An Owner's Mentality

An Owner Mentality

Scripture: John 10:11-13; Revelations 3:20; Matthew 9:37-38

Introduction:

Today we celebrate the first step in our transition from this place to the place where God has chosen to plan us. We will leave this place and not return. We have been renters since the inception of this Church, eight years and 4 months. This morning marks the last day of our being renters and I want to share with you from my heart on this special occasion. My message this morning is titled “An Owner’s Mentality” and if I offend some of you or make you uncomfortable please consider the offense as a growth opportunity.

As a Church, we are about to experience the most critical transition that we will make. It does not matter how many more buildings we purchase after this building, making this first transition from this school to a permanent place requires not only a physical transition, but a spiritual one. We must transition from being renters to being owners and it must happen quickly. We cannot invite people into our building if we act as if we are still renting. So let’s talk about what it means to have an owner’s mentality.

Before I get into the heart of this message, I want to give you an example for you to reference and think on throughout this message. Imagine yourself purchasing a new home, but you do not have the time or energy to get it ready for you to move in. Imagine you waiting for someone else to do what you should do because you know sooner or later someone else will get it ready for you. Now imagine taking this same mentality into your new home. Can you see this with your mind’s eye?

I want you to know that we have individuals who are not members of this Church do more to get us into the building than some of you. We have one individual who has taken an owner’s mentality for our building and he is not a member and he is not getting paid doing what we should be doing. Yes we might not have the skill that he does, but there is something you can be doing. I want to set this up first because we need to transition from our current mentality to one of an owner.

I. An Owner’s Mentality

Last week I had a conversation with Justin. He had on a nice Blue Valley jacket. He asked me what my message would be about today and I told him I would be talking about a renter’s mentality versus an owner’s mentality. He had this look on his face as if he did not understand so I asked him two questions. The first question I asked him was if he owned the jacket that he was wearing and he answered that he did. The second question that I asked him was that if he had just “borrowed” the jacket from Quanzee would he treat it the same way as if he owned it. Justin thought about it for a moment and then answered no; that if he had just borrowed the jacket from Quanzee he would not treat it the same as if he owned it. You see, there are some people who will borrow your things and will take care of it better than they would their own possessions – but they are in the minority. The mentality of most borrowers is the same as the renter, especially in this message this morning. Most people have the mentality that if they borrow something from you it is a freebie – if they break it then you must fix it since it is yours. For example, your neighbor asks to borrow your lawnmower and you agree to let them use it. You fill the mower up with gas and take it to your neighbor. Now your neighbor begins to mow his yard which contains rocks, sticks and other trash. As you watch you neighbor, he just mows right over the rocks, sticks and other types of trash without having a second thought about what those things were doing to the blade. In the neighbor’s mind the lawnmower is not his so he does not have to do any maintenance. If the blades need sharpening later, that is your responsibility, not theirs. And what makes it even worse is that some neighbor will use up all of the gas in the lawnmower and come and knock on your door asking for more (it is your responsibility to keep the gas in the mower since it is your mower). The borrower does not give the same consideration that the owner does. Let’s look at the renter. Most of us have visited someone’s apartment or home where they were renting. Or maybe you came in and rented a property after the previous renters moved out and you saw what was left behind. Now I will admit now that in some cases there is no difference in how they look from a cleanliness standpoint, but there are remarkable differences in the mentality of the renter versus that of the owner. For example, whose responsibility is it if the carpet needs replacing? The owner’s not the renter. For some people because they do not own the place, they treat it that way. They stain the carpet; knock holes in the walls; and damage the appliances all because they can and they know they do not have to replace it. The mentality of the renter and/or borrower is that they get all of the benefits of the use of the item without any of the responsibility for taking care of it unless there is something specifically expressed in the contract or agreement. This mentality did not just evolve during our times, it has always existed.