How To Miss The Treasure Of Pilgrim's Progress ...

How to Miss the Treasure of Pilgrim’s Progress Through Ignorance

Ravi Zacharias tells this story:

Some years ago, I was visiting the town of Bedford in England. The reason most tourists go to Bedford is because it was the home of the famed 17th Century writer John Bunyan who penned his immortal Pilgrim’s Progress. In fact, in the heart of Bedford is a gigantic statue of Bunyan. Some prankster has painted giant footsteps from the statue to the public restrooms, as if to say Bunyan still lives. Well, that aside, his book still lives in the hearts of millions. It allegorically tells the story of how Pilgrim struggled and wandered through life’s pitfalls, until he found the marvelous message of the Gospel. Every culture could relate to it. We visited the museum that housed a translation of every language into which Pilgrim’s Progress has been translated. You need to know, that outside of the Bible, that book is in more languages than any other. After we visited the museum, I commented to the woman at the front hall who sells the tickets to the museum, “Isn’t it amazing that an ordinary mender of pots and pans wrote a book of such profound impact around the world.” She paused and said, “I suppose so. I haven’t read it.” I just about fainted. How amazing that one can be so close to a treasure and go for the wrapping instead.

I wonder if we are not like that woman. We are surrounded by churches. The teaching of the Bible fills the radio and TV waves. The printed page has never been so accessible. Look how close we are to the life-transforming truth of the gospel, and yet it seems to be so far away from its actually being expressed through our lives. Paul was telling this church that the message of the cross is powerful enough to change their church and their community. Instead, they were being changed by the world. How about you? Which has the greatest influence on your life, the world or the gospel?

From a sermon by Ed Sasnett, A Good Example of a Bad Example, 6/2/2010