Saturday, May 06, 2006

Born Again?

I met a woman this week who told me she attended church.

“What sort of church?” I quizzed.

“It’s a born again church,” she boasted proudly.

It happened to be a church that meets in her home and it represents one third of an older church that split into three pieces. She had forgotten the reason why they had divided. All three churches still worshipped in the same language and they all believed the same doctrine: “Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” Somehow the three groups did not get on with each other any more and it seemed that the Trinity mantra was all words and impotent to hold this trio together.

This conversation reminded me of a story Billy Graham once told of one of his many plane trips. An airline steward was having a lot of trouble with a very rowdy passenger in the seat behind him. The man was drunk. He was getting more and more rude, so finally the steward whispered to the man, “Watch what you are saying! That is Billy Graham sitting right in front of you.”

Hearing that information, the drunk man leaned forward and he said, “Billy Graham. Billy Graham. I have always wanted to thank you for what you have done for my life.”

The intoxicated passenger may have had his hour of decision for Christ but it appeared that he wasn’t living under His influence.

Geoff Pound.

Image: Illustration by Jennifer Kalis