Does Truth Warm You?
“But we want religion that is warm and happy. I think that
what you say is too cold.”
Personally, I
thank God for all the good preachers I heard as a boy who spoke of sin, hell,
and damnation. I don’t remember laughing much at what they said or feeling good
about it. The only thing that impressed me was that they were telling the
truth. That is all that mattered to me, and still does. I don’t care whether a
man is emotional or dry. I just want him to tell the truth. Of course, after
World War II the hot-shot “youth” evangelists hit our town, and they really
made us laugh. They could really tell funny stories. They didn’t talk about
hell and sin much, though.
What should be
the measure of religion? Is religion something you go down to the market and
buy, like a new pair of socks? I remember that a new pair of socks made me feel
good when I was a boy. They felt good on my feet. We were poor and a new pair
of socks was a kind of luxury.
Those youth
ministers that came to town in the early fifties were like a pair of new socks.
They felt good. They were talented and dynamic speakers. A lot of young people
“went forward” and made “decisions” for Christ. I don’t remember many of them
“lasting,” though. A few did, but most didn’t. I knew them in school and there
wasn’t much change that I could see.
The real work of
the church was done by people in the church who didn’t care much about whether
what they said made us feel good. They told us that wrong was wrong, and we
were supposed to do right, no matter what we felt like. They said that Jesus
died on the cross for sinners, and those who believed and repented of their lying,
and cussing, and evildoing would go to heaven. The rest would go to hell. They
didn’t talk much about politics or making money. They just talked about staying
out of hell and going to heaven when we died. Not a bad message.
They didn’t seem
to care if there were three of us listening or three hundred. I was in a lot
more classes of three than I was of three hundred. I do remember kids weeping
over their sins. How long has it been since you saw that?
I was not much
different from the rest of the kids I knew. I now know that the Christian faith
is not based upon some kind of experience, but on the promises of God.
Sometimes the most solid things are ignored by young people, but they have a
way of catching up to you later. I know now who the real evangelists were in my
town.
I thank God for
those people. Feel good? Nice warm religion? Not much from that crowd. All they
cared about was keeping us out of hell. That was a good enough feeling for
them. They were happy they knew the truth. I still am.
Write:
Pastor C. W. Powell
Trinity Covenant Church (RCUS)
6050 Del Paz Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
719-590-1477
Email:
