GAS ATTACK
Don't you just hate people who hold you hostage while they use their weekly columns to vent their sulfureous frustrations? Me, too! Luckily for me, I'm used to periodically hating myself, so please indulge me.
Ridiculous! Absurd! Cockamamie! Preposterous! Ludicrous! These are just some of the words I believe God, in His providence, inspired the linguists of ages past to insert into our language just so I could have the proper tools to describe what transpired a couple of weeks ago to my friend Jeff.
Seems that Jeff had to go to St. Stephen to attend to some business. Unfortunately, he ran out of gas. If you've ever had such an occurrence happen to you, you know that the experience is downright demeaning. Most likely, you have to walk to a gas station and ask for a gas can, which they may or may not have. If they do, you have to dodge the labyrinth of knowing glances amidst a smattering of smirks. That is if you have the deposit for the gas can! I've always wondered about that. Is there a seething underworld of gas can thieves out there posing as embarrassed motorist? Is a man, on foot, carrying a heavy gas can, such a high risk? Is there someone who has the Guinness world record for most cans stolen from a gas station?
Luckily for my friend, he had made it to St. Stephen before the car sputtered it's last fume and he coasted into the parking lot of a local business. Now I have to say that the exact sequence of what then transpired is a bit shaky to me since Jeff still finds it too painful to speak about it. Suffice it to say that I believe that I have captured the spirit of what happened next. Jeff left the vehicle and was about to begin his trek to the land of gas when the owner of the local business came outside to investigate. After Jeff shared his misfortune, the man's actions clearly showed that he had failed basic humanity 101 by several percentage points. Truth is, the sum total of this man's compassion was sub-atomic! Apparently he had just had his parking lot repaved and there was no way that Jeff was going to be allowed to put gas into his car on this man's new parking lot. With a straight face and throbbing forehead he suggested that Jeff push the car off his property before there was any exchange of gas.
Oh, Grant, it's April Fool's day today, you're pulling my leg, right? Nope. I'm not. I'm just glad that it was Jeff and not me in that situation because I'm sure that a headline like, "Minister sets fire to Local Merchant" just wouldn't be productive for the cause of Christ. Obviously, Jeff has a mature faith far beyond his years!
What happened? After a lengthy discussion, Jeff got the gas and the man piled a bunch of snow under the gas tank, just in case there was some spillage. A somewhat happy end to a downright bizarre story! But the question remains, what's the spiritual significance?
Well, let me ask you a question: what's primary purpose of a parking lot? Not the most difficult of questions is it? A parking lot is to park cars so that people can frequent your place of business. Further, part of the reality of life is that some cars will, from time to time, leak a various assortment of fluids. Some will even leave spots and stains. So, in the normal course of life, a parking lot will begin to discover it's own unique mosaic of life. To some these rainbow slicks and black spots might be offensive, but to me they are nothing short of a sign of a life lived according to the purpose for which it was created. Show me an oil blotched parking lot and I'll show you a profitable business! This local proprietor somehow has lost his focus. If you're going to have a parking lot, you might as well use it right?
Well, I bet you know where I'm going here. There are many Christians who treat their church buildings just like this guy treated his parking lot. Some churches have become well-maintained shrines to the bronze plaque crowd, rather than places of function and life. Don't get me wrong, I think any facility that is built to the glory of God should be well-maintained and respected. But it should also be well-worn and used. It should have the spots of life and the stains of souls saved. Our church buildings are merely places we use to do the Lord's business. May we never care more for them than the souls we're called to bring into it!
Of course, the same goes for us as well. We're called to get involved in peoples lives and take them the Gospel of God's love. But in order to do that we also have to get dirty. We have to get involved in their messes. How clean are you? When was the last time you got dirty with the soil of someone else's sorrow, or the grease of someone else's grief? Would anyone call you "spot"?
Prayer
Lord God, help us not forget the purpose of the Church and our lives. We exist to glorify You by shining forth Your love and Your life. May we, like You, get dirty by rescuing the perishing and providing a safe haven when they stall, so they can be filled with the real fuel of eternity through Jesus, Your Son! Amen.
