Leaking Faucets and Busted Mains
If you have a leaking faucet and a busted water main, which would concern you more? What if our tendency is to fixate on leaking faucets and ignore the busted main…would you want to know?
Have you heard of the parable of the homeowner who had a leaky faucet and busted water main. The house showed signs of the busted main - discolored water, high water bills and low water pressure but the busted main was underground out of sight. The leaky faucet was in the kitchen and every guest commented on the need to get the faucet fixed. It was in sight and was a focus of everyones attention.
If you know anything about water lines, you know both leaks are a problem but the water main leak is a much bigger deal and often costs a lot more to fix. For that reason, many will ignore the water main until fixing it is forced upon the owner. We know the same is true of crisis situations like an active shooter. People in active shooter situations, when outside of the direct sight of the situation, often convince themselves that the shooting is not actually happening. Our default is to believe that I never need to take immediate action and that I am never in danger.
I see this in marriage counseling. Couples fixate on leaky faucets in the marriage when a busted main is causing the majority of their problems. I see this in financial counseling. People knowingly blow cash on stuff that will only hurt them in the long run. I see this in parenting and I see this in culture. I see this in politics as we argue over a faucet that leaks one gallon per day versus 1.5 gallon per day when the busted main is spilling thousands of gallons every day and it is ignored.
At this point you probably want to know what I believe are the busted mains that we are ignoring and compare them to the leaky faucets that capture our primary attention. While I have a set of beliefs that are being personally considered, I believe that my busted main could very well be a leaky faucet in your life or context. For that reason, I won’t share specifics.
However, it would be a great exercise for each of us to analyze our life, workplaces and congregations to ask what is garnering most of our attention and if it is a leaky faucet or busted main. Do the hard work of actually discovering, confessing and addressing the busted mains in your life, workplace and congregation.
What are the busted mains in your life?
What are the busted mains in your relationship with Christ?
What are the busted mains in your finances?
What are the busted mains in your congregation?
Face those, repent of those, fix those and lead with grace. It won’t serve you well to beat yourself or others up for what has been ignored or unseen. Lead well and fix the busted mains with those around you then turn your attention to the leaky faucets.