BUSY AND RICH
At Sunrise Engineering, Inc., we develop, license, design
and administer construction of hydroelectric projects that generate electricity
from water power. Our specialty is
projects of 20 Mega Watts or less and we are good at what we do, a sort of
boutique firm. Years ago when we began, I
needed a sub-consultant who specialized in instrumentation and control of hydro
turbines and generator equipment. A
supplier friend of mine referred me to Cliff Malm at CF Malm Engineers in
Seattle, Washington. Cliff and I became
close friends and have completed many projects in the USA over the past 30
years. Cliff’s philosophy about our work
was simple; “The work to correctly complete a project is the same regardless of
pay. So, ask for what you need because
you will be busy, either busy and poor or busy and rich. I would rather be busy and rich.” This principle could be restated as: Make yourself busy doing things of value and that
bring you closer to your goal.
I observed this principle in the way some people worked in
my office. We were a design office. We were paid to produce what are called
‘deliverables.’ Deliverables are
designs, drawings, specifications, studies, inspections or whatever is called
for in the agreement with the Owner.
Some employees were a flurry of activity all day long in the office. It was tiring just to watch them. But with all their busyness, they did not do
one thing to produce a deliverable. I
call this ‘Busy Work.’ They were reading
their email, filling out expense reimbursements, checking production reports,
visiting with associates, calling suppliers, etc, etc. while the actual
production work of moving the deliverables closer to completion, what the
client needed before he would pay us, was seldom entered into. These employees did not last long. The ability for someone to recognize and
focus on steps or activities that directly move the desired result along to
completion is a gift. But, it is also a
learned behavior.
Missionary work is no different than work in a business. We are under contract to deliver baptisms
once per month per companionship but we do not have direct control over
baptisms because each investigator, someone besides you, must make a decision
before any baptism is performed.
Therefore, your deliverable is keeping 3-5 progressing investigators at
all times in our teaching pool. You need
to average over 20 lessons taught per week per companionship, if you expect to
baptize once per month. We only average
5.9 lessons at the present time. The
changes needed to bring about this increased performance will come by actions
that produce the deliverable; that moves the ball down the field, using an
American football analogy. Everything
you do during your day is missionary work:
study, meal times, exercise, planning, area book, 12 week training, finding,
teaching, etc. should really contribute to producing your deliverable. Without understanding this and purposefully
doing things, you may be doing Busy Work.
Preach My Gospel states:
“As you set goals and make plans,
evaluate what you do in terms of how your efforts will add to the numbers of
people represented in each of these key indicators. Your goal should be to have
increasing numbers for every key indicator.
… Evaluate all you do based on
whether it adds to the numbers of people in these categories. If you and your
companion cannot see how a proselyting activity might help increase the numbers
of people in one or more key indicators, you need to question whether the
activity is worth your time.” (PMG p.
139)
This concept was taught vividly in the account of the
Apostle Paul and his experiences in Athens, Greece which at that time was the
center of world culture. Paul saw the
city wholly given in to idolatry.
Athenians had made Greek gods for everything: sea, sky, agriculture, earth, etc. They had a separate god for every aspect of
their lives. And, to cover their bases
they made an idol for the Unknown God, just in case they had forgotten
one. I can imagine Paul wandering
through the City and observing all this.
He began to dispute in the synagogue and market every day with the Jews,
devout persons and anyone who would talk to him. In my opinion, the Athenians spent all their
time with ‘Busy Work’:
“21 (For all the Athenians and
strangers which were there
spent
their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)” (Acts 17:21)
The philosophers and people who encountered Paul worshiped
God’s creations rather than God himself.
They said Paul was a babbler, a setter forth of strange gods, a preacher
of Jesus and the resurrection, bringing certain strange things to our ears and speaking
new doctrine. They brought him and said,
“…we would know therefore what these things mean.” Paul then gave what might have been one of
the best understatements in history plus maybe the one of the best sermons in
history:
“22 Then Paul stood in the
midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things ye are
too
superstitious.”
23 For as I passed by, and
beheld your
devotions,
I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE
UNKNOWN GOD.
Whom therefore ye
ignorantly worship,
him
declare I
unto you. (Acts 17:22-23)
Paul went on to explain who the unknown God was to those who
had replaced revelation with reason and debate.
God made the world and all things therein, He does not dwell in temples
made by hands, He is not worshipped by men’s hands as if He needed something
from man, men of all nations are one blood, and:
“27 That
they should
seek the
Lord, if they are willing to find him, for he is not far from every one of
us.
(JST Acts 17:27)
28 For
in him we
live,
and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For
we are also his
offspring.
29 Forasmuch
then as we are the
offspring of
God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto
gold,
or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s
device.” (Acts 17:27-29)
From this account, we are clearly warned of the dangers of
always seeking a new thing, that as God’s offspring we should worship him and sincere
testimony can convincingly counter reason and logic. But in a larger sense we see Paul ‘Busy and
Rich.’ He was producing his
deliverable. The Athenians were ‘Busy
and Poor,’ being engaged in busy work but not anything productive.
On a mission and in life, knowing what your deliverable is,
learning to see how and insist that your actions directly produce your
deliverable is priceless.
President Robinson
