Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, who died a few years ago, was once a familiar sight to millions who saw his company’s television commercials. He also appeared in a lot of in-store training films. In those, as in many of the more familiar commercials, he would typically dress as his workers. One year he appeared on the cover of one of the company’s annual reports dressed in a knee-length work apron holding a mop and a plastic bucket. For many years, a framed copy of that picture graced the back rooms and manager’s offices of most Wendy’s restaurants. Dave Thomas was a self-made [if there truly is such a thing] millionaire. He didn’t finish high school. He worked his way up through the ranks of Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken chain long before he went off on his own and started Wendy’s. Here’s how Dave explained that picture: “I got my M.B.A. long before my G.E.D. At Wendy’s M.B.A. does not mean Master of Business Administration. It means Mop Bucket Attitude.” Dave Thomas taught all of his employees that service comes before success. The Wendy’s owner learned that servant ethic from the Gospels and the New Testament.
Jesus said about himself, “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.” He said to his disciples, “Let the one among you who would be greatest be the servant of all.” The New Testament again and again reinforces this ethic, that we “serve one another.” The humility that was communicated by Dave Thomas was more of a personal strategy for success in the business world. But, it is so much more… it is the key to the life you have always wanted. Being someone who “would do anything for anyone” is a supreme compliment and a shortcut to greatness in the eyes of God and men.
Pray with me…. Father, Your Son was our Servant, becoming obedient to death on a cross. Make us like Him. In His name, Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Ken
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