From Mercenary To Volunteer

From Mercenary to Volunteer

Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Luke 12:33-34

Chester Taylor is an honest man. The running back was asked by Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated why he had chosen to join the Chicago Bears in 2010 as a free agent. “First and foremost, it was the money,” he said. Of course, he went on to give a variety of other reasons for selecting the Bears as his new team, but the first thing out of his mouth was sincere. He wanted a bigger paycheck.

I can appreciate his candor. He articulated what most of us suspect to be true, not only for pro athletes like Chester, but for anyone who changes jobs. In spite of all the reasons we give for a decision, money is often the most significant motivator.

Chuck Noll, my coach when I played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, used to tell us, “The mercenaries will beat the draftees, but the volunteers will crush them both.” To me, that’s not only a statement about motivation—that those who are there because they want to be will have an advantage over those who are there for the paycheck—but also a reflection of the heart. Where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also. For better or worse.

As human beings, our motives will almost always be mixed. That’s okay. But in whatever we choose to do, at some point we need to make the shift from “mercenary” to “volunteer.” Our “have to” needs to change into a “want to.” And whether we’re parents, coaches, or employers, we’ll have to help others make that shift too.

How can we do that? For ourselves, I think we always need to hold the bigger picture in front of us—to step back, look at what’s really important, and invest our lives in something that lasts. And we can help others through that process too. It starts with listening and understanding where someone is coming from, giving them a vision, and inspiring them to buy into something larger than themselves. The motives we start with don’t have to be the motives we end up with.

Uncommon Key > Always check your heart when it comes to the motives behind your decisions. Is it following its “have to” or its “want to”? If necessary, make adjustments.