|
 In
his popular book, The Making Of A Surgeon, Dr. William
Nolen, in describing the hospital where he spent his internship,
tells of a certain corridor that was generally avoided by him
and his associates. Though it was a convenient short-cut to a
much visited area, this particular corridor was dimly lit, cold,
dank, and depressingly gloomy — an atmosphere not enhanced by
the presence of an occasional corpse being temporarily stored
there. All in all, it was an area easily avoided, even when the
alternate route meant more and unsheltered walking.
It
occurs to me that the Christian is often confronted with
"corridors" something like that — the kind that are
easily avoided because of their unpleasantness. If such
disagreeable corridors could be identified with wall placards
such as used on hospital wards, one would surely read,
"Unfaithful Christians". Few churches are without
their weak and indifferent members. And all to often, the
neglectful become the neglected — merely because many of their
brethren find it personally distasteful to talk with them about
their spiritual welfare. Oh, we can talk with them about other
subjects; we can talk about them; we can even assume
they wouldn't listen, but these are little more than alternate
routes to avoid the unpleasant corridor. Surely God's people
will not allow pride and selfishness to subordinate the needs of
weak brethren to their own personal tastes! Bearing one
another's burdens (Gal. 6:2) is what pleases God, and,
therefore, should never be made contingent on what pleases me.
Another
generally avoided corridor, if
| |
labeled, would read: "Personal
Evangelism". To my way of thinking the work of teaching the
lost is one of the most urgent and most neglected
responsibilities facing Christians. Relatively few relate
themselves to this work in any significant way — for too many,
it is an untravelled corridor. God's simple, yet effective plan
calls for faithful men to teach others (2 Tim. 2:2). Apparently,
many early Christians did just that (Acts 8:4); souls were saved
and the church grew. When we quit emphasizing what we can't
do and what we think others won't do; when we quit
worrying about being embarrassed or rejected and when we start
getting concerned about lost souls enough to teach them publicly
and from house to house (Acts 20:20), THEN we will grow both
individually and collectively! We MUST get the gospel to the
lost! — At least we must TRY! And we must quit avoiding the
open doors and opportunities about us. There is the very real
possibility that the very one we avoid may be the one with the
"honest and good heart". Anyway, ALL have priceless
souls that we should be concerned about. We cannot follow Christ
and neglect them.
Finally,
if we have found ourselves to be avoiding such corridors, there
is yet another we should consider — and possibly the most
important. It is the nearest. It is self. It too is a
much-avoided area. Yet, God bids us to examine ourselves (2 Cor.
13:5). Neglecting this encourages neglecting the others (and
vice versa). However, facing up to self with a view toward
improvement can bring us through many faith-testing corridors.
Dan Shipley
[Previous
Article] [Next
Article]
|
