by Phyllis Bourque
In this past year, my husband and I have been doing some home improvements, with the goal of selling the house. We are unable to accomplish much of the work ourselves, so we have had to hire local contractors. Unfortunately, instead of being able to say “very good” with each phase of the work, we found ourselves having to address poor workmanship issues along the way. Some of these issues were remedied, but not necessarily to our satisfaction, causing us to seek another contractor for the next phase of work. After four contractors, it’s been an unsettling experience and begs the question, “Doesn’t anyone do quality work anymore?”
Manufacturing companies often boast about the quality of their products by using “quality catch-phrases” in their advertising campaigns, but even that is changing. On June 11, 2013, USA Today published an article that read: “A spate of flubs by Ford Motor is raising doubt about whether quality still really is — as Ford’s tagline used to boast — ‘Quality is Job One.’”
Wikipedia writes in regard to Zenith electronics company: “For many years, their famous slogan was ‘The quality goes in, before the name goes on.’” Zenith ultimately was unable to compete with a global market for cheaper products in the 1980s and was eventually taken over by a foreign firm.
On a more critical level, it is distressing for me to hear of buildings or bridges collapsing and causing loss of lives, only to find out that these “accidents” could have been avoided if quality standards had been implemented in the design, engineering, construction and/or maintenance phases. More recently, I was shocked to learn that a train crash in Spain that killed many people, was due to negligence on the part of the driver in adhering to the quality standards that had been put in place by the railroad company. I grieve when an event involves loss of lives, but even more so, when it is learned that it could have been avoided.
While thinking about this subject, I was reminded of the Scriptures that describe the building of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. I reflected on the fact that everything God designed was of the highest quality, and that He required the work to be carried out with the same degree of excellence. It’s fascinating for me to realize that He actually gave His Spirit to the people He chose to do the work so that they could produce the quality of workmanship that He specified in great detail! I think I would have enjoyed being part of the group that worked on the priestly garments. Wow! To be so skilled as to produce something “for glory and beauty” must have been thoroughly enjoyable!
My husband and I asked ourselves many times, what if we could enjoy that kind of delivery of workmanship today and not have to negotiate with those we hire to simply “do it right”? Wouldn’t that be wonderful!? Unfortunately, we experienced that greed and speed overrode quality assurance all too often, and it was yet another reminder for us that this physical world won’t get any better under Satan’s substandard influence.
I look forward to the time when God’s Kingdom will be set up on this earth and people will be taught excellence in every facet of their lives, without hindrance from Satan. From all of these disappointments with our local contractors, I had to reflect once again on what an enjoyable and satisfying time that will be, both for those of us who will teach God’s way, as well as for those who will see the result of implementing His level of excellence in all that they do. And I am convinced that with people working and living under the direction of Jesus Christ in the Millennium, God will once again be able to say that what will be accomplished will be “very good,” as He did when He initially re-created the physical world.
