Punctuality vs. Piety
reprinted with permission
I have never known success to be anything else but the strict execution of three simple rules: 1) Start on time. 2) Finish on time. 3) Demand others to do the same. When implemented, there is no good reason why failure should ever be an outcome.
At my work, we hold weekly teleconferences for our satellite project at 1:30pm on Mondays. Because our project manager is based in McClean, VA, he calls us first. When does he call? At 1:30pm. Consistently. When do our meetings finish? By 2:30pm, at the latest. Consistently. At the start of each meeting, we give status reports on our tasks. Our PM wants to know where we are in terms of completion. Sometimes new tasks are assigned. But before we move on to another engineer, the PM always asks, “when do you think you can get this done by?” And he holds us to this.
Perhaps this is a gross exaggeration, but just based on my interactions with people and organizations, Adventist ministry isn’t so friendly to the concept of punctuality. Rather the emphasis is more on piety. Spirituality is piety, not so much punctuality. I’m sorry but, to me, being able to quote verses and Spirit of Prophecy quotes, or to talk passionately is no more spiritual to me than being on time and finishing on time.
Why am I making such a big deal out of time? If we open up the Bible, we see that the very first words in Scripture denote the time element. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” In the beginning. In fact, the whole first chapter of the Bible is a systematic completion of the various tasks God had set aside for Himself to create the world we live in today.
Light. “And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
Heaven. “And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Earth and Seas. “And the evening and the morning were the third day.”
Sun, Moon, and Stars. “And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”
Fish and Birds. “And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.”
Animals and Man. “And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
I love these two next verses in the Bible. Genesis 2:1 -” Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” Genesis 2:2 – “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”
So powerful. Nowhere does it say that God has any mishap in timing or execution. Nowhere does it say God showed up late and had to push back completion to a few more days, and so Sabbath had to be changed to the 13th day. This whole creation process was a flawless work of engineering.
For some reason, many of us don’t seem to like this model, the same model that non-Christians in industry and elsewhere seemed to have picked up. Preachers show up late to sermons, student group leaders show up late to Bible study, teleconferences start 15 minutes past schedule, and end 30 minutes late. If the project doesn’t look like it’ll near completion, the deadline is simply pushed back. Therefore, there is no concept of a “dead-line” to begin with. Some may say, well you don’t just want to produce something mediocre just to meet the deadline. If rule #2 is to finish on time, and your product isn’t good, and it was never your intention to produce something mediocre, then you haven’t really finished, have you? Finishing by definition implies having done a good job.
Jesus did not place piety over punctuality. He didn’t just teach Scripture and heal people. Jesus was a man of strict discipline according to the time. His entrance into this world took place when “the fulness of time was come.” In fact, Jesus was such a strict observer of time, that He didn’t even do things too early. When Mary told Jesus that the wedding ran out of wine, Jesus said “Mine hour is not yet come.” And having lived this perfect lifestyle, when on the cross, having fulfilled His mission, He was able to say, “It is finished.”
No one can say punctuality is just for the lowly and meek, that as you get bigger and more important, it’s more difficult to be on time and okay to be fashionably late. My PM has a B.S., M.S., and PhD all from MIT. He was former Vice-President at Boeing, was CEO and CTO of multiple aerospace companies, and also happens to be a former Undersecretary of Defense. Yet he faithfully calls at 1:30pm every Monday. And I have never been so proud to work for someone.
Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t wrong to be pious. But piety doesn’t cover the lack of punctuality. It’s great that you have oratory skills. We thank you for your deep thoughts. We recognize your many accomplishments. But please, be on time. There isn’t enough left in this world.
I have railed about this to many of my friends, co-workers, and leaders in ministry. And I will continue to do so, unashamedly, because without a shadow of a doubt, I believe that it will be impossible to get to the next level if we Adventists continue to disregard punctuality. After all, our identity is ingrained in a very specific, time-oriented message – the 3 Angels Message. Fear God, give glory, for the hour of His judgment has come.