There is a flower seller with a large sign that says “We want to be your florist.” There is one small issue. The flower beds in front of his establishment are overgrown with grass and weeds. It reminds me of a church I visited that advertised, “Come here and you will be home.” I went. I was never greeted nor welcomed. The advertising did not measure up to reality. Or perhaps it was representative of their homes.
Being is so much more important than speaking. What we are is so much more important than who we are. The rich young ruler asked Jesus the wrong question. He asked, “What must I do to be saved?” He should have asked, “What must I be to be saved?” In Romans 1 Paul wrote, “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
History is filled with lives of God-like people who, while never knowing the Gospel, recognized God’s true nature and they allowed themselves to be drawn to it and to be molded by it. Unknowingly they became individuals God could trust throughout eternity. They are not saved by individual actions of good nor lost by individual acts of evil. They are saved because their actions are but the fruit of a character that automatically spreads love, generosity and kindness. They are people who not only meet others needs but anticipate the needs of others. It sounds like a huge task but can come as easily as an apple tree producing apples.
Written by Roger Bothwell on June 17, 2013
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