Ya Gotta Get Your Hands Dirty To Succeed

Luke 15:1-10

A lady I know had just moved to Farmington, and applied for a secretarial position at one of the local Oilfield companies. After the interview, She was very upset and stated that she’d never work for that company. When asked to come back and fill out employment forms, she refused to go, telling them she’d found something else.

As she explained to us later, when she went for her interview a few minutes early, the owner was in the back, and had to be called to meet her. Before he could talk to her, he had to stop and wash up. He conducted the interview sitting on the corner of his desk, dressed in a work shirt and blue jeans like any common laborer. A person who had no more concern for appearances than that would never be successful, and she wasn’t going to let her standards down and work for someone like that.

The funny thing is, the man she referred to started the company in his garage as the only employee about thirty years ago. He now has offices in four or five cities, and employs about a thousand people. Their annual sales are hundreds of millions of dollars. One of the reasons for the success is that the owner regularly goes out on the well sites and works alongside his workers so he knows what they are facing. As a result, he is current on the problems that are faced and the new technologies.

His intimate knowledge of the work enables him to explain to prospective clients what will be needed and to assure them that potential problems can be resolved. His employees know that if there is a problem, he will be available to help resolve it without blaming them unfairly. He has one of the lowest employee turnover rates and best safety records in the entire oilfield industry. Despite the woman’s opinion, he appears to be fairly successful.

Sculptor Shalah Perkins has received numerous honors for her work. For over fifty years they ran a family ranch in southeastern Colorado. Shalah was frequently offended by reporters who insisted that she surely didn’t actually work the cattle herself. They don’t understand that it is the experience with the work that makes her sculpture so powerful.

The Pharisees were like a great many religious people of today, convinced that the Christian was supposed to set themselves above the world as some thing to be attained. After all you will not reach the wealthy if you don’t dress as well as they do. They ignore the fact that the majority of the people will never be wealthy. Those who are not wealthy are rarely able to associate with those who are so an effort to reach the wealthy isolates us from the vast majority of people.

“Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” (Luke 15:1-2)

The sculptor and the business owner described earlier both are willing to get involved in menial work to accomplish what needs to be done. It has made them successful far beyond the scope of that immediate job. Jesus’ willingness to associate with the ordinary people drew them to him, even as the scribes and Pharisees condemned him for it. Jesus explains the importance of direct involvement with a couple of parables.

“And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:3-7)

One of the problems with business today is that many managers want to sit in their office and draw the big checks while someone else does the work. This attitude has led to the bank crisis and collapse of a lot of companies. Like the sculptor and business owner I described, a successful shepherd must be willing to get involved with the day to day care for the sheep. He can’t just wait for someone else to do it or the sheep to come back by itself.

He actively goes to where the sheep might be, searching in concealed spots for the one, though he knows there will be just one. He does so at great cost to himself and his pride, getting tired and dirty and scratched and tearing his clothing in his search. Others may well look and say it’s just a sheep and isn’t worth the trouble, and in immediate dollar value it may not be. The good shepherd looks beyond the immediate money value however, and is willing to give up his comfort and convenience for it. To him, finding it is worth a lot. Please note that he would give the same effort for any of the other ninety nine. The rejoicing is that they have been found. The same principle is illustrated in the next parable.

“Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:8-10)

Far more businesses have failed because the manager was not willing to do the actual work than because he wouldn’t “Dress For Success.” Far more people will be in hell because Christians refused to get involved with their neighbors than because they didn’t maintain a proper social standing.

When it is obvious we care that much, people will come because they can trust us no matter what. When they feel we don’t care about them, the only time they come is as a last resort when everything else has failed. It is probably the reason why most people only come to the church when their whole life has collapsed.