Agelessly Old

It has been said before, and is noticed again and again repeatedly, that The Old Story always seems new. The Bible may be read and reread, yet the Spirit will always have new and fresh insights and sources of inspiration. The Spirit is infinitely old, yet as ever has new paths for God's children.

One never changing characteristic of the Holy Spirit is that He will always bring about changes. Christ is the immovable Rock. We should keep one foot firmly based on that Rock but let the Spirit point the other foot in the direction He chooses.

If there is Life, there is change. Concrete is very steady and unmovable, but it is dead. Marble is solid, steady, and unyielding, but it is good for marking death.

You have heard of the Three M Company, MMM. Most church groups begin with a man on fire for God, a revolutionary to the conservative churches. Then there grows out of that revival a Movement, and the third generation makes the movement a Monument to the man and the movement, and, of course, monuments are for the dead.

Christians, we are to be like eagles. Eagles must have balance and soar to the heights. The Christian must find the balance, guided by the Holy Spirit, in keeping our fundamentals of the faith unchangeable, yet our methods, attitudes, superficial rules and customs every renewable and liable to change.

I was sent the book on business administration that is being read and talked about so much of late. They say it is outselling the fiction books. I cannot read ordinary books, of course, but I use Talking Books on cassettes or records, this flexible records. I have the whole Bible, in that form and find listening to the Scriptures gives many new insights that I never had before just by reading

That business book called In Search of Excellence by Peters and Waterman, made a study of many companies both the currently outstanding, successful ones, and others that had once been, but whose profits and products had been steadily declining for some years. Lo, they found just what the Christians knew all along, namely: Hold on to certain fundamentals but keep changing, try experimenting, shake up the old routines, however good they may have served for a time.

Twenty years ago some companies worked out a system, devised various procedures which were new at the time, and found it very efficient and successful. But, it was so successful that subsequent managements were afraid to change a thing so that the second decade has been only decline.

An efficiency expert came into a company to see if he could improve production. He said, "Let's try improving the lights." and immediately the production increased. "Now let's wire in soft music," the production increased more. "Let's try painting the walls in harmonious pastels." The production increased still again. Mystified, the planners tried more comfortable work seats, and then uniforms, only to be further mystified as EVERY change produced a better production output. Finally, they went to the trouble and expense to take it all out and put everything back just as it was originally. The production increased still once again. MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY ONE ELEMENT WAS THE PRINCIPLE OF CHANGE, PERSONAL ATTENTION, INTEREST, BREAK ROUTINES, EXPERIMENT, and, in short, Life, instead of boring routines and competition.

After the competitions they give prizes, AND they discovered that giving credit and recognition in the company worked better than just giving money bonuses in many cases.

Henry Ford was a genius in some ways. He began to see yearly in his career that a simple product on a mass production assembly line could produce a very low priced but fairly good product. His Model T's began to sell and his price came down. It came down still further and the sales increased still more until for several years the Model T outsold ALL the rest of the cars put together. When his agencies and advisors wanted more variety, he would always reply, "I have proved my method is best and right, and will listen to no one." When other companies began to paint their cars in various colors, he replied that the Ford buyer could have any color he chose, as long as it was black. But his proven methods which made his company great for over one decade just about destroyed it in a later decade. Other cars invented self-starters. Ford owners still had to crank, even fairly often breaking an arm. Others went to electric lights. Ford kept the old gas. Others invented first four wheel brakes and then hydraulic, and Ford stayed with the old mechanical brakes and on only two wheels. The company was right on the verge of bankruptcy when the grandson, Henry II, took over almost by force and began to introduce all kinds of new innovations again.

The business books say, "When one experiments it must necessarily mean you are going to have at least SOME failures. If your managers are not involved in a few mistakes, it means they are not trying and experimenting. Your company is either on a decline or soon will be. Some mistakes are bound to be an element in anything dynamic and progressive. Just make sure your managers are producing more successes than mistakes."

To translate the foregoing into Christian terms, we say, "The Christian has his ups and downs, but his ups grow ever higher. There must always be severe battles, but one cannot have victories without the battles first." Paul said, "It must needs be that by great tribulation we enter into the Kingdom of God." A military man has said, "If we lose every battle except the last one, we win the war." Let us remember that Christ already defeated old Satan. He has already won the victory. We can win victories only as we appropriate His victory and keep Him as our Captain at the front of our every advance.

If the business people are so wise in their generation and all for just a corruptible gain, how much more should we Christians keep alive to the new moves of the Holy Spirit and be ready to attack on some new front to go forward in Christ's Name, rather than holding back until the devil attacks us. We are promised an incorruptible crown and riches that fade not away. We must use our every talent in order to hear our beloved Lord say, Come up, faithful servant. Ye have been faithful with these few areas, now I will make you ruler over many. Enter ye into the joy of your Lord."