The other day, I got a phone call at work from a lady concerning a job reference. They had a position open and the person applying for the job was someone I had worked with in the past and have known tar years. She asked me what kind of person "Joe" is, in my own words, and I told her that he is friendly, outgoing, and very likeable. He didn't complain too much about his work, and was a gentle soul who grew plants in his office. That was all well and good, but she pressed me to tell her what kind of worker is Joe? That got a little more difficult to express.

You see, in all the years I've known him, I can't recall Joe actually doing any work. Oh, he was busy alt the time on his own pet projects and he seemed technical enough, but he never actually produced anything useful. It's an awful spot for me to be in. Do I tell the lady... what? Joe's not lazy, nor is he dumb in any way, but he marches to his own beat. We often hear deep thinking psychobabble people say this is a wonderful trait in children, how they will grow up independent and welt rounded, blah blah blah, but in practice (in a work environment, at least) this is NOT what most employers are looking for.

So I told her he seems smart enough to pick up things quickly and do the job she had described to me that he was interviewing for. Then she asked how I knew this about Joe? What past work had he done for me to base this observation on? Now it was getting tricky. I like Joe, but I wasn't willing to lie for him (or anyone else). So I told her that I really didn't have anything to base it on other than what he DID work on while he was here he seemed very competent in. So she says "Oh, you mean the project he was working on that he wasn't supposed to but kept on doing anyway?" and now I knew she knew a lot more about Joe than I realized. Joe was always trying to reinvent things to be on his own terms. To make that plainer, if you had hired him as a carpenter he wouldn't pound in very many nails - he would have spent his time trying to invent a better hammer. All the while he would expect you to pay him, though, because inventing a better hammer is still "work".

Joe would do enough work to keep the boss off his back, but his primary effort every day would be to work on his own thing. Over time, though, it became obvious what he was doing and eventually the day came where he got laid off. That was too bad. As I said, I like Joe, he's a nice guy and I would warn him about this. Whenever we worked together, I would strive to make the work interesting for him, giving him the "funner" parts and taking the uglier less glamorous tasks myself, so he might perhaps give up this other thing and actually invest some time in the job he was hired for, but always he went back to his old ways. Others tried to cover for him, but at review time it was obvious he wasn't getting things done.

Christians can be like that, which is very unfortunate. We have a charge from God, to teach the gospel to our friends and neighbors. We are to visit the sick, the orphans, the widows. We are to live as examples of Christ in us. I hate to be pointed, but many Christians in churches everywhere come on Sunday mornings and then "do their own thing" the rest of the week, having been "churched" enough to keep people off their backs. They might not realize it, but they may be seeking their own form of religion, worshiping God on their own terms. Don't get me wrong, we may love them dearly. They may be friendly, outgoing, wonderful people. But where is their desire? To gather with Christians whenever the opportunity comes up, or to let other things, their own personal projects, keep them from the _expression of love towards God and the rest of us by encouraging us with their presence? Even for those of us who are here every time the door opens, do we serve God as we should? When we stand before God on judgment day, and if he asks us about "Joe" (not that he would) what could we say? We can't cover for each other, there won't be any lies told, and it will come down to this - did you live as you should have, or not?

As for Joe, I asked the lady why if she already knew this about him was she interviewing him at all" It turns out she knew him from years ago, and was hoping since that time he had grown up and changed. In other words, she wanted to give him a second chance, and hoped being laid off had, like a near death experience, scared him into the person he should be. She was not wilting to just give up on him, and as a friend she was hoping he would not let her down. I was touched by the mercy she was showing in the usually cold, impersonal business world, and reminded that Christ doesn't want to give up on any of us, either. Will we let him down? Think about it.

Randy