Two liberal Christian ministers who were friends decided that it would be an excellent gesture for them to give away their cars and start using bicycles instead. Their cars made for a fine charitable donation, the bikes got them closer to nature, the impact on the enviroment was less, it helped with their physical fitness, etc. This spiritual discipline appeared to be having a positive impact on their lives.
One day they were talking and one minister revealed to the other that his bike had been stolen.
"That's terrible! Can I help you to buy another one?"
"No, that's not the issue," the first minister replied. "It's just a material thing. I'm sure I'll get over it. What makes me so frustrated though is that I just want to know who did it, so that I can talk to them about it and give them a sense of my spiritual motives. But I just don't know how I can ever find the thief."
The second minister smiled knowingly and said, "I know how you can find out. I've heard your sermons - they are all impossibly warm and have to do with fuzzy topics like affirming love and so on. Why don't you try giving a real hellfire-and-brimstone sermon to your parish, covering the Ten Commandments? When you get to 'Do not steal,' just pause, scan the congregation's faces, and I bet the guilty conscience will be writ all over the bike thief's face."
This seems like a good idea to the first minister, who goes to work on his next sermon. After the following Sunday, the second minister calls the first and asks, "Well? Did it work?"
"Not exactly as planned, but... yes," said the first minister. "I was there, preaching on the Ten Commandments, but when I got to that section on 'Do not commit adultery,' I suddenly remembered where I left my bike."
Post a Comment