If I were ever going to say "Get Thee behind me Satan" to anyone it would be Gayle Crowe, for his bulletin articles continually provoke the sin of envy in me.  His writing is consistently graceful, seemingly effortless, and always incisive.

Gayle, who preaches for the Elmwood church in Lafayette, Indiana has agreed to share a couple of his recent columns with us.  Thanks, Gayle, for sharing this "good stuff" with your colleagues!

Dan Williams
PREACHER STUFF RESOURCE EXCHANGE
College Avenue church of Christ
1817 N. College Avenue
El Dorado, Arkansas 71730
www.cacoc.org
 

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FRESH SPRINGS OF OPPORTUNITY


In Simply Christian, N. T. Wright tells a wonderful parable.  Once upon a time there was a dictator that ruled his country with an iron hand. Everything was thought out and rationally decided.

This dictator noticed that the water sources around the country were erratic.  Fresh water springs located in inconvenient places would flow gently one day and in torrents the next.  The dictator decided on a sensible, rational plan.  The whole country would be paved over with concrete so thick that no spring of water could ever penetrate it.  All the water the  people needed would be brought courtesy of the government through a complex system of pipes.  Further, while he was at it, the dictator decided to apply various chemicals to the water that would make the people healthy.  Everything was planned, regulated, and controlled.

For many years the plan worked just fine.  Occasionally the people would look back wistfully at the days of bubbling streams and fresh springs.  But they got used to it and forgot the old way.

But then without warning, the springs that had gone on bubbling and sparkling beneath the solid concrete could no longer be contained.  In a sudden explosion–like a volcano–the water burst through the concrete. Muddy, dirty water shot into the air and took over streets, houses, and businesses.  Some of the townspeople were delighted–at long last they could get water without depending on the government.  But the leaders were devastated that they could no longer control people’s lives like they used to.

We are the citizens of that country.  “The dictator is the philosophy that has shaped our  world for the past two or more centuries, making most people materialists by default.  And the water is what we today call ‘spirituality,’ the hidden spring that bubbles up within human hearts and human societies.”

Everywhere the word “spirituality” is heard.  Angels in the media, New Age mysticism, horoscopes, militant religionists of every stripe–our world is a different place today.  We can stand by, or we can take fresh water to thirsty people around us.  God has given us a brief window of opportunity; how long will it last?