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kind of litigation that arises from building contracts. Not only
simple misunderstandings between the parties, but because of what I
just mentioned -- one party driving too hard a bargain, and the other
party accepting it. Then in one way or another, the latter tries to
get out from under that heavy burden. And if he gets away with it,
the other party doesn't get what he expected to get, then a lawsuit
ensues.
God's Work never had a lawsuit over business matters. As a matter
of fact, in the entire history of the Work, since I have known it,
we have never had a lawsuit that had stemmed from a contractual
arrangement or a business relationship between the church or the
college on one hand, and a businessman or other institution on the
other. And yet we always got what we bargained for. It wasn't a
question of our turning the other cheek and the other party getting
away with something. But what happened resulted from applying Mr.
Armstrong's principles which, of course, are biblically founded.
I was able to convince the other party, not only that we were people
that they would like to do business with, but that they should do
their very best work for us. So if Mr. Armstrong wanted a building
to go up and he wanted it to be the finest building possible for
that price and those proportions, we knew that we were not necessarily
getting the building at the very, very lowest conceivable cost. We
knew that would be more or less illusory because seldom, if ever,
would you ever get the lowest possible cost for the best workmanship.
And as I said, if the other party became burdened by the contract,
he would try to get out from under it.
As a consequence, people doing business with us have cherished their
relationship with us because they know that they have been as the
servant worthy of his hire. They have been paid what both parties
thought would be the fair consideration for their services. And in
the process, they have given of themselves something extra -- in
most cases it has been their very best performance.
The Auditorium is a very good example of that because almost every
thing conceivable could have gone wrong in building an edifice of that
size and to those specifications because it is truly the most beautiful
building of its kind in the world. And it is the most expensive (if
you want to use that word) per seat, per cubic foot, and per square
foot of any building of its kind. It's recognized throughout the
world as the finest. When you try to undertake a project of that
nature, invariably there is going to be a serious problem somewhere
along the line. But each craftsman was given an opportunity within
his field to make a profit, so that he was a servant worthy of his
hire, and each contractor delivered on time or ahead of time. As it
turned out, our acoustics were not bad. They were outstanding! And
everything about the building turned out just as Mr. Armstrong hoped
it would.
So again, that gives you an idea of what Mr. Armstrong insisted on
from the very beginning, bringing it to my immediate attention,
because after all, I had come to him from the carnal business world
where you're always dealing with another party in an adversary setting
even if it doesn't look like an adversary setting.
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