A Lesson From Disney

Last week my wife, Janae, and I took our 2 boys, Joshua(4) & Reid(1), to Disneyworld and we had an amazing time.  We know a number of people who had been in the past, but this was the first time for us as a family.  Based on what we had been told we had very high expectations in terms of guest service (especially in terms of doing anything possible to accommodate guests when needs/concerns/problems arise), the attitude of employees while doing their job, and a general desire of all employees to create an enjoyable stay for all guests.  We did the full service stay: we stayed in a Disney resort, used the meal plan, and went to all the parks; so, during our stay we came into direct contact with at least a couple hundred employees and cast members, probably even more than that.  Of all the hundreds of people we came into contact with during the week we only had two people that didn’t meet up with the expectations we had for our experience.  To only have 2 sub-par encounters out of so many excellent encounters is a testament to the way Disney trains and values their employees.  It is also testament to the level of belief in the product that 99.9% of Disney employees seem to have and actually, even more than all of that, it is a testament to the level of ownership that exists in the hearts of the employees of this monster company known as Disney…and its all for a Mouse?

The reason I am writing about our experience in Disneyworld is because as I was driving the long drive home to Northeast Georgia I couldn’t help but wonder: “If people will believe, buy-in, and take ownership in a company with that level of commitment day-in and day-out…with such a tiny number of sub-par employees (who probably don’t last very long anyway)…for what all comes down to a paycheck; why do we as Christians find it so hard to give that kind of commitment to our Lord and God and the Mission and Vision of His Church?  Why is it that the Church and Christians as a whole have acquired a reputation that turns people away, that is labeled as hypocritical, and in some cases that even repulses people?  If people at Disney who are simply working for a paycheck can have that kind of belief and ownership in a temporary company that will one day cease to exist; why is it that those of us who believe ourselves to be saved from an eternity of pain and torment in hell and saved to an eternity in heaven with the one who sacrificed himself on our behalf can’t have at least that same level of belief and ownership?  Truthfully, we should be outdoing Disney!!  We have something far greater than wishing upon a star!!  We don’t have to wish for our dreams to come true; we know THE REAL TRUTH!!  If we believe in Jesus as Savior and are continually being transformed in all areas of our lives to be more like Him our eternity is set.  We don’t need to wish, we know our eternity is secure!! 

Please don’t misunderstand; I loved every minute of my time at Disneyworld with my family.  They do an amazing job there.  Our boys had a BLAST and Janae and I had a BLAST watching them.  We will go back…we will return to that magical land in central Florida.  But my prayer is that all of us who call ourselves Christians can come to realize that if we are to fulfill the mission given to us by God we need to buy-in, we need to believe, we need to take OWNERSHIP that as Christians we exist to “lead others to a life-changing connection with Jesus” and “we are a church that is on a relentless pursuit of people where they are.” 

Keep out of Reach of Children

“Keep out of Reach of Children”… Now that my son, Joshua, is a closing in on 2.5 years old I am noticing the above quoted statement, or rather, this warning everywhere.  And for good reason, he is getting into everything and much of what he is getting into he absolutely shouldn’t have either because it is dangerous or because he doesn’t know how to properly use it.  I am amazed at the things that could be potentially harmful to my son that I never would have thought of as harmful before. 

But there are many things that are absolutely good for my son to be able experience despite his potential ignorance of how to properly use them or understand them.  Love, discipline, mercy, grace, correction, and compassion are just a few of the things that require no previous understanding or experience to have a positive impact on his life. 

This subject reminds me of a time in Jesus’ ministry when little children were being hindered from being front and center to the love and teaching of the Son of God.  In Matthew 19:13-14 we see Jesus’ closest followers rebuking people for bringing their children to see and touch Jesus.  Jesus says to his followers in verse 14, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 

It is an unfortunate thing, but our society tends to ignore and discount children and their abilities to make an impact in their environments; unfortunately, the American church as a whole has often followed this thinking.  In my opinion, that is one of the reasons why 80-85% of high school graduates walk away from the church of their parents and never return.  I don’t say this to scold the church, but I do say this to remind the church that we must not forget to put our children front and center before the Love of Christ.  The church must continue to love children from K-College in such a way that they can’t help but be overwhelmed by the Love of Christ.  When they feel welcomed, loved, valued, lifted up, inspired, connected, and involved in the church they can’t help but stay plugged in to that kind of environment.  

Also, as parents we absolutely CANNOT simply rely on the church to do the spiritual teaching and training of our children.  WE MUST be the primary vessels of faith transformation for our children.  I know as a parent I struggle with this, just as I struggle with keeping myself in God's word daily.  But we must make it a point of life to teach and train our children in the homes to think, speak, act, and live as Jesus did; this is our #1 role as parents. 

 

“Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it”                                                                                                               Proverbs 22:6