His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant, kind of esoteric, but very, very bright. He had become a Christian recently while attending college.
Across the street from the campus was a well-dressed, very conservative church. One day, Bill decided to go there. He walked in with his hair wild, wearing no shoes, jeans and a T-shirt. The service had already begun, so Bill started down the aisle, looking for a seat.
The church was completely packed, and he could not find a seat. By this time, people were looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one said anything. Bill got closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realized there were no seats, he just squatted down and sat on the carpet. Although this was perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, trust me, this had never happened in this church before!
By now, people were really uptight and the tension in the air was thick. At about this time, the minister realized that, from way at the back of the church, an elder was slowly making his way toward Bill. Now, the elder was in his 80’s, had silver-gray hair and was wearing a 3-piece suit. A Godly man – very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walked with a cane, and as he started walking toward this young man, everyone was saying to themselves that they could not blame him for what he was about to do. How could they expect a man of his age and background to understand some college kid on the floor?
It took a long time for the elder to reach Bill. The church was utterly silent, except for the clicking of the elder’s cane. All eyes were focused on him. You could not even hear anyone breathing. The minister could not preach the sermon until the elder had done what he had to do.
And then they saw this elderly man drop his cane to the floor. With great difficulty, he lowered himself and sat down next to Bill and worshiped with him so he would not be alone.
Everyone choked up with emotion. When the minister regained control, he said, “What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget. Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read.”
(Author Unknown)
Pastor Mark