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The Toilet Stall Effect

The summer between high school graduation and my first year of college, I worked for a friend at church who cleaned offices. We cleaned at night, usually from 8:00 PM until about 2:00 or 3:00 AM. Now, cleaning is probably my least favorite thing to do in the entire world. In fact, I’m amazed that my mother didn’t pass out at the thought that I would actually take a job cleaning—something that she did not see me do for eighteen years. The funny thing is, I was pretty good at it. I mean, we never heard much praise from our clients, but in my own mind, I was a master cleaner.

The thing is, I had adapted my own way of cleaning. I know this is not the most appropriate topic, but bear with me as I chat about toilets for a second (I promise it’s crucial to my point). When I went into these offices to clean the toilet stalls, I was absolutely sure I was the best toilet-stall-cleaner out there. Why? Simple. I watched the other people who cleaned them, and they followed this approach: open the stall door, wipe down the doors, spray the toilet, and they were done.

My “superior” method was this: I opened the stall and sat on the toilet lid. From there I had the most important perspective that exists in the bathroom world—the perspective of the person on the seat. After all, the person sitting there usually has time to stare at the walls, right? I can clean all day long, but if the stall is not clean from the view of the person on that seat, we have problems. Honestly, very few other perspectives matter. I would finish by wiping down the seat and voila—the cleanest toilet stall in all the land!

With that in mind, some of us in ministry need to change seats. We need to look at the church all over again from the perspective of the first-time visitor. Things might look good when you are standing at the door, behind the pulpit, or in the youth room, but the bottom line at the end of the day for the church is how we come across to the person in that seat.

© Richard L. Reising

Published on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 @ 11:19 AM CDT
2 comments

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  • Barbara (Xerraire)

    My mom was distraught that my son, her grandson, took a job as janitor, where he also had to clean the toilets.

    My son really needed the money to pay for Bible college and his family.

    To him, it was a great job. Any job was a great job.
    His attitude was completely different to my mom's.

    "Upset because I have to clean the toilets, no way!
    I practice PREACHING to them!"

    The practice is paying off. One, he really knows his Bible, two, he preaches a fine sermon.

    Back to your point, yes, I do believe the church I attend and am a member of, do try to make sure they keep a perspective of a first time visitor.

    Good post.

    Barb
    :)

    Posted on Wed, Jan 28, 2009 @ 9:48 PM CST

  • Stan

    Andy Stanley taught something similar in a leadership podcast. He said to ask, "what if the church (board), brought in a new pastor and new elders. What would they do? What would they change?" We need to see the church with fresh eyes and to make the changes necessary so that we can be as effective as possible.

    Posted on Wed, Feb 25, 2009 @ 2:16 PM CST

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