I Don't Paint

I Don't Paint

“I don’t paint.”

Have you ever heard anyone use this phrase? I recently talked to a friend who lamented the large chunk of time she spent painting a fence in her yard. I asked why her husband/teacher-who-had-the-whole-summer-off didn’t help with the task… Her response? “He doesn’t paint.”

Really?! That's it? This mysterious trio of words provides a seemingly unchallengeable right for any adult (usually husbands) to opt out of this essential household chore – no further explanation required. And the trend seems to be that all household painting duties then fall solely to their spouse.

Surprisingly, I’ve yet to see any remorse from these brush-surly individuals while they casually hand over hours of work to their better-halves. Some guys go so far as refusing to even look at paint color sample chips. Maybe they fear they’ll get sucked into a spiraling process way beyond their control -- soon they’ll be presented with wallpaper samplers and window-treatment catalogs, and asked opinions about countertops, rugs, tiles, towels, soaps and candles…

In reality, painting a wall is one of the most basic chores you could be assigned on this earth, and failure to do so will cause the appearance and integrity of a building to go downhill quickly. The same could be said about some of the most simple, but essential, acts of service in our churches. What’s our attitude towards these types of jobs? Do we pull out the “I don’t paint” mentality? Would we ever catch ourselves using phrases such as:
“I don’t do nursery…”
“I don’t do greeter duty…”
“I don’t do floors…”
“I don’t do kitchen work…”

Whether we like it or not, someone has to do these things every week. Are we opting out of these necessary jobs without good reason? If so, maybe we should rethink our stance of letting others do more than their share. Let’s appreciate and thank those in our churches who are faithful to these duties -- and let’s happily get involved as well.

Colossians 3:23-24 -- Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

- Ron Reid