Variety: Luke 10v29

He asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ (Luke 10:29

My friend was walking into work when a builder crossed her path. As he did, his toolbox broke and there were screws, pliers, and raw plugs all over the pavement.

‘Should I walk on?’ – always a dilemma – but she stopped, helped gather the scattered tools, and after a short exchange felt prompted to ask, ‘Can I pray for you?’ She found a welcome response: ‘Thank you, it hasn’t been a good week.’ It’s 8am and this builder is already having an ‘exploding toolbox’ kind of day.

In Luke 10, Jesus is asked the question: ‘Who is my neighbour?’ He answers with a story about responding to people in the way God would respond to them. Being willing to be there for people in broken toolbox moments models God’s character to others.

Poor mental health in the construction industry accounted for 507 suicides in 2021. Construction News surveyed 3,400 construction workers, which showed that 73% of respondents felt employers didn’t recognise the early signs of mental health problems.

There are many reasons our mental toolboxes break. Sometimes the tools for coping with the pressures of life are easy to find, but we’re past our load-bearing capacity through unrelenting stress. We all have days when the toolbox becomes undone and everything scatters.

In the construction industry, the reasons are many: from the long working hours to the lack of job security, tight deadlines, the physical demands of skilled labour, and the hidden pressures of doing your own marketing and accounting.

You’re also faced with a culture that labels you as ‘just a builder’ or ‘those men who wolf whistle at women’. Added to that, the ‘macho culture’ of this industry and you have the perfect storm for ‘broken toolboxes’.

Now, this won’t be unique to the building trade. Our current culture is leading to many broken toolboxes. But one of the ways we can challenge and change this culture is to do as my friend did – notice the people around you! Being seen is key.

Maybe as you read this there’s a plumber, painter, or plasterer working on your house or a property nearby – when you offer them a coffee this morning (and add some biscuits while you’re at it!), why not pause and have one with them, taking a moment to listen to them. And maybe, like my friend, you’ll be playing your part in keeping their mental toolbox together!

Steve Rouse is Church Team Director at LICC and a teaching pastor at Balham BaptistChurch in South London. Before taking on these roles, he had a career in the building trade.