Urgent Memo
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it would lead to increased business activity. Don’t you find yourself going back more frequently, or more easily, to those businesses that treat you as someone special? In the long run, when those three seconds are thoughtfully given to each customer, every such store would be known for its positive atmosphere and thrive.
Glen Gorman, a New Hope Counselor and trainer, owns a highly regarded automobile collision repair shop. His workers are trained to listen to the stories of those who bring their crashed cars in for repair. They all have a story and Glen has prepared his staff to hear them. Glen knows good business but he also has a heart for caring about people. Here they combine wonderfully.
The first duty of a Christian craftsman, employee, or handyman is to do his work well. That is first.
I remember an incident where I was being treated for a heart dis-rhytmyia in a hospital Emergency Unit. The nurse’s assignment was to shoot digitalis into my blood stream. She was pleasant, caring, warm, and friendly, but she kept missing my veins. Finally she called another R.N. over. This one was brusque, firm and cold, but she scored on her first try. I gave thanks for Cold Nurse # 2 more than for Warm Nurse #1.
As Christian workers in any area, our first duty is to perform it at our very best. And to seek continually to improve our skills. Apparently, Nurse #1 needed more in that arena. But though in this instance I preferred Nurse #2, who was indeed skilled, it was unfortunate that she didn’t have the warm side to her that I appreciated in Nurse #1. Doing our best at our work is important, but it is not enough.
In much of life, the most important thing is people. And a Christian, especially, wherever he works, must notice and connect with the ones being served. It isn’t just good business. It is our duty as Followers of Jesus to care about people, and most of the time it helps the business, too.
Is there anything more important than a person. Businesses are about people. Without people —customers and clients — there is no purpose for the business. So the way those people are treated ought to be THE highest priority for any business. Is there truly paper work, or product handling, or business arrangements that are of such high priority that they should not be dropped for a human connection?
We’ve looked at the dental office and the auto body shop. Each of these businesses are benefiting by training their staff to relate better to people, to give an appropriate amount of time and attention to the “persons” they are dealing with – not seeing them simply as customers. What about looking at the church as a business? I don’t mean that in the pejorative sense that we sometimes see in the media, or that the critics of religion put forth. Rather, the church does have much in common with a business. It exists to provide a service to people, it seeks to find ways to draw people to its place of business, it has employees that are hired to serve the people who come, and it wants those who come to turn into repeat customers.
Sorry to say, but the up-front staff at local churches do not shine more brightly than those in the dentist offices. Churches should set a high level of welcoming warmth to every caller and everyone who walks in the door, whether a familiar member or a stranger. In reality, connecting with church office personnel, more than half the time, during open hours is not a very good demonstration of care and kindness: little warmth, minimal cheerfulness, mostly “how can I help you,” in a matter of fact, slightly impatient manner—like you are interrupting. And seldom is it possible to speak to an actual staff pastor.
Dial the phone number of most churches after hours and what you will get is a message machine with a monotonous voice telling you the time of the Sunday services. There is no warm greeting, no smiling embrace, no well-wishing, or even words of blessing. There is simply a voice telling the time of the Sunday services.
A retired pastor called 175 churches to offer them a DVD of the Care and Kindness philosophy. He acknowledged that about 60% were rather cold and indifferent in answering the telephone—40% were warm and friendly. That’s it. Is that how it ought to be? Shouldn’t the church of Jesus Christ be the place to turn to see examples of loving kindness in action? If one seeks to learn how to better relate to people, how to serve people in better ways, wouldn’t you think the church would be a primary resource?
I heard of a major church sending its staff to The Disneyland Institute in Florida to get trained for more positive and consistent human relationship building in their work. What’s wrong with this picture? Followers of Jesus, whom he declared to be “the light of the world” ought to be the teachers, the examples, the mentors for business. Businesses should be coming to the churches for such teaching.
“God is love” the Bible tells us. That implies that a major part of the agenda of every follower of Jesus is to show love. To show love is to give God to people. The headquarters of the “Love” business should be the local church. The best and most consistent must be demonstrated there! No one should be hired unless they know how to smile as well as type.
What about the cashiers at the local Super Market, Wal-Mart or Costco? Managers and owners of such important distributors of food and merchandise who are Christians may want their employees to give God to people, too. They cannot appropriately evangelize their associates during business hours nor can they encourage their Christian staff to talk about Jesus with each other or with the public. However, they can insist on smiles, friendliness and warmth. These commodities are core Christian virtues. Everybody needs them and every human being has the capacity to give them. These commodities, these virtues, these simple gestures of kindness are loving. And remember, God is love. They are giving God to people, whether they know it or not.
Every taste of God, whether it is a smile, a welcoming voice, kind eye-contact or noticing a nice sweater a person is wearing builds hope in the heart of the recipient. Such loving-kindness, no matter how small, carries a message. It is this: “There is goodness in this world; not just meanness. There is kindness in this world; not just selfishness.” That is hope. Hope can be planted in small ways and everyone must work at this.
Loving kindness is to be offered without a hidden agenda. It is not a strategy. Treating people care-fully is ground level, basic, foundational behavior. “Love one another,” said Jesus. It is not secondary. It is not a tactic. It is doing what God, in Jesus, does full-time with us.
Everybody is qualified to participate in this gift-giving conduct. It is not a talent some have and others are denied. Therefore we are striving, every way we can, to ignite a prairie fire of care and kindness that will warm every part of the world—starting at the reception desk, the sales counter, and the church office; starting with the telephone operator, the clerk, the mechanic, the nurse, the waiter.
Dentists and Doctors, send your staff to our conference for training. Business managers, send your employees for basic care training. Church leaders, send us your office people. We want to equip and motivate them to become the friendliest of all.
Churches are about people. People being loved, appreciated, valued, in ways that are obvious, conspicuous, noticeable. That goes for the business world as well. We must do better!
