Not My Problem

I used to have a sign on my office wall that said, “Fail­ure To Plan On Your Part Does Not Con­sti­tute An Emer­gency On My Part.” I had some staff mem­bers that seemed to live in the cri­sis mode per­pet­u­ally. Much of what we had to do required team efforts. Invari­ably, there would always be one per­son that would drop the ball. There was always an excuse that went with it. We found that com­pen­sat­ing for the weak link in the chain only kept the rest of us doing dou­ble duty. The best thing was to replace the slacker.
I pre­fer to work alone. I have not had a paid staff in many years. If the work does not get done, it is not because of some­one else not car­ry­ing his or her part of the load. If I ever do sec­u­lar work again, I will have to be self-employed. I have lost the abil­ity to wait on oth­ers, when it comes to get­ting my part of the work done. Com­put­ers have reduced staff size in many pro­fes­sions. Any­more, a cell phone and a lap­top com­puter equals one if not two other peo­ple. Through­out the world, these and other tech­nolo­gies have made us more inde­pen­dent. Peo­ple stand or fall more on their own now. There are fewer places for the pas­sive or lazy to hide.
This is no excuse to be insen­si­tive or to elim­i­nate the human fac­tor in orga­ni­za­tions. Churches require a high vol­un­teer level to do what they need to do. The same goes for other non-profit orga­ni­za­tions. Get­ting the job done means every­one doing a few or many things. The church, through the ages, has flour­ished because of its unpaid work­ers. It is truly the most grass­roots orga­ni­za­tion on earth. The mem­bers are par­tic­i­pants — not mere spec­ta­tors (which is what “shar­ing in the suf­fer­ings of Christ” is all about).
Jesus told many para­bles about being pre­pared. He was never ter­ri­bly sym­pa­thetic toward pas­sive peo­ple. If he lived today, and gave press con­fer­ences, most would be shocked by his expec­ta­tions. He was and is sym­pa­thetic to the truly oppressed, but he never accepted excuses for chronic incom­pe­tence. Life is a pre­cious gift, and not to be squan­dered by foot-dragging. It is not up to oth­ers to carry your or my part of the load.
I have learned to share the load and care for the suf­fer­ings of oth­ers — when it is appro­pri­ate. I have also learned that pain and depri­va­tion are moti­va­tional gifts built right into the uni­verse itself. I dare not rob peo­ple of them. Car­ing is my call­ing. Com­pen­sat­ing for the delib­er­ately incom­pe­tent is not my prob­lem — or yours either. That may seem harsh, but it is the nature of the respon­si­ble life that leads to full maturity.