gross@dg-rtp.dg.com (Gene Gross) (01/15/91)
Sometimes with all of the discussion and debate over doctrine, it can be easy to forget the personal nature of our Faith. That is, we can forget for a moment what it means to be a Christian. Let me illustrate what being a Christian means to me with a true story. Some time back, I read about a man named James Emory Bond. At the time he was in his seventies, a former truck driver, and black. He grew up near Baltimore. The white boys would throw rocks at him, as he went to school. And this treatment soon engendered hatred within Mr. Bond. One day, he saw the milk truck going by in the morning. (I don't recall those days -- my Mom told me about them! ;-)) Mr. Bond thought how nice it would be to have a little milk in the mornings before going to work. So he stopped the milkman, who was white, and asked him if he would leave a quart of milk. The milkman said, "No, I don't deliver milk to niggers." "So," Mr. Bond said, "I called up the milk company, and asked the man I talked with if this was true, that they didn't give milk to black people. He said, 'No, that's not right. We do deliver milk to black people, and we'll see that he delivers the milk.' "So," he continued, "the milk came, a quart each morning. Several weeks went by and I realized that he wasn't leaving me a bill, and I wanted to pay for it. So I stopped him one morning and said, 'I want you to give me a bill so I can pay for this.' And the milkman said, 'I don't take money from niggers.' So I said, 'Well, I've got to pay you, you've just got to let me pay you.' 'Well,' the milkman said, 'tell you what you do. You put the money on the fence post.'" "I thought I'd have a little fun with him," said Mr. Bond, "so I said, 'Now I won't feel like I paid you unless I put it in your hand.' 'Nossir,' the milkman said, 'put it on the post.' So I said, 'OK.' And I put it on the post. When he reached out to take the change, I just laid my hand on top of his. And he jerked it away." Then, one day, Billy Sunday came to town. Here is what happened, according to Mr. Bond. "Later on, one of God's servants by the name of Billy Sunday came to our town, and he told how Jesus Christ died on the cross to take away man's sin and his enmity of heart toward his fellowman. As I heard that, I realized that I needed this, and I walked the sawdust trail. And you know, God took the hate out of my heart for the white man. He put love there." But the story doesn't end there. Seems that the milkman also went to hear Billy Sunday while he was in town. He also came under the poer of the Holy Spirit and went forward to receive Christ. Then a couple of days later, the milkman pulled up in front of Mr. Bond's little place. With tears streaming down his face, he apologized for the way he had treated Mr. Bond. And this dear old brother in the Lord, Mr. Bond, said, "I have loved him, and he has loved me ever since." And that is part of what it means to be a Christian. En Agape, Gene Gross