March 16, 2026

Business by the Book

Matthew 21:28-30 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.

I knew what to do, I just didn’t do it. One of the biggest failures of my life resulted. Some years ago our church thought it would be good to start a Christian school. We prayed about it and were fully assured that this was the proper course of action. For a year we prepared, we created very nice class rooms, trained the teachers, purchased the curriculum, obtained the necessary supplies, and had a great first year enrollment. That year was wonderful. As soon as the school year was over I began praying and planning for the second year of our school.

This is when the Lord impressed upon me that we should merge our school with another school in our town. I met with a pastor or two and discussed the possibility and was encouraged with the cooperative spirit that prevailed. I spent the month of July that year thinking, praying and seeking wise counsel about this decision. For obvious reasons I said nothing to the membership of our church.

I struggled, as a businessman I knew that we were trying to reinvent the wheel. Merging with another school that was better established, vastly more experienced in operations, which had a larger student body that would give our students a wider variety of activities to choose from, would be wise indeed. The economics of scale alone indicated that this would be a mutually beneficial merger. But pride and fear hindered me.

What would it do to our church to bring this to them after only one year? Would they respect my leadership? Would they understand? How could I explain this decision? All I could say is that I sensed the leadership of the Lord in the decision. Faith won, or at least I thought it was faith. We would keep our school, I never said a word to anyone at our church that I can recall.

September came; our enrollment decreased by a few students, but that was ok, it is to be expected. Just after Labor Day however, my wife, which was the administrator of the school, was diagnosed with cancer. She would need surgeries, chemotherapy and weeks upon weeks of convalescence. In a moment, in the span of time it takes to blink, I understood. This was why the Lord was leading me to merge our school with another. But I failed to follow the leadership of God.

We completed that school year, but it was a struggle. It was only possible because of wonderful, understanding, and willing individuals that stepped up and filled a void in our time of need. But, I had to stand before my church and explain to them how I disobeyed the Lord’s leadership by not being willing to change my course of action, even when I knew it was the best thing to do.

Praise the Lord that the first son in our verses today was a better man than me. He said he would not work in his father’s field, but he changed his course of action. I was unwilling to make the changes that I should have made. Learn from my failure, never allow fear or pride to dictate your actions. Be willing to change your course of action when it is clear that you should. In my case, some would not have understood if I brought to our church the possibility of ending our dream for a school and merging with another. But after that Labor Day diagnosis they would have understood. I could have been a hero of faith, instead I failed. Lesson learned and I trust I will not have to learn it again.

Dr. William Howe