The following is a guest post by Matthew Henry Faraday.

Whenever a theologian talks about how beautiful it is that Christ came to earth and died, not to appease God’s wrath, but instead, as the image of God who suffers with us, even to the point of death on the cross, I imagine that, if it were real, it would be the worst episode of Undercover Boss ever.

So, this is my parable…

A fork lift driver, let’s call him “Joe”, has the worst job at Megacorp. He works hard hours and tons of overtime. Even with all the work he does, he can’t make ends meet. His son has a muscular disorder and, between the equipment he needs and the medical bills, half of his paycheck goes to his son’s care. His wife has to stay at home and care for their son, but still waits tables some days, after Joe gets home. Joe is a type 1 diabetic, and hasn’t been to the doctor in years, because he is worried that they will tell him that he will need vascular surgeries, that will take away the family’s source of income.

Enter the CEO of Megacorp, Joshua. Joshua makes hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The television show Undercover Boss approached him one day about working a weekend in the warehouse with Joe. Joshua thinks this sounds great, and pretends to be a new hire. Joe shows Joshua how to manage the warehouse, and during this time, Joe opens up about all the hardships he faces. Joshua is moved by it. He even cries on camera because he feels so badly for Joe.

Sunday night comes around and Joshua is ready to make his big reveal to Joe. He asks Joe to come into the break room, where Joe is surprised by cameras and the crew.

“Joe, I have something to tell you. I’m not a new hire at Megacorp. I’m actually the CEO. My name is Joshua, and I run the company you work for.”

Joe is shocked!

“Joe, I was so moved by your story,” he continues. “You love your family so much that you sacrifice everything, even your own health for them. I was brought to tears.”

Joe starts crying himself.

“Joe, I want to tell you something. No matter how bad life is, no matter how much you struggle, no matter how much you feel that you just can’t get ahead, remember that I worked with you for a weekend.”

The end.

[Image: “A ‘Jesus Saves’ neon cross sign on a church in Alphabet City in New York“ by David Shankbone is licensed under CC by 3.0]