A man was watching a TV evangelist one day, who was hawking a book about the end of the world. "Buy this book," the evangelist was saying, "and you will learn how to read the signs of the times, so you may know that Jesus is coming very soon."
The viewer was a gutsy sort of fellow, so he called up the televangelist's 800 number and asked them to send him a book for free. They couldn't do that, they told him. The cost of the book was $15.95, but if he could supply them a major credit-card number ...
"No, you don't understand," he said. "I don't understand why you're asking for money at all. If you really believe Jesus is coming soon, you won't need money. You should be giving the books away!"
(I'm sure that, with that, the operator was no longer standing by.)That story reminds me of my Senior Pastor when I was Associate Pastor in Somerset. Perhaps you've seen these posts or crosses upon which the words are emblazoned -- "Jesus is Coming Soon." He had no problem with the words -- he just couldn't understand why they were making the posts/crosses out of CONCRETE instead of wood. His thought was like the TV viewer above -- if you really believe Jesus is coming SOON, you don't need concrete, mere wood will do.
I wonder how often we really announce we don't believe something we say we do, because our actions don't line up with our pronouncement? What about YOU? Are you backing up what you say you believe by acting like you believe it?
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