When looking for simple yet profound guidance on how to live a decent life, I’m a big fan of the first part of Matthew 5:37, which simply declares “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’” If you say “yes” to something, do it. If you can’t do it, say “no.” It is so simple, and adopting this approach may mean that people sometimes aren’t pleased with the answer, but at least they won’t later be disappointed by your behavior. So much heartache and difficulty could have been avoided if only people would have said no instead of giving a yes answer that then caused others to completely abandon their carefully-made plans that depended upon someone actually keeping their word.
Now, what happens when, instead of an individual failing to do what they say, it is a company that continues to say yes when it knows full well that it won’t be doing what it says it will do? And what happens when that company is one of the largest names in international business?
FedEx, to my knowledge, has never delivered a package to an address with the zip code of 29915. To deliver a package with that address would require a FedEx employee with a truck or van, and arrangements to ship packages from the mainland, via boat, to Daufuskie. FedEx knows that they don’t do this. Sometimes, with small packages, they will recognize that they don’t actually go the last leg of the journey across the water, and hand the package off to the US Postal Service. But often, packages are too big for that arrangement, so they sit in a warehouse while FedEx tries to either get the recipient to agree to a different shipping location that forces the recipient to get on a boat and go get their package, or the package is simply returned to the sender as undeliverable. On occasion, those packages have even been marked as “refused by recipient” even though no FedEx employee ever came to the address of the recipient for them to refuse the package.
As my wife was speaking with a FedEx customer service representative recently who had called because they wanted to see if they could ship her package to a location not on Daufuskie, the person admitted that it would be easier if FedEx simply pulled zip code 29915 out of their shipping database. Doing so would ensure that packages would only be shipped by shipping companies that actually could make good on their contract with the vendor to deliver the package to the customer, and it would seemingly save this poor customer service representative from having to hear from angry Daufuskie residents who want to know why FedEx continues to say yes to a contract when they know beforehand that they cannot fulfill it. If only there was some word in business law that describes when one party enters into a contractual arrangement fully aware that they are unable to fulfill that contract, because they benefit by denying their competition an opportunity to win that contract.
Christians do not have to silently allow themselves to be taken advantage of. Yes, the admonition to “turn the other cheek” is Christian, but when Christ himself was unlawfully struck by an official while standing before the High Priest, Jesus said to that man “If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me” (John 18:23). We can simultaneously bear an offense while standing for justice and righteousness.
To companies big (FedEx) and companies small (you know who you are), please know that it is okay to say “no” to serving Daufuskie. Other companies will happily come in and provide the service that you know that you are incapable of providing, and no one will harangue you for trying to make money off a service that you are either unwilling or uncapable of providing. There are obligations that come along with saying yes, so please honestly assess your ability to complete a contract before submitting another bid to serve us. And to the rest of us, it really is sound advice to let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron