Bulls and Authority
A Department of Water Resources representative stops at a Texas ranch and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for your water allocation."
The old man was busy, looks up and says, “Okay, but stay out of that field over there.”
The rep isn’t used to being told what he can’t do, flashes his credentials and says, “Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me. See this card? This card means I am allowed to go WHEREVER I WISH on any agricultural land. No questions asked or answered. Have I made myself clear?”
The old rancher nods politely and goes about his chores. Before long he hears loud screams and spies the Water Rep running for his life and close behind is the rancher’s bull. The bull’s gaining with every step.
The Rep’s clearly terrified so the old man downs his tools, runs to the fence and yells at the top of his lungs.....
”Your card! Show him your card!”
I suspect this is the kind of thing Paul would say to those who waved their letters of recommendation in the faces of the people everywhere they went (compare 2 Corinthians 3:1). When they came face to face with Jesus Paul might shout: “Your letters; show him your letters!”
Come to think of it, it won’t matter much what we wave in front of us when we come to meet God; not money, proof of popularity, size of our congregation, list of books written, conferences headlined, the famous names we can drop, the movies we starred in, the records we held—these aren’t the effective “Open Sesame” into the blessed presence of God.
It won’t help a lot either to give a long list of venerable names of people who held our views—that won’t make them wholesome or true. Nor will it help to rehearse the name of influential people who said that our views don’t matter, that it makes no difference what we believe.
It won’t help either, to have and to recite the correct answers to all the theological questions if uncaringly we’ve left behind people we were given the opportunity to protect and care for. 1 Corinthians 13 fits in here somehow.
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.
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