Working the Angles

I heard a story about a man who moved into town, started a business and thought, “I should join a church. That would be a good way to network and make some contacts for my business.”

So, he went to church and on that first Sunday, heard an announcement about a Monday night meeting of the Fishermen’s Club. “Well,” he thought, “I like to fish.” He decided that attending that meeting might give him an inside track on his networking plans.

He was surprised to discover that rather than sitting around talking about the one that got away, this club met to canvas the neighborhood, inviting people to church and looking for opportunities to witness to the saving grace of Jesus. In good Biblical fashion, this was a “fishers of men” club.

As a newcomer, this man was paired with the leader of the group, and as they went from house to house, and he saw the devotion and integrity of this leader, and heard his unembarrassed testimony to Jesus, he was drawn to him and his compassion and humility. A voice in his conscience said, “I want to be like him.”

He continued to worship on Sundays and to visit from house to house on Mondays and in time he became a deeply devoted Christian and church leader with an integrity of his own. This man who had come to church in order to work the angles for his own purposes ended up getting used by God for God’s purposes.

I think his story is not that unusual. I believe most of us go to church for utilitarian reasons. Like good capitalists we're looking for the pay-off. We’re looking for some advice, or some well-worn wisdom we can use to make our lives a little better. In today’s phrasing, we’re looking for a “take-away,” that we can apply to our lives – to help us in our marriage, to help us cope with some relationships at work, to help us raise our children, etc. We want this religious stuff to work for us!

However, if we hear the gospel rightly, we don’t necessarily get what we want, as Mick Jagger used to sing; but we get what we need. Instead of a little practical advice for daily living, we hear we must be buried and raised with Christ. Instead of a simple take-away, we are told we must be born from above. Instead of making some contacts that’ll be good for business, we get recruited into the Body of Christ to work for God’s kingdom. We come to church looking for some way to use this “God-thing,” to our advantage, and instead we hear the voice of God saying, “How can I use you?”

So, here is fair warning: If you think church is another way you can work the angles in order to get the life you have in mind, don’t be surprised when God ends up working on you to give you the life God created you to have. And if my experience is worth anything, it will be both a more challenging, as well as more blessed, life than the one you had in mind.