GM and the Church

This is a “Musing” – not a fact. This is “Mulling” – not the whole story. So Muse and Mull with me for a bit – Okay?

The whole “Ontario World” has been watching what has been happening with our automakers. In our case the GM Factory is only a one hour’s drive from here. Also in our case we have former and present GM autoworkers living in our community. So our world is watching for sure.

We have heard of bail outs, and buy outs. We have heard of concessions being made by Unions. We have heard of Government intervention. Many reports flood the news almost daily. Everyone is struggling with the recession and depression – grasping for some answer as to why their own savings and investments have dropped so radically.

Now add to the growing list of daily reports and news items comes the latest report of the President of the USA firing the Chief Executive of General Motors, Rick Wagoner. This is a major item to look at and pay attention to – even for the church.

President Barack Obama has taken a new step that has never been attempted by any other president that we know of. He has reached into a separate entity and done major surgery by firing the head of the corporation. He at a lesser paid individual has fired some one that is paid much more. He as an outsider has reached in with limited knowledge and stated that he knows best. He has done what all coffee shop cronies do so well – talked about it with a muse and a mull… but then he stood up, walked out of the coffee shop and kerpow – fired the top dog.

Barack Obama was just hired. He hardly knows his staff let alone the job. Yet he has taken a huge step and kerpow – it was over.

In the Star article this morning David Olive makes a statement…
"GM still doesn't get it.

So Obama picked up the phone and fired GM's chief executive.

Busted to short-term-consultant status, Rick Wagoner, rivalled only by his counterpart at Toyota Motor Corp. as the global industry's most powerful figure, will soon join the 400,000 Americans who have lost auto-related jobs in the past year.

As of yesterday, most of GM's board members got the message and were quitting before they could be removed.

It was an extraordinary government intervention in the management of a private company.”

Now it has all happened or been made possible by the fact that GM asked for financial help. They were in trouble and desperately needed help.

To understand what has happened in the GM corporation one needs to listen to Mr. Olive’s assessment again…
“Wagoner is hardly the worst helmsman in GM history.

He has a mixed record that includes higher-quality and more efficiently built vehicles, marred by a stubborn resistance to radically shrink a GM built to serve half the North American market but long accounting for less than a quarter of sales.”

Musing and Mulling…
GM autoworkers (and all autoworkers)are some of the highest paid per hour workers that I know of. For the amount of work and the kind of work that they do – it is an amazing job. There isn’t a farmer anywhere that gets paid like this… if he did he would be a millionaire in one year.

David Olive pointed out that GM has grown to be one of the largest corporations in North America able to service over 50% of the market…but only has less than a quarter of the sales. And the sales of GM products shrunk by 40% last year… meaning that they have less than 16% of the total sales in the country.

We need to see that people are not buying new vehicles. On mass the whole country has been affected by the down turn – the depression – and are not able to spend any more – or anything. They simply don’t have it any more.

My Questions…
How is Rick Wagoner responsible for that? Sure he has been highly paid and a powerful person…but how is he responsible for people not buying cars?

So they fired him… so who is next when it doesn’t turn around? Is the salesman in the local GM dealership going to lose his job when he doesn’t get enough business – doesn’t make people buy?

GM is a gigantic corporation that has weaknesses everywhere – no one man is responsible… every one of the employees is.

Sure – things would have gone well if there had just been GM cars – no Fords, no Toyotas, no Nissans, no Chryslers, no competition. But none of us would like that kind of power from one company. So competition is there.

Looking at the Future…
Now most that read this will know that I am a pastor of a church – or at least was a pastor. I know about church things – not automobile production plants. I know people.

I see some great parallels between the church and GM. I see that the present climate of public attitude and perception has a great deal to do with what happens to both GM and the Church’s future.

In 2009 it is very different from the days gone by. Churches are run differently now. Different influences are now guiding what we do and what we say and how we do it. Outside influence on the church is greater than ever before… and so is the pressure.

The church is built to serve 100% of the community – yet has less than 5% of the population being reached by it. And in the recent years it has lost more than 40% of that reaching out. Its affect is gone and members are leaving naturally to take up residence in heaven.

Some churches still have debt hanging around their necks with a shrinking contributing base. In the community that surrounds it more “dealerships” have opened and are serving people as well. The shrinking customer base is dropping or being spread in many different directions.

In the USA – the top man from another organization has stepped in to fire the leader of GM – laying responsibility on him in the public’s eyes.

“Could that happen in the church?” is my huge question. The answer is “Definitely”. No, USA’s President will not do it – but a local banker will. The account manager that is responsible for his accounts at the bank will simply step in and notify the church that they must do this and that – “It is a new bank policy.” It has happened in Peterborough – very close to home for me!

It is a Musing and Mulling but… how long will it be before the local bank tells the church that they had better get rid of their “Rick Wagoner” so that the church will grow? How long will it be before local leadership in churches takes on the guiding policies of the world out there?

I have been given just enough information lately that tells me that it has already started happening. Oh yes it is real.

GM and The Church are not the same. GM is not guided by God… but rather public opinion about their product.

The Church is not guided by public opinion about their product… or is it? Come to think of it… with less than 5% of the market share… oh boy.

A pastor reading this now should probably be looking at want ads in the local employment services… oh boy.

Finally… if I was a potential customer in need of a vehicle – would I buy a GM product this week knowing what I know about GM products now? Oh boy…

If I was outside the church today – not a church person – would I even consider entering the building knowing that people inside are like they are… and knowing that they only want my money… would I even come inside? Oh boy…

~ Murray Lincoln ~
www.murraylincoln.com

Sources to consider…
Wagoner damaged by refusal to radically shrink GM
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/610803