• On The Same Page

  Contributed by Andrew Moffatt on Mar 28, 2010 (message contributor)

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  Scripture:  None

  Tags:  Character

  Denomination: Salvation Army

ON THE SAME PAGE

The man came in and sat down. I'd say he was in his mid-thirties; he looked a bit rough around the edges and hadn't shaved for a few days. We introduced ourselves and the question was asked, "How are you surviving?"

"Well I can't get the benefit right now, so I'm doing a few burglaries. Mind you it doesn't affect anybody, and nobody's getting hurt."

While my fellow worker went to get him a food parcel, I had the opportunity to talk to this bloke. Being all bold and an officer cadet to boot, I asked "What do you reckon the world would be like if everybody followed the two great commandments?"

The reply was a fairly blank look; this bloke had never heard the two great commandments. "What do you mean?" he said.

"In a nutshell, mate," I said, "if everybody was to love God with all their heart and soul and mind and strength and to love their neighbour as their self."

Another blank look and a few moments later was his reply, "No, mate, it wouldn't work!"

All confident-like, I asked, "Eh?"

He summed his reply up this way, "It wouldn't work, because somebody would always be out to rip somebody else off."

I guess that my question hinged around everyone being on the same page with the two great commandments. The truth is that we live in a world where not everyone is.