That’s Crazy!

A friend called me to talk about a sermon he had heard that tremendously upset him. In the course of the sermon, the preacher illustrated his remarks with a story about his decision to go to seminary. He was older than the normal age and had already built a thriving business. After sending in his application, he decided to take a step of faith. He sold his business, moved to a distant city, and invested all his life savings in buying a house. All this without knowing whether or not he would be accepted. At length, his faith was rewarded when he was accepted by the seminary. That’s the whole story. To me, it didn’t seem very unusual. People do that kind of thing all the time. What surprised me was my friend’s reaction to that illustration. To say he was furious would understate the matter. I have never known him to be so upset.“How could anyone do something as stupid as that,” he shouted over the telephone. “That’s not faith. That’s forcing God’s hand.” Then he added this comment, “Sure, it worked out for him. But what about all the others who tried it and it didn’t work?”