Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday October 16, 2007

Do you like your job? Do you like it enough to do it well and to be proud of the work and proud of your effort?

Henry Blackaby tells the interesting story of Ervin Sievers. Ervin died at age 45, yet he lived a full life and was committed to being the best there has ever been in his chosen profession. Was Ervin a great preacher, congressman? Did he perform brain surgery and save hundreds of people from a wheelchair bound existence?

None of the above. Ervin Sievers was a garbage collector. Yep, from the tender age of 17 until his death by brain cancer at 45 Ervin collected garbage and he did it with pride. Paul Cronkite a co-worker with Ervin said,

"I was a loader on the back of Ervin's truck. He taught me how to drive. It's not very glamorous. But he took a job that nobody likes, and he did it well."

Ervin left a clause in his will that a garbage truck was to be a part of his funeral procession, following right behind the hearse.

When I was a kid we used to sing a little ditty that none of us paid much attention to, yet in my life I can still hear the kids singing it in our off key poverty bound way. "Do what you do well, son, do what you do, do well." Good advice and philosophy for living life to its fullest in the ditty and how often we miss much of the best God has for us because we do not practice the integrity laden principle of doing whatever it is that we do as unto the Lord.

I read of Ervin and his commitment to excellence against the backdrop of a phone call from a pastor who is miserable in his position. His slovenly habits have dragged his organization from a highly successful church to one that is just wallowing around in what Bunyan called "The slough of Despond." Why is this? The man in question takes no pride in his personal work, nor in the calling. Halfhearted is the word to describe his life for most of his life. I have often wondered why some men, such as Ervin, can demonstrate integrity from the driver's seat of a garbage truck and a pastor, evangelist or missionary drops their gaze when answering the question, "And what do you do?" Too often the answer is merely mumbled.

One pastor confided in me that although he seems to be a failure as far as the ministry is concerned he is near the top nationally in choosing and running his "Fantasy Football Team." Well, praise the Lord, do I hear a hearty amen?

The late prophet of long life, George Burns wrote:

"I'd rather be a failure at something I enjoy than be a success at something I hate."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2007 Use with credit.

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