A CREATIVE MINORITY
GENESIS 18:32
There was a biologist who once did an experiment with "processional caterpillars." On the rim of a clay pot that held a plant, he lined them up so that the leader was head to head with the last caterpillar. The tiny creatures circled the rim of the pot for a full week. Not once did any of them break away to go over to the plant and eat.
Eventually, all the caterpillars died from exhaustion and starvation. The story of the processional caterpillars is a kind of parable of human behavior. People are reluctant to break away from the familiar rhythm of daily life. They don't want to be different. But we must break away from the crowd if we are ever to accept Jesus' invitation to be our source of strength and nourishment.
If just one of the caterpillars had broken away and begun to eat of the plant, the whole group might have been saved. But such is the course of mankind...we often follow the crowd to destruction. The Bible has much to say about the small minority who can and often does break away from the crowd and make an eternal difference. It also speaks of times when they failed to separate themselves and paid a heavy price.
Once such story of minority influence is found in the book of Genesis 18. This story of Abraham takes us into a world that is strange to our ways of thinking. It's the story of a righteous man bargaining with God. In the story, the city of Sodom was to be destroyed by an angry God. But Abraham, with a heart of compassion, doesn't want it destroyed.
The mind of Abraham, as we see it here, expresses a growing understanding of the nature of God. Abraham asks the penetrating theological question, "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" Obviously he concludes that God will indeed do what is right, so Abraham starts to bargain with God.
"How many good men would be needed to save the city? Would 50 do it? Yes. Then he drops down..."How about 45? 40? 30? 20? Then at last he says, "Don't get angry, but suppose there were only 10 good men found in Sodom...would 10 be enough? Abraham wins. He wins the answer from God who says, "I won't destroy it for the sake of 10 men."
Think about that for a moment. Out of all the people in those twin cities literally thousands of them just ten men would have saved them. That's a clear picture of the timeless and timely truth that the saving force in the world is a minority force.
We know from Scripture that just a little yeast, or leaven, can affect the whole batch of dough...or that one rotten apple can spoil the whole bunch. But the reverse is also just as true...a small minority, a remnant, can make a positive, eternal difference in the lives of people and even in the world.
Today we are in a world that is just a heart beat away from the same fate as Sodom. The similarities are horribly obvious. If it's to be saved at all, it will be saved by a comparatively few.
Just as in ages past, the hope of a secure and livable world lies in a minority of disciplined and dedicated people who aren't set on keeping up the status quo...and not set on keeping the sanctified stupidities or traditions of the past. Our hope is for a minority who will stand on biblical truth and provide an atmosphere where God can bring about His redemptive purposes.
There are three things that can be said with complete confidence. First...there has to be a deepening and widening of our sense of responsibility. We're masters in the art of delegating. We delegate the responsibility for everything difficult or uncomfortable or demanding to others who simply can't carry out those responsibilities for us.
"Let the Sunday School teachers teach our kids about God...that's their job, isn't it?" Let the preacher go out and do the spiritual stuff, that's what he gets paid for, isn't it? Let him do the praying...the witnessing...the hospital visitations..."That's not my job!"
Let the choir do the singing...let those better off do the tithing...let those who need it more than me, or those who have more free time than me come to the Bible studies and the meetings and the get togethers.
I think maybe it's the proper time for me to invite you all to a funeral. It's one that needs to be held as soon as possible...it's one that is long overdue. One of the prominent figures of history has died...one who was very prominent even right here at Goodridge...it's the "innocent bystander." He is gone forever. No one is an innocent bystander.
The area of responsibility has widened...the sense of responsibility must be deepened. No longer can we claim to be exempt from His plan. No longer can we sit by idly and be spectator Christians with one foot in the church and one foot in the world. God is calling out His remnant...those who will set aside everything that hinders their walk of obedience.
He wants a people who will lay aside the traditions...that will put away the excuses for their unfaithfulness and take an honest look at where they stand in their commitment with God. There is no sitting back and watching the action from a distance...no sideline views of the work being done.
God is looking for a remnant that will actively, wholeheartedly get serious and join the fight! Just a small minority could have saved Sodom and possibly brought many to the Lord. And just a small minority can save Barnesboro & Spangler and the surrounding areas.
Second, one task for this saving minority is to keep the mind over the emotions.
One of the first rules of electricity I learned is that electrical current follows the path of least resistance. And I also found out that my body has often been the path of least resistance...zzzzzzzzzzap!
The line of least resistance for most people is to let the emotions come in and take charge. And just like we need switches to control and divert electrical current, we need something to control the flow of emotion.
That's where the mind comes in. The brain must muscle it's way in to some major conflicts in our day to make clear that what we "feel" doesn't always line up with what God's word says.
We may feel comfortable...we may feel justified...we may feel satisfied...we may not feel "convicted" or be bothered by many of the things going on in the world today...but what are the hard, cold facts as it relates to the plans and purposes of God? What does the bible say about our lives and our responsibilities?
It's not easy...it's not pleasant being a minority...a remnant. It's not comfortable going against the flow of society or against the wishes of the crowd. We may "feel" like it's better just to give in and go along to keep the peace or to calm the waters...or to just kind of get by unscathed. But is that what God wants?
Third, the mind must tighten its hold on the truth that one life counts. Each of us has an influence on some areas of public opinion. It may be just across the back yard, but it is real nonetheless. Multiply those areas and the forces of change for the better can work in powerful ways.
It was a very small minority which saved the Hebrew nation...it's prophets, like Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah. It was its singers in the Psalms, it was the group of the righteous who looked for the redemption of Israel. Their faith in God was the means through which the godly heritage of Israel was passed on to the world.
One word from the Psalms pictures vividly what faith in God gives..."God is a sun and a shield." That's one of the promises for the holy remnant. That little verse says that God is our shield...He defends us to the end. Nothing can touch us outside His perfect will and plan. He also is a sun...He illuminates our path and shows us the way we should live.
