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By Brian Medway
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One of the things I noticed as construction moved from one stage to the next was the number of different people who did one or other of the required tasks. I think Ben said he was in weekly contact with somewhere between twenty and thirty different contractors. Engaging and deploying contractors was the major part of his job. At one time he carried the major responsibility for seventeen homes – all at various stages. As I watched our own house being completed it boggled my mind to think of work needing to be done in sequence by all the different contractors.
What struck me was the difference between the world of a contractor and the world of a foreman. Contractors didn’t really think much at all about the whole building or the whole job. They just turned up, did their bit and then walked away. They didn’t start the house or finish it. They didn’t need to relate to anyone else on the job. They just did some of the work.
The world of the foreman was totally different. He had to live the present in the light of the end product. There was a set of plans that were all specific and needed to be interpreted to each of the trade contractors. The foreman had to know what exactly what was needed and had to plan a strategy to line up those sequential contract tasks. The foreman had to ensure that the end product conformed exactly to the vision and had to know enough about all of the tasks to be sure that they were being done the right way. When something went wrong it was up to the foreman to figure out how to fix it. Then there were budget issues. It was the foreman’s job to make sure there was minimal wastage and maximum efficiency.
During those days when Ben had seventeen houses I saw him leaving for work before six in the morning and getting home at seven at night. He put his hand to all manner of tasks from cleaning rubbish to pulling things apart that weren’t right and re-doing them so that they were. He was the meat in the sandwich between the owner of the company, the clients suppliers and tradesmen. As far as the actual job was concerned, he carried the responsibility for completion from the moment he got out of bed until he fell asleep.
I have observed that Christian ministry operates very much like the world of contractors and foremen. All kinds of people are willing to be contractors. They just want to do a job without any commitment to the end product. They are willing to come and do a task but not share any of the responsibility for the result. They are accountable for doing work but not for completion. As such they don’t become part of a team, they just turn up at certain times. They don’t relate to anyone else. They just do some work.
I am amazed to realise how many Christian leaders I know who are no longer willing to be leaders of congregations simply because they don’t want to carry end game responsibility. Many of them have taken up itinerant ministry jobs or have gone to work in Christian organisations where they become contractors – doing a small task over and over again but being able to walk away when they have done their bit. Many more don’t want the responsibility of belonging to a genuine team because they just want to work on their own without being accountable.
I have my doubts as to whether the “contractor” is envisaged anywhere in the New Testament. I think it is an invention of our self-indulgent, self-focused, individualistic culture. No matter how we dress it up it remains alien to New Testament character and ministry. To say that the ‘members’ of a ‘body’ are a collection of contractors who each do a task is close to an abomination.
The new covenant is about a collective sharing of responsibility for the completion of God’s work. In that sense we may do work like contractors do but we do it with the understanding and commitment of a bunch of foreman – knowing the desired goal and belonging to the others who share that commitment. No walking away when your bit is done.
Where are the people who have this inside their heart?
Foremen are “whatever it takes to get the job done” people. Followers of Jesus are no less, regardless of what tasks they might be gifted for or end up employed it. it is not gift that carries a job to completion it is responsibility!
As far as Grace Canberra is concerned, I don’t hold much value in contract work – no matter how skilled the persons might be who are capable of doing it. The valuable people are those who know what it is that God wants to do and will “do whatever it takes” until the job is done. The foremen (men and women) are those whose sense of belonging is to everyone who belongs to that vision.
We may genuinely need contractors from time to time – but it is only what is inside a foreman that will enable the job to get done. There will be people who watch, others who make comments, others who come for a while and then they’re gone. No matter how many of these are in the room, it will be of little value to the completion of the work. But when someone sees what God wants and agrees to carry a share of that responsibility – “whatever it takes” – there is a value there that can’t be measured.
Let’s become foremen. Let’s look at God’s plan and make a commitment not to rest until it stands before us complete. If Jesus could say “It is finished” and if Paul could say,”I have finished the race” it was because they carried a personal commitment to bear that as a personal responsibility. They belonged to IT (the completion of the task) and THEM (the people of the task).
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