how, I visited a Baptist church once. They had some kind of a ‘covenant’ pasted to the inside cover of the hymn-book. It made you promise not to drink or smoke or anything else. That’s not for me. If they want me, they’ll have to take me as I am!” Before the Teuerles got around to attending any church, however, Wayne had a run-in with the Baptist preacher. Wayne had put in a tough day at the office and had come home dying for a drink. Instead, he entered his house only to find the Villa Park pastor, Frank Partridge, making a call. It was the last straw. Wayne snubbed the friendly pastor, shooed his wife into the kitchen and growled, “Get rid of that guy!” On top of every thing else, the preacher wanted to know if he could “have a word of prayer” before he left. Afterwards, Wayne mixed himself a martini while he ranted and raved at Janet. “And I don’t want you to ever let that man in the house again!” he concluded. In spite of it all, when they finally were ready to attend church, they decided to try Villa Park. Wayne was impressed with the friendliness of the people. The pastor really seemed to have some thing to say too. Normally, the few times Wayne had attended church he had been bored. This was different; Wayne wanted to go back. He and Janet attended again that evening. “See you next Sun day!” said the church folks afterward. Wednesday, Wayne came home from work in a good humor. “Don’t they have church tonight?” he asked Janet. “What say we go?” When the congregation split into groups for prayer that evening, Wayne thought, “Maybe I ought to pray too,” but he decided against it. Two weeks later, the church had a series of evangelistic meetings. One night the evangelist preached on Lazarus and the Rich Man. Wayne saw himself in the Rich Man, “successful,” but having neither compassion for the poor or hope of eternal life in Christ. He was ready to go forward before the sermon ended, but when the invitation was given and no one else moved, it was a different story. After an inner struggle with the Holy Spirit, knowing he was a sinner and headed for Hell, Wayne went forward and received Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. The very next morning at staff meeting, Wayne tried to tell his associates about his experience. “I know something has happened to me,” he con cluded. “Now I am a Christian, and I intend to be a good one.” “Yeah, sure, we know,” they laughed, “but it won’t last. You’ll be drinking with us as before.” Wayne took every chance he got to serve Christ after that. The happier he grew in his Christian experience, however, the more miserable he became at work. He tried everything to win his fellow workers. He passed out tracts, witnessed, and even organized Christian Businessmen’s prayer break-
Big man on the suburban scene
b y S ta n le y C. B a ld w in N OT y e t and I’m handling $650,000 worth of accounts and managing five em ployees. Not bad, not bad at all.” Wayne Teuerle congratulated himself that he was becom ing a real success so quickly. When he first went to work in the consumer finance business, they said he would make assis tant manager in two years and manger in three. He had gone the whole route in only fourteen months. Now, with the manager’s position in a Chicago office his, with a new home being built for Janet and him in a nice suburb, with prestige, and a feeling of importance, Wayne had proved the power of positive thinking. It really worked. He was headed for the top. True, there was a lot of drinking connected with his business, but that didn’t bother Wayne; it was all a part of the act. Nor did the desperate financial plight of many of his “clients” concern Suburbia’s newest success. His business was legal and it was licensed. Society said it was legitimate, so what else mattered? Of course, Wayne felt he really ought to go to church in order to set the proper example in his new neighborhood. Though neither he nor his par ents had ever been church-goers, Wayne figured a successful businessman should be a churchman. And since he was in an executive position in busi ness, no doubt he should assume a leaderhip role in the church, too. For some reason, when the Welcome Wagon came to the new Teuerle home, Janet listed Bap tist as their church preference. Before long they had a visit from First Baptist of Villa Park. “They seemed nice,” Janet remarked to Wayne afterward. “Let’s go there.” “Why go that far,” objected Wayne, “when there’s a church just three blocks from our house? One’s as good as another as far as I can tell. Any 22 y e a r s O L D
14
THE K IN G 'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs