WHERE EVERYONE
HAS GONE BEFORE!
What's the most dangerous job in the world? Take a moment to think about it. Would it be a bomb specialist; or a policeman dealing with big city crime? How about a bush pilot regularly flying into the remote North, or the uninhabited jungles of Africa? What about a race car driver; or, maybe, even a mom?! Obviously, all of these jobs are dangerous, but I have to admit that my concept of a dangerous job took a quantum leap this week when I was introduced to 26-year-old Jason Smith. Jason is a fellow Canadian who has the pleasure of having what's been billed as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
What exactly does Jason do? Before I answer that question, please make sure that you aren't in the process of eating, or even in the process of thinking about eating.
Now that I've warned you, I can divulge that Jason is a diver. There, I said it. Are you shocked; horrified; dumfounded? OK, perhaps his job description thus far seems a bit anticlimactic on the intensometer, but wait, I haven't gotten to the best part yet!
Jason's job entails entering hazardous waste tanks to make repairs. One day he may be surrounded by hazardous chemicals or radioactive waste; another day he may have to dive into a tank full of human sewage complete with dangerous bio-hazards like hypodermic needles contaminated with AIDS and other equally icky stickies. Surrounded by the nastiest stuff humanity can create, in zero visibility conditions, Jason unclogs intake valves and fixes leaky pipes.
I can tell you're impressed! Jason's job wins hands down -- not only as one of the most hazardous jobs in all the world, but also, as one of the most repulsive! It's this guy's job to literally go where every man (and woman) has gone before! All he has to do is make one mistake, one miscalculation, and he's dead, and majorly stinky to boot. What if he got stuck or trapped -- who's going to be the one to go in and get him?
As Jason spoke, one point became very clear -- when one faces the kind of hostile, disgusting, putridly poisonous, disease-ridden environments this guy does, one becomes very particular about making the proper preparations. No one is going to face what Jason faces without wearing serious layerage! No one goes where Jason goes without thinking ahead and planing for every possible contingency. It would be suicidal for Jason to avoid adequate preparation in order to keep contamination away. One just doesn't play around with issues of life and death! — especially when we're talking about dying a death that would make even the Tidy Bowl Man turn blue!
I bet some of you are wonder why Jason would take such a dangerous job. It's certainly not a job every boy dreams of taking when they're growing up! Still, I believe Jason is to be commended for his willingness to do a job most of us would pass on (no pun intended). Jason is to be commended for doing a difficult, dangerous task that is as necessary as it is nasty. To me, Jason and his willingness to go into the depths of a hazardous environment is an example every Christian should take to heart.
You see, there's no doubt that we live in a world that is highly contaminated. Everywhere we look, people are sick and dying from their contact with the man-made pollution that corrupts souls and deadens spirits, but where are the Jasons of the Church? The Church hasn't done a very compelling job about how it's faced the toxic waste of our world today. Either we haven't protected ourselves from the potential hazards and we've become corrupted ourselves, or we've built walls and communities away from the waste. We need Jasons in the Church. We need Christians who are intentional about protecting their hearts from the hazards of this world. We need Christian, who like Daniel, resolve not to defile" themselves (Dan 1:8). Likewise, we need Christians who are willing to head into the front lines of corruption and fix what's wrong. After all, isn't that the primary challenge of the Church?
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the "salt of the earth". Along with this description of the Church is a warning to remain salty. Now, the neat thing about pure salt is that has the characteristic of being able to change what it comes in contact with while it still maintains it's distinctiveness. Have a taste of soup or stew and you can immediately tell whether salt is present or not. You may not be able to see it, but you will be able to taste it. Christians are to be just like that — distinctive in our purity, love and faith, but mixed in with the soup of this world to change it. I'm not sure about the wisdom of mixing the two metaphors of toxic waste and food seasoning, but, hey, I've come this far already!
May the intentions of our hearts and the strength of our faith, keep us pure and protected while we step into the tank to, with God's help, fix what's been broken. Thanks, Jason, for reminding us of both the dangers and the opportunities!
