Keeping the Faith
My friend Charlie turned 91 yesterday (as I’m writing this). If you’ve ever been to West Side, or to Salem, or quite possibly to the state of Virginia, you’ve met Charlie. There’s a running joke that Charlie knows everyone, and the joke lands because it’s not that far from the truth. You wouldn’t know Charlie is 91 if you met him – he has an energy about him that a lot of young people I know envy. He is an incredible blessing to many, and I am thankful to call him a friend and mentor of mine.
This week has been our Gospel meeting week at West Side, which has been incredibly uplifting and refreshing. Our speaker for the week is from Texas but is a Virginian in truth, having lived and preached here for over a decade in years past. As such, many people from surrounding congregations who are connected to him in some way have come to visit this week, which is also uplifting to me. Last night – on Charlie’s birthday – we had a great crowd, but I only saw two visitors that weren’t from a sister congregation. You can probably guess who they were sitting beside.
I got to talk to them after service and asked them about their church background. I forget the details, but they said something about having been connected to a denominational church years ago but having no connection now. I asked them what brought them to our meeting, and they pointed to Charlie. I asked them how they knew Charlie, and they told me that they had met him at a yard sale just a couple of weeks ago. He had told them about our upcoming meeting, gotten their information, and remained in contact with them encouraging them to visit. The wife said something near the end of our interaction that stood out to me: “We wouldn’t be here without Charlie, and we’re so glad we came.”
Charlie had a lot of reasons not to invite this couple to church. Charlie met them at a yard sale – not usually what we think of when we picture the “mission field,” and certainly not the place where sharing a church invitation is the most in step with social convention. Charlie wasn’t inviting them to regular services but to a Gospel meeting, and he easily could have dismissed the opportunity because “no one comes to Gospel meetings anymore, especially visitors” (though I assure you, this week has proven that not to be the case). Charlie was going to be celebrating a birthday on the day they were able to attend and could have considered himself busy or preoccupied for that reason. Finally, there is the reason that jumps off the page at most of us: Charlie is 91 years old! Hasn’t he put in his fair share of effort trying to get people to come to church over the years? Surely someone else will invite them, or at least will invite somebody.
No, Charlie didn’t think in any of these ways – and I’m glad he didn’t. He reminded me that it doesn’t matter what else I have going on or where I am in my life when it comes to the mission of evangelism. The Gospel is for all, and for all who would call themselves Christians, the Great Commission stands as our unlimited opportunity to reach the world. The excuses He could have made didn’t stop Christ from sharing the good news, and they didn’t stop Charlie, either. Will they stop you?
“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me.
Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” ~ 1 Corinthians 9:16
AUTHOR: Luke Tatum
