Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?
In 1925, A man named Floyd Collins was exploring near Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and got stuck fifty-five feet from the surface. Rescuers came in and diverted the water dripping in his face, but they could not get him out. He began to rave about everything from chicken sandwiches to angels in white chariots. The newspapers picked up Collins’ story, and ten thousand people came to see him. They sold hot dogs and sandwiches. Seventeen days later Floyd Collins died in that hole.[1]
Two thoughts: First, people trapped in a set of bad ideas with tragic consequences should not be a sideshow for us. They need truth and love to rescue them. Paul describes such people as “having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12, ESV). “But now,” he goes on, “in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (v. 13). Second, apart from Jesus Christ, we are all hopelessly stuck. He alone can set us free (see John 8:36).
Smiley Mudd
[1] Roger Thompson, “The Good News Is: The Bad News Is Wrong,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 55.
Musings of the Rev. Smiley Mudd 