He was invited to his first bible study by someone at the church. He recalls how "green" he was. The leader asked them to open their bibles to 1 Corinthians and some how he managed to land on 1 Chronicles. As the leader started reading, the author quickly realized that he was in the wrong place. Then the leader asked each member to take a verse and read it aloud. He was scared to admit that he thought he had the wrong version of bible or something. When he finally admitted that something was wrong, some in the group tried to be helpful, while others were frustrated and/or made fun of him. The point of him sharing the story in the book was that we as Christians need to remember that not everyone is on the same page or at the same place in their walk.
It reminded me of a Vacation Bible School (VBS) that I was sent to when I was younger. I was probably eleven or twelve. I just remember being in the oldest VBS class. At first, I thought it was some kind of punishment for something I had done wrong. I didn't know why I had to go be "watched over" when I could've been at home watching old Leave It To Beaver re-runs on tv. It really turned out to be pretty fun though. I especially liked snack time and playing softball. There was a moment though that has stuck with me over the years. Considering that I hit the fourth floor in age last year, that's a lot of years.
The VBS wasn't all fun and games, there was one part of the rotation where they talked to us about the bible. The leader of that group started out by asking us to introduce ourselves. She wanted us to state our names and tell her when we were saved. To this day, I can almost feel the overwhelming panic that started to rise up in me. I didn't really know what being saved meant. She started at the front of the room. Lucky for me I always hung out in the back. I was hoping that I would figure out what being saved meant before she got to me. One by one, each kid stated their name and then said what month and year they were saved. Slowly, the teacher crept ever closer to me. By then, I switched my thinking from trying to figure out what being saved meant to trying to figure out what lie would make the most sense. I wasn't about to be the outsider who either admitted that she didn't know what being saved meant or who hadn't been saved at all. I started trying to find a month and year somewhere close, but different, to what others were saying. When I got to me, I stated my name and rattled off my saving date. I was so utterly relieved when she went on to the next person and didn't call me out on the lie.
As I mentioned, that incident stuck with me for years. I was "saved" in 1998. As I began to get more involved in ministry at my church, I always tried to remember that moment. I tried to be aware of people who were not only new to our specific church but new to this whole way of life. I also tried to remember that experience at VBS, when someone was struggling in a particular area of their life. My pastor was famous for saying that God works out salvation in each of us in different ways. We can never expect that the path God is using in our life to draw us closer to Him is the same path He is using for everyone. I used to be a smoker. I remember a co-worker asking me how I could stand on the smoke dock at work and talk about Jesus. I knew that my body was a temple and that smoking was not good for me but God knew that there were more pressing issues in my spirit that needed to be dealt with first. God will never pull us along the path He has for us, faster than our ability to follow Him.
May we be those who remember that we are all in different places in our walk and may we have grace for each other.
