Good Boss, or bad boss?

There was once a boss who was very very wealthy. He himself was rich and his company was super rich as well. Of course, there were some divisions that were more profit-generating than others, but the boss always maintained that whatever one division made was to be shared with all the others.

So imagine the shock and horror on the boss' face when he realised that some of his staff were paid extremely low wages. Not only that, some of them were also made to raise their own salaries, in a sense, by getting sympathy sales from customers who were friends and family and paying themselves out of the commission of the sales.

The boss was deeply grieved. He called his staff together one day and he said," I found out recently that not only are some of my brightest and best staff not being paid well, they are made to raise their own salary. Do any of the division heads have anything to say about this?"

Shamefacedly, one by one, the division managers stepped forward. Their reasons spanned the entire spectrum of excuses.

"Sorry sir, but I was afraid to ask you for the extra funding because it's such a minor issue. I thought I could handle it myself."

"Sir, I thought you would approve of the staff raising their own pay because it proved that they were hardworking and loyal."

"I wanted to ask you for a higher salary,sir, but I didn't feel like I deserved it."

The boss listened to all the reasons stonily. Then, in the silence, he spoke.

"I have no need for your sacrifices or your offerings. Don't you know that I own the cattle on a thousand hills?

And everything that I have, I freely give to you. All you have to do is ask! And ask without fear, for I don't give because you deserve it. Because you don't.

I give because a long time ago, my son took over the company for a while, and he fixed things so that none of you will ever have to prove your worth to me, or feel afraid to talk to me, or try to earn my favour!"

All the staff thought about this. They remembered the son and felt ashamed for trying to accomplish what he had already done - make them the best employees of the year , from today to the day they left the company.

The boss saw their faces and smiled. His heart was filled with compassion for these, his staff who loved him and wanted so much to please him. And he said to them, "I will blots out your wrongdoings from my memory, for my own sake, and remember your sins no more. All you have to do is love me. From now, that is the only task I require of you."

- Inspired by Psalms 50 and Isaiah 43