For a long time she had saved her money for a grand tour of Europe. Now that the trip had become reality, the matronly woman was enjoying the tour to its fullest. Of particular interest to this committed Christian was the Westminster Abbey, London’s massive 1245 A.D. Gothic-style cathedral. But as the guide showed the lady through the colossal edifice, she became increasingly troubled as it was pointed out to her the many tombs and memorials of famous British personages. Unable to contain her feelings any longer, the lady blurted out: “Young man, all this is very interesting to me. But what I want to know is this: Has anyone been SAVED here recently?”
An interesting and thought-provoking question. And a question we might ask in each of our congregations: Has anyone been SAVED here recently? It s unbelievable, but someone has figured out that if all the unsaved people in the world were to line up single file beginning at the door of your church, that line would extend around the globe thirty times! And incredibly, that line grows by twenty miles each day! If you were to drive your car fifty miles an hour for ten hours a day, it would take four years and forty days to get to the end of that line of lost souls. But by then, the line would have grown by thirty thousand miles, so that you could just keep right on driving!
When the late Edward K. Ziegler was a Church of the Brethren missionary in India, he said that as part of the Indian tradition for new Christians, after coming up out of the water following baptism, applicants would lay their hands on their heads and say to those present: “Woe is me if I share not the gospel!” How faithful have you and I been in “sharing the gospel,” actually inviting persons to experience salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? While potluck suppers, church bowling leagues and Christmas bazaars may provide set tings for sharing the gospel, they certainly are poor substitutes for actually inviting persons to experience salvation! Perhaps we no longer believe Peter’s words regarding Jesus Christ, in that, “Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only THIS ONE” (Acts 4:12/”The Message”) .
Has anyone been saved recently in your church fellowship? If not, why not? Jesus said, “I tell you, OPEN your eyes and LOOK at the fields! They are RIPE FOR HARVEST (John 4:35b/NIV).
January/February 1995