Well, I had mentioned in my post last Sunday evening that I had something happening this week which is embarrassing but also sort of exciting. Last night I was given the annual "Professional Achievement" award by my alma mater, Bluffton University. I do not feel very deserving of the award but it is quite an honor. I am humbled and appreciative.

They had a dinner last night where four people received awards. Each of us was asked to speak for a few minutes after receiving our award. I was sandwiched to speak in between Judson Laipply and J Denny Weaver. Judson received the Young Alumni Award. He is the Evolution of Dance guy who has been seen on YouTube by probably a hundred million or so people. Professionally, he is an inspirational comic and he is a very funny and natural speaker. J Denny Weaver was head of the religion department for many years at Bluffton and is quite revered by anyone who was involved with the college during his time there. So, sandwiched between those two, I started speaking by asking if my life could possibly be any worse at that moment!

Speaking after J Denny was an alumni who is about 95 years old but sharp and keen as all get out. I hope I am doing that well at 95!

Anyway, following are the words I chose to say last evening, complete with the really lame joke I opened with ...


A man was standing trial for stealing a can of peaches from the local grocer. The judge asked him why he had stolen them, to which he replied that he and his wife were without food and starving. The judge asked him how many peaches had been in the can. He answered six. The judge then sentenced him to six days in jail for stealing a can with six peaches. At this point, the defendant’s wife, who had been watching the trial, asked the judge if she could say something. “Yes, go ahead,” he said. And what did she then say? “He also stole a can of peas, your honor.”


As I think back on my years at Bluffton College, a lot of things come to mind. Professors who genuinely cared about their students. The establishment of lifelong friendships. Saying “hi” to everyone as you walked through campus. Class trips in really old vans. Going to the Shannon each week for dollar movie night. The hot water going off in my dorm and then sneaking into old Ropp to take a shower. Squirrels falling out of trees as I walked across campus. What’s that all about anyway? Have you all experienced that, too? I think it happened to me three times when I was here … I would be walking over in the trees by Musselman and a squirrel would come plummeting out of the sky, crashing to the ground. It always seemed pretty odd because squirrels are sort of designed for staying in trees, not falling out of them. I sometimes wondered if, even though the students at Bluffton weren’t drinking, maybe the squirrels were.

Anyway, as I try to get an overriding picture of those four years in my mind, the biggest thing I keep thinking about is that this is an institution that loves people more than it loves rules. Now, I know that may sound strange and it really doesn’t mean that chaos is rampant but it does mean that this college provides the world with a message about love and care for individuals that prevails over any rules that man might create.

Where else will you find a school that respects individuals enough to have an Honor Code under which students take tests without a professor or other proctor in the room? If that alone doesn’t show more of a love for individuals than it does for rules, I don’t know what does.

When you think about it, this love for people over rules was taught to us over 2000 years ago by a guy walking around in the middle east named Jesus. That’s a pretty good example for a college to model, wouldn’t you say? Think of some of the well-known examples of when Jesus showed His love for people far over His love for the rules.

One of the most obvious was his distaste for the Pharisees. They were all about rule-making but Jesus made it very clear that He was not “all about” their rules. “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees – you hypocrites …” Those were pretty strong words that He spoke at great risk yet He said them because He knew that the value of humans and relationships far outweighs the value of laws and rules.

And what about when the woman caught in adultery was brought before Him? Did he join in on the rules of the day and say, “Yeah, let’s stone her.” No, instead He showed her the utmost respect. He even averted his own eyes and attention away from her by kneeling to write in the sand before saying “Let the one of you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone….” Jesus didn’t join in on the rules. He cared more for people than He did rules.

And, of course, remember Jesus “working” on the Sabbath – performing miracles? That was against the rules yet He saw there was work to be done … lives to be touched … people to be healed … and, out of His love for people, He broke the rules.

I truly believe that Bluffton University is a place that models Jesus by loving people more than it loves the rules of man.

