What's the Point?

The other day, I was perturbed with a coworker for being late to a meeting. And on top of being late, he did not have the information he was supposed to have.

Now, I am one for getting things done on time. And done right. So my consternation was understandable, even righteous. I made it rather clear that his lack of follow-through had put us all in a tough spot. We would have to postpone the meeting or someone would have to quickly get the information for the report.

He apologized sincerely. Later, he told me that he had not understood that he was to get the information. And to be fair, I could then see that the confusion was not entirely on his part. The rest of us had assumed he would get the numbers, but we had not officially assigned anyone to the task.

I drove home somewhat mollified, but it still rankled a little that the schedule might have to be changed, and that my supervisor would think we were a disorganized bunch. I went ahead and got the information myself and sent it out in an email. It was not until a day later that I realized what I was really rankled about: I didn't want my boss to think I was disorganized.

This was not a pretty realization for me. I was perturbed with my coworker, and not for such righteous reasons after all. The righteous indignation was the veneer; the real sore spot was my own pride. How would his failure make me look? Ouch.

It occurred to me that I fail God a thousand times more often in two months than a coworker could ever fail me. But had God ever publicly scolded me (or written me a stern email and copied everyone even remotely involved)? No, He had not.

Don't get me wrong. I am not condoning lateness or slackness. But I am admitting that even with my drive for efficiency and accuracy, I fall short a lot. And the Lord allows me to try again, with His forgiveness and forbearance.

Here's the point. Perhaps the Lord, Who can accomplish His purposes very well in many ways--with or without me--is more interested in how we accomplish things than in what we actually accomplish.

Who was more at fault here--the person who was late or the person who was angry at him for being late because it would make her look bad? I ask you. For the record, the meeting was not postponed. But I did not find making the schedule as satisfying as I had thought I would. I had lingering guilt about my treatment of my coworker.

It seems to me that in God's economy, the work we are given is as much about providing us an opportunity to treat each other well as it is about the job. After all, anyone could get the report made. But only I can chair the committee and still gain the personal lessons from it that I need.

Next time, I hope that I can respond better. And in doing so, not only get the job done well, but--just as importantly--in a way that makes it easy to work together again. Because in heaven I expect the point will not be "Was the report on time?" It will be "How well did you treat your fellows in getting your work done on time?"

Alice Bronson is an English teacher and a freelance writer.