Canopy check
Staff Sgt Patrick McManaman inspects the canopy on an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Aviano Air Base, Italy, Aug. 23 during a phase inspection. The inspection is done every 400 flying hours to ensure the aircraft is mission ready. Sergeant McManaman is with the 31st Maintenance Squadron. ( U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Nathan Doza )
September 4, 2006
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Be obedient to those who are your masters. —Ephesians 6:5
My brother worked 42 years for the Herman Miller Furniture Company. At his retirement dinner he said, “This is my company. Where else could a production worker like me participate in the management of the company?” What had instilled this kind of loyalty? In part, it was the leadership of D. J. De Pree, longtime president of the company.
One day a worker in the plant died suddenly. When Mr. De Pree visited his widow, she told him of her husband’s poetry and of his witnessing to the night watchman. This impressed De Pree with the value of each of the workers in his plant. From then on, his attitude toward the business changed. “I realized,” he said, “that the manufacturer’s first priority was to make his product the best he could for the one who would use it; the second was the man in the factory who made it; and the third was the ownership.”
This attitude is rooted in Scripture. Christians in labor and in management all work for one Master. Employees must therefore serve with diligence. Management must do the same—with two additions. They must be fair and just (Col. 4:1) and must not threaten (Eph. 6:9).
Integrity, concern for others, and mutual respect make any company a people company.
Bible in One Year: Bible in One Year: Psalms 143-145; 1 Corinthians 14:21-40