One of the first times I remember experiencing this was at the end of fall term my freshman year. I had been taking some classes that, for me, were very difficult. I was staying up late studying and getting up early for class. I guess that I just got worn out because I came down with mono and actually ended up going home and missing school the last week of the term which, of course, was finals week. One of the finals I missed was in Econ 101 taught by Sally Weaver Sommer. When I got back to school and went to her about taking my exam, she said, “Don’t worry about it. You’ve been through a lot … just get feeling better. You don’t need to take the exam.” Now, I am not certain … maybe that means that my degree technically isn’t valid. Afterall, she broke the rules. But what she really did was teach me something bigger … she showed me tolerance, love, respect, grace and mercy … she showed me a love for people that far outweighs a love for the rules. Her actions showed me that I was at a place that cared about people. And that meant a lot to me as a college freshman away from home for the first time.

And there were other times, too, that Bluffton showed me a love for people over rules. I wasn’t exactly a “radical” during my college years. In fact, I was the epitome of a button down collar Reagan Republican. Okay, maybe that did at times make me a bit of a radical here at Bluffton. In fact, I remember getting into quite a discourse in the college newspaper once over some political differences I had with a lot of the rest of campus. But I was allowed to state my opinions and it didn’t damage my relationships with others. Again, this campus showed a love for people that far outweighed a love for rules.

I also remember some stunts I pulled pertaining to a couple of classes I took … one of them was with one of the best profs I ever knew … Dale Dickey … I’m not going to go into details but these were stunts that I certainly would have corrected a student for but yet both these profs showed me grace and love … because they loved people more than they loved rules and they saw these events all as part of a maturing process that I had to go through.

Loving people more than loving rules. It sets a huge example.

This didn’t happen around here but I heard a story the other day about some folks who visited an upscale restaurant in the town where they live and one of them asked if they could have a fruit and cheese plate as an appetizer. They knew it was not on the menu but they thought it was something they’d had there before and they figured it would be no big deal. The waiter took their order but quite a bit of time passed before the cheese and fruit plate came to their table. And why do you think that was—it was because one of the cooks had to run out to an area store to buy the necessary cheese and fruit. They obviously loved people more than they loved rules. What a lesson that is to anyone in sales or customer service!

Think of this university turning out teachers and school administrators … do we want them to always be caught up in rules and regulations or do we want them to care more about the human side of things?

How about nurses and doctors … do we want them to love rules first or people first?
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Think about pastors and other Christian leaders that this institution turns out. Do we want them more concerned with rules than with loving people? Probably not.

And, myself, as a business owner, I could be ruthless … I could fire a person every time they make a mistake but I know that would ultimately leave me with a distrustful and non productive team. And besides, it just isn’t me because it isn’t the way that Bluffton, and other influences in my life, shaped my DNA. So in my workplace I strive to love people more than I love rules.

Is it always easy? No, it is everything but easy. We live in a society that wants to stereotype people – stuff them into little boxes … create rules for them to live by … but Jesus calls us to something bigger. He calls us to tell all the nations … to carry His love for people – all people – out to the world. You can’t do that by always following the rules of man.

In my workplace, we mess up on occasion, sure, but I’d like to think that we break rules every day in order to deliver exemplary customer service. Sometimes policies, rules and guidelines have to be bent a little bit but you do what it takes when you love people more than you love rules. Several years ago, my company joined up with several of our competitors in the metal roofing manufacturing industry for the purpose of working together to create consumer interest in our products. Up until that time, it was unheard of for competitors in our industry to work together. We’d be at trade shows together and not even look at each other. Those were the rules of being competitors. But once those rules were broken, we discovered that we could accomplish more working with one another than against one another. We have proved that we love people more than we love rules.

You know, when I first heard that I was chosen for this award, I thought about refusing it. I am not a big “awards guy” and I really don’t feel anywhere close to being worthy of this. But then I realized that, alone, I cannot do anything and I am not worthy of anything. This award is not mine … it really belongs to this institution that helped shape me at a critical time of my life … it belongs to all of the profs who had an impact on me and on this institution … it belongs to my parents who always showed their love for me and made it possible for me to attend here … it belongs to my wife, Lisa, and our son, Evan, for all of their support, encouragement and love … and it belongs to good friends and co-workers who put up with me and join me in my recognition of people over rules. But, most of all, it belongs to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ because without Him … without His love for people that so outshadows any love for rules, I am nothing.

So, Bluffton University … I thank you for this award from the bottom of my heart but I also challenge you. In a world that seems to be falling apart at the seams, necessitating more rules and more regulations and more oversight all the time, don’t forget about people. In fact, throw out the rules when you need to and keep loving people more than you love rules.