The Two Carpenters of Appalachia

In the 1930s, two carpenters worked side by side in Harlan County, Kentucky, building homes for families displaced by mine collapses. Elmer Sizemore cut corners wherever he could — thinning the wall studs, skipping the vapor barrier, using green lumber he knew would warp within a year. He finished faster and collected his pay. Walter Combs worked slower. He doubled the floor joists because he knew the mountain winters. He insulated the crawl spaces even though the contract didn't require it. When someone asked why he bothered, Walter said, "Because a family's going to sleep here tonight, and they'll never know what's behind these walls. But I will."

Thirty years later, the homes Elmer built sagged on their foundations, floors buckling, drafts cutting through every seam. The families in Walter's homes were still warm.

John's third letter draws a sharp line between Diotrephes, who loved his own prominence and refused to welcome the brothers, and Gaius, who showed faithful generosity even to strangers. Then John makes it plain: "Do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does good is from God."

The pattern we choose to follow shapes everything we build — our relationships, our churches, our character. What is behind your walls reveals whose carpenter you are. The good we do when no one is watching is the truest evidence that we have seen God.