Savings and Loan

“As for the saints that are in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.” –Ps.16:3NASV

I was privileged to participate in a very heartfelt discussion last week about the effectiveness of my church. We were several men given the gift of time to reflect upon who we were and where we were going. The question was raised with pointed effect, “Are we impacting our community where we live?” There was a considerable portion of skepticism attached to that inquiry for the life of our church was not attended by waves of the unsaved coming down the aisles or by an overflowing parking lot full of visitors trying to find a slot. Life is fairly routine on any Sunday morning or Wednesday night and attendees are predictable and typically stolid in outward appearance. It was not too difficult to understand the gravity of the question at hand. We all stumbled in attempting to answer the question and were tempted to come to all sorts of conclusions of where the fault and failure lay. Such introspection invariably leads to doubt and restlessness as we see little that is “majestic” in ourselves.

I slept uneasily turning over the question through the night. Then it came to me. Yes, we did impact our community, and I became more convinced of that with each new thought. Every time the hand-bell choir stepped up to ring a witness of truth and beauty into my soul, every time a soloist would sing God’s praise with sincerity and passion, every time the choir would hit a home run to a chorus of amens, and every time the pastor would make my spirit fly on wings of the eternal Word; all these things helped keep this poor boy on the straight and narrow for another week. That, in itself, was no small accomplishment. I am to be the salt of my community and my church is keenly doing its duty in attempting to keep that saltiness alive and well. I thought of a fellow member, Anthony, who pauses every morning in the parking lot of the paint store where he works. He stops to read the Word and pray and then proceeds to enter that store, armed and dangerous, a man who takes no prisoners when given a chance to speak for his Lord. Yes, we impact our community. I think of my friend, Jim, walking the halls of his work-place, a nursing home, where he is an amazing embodiment of our Lord in ministering to the old and feeble of our world. I have seen him talking softly with genuine care in his voice as he clips fingernails and lifts spirits. Yes, we touch the weak and worn of our community. I see young couples raising Godly children who respect authority and have eager eyes and hearts to learn truth wherever they find it. Then they spill them out into our community where they are eagerly received by beleaguered teachers and despondent employers. Yes, we are touching our world for good.

No, it is not flashy or headline-grabbing nor are folks lining up to take seminars to learn the secret of our success. It is the kind of thing pounded out in a life of daily living, routine righteousness, and habitual compassion. But it is that which builds nations and makes them strong. It is easy to despair of our churches with all their warts, our marriages and families with all their problems and quirks, and even our school with all its faults. But when we do, we need to stop and look at them from the other end of the telescope and see their power and beauty, giving thanks for the work of the Holy Spirit who brings forth growth through even the most humble of human agencies when it seeks to follow in the Lord’s steps.

And if we haven’t already, we need to pull out “It’s a Wonderful Life” and watch it one more time. We all struggle with our own “crummy old Savings and Loan” resentments against those institutions in our lives which appear drab, ordinary, and possessing. May we catch a glimpse of what God is doing through them, through us, over time, in quiet and wonderful ways we find hard to recognize or comprehend.