Singled Out !
During my senior year of highschool I traveled to California to check out one of the many Bible colleges in the area. The tour included a chapel service in the campus gym.
When I entered my arms were loaded with admissions material. I was looking through the requirements for a couple different majors, and thinking to myself, "Can I survive Calculus 1 and 2?".
Before the preaching started I felt like I needed to focus on the message. I remember thinking that I needed to listen to it as if the speaker was addressing only me.
It should be noted that there were about a thousand people in the gymnasium. During highschool I was assigned the job of counting the people every Sunday at church, so I think that's a fair estimate.
Apparently the speaker also went to this school. He began talking about a prank he pulled for a chapel service -not much different from this chapel service.
He explained that he was constantly getting in trouble with the school faculty -the vice provost in particular. So one day he grabbed some buddies and decided to pull a prank.
The speaker and his friends were able to unlock the gymnasium durning the day. Then they picked up the vice provost's car and carried it into the gym.
While I was listening (I assume he had one of those cordless mikes) the speaker walked to the middle of the gym and pointed to the exact place where he set the car down with his friends.
He explained that the vice provost was scheduled to speak in chapel the next day.
Of course they wouldn't miss out the chance to see the provost's embarassment so he sat with his friends high up in the bleachers.
Please note: I was also sitting high up in the bleachers.
The speaker explained that when the vice provost came into chapel everyone was pointing and laughing. Apparently word had gotten around who's car was parked in the middle of the gym.
The vice provost and the faculty were pretty sure who had put the car in the middle of the gym, but no one had any proof or witnesses.
While I was listening to the story, the speaker began making his way through the audience.
'So before the message began,' He said as he was walking around students sitting on the floor, 'The vice provost made his way through the audience just like this...'
The speaker stopped at the foot of the bleachers -at the row I was sitting at. He began climbing the stairs.
'Then the provost began climbing these stairs...'
I was sitting clear at the top of the bleachers and the speaker came to my aisle. As he was talking I noticed the speaker was looking right at me.
'Then he started walking up the row toward me.' He said.
The speaker stopped and looked down at me and then sat down.
At that moment it was like I was the only person in the gym to which the speaker was addressing himself.
'Then the provost said, 'Doug, did you bring my car in here?''
I was ready to confess everything.
...
Eventually the speaker continued his message and walked back down to the podium.
What I discovered that day was the dramatic intensity of being singled out in a very large crowd. And then to be asked a question.
Every so often we discover in life that we are not the only ones here. We go to events where we see hundreds and sometimes thousands of people.
Sometimes when we are around this many people we think we will be more likely to escape the requirements that we think are imposed on us.
We think, "Yes, but surely all these people will not be questioned. There are simply too many of them."
But eternity has singled us out.
And it asks us questions all the time: "Yes, that was very polite and all, but do you really care for that person?" And, "Is that what this person means to you that you would say that about them?"
And sometimes we dangle ourselves in the crowd ... hoping our distance will aid our escape of these questions -the question directed specifically toward us as individuals.
But eternity is not fooled. It does not have the hardest time looking for us in the crowd. And someday everyone ... yes everyone ... will give an account of their actions.
In the eyes of eternity, it does not matter if it takes forty days or thirty years. It does, after all, have eternity.
So I say, be careful how you live. And pay attention to the questions you hear your conscience asking you now.
Then you will be ready for the questions to come later.
When I entered my arms were loaded with admissions material. I was looking through the requirements for a couple different majors, and thinking to myself, "Can I survive Calculus 1 and 2?".
Before the preaching started I felt like I needed to focus on the message. I remember thinking that I needed to listen to it as if the speaker was addressing only me.
It should be noted that there were about a thousand people in the gymnasium. During highschool I was assigned the job of counting the people every Sunday at church, so I think that's a fair estimate.
Apparently the speaker also went to this school. He began talking about a prank he pulled for a chapel service -not much different from this chapel service.
He explained that he was constantly getting in trouble with the school faculty -the vice provost in particular. So one day he grabbed some buddies and decided to pull a prank.
The speaker and his friends were able to unlock the gymnasium durning the day. Then they picked up the vice provost's car and carried it into the gym.
While I was listening (I assume he had one of those cordless mikes) the speaker walked to the middle of the gym and pointed to the exact place where he set the car down with his friends.
He explained that the vice provost was scheduled to speak in chapel the next day.
Of course they wouldn't miss out the chance to see the provost's embarassment so he sat with his friends high up in the bleachers.
Please note: I was also sitting high up in the bleachers.
The speaker explained that when the vice provost came into chapel everyone was pointing and laughing. Apparently word had gotten around who's car was parked in the middle of the gym.
The vice provost and the faculty were pretty sure who had put the car in the middle of the gym, but no one had any proof or witnesses.
While I was listening to the story, the speaker began making his way through the audience.
'So before the message began,' He said as he was walking around students sitting on the floor, 'The vice provost made his way through the audience just like this...'
The speaker stopped at the foot of the bleachers -at the row I was sitting at. He began climbing the stairs.
'Then the provost began climbing these stairs...'
I was sitting clear at the top of the bleachers and the speaker came to my aisle. As he was talking I noticed the speaker was looking right at me.
'Then he started walking up the row toward me.' He said.
The speaker stopped and looked down at me and then sat down.
At that moment it was like I was the only person in the gym to which the speaker was addressing himself.
'Then the provost said, 'Doug, did you bring my car in here?''
I was ready to confess everything.
...
Eventually the speaker continued his message and walked back down to the podium.
What I discovered that day was the dramatic intensity of being singled out in a very large crowd. And then to be asked a question.
Every so often we discover in life that we are not the only ones here. We go to events where we see hundreds and sometimes thousands of people.
Sometimes when we are around this many people we think we will be more likely to escape the requirements that we think are imposed on us.
We think, "Yes, but surely all these people will not be questioned. There are simply too many of them."
But eternity has singled us out.
And it asks us questions all the time: "Yes, that was very polite and all, but do you really care for that person?" And, "Is that what this person means to you that you would say that about them?"
And sometimes we dangle ourselves in the crowd ... hoping our distance will aid our escape of these questions -the question directed specifically toward us as individuals.
But eternity is not fooled. It does not have the hardest time looking for us in the crowd. And someday everyone ... yes everyone ... will give an account of their actions.
In the eyes of eternity, it does not matter if it takes forty days or thirty years. It does, after all, have eternity.
So I say, be careful how you live. And pay attention to the questions you hear your conscience asking you now.
Then you will be ready for the questions to come later.
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