A Good Carpenter Knows…

A good carpenter knows the little details of the trade. The kind of details that only experience can teach and failures can reinforce. If you need work done around the house, get a good carpenter.

During my years in a trade school, we worked on a couple of projects, one of which was a 150 square foot house that arose in the Tiny House trend. Our school was making a home for a family who was suffering the effects of severe flooding.

Now, there was a lot of money staked in resources. We had lumber, siding, roofing, appliances, insulation, and wiring. All of these resources were entrusted in the hands of high school juniors, seniors, and one experienced teacher.

Now, consider the following. With such a large amount of lumber in the hands of high schoolers, there were a few mistakes. Some students cut way too short and other students cut way too much. But our teacher, a good carpenter, always cut the wood spot on at the right length.

He often said, “you can always cut again, but you can’t add any wood.” He was saying, if you mess up, just make sure you cut too little and never too much. Saying this, he as a good carpenter, always cut just right. He accounted for everything: tape measure flaws, the saw having an 1/8 of an inch width, and bows in the wood.

The Scriptural equivalent of a “good carpenter” is an “unashamed workman” (2 Timothy 2:15). The Apostle Paul states, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” You see, way too often, the Church settles for baaad carpenters. These are the people who compromise the integrity of the Gospel, spread lies, follow vain philosophies of men, and teach wrong doctrine (Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:3). The scary thing is, you find a lot of bad carpenters in churches, blinded by denominationalism, never acknowledging the pure grace of God.

God does not want us to cut short. He doesn’t want us to cut too much. The Lord demands sound, healthy doctrine and a unified Body (Romans 16:17; Hebrews 13:9). We can be good carpenters without lengthy commentaries and eloquent teachers. The Church has the very words of God. It is our job to cut it right.

This means knowing who Scripture is talking to, who said it, and when they said it (Ephesians 3). Your Gospel is by grace through faith, just believe that Jesus Christ did all the work by dying on the Cross, being buried, and rising again. The Apostle Paul is the Gentiles Apostle, teaching of the dispensation of the grace of God, and God operates today by grace, grace, oh sweet grace!

Be a good carpenter. Cut it right (Romans 16:25-27).