will fill the order myself according to your expectations.”
I told him I appreciated that, but I told
him that I have an odd request, “I do not want you to meet my expectations. I
want you to go out there and select the kind of lumber you would use in
your home. Can you do that for me?” He replied, “Yessir!” He assured me, “I
will take care of it personally, sir.” We shook hands, and I thanked him and walked away with a glass half-empty feeling.
The delivery was made mid-afternoon as
promised, but nearly half the lumber had to be sent back. The delivery driver
was apologetic to the point of embarrassment because the delivery man was the
same person who selected the lumber for delivery! I didn’t have to say very
much; the condition of the lumber said it all. I did comment, “Correct me if I
am wrong here, but isn’t the money I paid for my order the same price for good quality
wood as warped and damaged wood?” You could tell by the expression on his face
he knew where I was going with all of this.
I continued, “I would be crazy to accept
the warped and damaged lumber, right? He said, “Yessir.” Oddly, I wasn’t angry
at all, disappointed, yes, because he presented himself as having a can-do
attitude, but obviously, he couldn’t “get ‘er done.” Before leaving to replace
the defective lumber, the young man promised, “I will make it right.” I
responded, “I have all the confidence in the world that you will.” Isn’t it
ironic how there is not enough time to do a job right, but there is always time
to fix the problem?
He came back about an hour and a half
later with a quality of lumber that made both of us smile. He apologized a
second time, but this time I suggested that in the future he under-promise and over-deliver! We
shook hands, and I thanked him for making things right; it was a good sign. Once again, he had a big
grin on his face. I think I made a friend that day because I didn’t browbeat him to
death.
As he drove away, I thought about how I
could have communicated the expectations any better, but honestly, I thought I
laid it all out there rather plainly. This young man had been working with lumber
for some time. Recognizing defective wood is not an art form. I am positive he
would not use the lumber he brought to me that day for his house! What did I
learn from this, other than going out to the lumber yard and picking out the lumber myself?
This young man struggled in making the right
choices. I am sure there were time constraints, concerns about being productive,
and so forth. Can this man stand before God and say that the company made him do
this or that? No, he made a choice to be part of the problem of trying to get
by in passing on inferior lumber to the consumer for whatever reason he felt justified in doing so. It’s not good for business,
but if you allow any lumber wholesaler or retailer (including Big Box) to select and deliver lumber to
you, it will quickly become evident; they are not going to cull out the bad
from the good based primarily on time and space constraints.
Keep in mind that you are paying the
same price for quality lumber as you are the defective lumber. The golden rule
doesn’t operate in this manner. The GR would say, the kind of lumber you would
want to be delivered to you is the same quality of wood you should deliver to others. The
problem is the back half of the golden rule. Forgetting the back half of the
golden rule is just another way of illustrating hypocrisy; you want others to
treat you right, but it is not reciprocated.
I am not on a campaign here for pointing out
the evils of dealing with lumber distributors. It simply illustrates the problem that the world system has with the golden rule. I am of the old school in believing that the
golden rule as a business standard of operation is a positive asset for any
legitimate business, but we live in a world that is far from perfect. Total
depravity is not interested in the GR. Most unbelievers rely on what is
expedient rather than doing the right thing by others.
If believers are not careful, they can think
and act just like the world. I know of a jeweler who claims to be a Christian,
and I would not do business with him. Sadly, this man justifies his blatant greed with his mantra,
“I have to make a profit!” You can justify anything with that narrow mindset; forget about win/win or Win3 (the seller wins, the buyer wins, and God wins)! Way too often it is a win for one and a loss for the other. You can be assured that people with a win/lose attitude want to be
treated right, but far too often they don’t return the favor.
I am of the opinion that the golden rule
is the natural byproduct of the second command which is linked to the prime
directive of all of Scripture,
(Mar 12:30) AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. This is the first commandment.
(Mar 12:30) AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. This is the first commandment.
(Mar 12:31) And the second, like
it, is this: YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. There is no other
commandment greater than these.
(Mt 7:12) Therefore, whatever you want men to do
to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
(Lk 6:31) And
just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
(Rom 13:10) Love does no harm to a neighbor;
therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
It doesn’t require a rocket scientist to
see the golden rule is tied to the second command which is connected to the great
command. The world system has no stomach for anyone or anything God. As
believers, we can expect the world to buy into the idea that whoever has the gold rules but not
the golden rule of whatever you want men to do
to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. The world system does not recognize or give two hoots for the authority
of the Law and the Prophets.
As you can gather from the passages
above, the golden rule is a by-product of love, the agape kind. Unlike
the world, if we love God with the totality of our being and we love our neighbor as ourselves, we won’t stop with the first half – And just as you want
men to do to you. If we are making it all
about us, then there’s a love problem. We are commanded to see it through as an expression
of love (agape) that glorifies Yahweh. Don’t stop with the first half! Finish it – do also to them, for this is the Law and
the Prophets.
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