[313 words]
A preacher tells the following story and makes a good point for all of us:
“Recently,” he says, “while visiting the hospital, I parked in the section marked ‘Doctors Only’ (thanks to the courtesy of the parking attendant). Most of us try not to impose on these parking areas when doctors need the space; but hospitals usually give kind consideration to preachers visiting the sick. So it was that I was allowed to park in this otherwise restricted area.
“As l left my car, walking to the hospital, I became aware of a lady walking toward me with an intense stare. Shortly we met face to face, and in an effort be mannerly and friendly, I said, ‘Good afternoon.’ Immediately, as though my greeting had been filled with antibiotics that chased away all pain and germs, she broke into obvious delight and replied, ‘How do you do, Doctor?’ In my charming bedside manner, I responded in pure antiseptic tones, ‘I’m fine, and I hope you are.’ Thus we passed as ‘ships in the night,’ perhaps never to see or greet each other again.
“But…she had called me ‘Doctor!’ I’m not a doctor, though I am very proud of those who are! But why did she call me one? Oh, yes–that’s right–I had parked in the doctors’ parking lot.
“You know…it takes more than veneer to make a cabinet. It takes more than a hospital parking space to make an M.D. And it takes more than church attendance to make a Christian! That nice lady misjudged me. I couldn’t have cured an ingrown toenail, yet she thought I was a talented physician because of where I parked.
“Do I go through life fooling folks? Am I what my presence says I am? Am I genuine? Is my Christianity real or have I just parked in the church parking lot?”
via Findlay church of Christ
Sparta, TN