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 There
is an old joke about the preacher’s notes which the janitor
found and read. In the margin of the typed outline the preacher
had written, “Argument weak here — yell and stomp feet!”
Other solutions to the same problem are “shed a tear” or “get
angry and quit.” It is a “snow” job, no matter how it is
pulled. Our attention is diverted, and we are robbed of the
sound Bible lesson we have the right to expect.
But
the preacher, and others who use such methods of “getting by,”
are also cheating themselves. If I shortchange an audience, I
have lost an opportunity to do what my whole life is dedicated
to do. My own growth is stymied, my self-respect lowered, and I
have less of the character Christ intended me to develop. (Col.
2:23) I have given myself a “snow job.”
These
self-inflicted “snow jobs” begin early in life. You failed
to study for that test, and as the questions pile up and the
clock ticks on you blame a loose shutter, a fly, a whispering
neighbor — anything handy. How can they expect you to work
under such circumstances? So, you justify failure — to
yourself — and learn nothing from an exper
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-ience that could have taught you
to prepare for the next exam. Later you may take a drink — for
courage; and a pill — to forget the failure drink promoted.
And it may never dawn on you that you are victim of your own “snow”
jobs.
Once
a certain lawyer asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal
life, and he was told to love God totally, “and thy neighbor
as thyself.” (Lu. 10:25-f) “But he, willing to justify
himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?” Did he not
know? He knew! His question was a “snow” job, at his own
expense.
Tell
the preacher his tears are not enough, and shouting does not
make an argument scriptural. It will be good for him — and for
you. Quit kidding yourself that “poor little orphans”
justify a galaxy of church — hood projects; or “sound on the
issues” is a ticket for heaven. Many churches are smothering
under a self-inflicted “snow job,” and brother, it is not a
“Joyous White Christmas!”
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