We love meetings. Well, what I mean is that corporate America loves them. You may not like them at all. But companies do. They have them all the time. There are morning meetings and lunch meetings. There are pre-meeting meetings and post-meeting meetings. There are even meta-meetings, where the purpose of the meeting is to talk about other meetings.
I am sure you have been in your fare share of meetings. Let’s think about them for a minute. Did they start on time? Was everyone there when the meeting started? I have been in some types of meetings that I can answer “yes” to both of these questions, but the majority of the time that hasn’t been the case. Most of the time, if a manager is not the actual host of the meeting, I have observed he or she will be late to it (and will often leave early).
Why is this? Why do people not show up on time for these things? For managers, I have a theory. I call it manager syndrome. Here is how it goes.
The key is to be as unavailable as possible. This works for managers because we think of them as busy people, and if they are are not available to you then this just verifies that claim. “Oh, they are super late to the meeting? They must be really busy doing a lot of things.” This brings us to the second point: People will equate busyness with importance. As a manager, being busy means being important. “Look at all the things he or she has to do,” you might say. “They are so important to this company.”
So the manager syndrome results in people high up in the org chart being late to meetings you call. They will also most likely leave early. Rare is the time when a manager will be on time for your meeting and will stay for the duration.
How would you like it if people showed up late for your meeting? It probably depends on the circumstances, as well as what type of “meeting” it is. For example, what if someone showed up late to your Sunday School class? Unless that person is the teacher you may not care very much. What about a party you were hosting? Would it matter if someone showed up late for that? I doubt it, unless it is the kind of gathering that would require everyone to be there before you could begin the festivities. What about a wedding? If you showed up late for a friend’s wedding you might get a lot of unwelcome looks. And how about a concert or play? You might not even be let into the theater until after a song is over, so you don’t disturb others already there.
Do we value punctuality as a society? I am not so sure that we do. One reason is due to the proliferation of cell phones. We can stay in touch with each other so easily now. You can always text someone that you are running late for whatever reason. In a lot of situations that may buy you some grace. But the fact remains that being late for important events can put a strain on a relationship.
Do you remember the perfect attendance award for grade school? These are usually given out at the end of the year at an awards day for the school. Why is this honored? Why is there a perfect attendance award at all? Does anyone actually look back on their grade school years and think fondly of the award they got for perfect attendance? And what are we awarding, anyway? Does getting this award mean that you never once got sick? That seems unlikely, given the sheer number of children you were around for nine months. What if you came to school sick just so you could maintain perfect attendance? I actually did get this award once. This was a matter of luck more than anything else. I never got sick enough to stay home. But I did know someone who actually got perfect attendance for the entire run, starting at kindergarten and going through his senior year of high school. The faculty gave him a standing ovation.
There is a parable that touches on this subject, but most people won’t think of it in that way. It is from Matthew’s Gospel.
Matthew 25:1-13
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
You have probably read this before. We often think of this as a parable of not being prepared. But I think it is just as good to say this is a parable warning us to not be late. Not being prepared was just a reason that led to the virgins’ lateness. There are lots of reasons we can be late for something. Maybe we forgot something, or there was some kind of emergency. Perhaps we lost track of time, or we were simply doing too many things. They all funnel into the same result: being late.
And what does that really mean to be late? What message does that send to the people organizing a meeting or event? Aren’t you telling them your time is more important? And doesn’t this mean you think your time (or life) is more valuable than theirs?
The manager who shows up late for your meeting and leaves early: “My time is more valuable than yours.”
Someone arriving late for a party on purpose: “I am more important. I pick my own time to arrive.”
So in light of this information let’s look at the parable again. The wedding bridegroom is bringing those on time into the wedding. The people who show up late are telling the bridegroom their time is more important that his. But who is the bridegroom? Isn’t this a metaphor for God? Are we really going to tell God that our time is more important? Sadly, we do. We tell God our time is more important when we don’t make time for God in our lives. This parable is a warning against that. Nothing should be more important than God. And nothing should be more important than building and entering God’s Kingdom.
God Bless