Roger the Bodger ... and all his Works!

What does it take to turn a house into a home?  We all have different answers to that question!  Susan and Tim were overjoyed when they moved into their new home and, like many a young couple, they hadn’t been there long when they started getting home improvement ideas.  Weekends would find them at the local DIY store, buying paint and paper, tools and other bits and pieces to make their home really theirs.

Soon it became apparent that the previous occupier of the house had also indulged in DIY.  Sadly, he hadn’t been the thorough worker whom it’s a delight to follow.  When the paper was stripped off the walls, large dollops of filler came with it, and instead of being faced with a good surface to re-paper, they had to undertake a major re-plastering job first.  They found that the washing machine had been plumbed into the wrong pipe, and when it came to a simple job like replacing a light switch with a dimmer unit, they uncovered a potential fire hazard which needed a complete re-wiring to make it safe.

How much was Susan and Tim’s home-decorating experience a reflection of the state of our lives?  When we peel back the veneer of respectability, do we find a solid core, or is the life underneath seething with corrosion and decay?  Has the decorator done a complete refurbishment, or merely plastered over the cracks?  It’s all too easy to think that what’s on the outside is all that's important ... if it looks good, it must be good.

Jesus told a parable about two house-builders (Luke 6:47-49).  The wise man built his house on solid rock, but his fellow, whose house probably looked just as good, could only stand and watch as his home was washed away when the rains came.  This parable warns us that we should be thorough in the way we put our lives together, making sure that we choose values and standards that are worthy and reflect the will of our Lord.  The danger is that, if we don’t, we may find the whole of life collapsing around us, like the house built on sand.

The same is true of our churches, too.  I heard recently of a typical parish, with a medieval church unsuited in many ways to twenty-first century life, where the new vicar had a few simple ideas that, with minimal financial outlay, could improve the experience of people coming to worship there.  He faced a tremendous uphill struggle, largely based on an outdated philosophy which held that if something were part of a church then it had to remain the way it was in perpetuity, notwithstanding its fitness for purpose, or the convenience of its location.

Next time you are doing some house repairs, and discover something that has been bodged: smartened up to look nice while the underlying structure is failing, spare a thought for Susan and Tim.  Instead of grumbling as you put right whatever wasn’t done well in the first place, ask whether Roger the Bodger is at work in your life – or your church – as well as your home.