“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ (Mat 7:21-23 NLT)I meet a guy named Ken. I ask Ken what he does for a living? Ken tells me he’s a plumber. “Oh, a construction trade, those are good jobs”. But Ken informs me he isn’t working right now. I ask where he worked previously? Ken tells me he hasn’t worked previously. Now I’m confused so I ask if he’s a journeyman? I usually reserve the title of `plumber’ for journeymen, and not for apprentices. I figure this is what he meant and that he’s a plumber in training. Ken tells me he isn’t a journeyman. From this I infer he is an apprentice. I ask what year of the apprenticeship he’s in? Ken tells me he hasn’t been to trade school. Again I’m confused. I ask if he’s a starter (meaning he was just hired by a company and is working off some hours before going to school)? Ken tells me he isn’t a starter and hasn’t been in contact with a plumbing company.
There are legal requirements to become a plumber. It is a regulated trade and a very skilled trade. You need to attend a trade school to acquire those skills and you need to pass a governmental certification exam when you finish school. I ask Ken why he’s calling himself a plumber? Ken tells me he’s done some personal plumbing at his house. He then elaborates to say he’s unplugged his toilet with a plunger and once cleaned the trap from under his sink.
Ken doesn't know what a plumber is
Ken doesn’t know what a plumber is. He doesn’t even own any plumbing tools. I ask him why he thinks he’s a plumber when he has no journeyman papers? He tells me there are different types of plumbers. There are the higher-up-plumbers that are indentured, that go to school and are trained, and that are certified and have paperwork. But then there’s another type of `plumber’, a lower level type, that haven’t bothered with all those burdensome requirements. In fact, Ken isn’t even sure what the requirements are (or the skills he is claiming he has). Ken tells me he’s one of these lower-end-plumbers.
In fact, he finds the higher-up-plumbers a little annoying for telling him how to become a REAL plumber. There is security in being a real plumber. That is what these bothersome ones are trying to teach him. They’re members of the brotherhood (the plumber’s union) and have a pension plan and benefits. Ken has a very sketchy understanding of these things and sees plumbing in a very superficial light.
Not only is Ken not a plumber, Ken doesn’t know he’s not a plumber. Ken doesn’t know what is required to be a plumber, and he has no understanding of the scope of a plumber’s work load. His claims of journeyman equivalency are his own claims, and he leans on his own authority to substantiate those claims. Citing yourself as an authority doesn’t make it a reality. The government certifies plumbers. Ken doesn’t. The government is the legal authority. Ken sounds insane or stupid to usurp this reality. This is facts verses feelings, reality verses delusion. The government and the union reject Ken’s claims of title, entitlement, and authority. There is no pension at the end of Ken’s deluded walk.
I met another guy named Ken. He told me he was a Christian …
Moral: Many people falsely identify as Christians, but they don't really know what being a Christian fully embodies. As such, their cavalier attitude towards the things of God pacifies the acknowledgment of their ignorance and places them in eternal peril.
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