*THE PARABLE OF THE BUSINESS OWNER/CEO WHO HAD TO LEAVE TOWN FOR A WHILE

I often think of the parable of the CEO – Business Owner who had to leave town on urgent business. He did not have time to meet with his key leadership or any of the employees in his company before leaving, so on his flight out of the country, he wrote a lengthy letter.  He informed them that he would be gone for some time, and while he was gone, they were to accomplish a number of things. He was gone for six months.

Without notice, the CEO returned. He pulled into the company parking lot and immediately noticed the weeds growing next to the building. He had left instructions on the landscaping that he wanted done while he was away.

As he entered the reception area, he immediately noticed the dust that had collected on the furniture. The receptionist quickly put away her nail file, sat up and said, “Good morning, sir.”

He walked past the receptionist, into the warehouse where some of his staff had put up a Ping-Pong table. The equipment was silent and his staff was involved in what seemed to be a party.

They stopped when they saw him and came over to him.

He stammered out, “There were things I wanted accomplished, but the equipment is silent, the weeds are growing outside, and the staff is playing instead of working the phones. Didn’t you get my letter?”

“Oh, that! You bet we got it! We made photocopies for every employee and we all took an entire day off just to read it. Man, what a letter! It was great! In fact, we’ve created smaller groups of employees who meet weekly to discuss the letter.  Some of our employees have even memorized parts of the letter. It is so good!”

Then, everyone fell quiet under the gaze of the CEO. He asked, “Did you do what I told you to do in the letter?”  “Oh, no sir.  You see, sir, we’re still studying the letter.”

Submitted by Pastor Bruce Daughtery, Woodland Park Baptist Church.