One Man's Meat.....

I went to an auction viewing today and was amazed to see how much junk there was! There were matching sets of cups and saucers I would have hated to own. I was told they were valuable. The furniture was generally the sort of product from an old house clearance. I saw nothing among the mass of furniture that I had EVER liked. There was a box of old cameras but they were not worth keeping even if you were a collector. The only collectibles I saw were postcards.

It makes me think when I see such crowds visiting an auction centre what one could say in their defence when it comes to taste. Ugggggh!!! Yet, it is true to say that what I call rubbish another person collects as a thing of beauty. Also, there is nothing like a bargain. But I saw nothing I thought might come under that heading in tomorrow's sale. There again, my wife spotted one or two interesting pieces in the jewellery section which I did not visit.

One of the problems we, as Christians, face is the fact that on paper our propogation of the Gospel means nothing to those outside our number. It is possibly due to an extent to our "church speak". We inside the church, like others with a specific interest, tend to use a language not understood by a secular person. Once again, I am haunted by the question in Psalm 137, "How shall we sing the Lord's Song in a foreign land?"

We, the church, live in the world, but are not of the world. What we have to say and what we promote on the outside walls of our churches means absolutely nothing to the secular person. In the United Kingdom we have green oval plaques on many churches. They say, "The Millenium is Christ's Birthday. Come and worship Him here." The problem is that Joe Public cannot think of any reason to enter that church unless he has a child to baptise, wishes to marry or dies and needs a funeral. Over the years we have slipped into this "church speak" to the extent that it is not the same language as is spoken outside our walls.

But this is not to say that we have nothing to say on behalf of Jesus that will mean something to Joe Public. I think that, as soon as churches make this discovery, we shall start to "talk the talk and walk the walk" with Joe. The situation outside the Christian community is one of great acquisitiveness. People must have the latest fashion clothes, the latest furniture, electronics, motor cars and so on. For as long as this pursuit is in progress we shall have great problems getting our targets to stop and talk to us about anything else.

You see, if a person has plenty of cash, it takes a long time before he or she meets the point where the realisation happens that there is no lasting value in anything they have bought. I remember being very pleased that the house we had bought in 1972 had a telephone installed. Later we bought a house with a Trimphone and I was rather pleased to have such a modern phone to use. Today we have personal phones which take photos, connect to the Internet and can interpret written messages. That first telephone and the Trimphone have passed into history and we would not be seen dead with such equipment! So, you see, these thing never last. We might aspire to their use but they cannot give us long lasting satisfaction. Nothing can do this.

But Jesus can. The ultimate satisfaction that each human being seeks is freely available in Jesus Christ. Some people related to Joe Public find themselves going through a very tough period and yearn for release. It is here and we Christians hold the key. If you are finding life pretty dreadful with walls coming in on you, find a Christian. There are still many of us about if you look. There are many people who can sit down with you and talk it through. The answer always lies in Jesus, but how to find it needs working out. If you know someone is a Christian, go and talk to them. If not, find out where you can talk to the minister of the church you know best.

The fact is that we are actually looking out for you. We are pleased to talk to you and help you because we have been commissioned by Jesus to do just this. You may think we are trying to fill our church seats but Jesus never asked us to do that. He said, "Feed my sheep." You are His sheep and we want to "walk the walk and talk the talk" till we help you solve your problems.

Smile because God loves you!