"A Better Class of Plumber"--July 11, 2019

"A Better Class of Plumber"--July 11, 2019

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." [Philippians 2:3-5]

For the followers of Jesus, it matters how we do things as much (or more) as what we do.  It can be easy to get obsessed with trying to impress folks by being known as someone who "gets things done," but because we are called to reflect Christ into the world, Jesus himself is concerned about the way we do things, not just having a reputation for "doing" things.  After all, some things are worth doing, and some aren't... and sometimes it really depends on how we go about it.

A case in point, if you are willing.  I've been seeing floating around this meme on the internet that goes something like this:  "If my pipes are backing up and my drains are overflowing with sewage, I don't care if my plumber is a nice guy, or uses polite words, or even has a noble virtuous character--I just want the plumber who can get the sewage out of my basement and get the job done!"  And from there, the argument goes on to say that, by analogy, the character of the people around us--especially people we choose for important jobs or roles in our society--doesn't matter, so long as they have a reputation for "getting the job done."  If the plumber can get the drains moving again, it doesn't matter if he's rude, immature, or cheating on his wife--it only matters if he can "get the job done."

And as tempting as that oversimplification is, it just doesn't hold up if you give it more than a second's thought.  I mean, after all, it absolutely does matter how the plumber "gets the job done."  For one, the plumber who just installs an extra sump pump and has it routed out the basement windows out onto my lawn can claim he has "gotten the job done" quickly, but he's really only relocated my problem.  And even though my basement might be slowly able to dry out, there is now going to be the problem of sewage spewing onto my lawn and additionally now out onto the neighbor's yard and into the street.  That sort of plumber can claim he has "solved" my basement problem, but it comes at the cost of harm to my yard and my neighbor's yard--which isn't really a fix.

For that matter, a plumber who says, "We can make the storm sewer more able to handle your property's excess rainwater if we just close off the neighbor's access to the storm sewer--that will mean that only your house's runoff will go into the storm sewer, so you won't have any back-ups!" clearly hasn't solved the problem the right way either.  Once again, it would mean just shifting a problem from your house at the expense of your neighbor's--which is no solution at all, and ultimately makes things worse if you ever want to be able to get along with your neighbor again.

And even when it comes to things like temperament and personality, I'd even argue that if my plumber can't be trusted to be courteous to employees or customers, or professional in his attitude toward other people, there's no reason I should trust him to be professional in his work.  For the anonymous internet meme-makers who say, "It doesn't matter if my plumber has been faithful to his wife as long as he knows how to fix a leaky elbow joint," I'm left wondering why I would trust someone to be honest with me in the labor he charges me for if I also knew he wasn't trustworthy in the closest relationships of his life.

All of that is to say that as temptingly simple as it sounds to say, "It doesn't matter how a person does things, as long as they get things done," that mindset turns out to be embarrassingly myopic and shortsighted, as well as an open invitation to get taken advantage of, too.  And even more to the point for us as followers of Jesus, that "just get stuff done" mindset isn't compatible with the way of Christ.  For the writers of the New Testament, as well as for Jesus himself, it matters immensely how we do things, and not merely that we claim we "get things done."

And in particular, the "how" has to include the way we regard others.  There's always a selfish way to solve a problem--probably more than one, honestly.  But the followers of Jesus are not permitted to ignore the needs and well-being of others, both fellow Christians and folks who are not Christians as well, when we consider how to deal with a situation.  The apostle Paul puts it directly as he wrote to friends of his in the city of Philippi: having the "same mind that was in Christ Jesus" meant (and still means) putting the needs of others before our own.  It means that we are steered away from only asking "What's good for me?" and led toward asking, "What is good for all of us in this situation?"  It means that I can no longer settle for simply "getting things done" in a way that is good for me, but comes at the expense of the neighbor.  It means that we can't tell the plumber to route the sewage onto the neighbor's yard as long as it keeps my house clean and dry, and it means I don't only have a responsibility for the people who live under my roof, but also the neighbors down the block, in the next town over, or across an ocean (ask Jesus about who "counts" as a neighbor).

This isn't extra-credit level Christianity by the way.  This isn't some standard reserved for pastors, monks, and saints, while the rest of us live in the "real world" where we just have to push through and "get stuff done."  This is ground-floor, entry-level discipleship.  Being a Christian means seeking to live in a way that reflects Christ for the world--it's right there in the name. That means it always matters how we do things, and not merely that we claim to "get stuff done."  And because Jesus would not even think in terms of a "Me and My Group First" mindset, we don't get to, either.  And if the plumber you've hired is only interested in getting sewage out of your house by routing it into the neighbor's house, well, you need a better class of plumber.

At the end of the day, it's not just about how much, or how many items, we have checked off the to-do list in the name of "getting things done." It's about how we do them, and whether we have acted, spoken, and made decisions in ways that reflect Christ.  And, lest we sneakily try and baptize our own selfishness with the name of Jesus, the Scriptures keep us honest by emphasizing just what it looks like to "have the mind of Christ," when they call us to put the needs of others before just "what's good for me."  That's what it looks like to reflect Christ, and that's our calling today.

Today, maybe we can set aside the idol of "getting stuff done" in order to be reflections of Christ in the way we do all things.

Lord Jesus, let us live and think and act with your mind, so that we never settle for a short-sighted vision of "what's good for me only."