“Hey, that’s not my job!”

In this era of sensitivity to whose rights are being stepped on by whom, many workers are acutely aware of what their jobs do and do not require of them. It’s an old joke when the maid says, “I don’t do windows.” But it’s not such a joke when an employee says to the boss, “It’s not my job to get your coffee.” Or “I’m not supposed to empty the trash at closing.” Or, “I wasn’t hired to take flak from a customer.”

As the owner of several small businesses over the years, my husband has seen the necessity of preparing written job descriptions for his employees, to make sure everyone knows exactly what each position entails. However, the last point in every job description, from the entry-level position to that at the top, is this one: “Other duties as assigned.”

From the outset he lets the employees know that any job is in everybody’s job description. Does the front window need cleaning, or should the restroom sinks be wiped out before it’s time for the janitorial crew to come in? Then anyone, from general manager to front desk receptionist, can be called on to do the task. Does the sign out front need a new message (and it’s pouring down rain!)? Sales manager, secretary, or even president must don raingear and trudge out to change the sign!

Isn’t God’s Kingdom on earth a bit like the average workplace? We Christians come into the Kingdom with a certain mindset about what we are and are not going to do in our “job.” I’m ashamed to admit it, but frequently I’m an example of someone who has preconceived ideas about what her “job” is, even in the realm of “Christian duty.”

I remember going to a pastor at a church in a city where we had just moved. I had some spare time on my hands which I wanted to fill with “Christian work,” so I offered my services to him. He said he desperately needed someone to get his personal library in order. How boring, I thought. I had something a little more – well – “Christian” in mind! I said I really felt my “gifts” lay along other lines, like manning a soup kitchen occasionally or visiting a shut-in from time to time. Nothing as mundane as organizing a bunch of books! I wanted to do “real” Christian work that would be fulfilling – to me! My mental Christian job description apparently didn’t contain the codicil that my husband always puts in!

Or how about the time we had moved to a town near New York City? I had learned of a program where people who lived outside the inner city of New York invited underprivileged city kids to their homes for a week or two in the summer, to get them out of the city’s heat and to give them some quality time with caring families. I signed up immediately, and was very excited about having a child come into our home – until I received the literature which told me that I would have to tend to some of the child’s hygiene needs which were unfamiliar to me. You see, I am white, and my city child would probably have been African-American. There were creams and lotions and pomades that needed to be applied to her skin and hair to assure her comfort – and I was very uncomfortable with that “job!” Not what I had in mind when I signed on! So I quit! “Other duties as assigned,” hah!

What about my “real” job, that of being a loving wife? It’s a wonderful job – as long as my husband doesn’t ask me to do something I really don’t want to do. Like make a delivery for him which necessitates altering my shopping plans! Or help him during my writing time! Or change a nail appointment so I can take his car in to be serviced! Surely those aren’t part of my job!

The Lord has a few choice words for those of us who put constraints on our jobs. His own disciples were arguing among themselves about their job status. And Jesus let them know in no uncertain terms that they all had “other duties as assigned”: “Anyone wanting to be greatest must be the least – the servant of all!” (Mark 9:35 LB)

Want a God-given picture of “whose job this is”? Just imagine our Lord Jesus down on His knees with a towel around His waist washing the dirty, smelly feet of His disciples! And afterwards He admonished them: “If I, then your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15 RSV)

The clincher, however – the part of our Christian job description which doesn’t let us out of any assignment – is the one Jesus included when He told us how He would know His righteous followers from the hell-bent folks at the final judgment. On Judgment Day, just like now, there will be those who’ll want to know exactly when they didn’t do their job here on earth. They’ll deny they ever neglected the Lord’s work, arguing “when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?” (Matthew 25:44 LB) But Jesus will answer, “When you refused to help the least of these my brothers, you were refusing help to Me.” (Matthew 25:45 LB)

And thus forever He forbids our excuse to Him of “Hey, that’s not my job!”

It’s the start of a new school year, and I salute (and pray for!) our teachers and administrators who are charged with the unimaginable responsibility of taking the urchins they are given and eventually turning them into responsible citizens who will be the leaders of the future.  And I think of our late son-in-law Mike who died way too young last December.

Mike was not only a terrific son-in-law whom we dubbed “our angel,” but he was also a great teacher and coach before becoming a respected high school administrator and mentor of many, young and old. He was also a wonderful husband and one of the best fathers I have ever known.

A lot of dads are actively involved in their kids’ lives, but Mike was the only one I knew of who changed that first nasty poopy diaper in the hospital and didn’t even gag at all. He and our daughter Heather
eventually had four children, and he kept on changing diapers, supervising  the kids’ baths and homework, working and playing alongside them, showing them how to be the outstanding people God intended them to be.

Heather recently posted a photo of their youngest, a girl after three boys. Braelin had just won a blue ribbon in a horse event and was grinning from ear to ear. For some reason I thought about when she was just a baby and I was visiting for a few days. She needed a clean diaper and I figured I could handle that job. I didn’t reckon with little Braelin’s feistiness. She squirmed, cried and kicked and had just about bested her ol’ Nanny.

Mike heard the ruckus and came in to lend a hand. He tried to make me feel better by telling me she resisted being changed by anyone, and I saw that even he was having a little bit of trouble. What he said to her has stuck with me all these years: “Braelin, I can make you be still. I don’t want to have to use force, but I can make you be still.” I don’t know if it was the authority in his voice, or if she was just worn out from wrestling, but she settled down and let him change her!

Isn’t that like our Heavenly Father? He could make us do whatever He wants us to do; He has the power and the strength. But He chooses not to use the force of His will. He wants us to obey Him out of love and respect for His authority over us. He may stand by, watching us kick and scream until we are too tired to fight Him anymore. Then when we submit to Him in obedience, He will work with us to bring about the change we have fought against, but so desperately need.

Mike, by your example you taught your children well – and your mother-in-law too.