guard up & gloves on

i do some cleaning at my church. i have encountered a lot in my tenure as 'maintenance supervisor'--the classy title assigned to me that basically means i get paid to make sure things are in order in all the main and high traffic areas, either by 'contracting' it out :-) or by doing it myself. 

when i say i've encountered a lot, i mean i have found things that would make a sane person quit, or at least wear gloves more regularly :-) ew, i know. you're thinking, "sick. you don't always wear gloves?!?" well, i used to...allllll the time. and i still do when doing some more dirty jobs, but there are times when i don't take the time to go grab a pair of gloves, and i just go at a task gloveless.

a couple days ago i was doing something that made me go get a pair of gloves. but i realized on my walk to the cleaning closet that on a regular basis i do things without gloves...the same jobs that i would have always worn gloves for. clearly i have become desensitized to some dirt and some dirty jobs. i'll use the simple, only sorta disgusting example of picking up stuff between and on the pews. think snotty tissues. think baby wipes, hopefully for sticky hands and faces. think chewed chewing gum rolled into a ball. think saliva soggy arrowroot cookies. i used to do this picking up with gloves. not so anymore. i guess i stopped being grossed out and afraid of germs at some point. some of the things that bothered me while cleaning no longer bother me. this thought got the (vacuum cleaner) wheels turning... :-)

the way i see it, the things that bothered you in the past should still bother you or there's a problem. or things that never bothered you in a former life should probably bother you now. and if you consider yourself a mature christian, then the list of what bothers you today should be longer than what bothered you 10 years ago or your senses are dulled. this isn't about being judgmental, either. i'm not pointing my finger at you or even suggesting that what bothers me should bother you, and vice versa. in fact, as i use the personal pronoun 'you' i'm actually talking to myself. and believe me, i've taken this very personally...meaning the next time you see me cleaning, i'll have gloves on just like in the past :-)


there's a lot to be said on this, and a lot is something called personal conviction, but what i'm not so subtly intimating is that if vulgar music, books, and movies bothered you then, they still should now. if frequenting less than reputable establishments bothered you then, they still should now. if off colour conversation bothered you then, it still should now. basically, the guidelines you set for yourself based on the bible, or on your own sensibilities and convictions should still be a part of who you are, what you say, what you do. distance yourself from the dirt that bothered you. put up barriers. keep your guard up and your gloves on.

what i am saying is that the dirt that bothered you then should bother you now. don't let yourself become desensitized to the point where you can scrub a toilet with little regard for the germs. they will catch up to you. your system isn't so immune that you can escape the effects of those germs in the long term.

 

and one illustration to leave you with, in case you're thinking you can handle dirt. stick your clean hands in a garbage can filled with garbage and nastiness and rummage through the coffee grounds, diapers, rotten fruit, and ground beef trays. pull your hands out and take a look. what rubbed off? did the cleanliness of your hands rub off on the trash? or are your hands dirty? i'm not implying that you can't effect change in a dirty situation and make it clean, but there's always the challenge that the dirt will affect the clean in the long run if you aren't careful. that's why gloves come in handy. and i'm not talking about being insular and in a bubble here, either. because there's work to do. there are toilets to clean and there’s garbage to deal with--and i don't just mean in the natural :-) that’s why things like prayer, bible reading, and church attendance are important. they’re your protection. jude mentions building each other up, praying in the Holy Ghost, keeping yourself in the love of God, and showing mercy to others, adding “now to Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless” (jude 24). now that sounds like great protection to get the job done!

so protect yourself and don't assume you're smart enough, or careful enough, or strong enough to handle the dirt you’re supposed to be dealing with. keep your guard up and wear gloves :-)