by Ron Perry

Difficult tasks have a way of testing commitment in an employee. Those tasks that push a person out of his comfort zone or require effort that is beyond his normal responsibilities reveal his true commitment. In Genesis 24, the manager Abraham gives his servant, or employee (v. 2) a difficult task—to find Abraham’s son a wife! If there were ever a task that would require true commitment, it would have to be this one. The most amazing part of the entire passage is not that the servant finds a wife, though that is amazing, but rather that the servant says yes and commits to such a weighty task. How did Abraham get such a commitment from his employee?

First, we see that Abraham asked for a specific commitment, both to him and to God (vv. 2–3). He also clearly outlined the details of the commitment by saying that the servant must commit to not only what he would do but also what he would not do. Too often, managers are too general in what they ask for or too hesitant to speak clearly regarding what they expect of their employees. Abraham’s example is instructive because he elicited an explicit commitment.

Second, we see that Abraham was willing to allow clarifying questions from the servant. In verse 5, the servant stated the obvious, “Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land.” What a logical question!—but one that could have caused Abraham to think that the servant was waffling on his commitment. Instead Abraham seized the question to further clarify the mission to which the servant had already committed (vv. 5–6). Recently, it has occurred to me that I will often give a person time to consider the cost before he makes a commitment, but I do not always give him time after making the commitment to clarify it. Giving times for questions and seeing them as opportunities to clarify are helpful principles from Abraham’s management style.

In verse 7, we see the third way in which Abraham got a commitment from his employee—one of the most powerful tools a manager in ministry has to elicit commitment: he carefully answered and clarified the servant’s question by communicating that the servant was really part of a much bigger mission. Abraham began by giving a historical context of what God had already been doing. He continued by communicating what God had said and promised that He would do. These two things are interesting because they reveal the power of history (God’s hand in a ministry) and the power of the revealed will of God (God’s call). When individuals begin to hear what God has done in the past, they are reminded of God’s blessing and of the fact that because God has supplied in the past, He must be able to supply in the future. Confidence and comfort can both come to the committed individual who begins to hear the history of what God has done and the revealed will of God on a ministry.

Many employees often struggle with the mundane tasks that come with commitment. It is one thing to be committed when the task is new and exciting, but what about when the shiny has rubbed off? Finding a man a wife was an exciting task; but as we look through Genesis 24, we see that this servant also had some mundane aspects to his job, such as taking care of camels! Abraham carefully prepared his servant for the mundane by clearly communicating that even in the mundane, he was part of a much bigger mission that was part of God’s plan.

The final thing seen in this passage is that Abraham equipped his servant with the tools that he would need to complete the task to which he had committed. Abraham gave additional servants, camels, and jewelry—all to help the servant find his son a wife. Equipping takes work! It requires forethought and planning that can sometimes only be done by the one who asked for the commitment. Abraham was a giving manager. He gave a request for commitment but he also gave the needed resources to see the task completed. Genesis 24 contains the account of a servant who made an amazing commitment and actually did what he committed to do. This passage also contains a manager who set a good example of how to have committed employees. The old adage used by many is that behind every good man stands a good woman. For sake of illustration and the account we see in Genesis 24, we could say that behind every committed employee is a good manager.