Open Door

My wife, Janice, was with my daughter, Karen, this week when she took her car to one of those fast oil change places to get the oil changed. Before Karen left the house, her husband, Stephen, gave her some good advice. He said, "Now, you know how they always try to sell you on doing extra things to the car while you are there. Don't let them talk you into anything. Just get the oil changed. That's all that is needed right now." So Karen took the car and Janice was there with her and told me what happened.

It helps to know that two weeks ago Karen and Stephen had to have some new tires on their vehicle. They got four new Michelins - outstanding tires. They were getting ready for a trip and the old tires simply were no longer safe on the highway. The four new tires were balanced and placed on the car two weeks ago.

As the technician was finishing with the oil change, he did what Stephen had said he would do. He recommended further work. What do you think he recommended? Perhaps he recommended that the transmission fluid be flushed and changed. (I get that suggestion a lot.) No. Perhaps he suggested the windshield wipers be replaced. No. Was it a recommendation to service the brakes? No. How about changing the air filter (a favorite recommendation)? Nope. Would you guess that he looked at the tires and suggested that it looked like it was about time to rotate the tires? Yes, that was the recommendation.

Now, it is not my intention in this article to indict all fast oil change technicians. I understand that at times other repairs or adjustments need to be made and the recommendation is suggested to the customer. This one, however, was a clear illustration of a guy suggesting to a lady that she do something that did not need to be done in order to engage her for more business. This is not honest.

For years my wife had cautioned me that men in these sorts of circumstances will at times take advantage of a lady because he thinks she doesn't know any better. I remember in the early years of our marriage being amazed that Janice would even suggest such a thing. I have to tell you, though, after 37 years of marriage and raising three daughters, I have had to admit that this kind of dishonesty is very prevalent.

There is a favorite verse in the Old Testament that speaks to this subject. The prophet Micah declared: "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 6:8).

Of all the things that we might think of that God might require of us, the first and foremost is "to do justly." In other words, God requires that we do what is right, do the right thing. There is no place in our world that this counsel is needed more than in the work place. I am not speaking just of the work place where you can get your oil changed. I am speaking of the executive offices and boardrooms across America. I am speaking of the break rooms, the water fountains, and the coffee pots, those places where people in the work place gather for discussion. In these places, we should be determined to require of ourselves and others nothing less than what God requires - that we do justly, do the right thing! By the way, sadly, this is not needed only in secular offices; it is also needed in churches and spiritual institutions across this country. Of all people, we should set the example of doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God.