Joy of a Job Well Done

It's amazing to consider the diversity in the talents, abilities
and gifts we all possess personally and professionally.

One of the realities of homeownership is, to borrow the profound words of the late comedienne Gilda Radner’s character, Roseanne Roseannadanna, “it’s always something!”

In recent years we’ve had our kitchen and bathrooms remodeled, roof replaced, new windows and siding installed, and recently needed to have a new concrete driveway poured. Since I have a mechanical IQ of about minus-2, all I can do is watch with amazement as craftsmen do their thing, performing work I wouldn’t begin to attempt.

I also look on with appreciation for the diverse gifts and talents these carpenters, plumbers, roofers, concrete workers and contractors possess, so different from mine own. When it comes to working with my hands, the only tasks I can do with any success are with fingers applied to a computer keyboard.

A prevailing notion views work as “a necessary evil,” but work done well can be a source of much joy and satisfaction. Serving customers at a restaurant, building a house, teaching a class, writing an article, landscaping a yard, directing a meeting, performing a concert, selling a car, baking a casserole, or doing countless other jobs, there’s something noble about a job well-done.

All work is noble and honorable in God's sight
if it's performed with diligence and excellence.

The organs in a human body perform different but equally critical roles for maintaining good health. In a similar way, we’re all blessed with diverse interests, strengths and abilities all needed in a strong, thriving society. I’m thankful for the person that delivers our morning newspaper (yes, we still receive one of those), the mail carrier, cashiers and clerks at our grocery store, the fellow that guides me into the car wash, people that fix the potholes on the roads, even meter readers that come by to see how much electricity and water we’ve used.

There’s a passage in the Scriptures that describes this well: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all the parts are many, they form one body…” (1 Corinthians 12:12). It goes on to point out, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor…” (1 Corinthians 12:21-23).

But there’s another aspect of work that makes it even more meaningful and fulfilling. It’s when we recognize we’re not only serving other people but also the God who created and ordained work. Colossians 3:22-24 states, “Slaves (workers), obey your earthly masters (employers) in everything, and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

With that perspective, how can we ever give less than our very best – no matter what kind of work we find ourselves doing?

Pros and Cons of Diversity

These days we hear much conversation about “diversity.” Without question, diversity is an important, valuable part of life. Take, for example, the incredible variety of talents, gifts and skills people possess.

I’m a great admirer of persons that use their abilities to the fullest. Being mechanically challenged myself, I’m amazed by people that build cabinets, install electrical fixtures, make complex plumbing repairs and display other feats of manual dexterity. Similarly, I have great appreciation for those with technological expertise, knowing how to heal an ailing computer, decipher complex software or design eye-catching websites. My family has benefited from medical care in many ways, so I have great respect for physicians, nurses and other practitioners.

Having spent a career as a writer, editor and photographer, I believe I have some expertise in those areas. But I’m thankful for people unlike me, that have cultivated and honed other very useful abilities that have become their callings.

The Bible applauds such diversity, using the human body as an example: “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body…. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘ I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less memorable we treat with special honor…” (1 Corinthians 12:12-26).

However, diversity is not always desirable. Again the human body provides good examples. Infection occurs when harmful bacteria invade the body, disrupting the harmonious interaction of other cells. Cancer causes illness, even death, when malignant cells combat healthy cells. And heart disease comes about when fat cells called LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and triglycerides amass in arteries, impeding the flow of blood to and from the organ. In each instance, cell “diversity” puts the individual at serious risk.

The Bible also addresses this. The early Church, like the Church of the 21^st century, suffered from divisions and conflict – disease afflicting the spiritual body. In his letters the apostle Paul often wrote concerning this. In one place he admonished, “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” (Titus 3: 9-11).

So diversity is good when differences complement, working for the common good. But diversity focused on its own aims and agenda, according to the Bible, can be cancerous.