From My Inbox
I got this a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was worth sharing. -M
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One Sunday morning, an old cowboy entered a church just before services were to begin. Although the old man and his clothes were spotlessly clean, he wore jeans, a denim shirt, and boots that were very worn and ragged. In his hand he carried a worn-out old hat and an equally worn-out Bible.
The church he entered was in a very upscale and exclusive part of the city. It was the largest and most beautiful church the old cowboy had ever seen. The people of the congregation were all dressed in expensive clothes and accessories. As the cowboy took a seat,the others moved away from him. No one greeted, spoke to, or welcomed him. They were all appalled at his appearance and did not attempt to hide it.
As the old cowboy was leaving the church, the preacher approached him and asked the cowboy to do him a favor. "Before you come back in here again, have a talk with God and ask him what he thinks would be appropriate attire for worship." The old cowboy assured the preacher he would.
The next Sunday, he showed back up for the services wearing the same ragged jeans, shirt, boots, and hat. Once again he was completely shunned and ignored. The preacher approached the man and said, "I thought I asked you to speak to God before you came back to our church."
"I did," replied the old cowboy.
"If you spoke to God, what did he tell you the proper attire should be for worshipping in here?" asked the preacher.
"Well, sir, God told me that He didn't have a clue what I should wear. He said He'd never been in this church."
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One Sunday morning, an old cowboy entered a church just before services were to begin. Although the old man and his clothes were spotlessly clean, he wore jeans, a denim shirt, and boots that were very worn and ragged. In his hand he carried a worn-out old hat and an equally worn-out Bible.
The church he entered was in a very upscale and exclusive part of the city. It was the largest and most beautiful church the old cowboy had ever seen. The people of the congregation were all dressed in expensive clothes and accessories. As the cowboy took a seat,the others moved away from him. No one greeted, spoke to, or welcomed him. They were all appalled at his appearance and did not attempt to hide it.
As the old cowboy was leaving the church, the preacher approached him and asked the cowboy to do him a favor. "Before you come back in here again, have a talk with God and ask him what he thinks would be appropriate attire for worship." The old cowboy assured the preacher he would.
The next Sunday, he showed back up for the services wearing the same ragged jeans, shirt, boots, and hat. Once again he was completely shunned and ignored. The preacher approached the man and said, "I thought I asked you to speak to God before you came back to our church."
"I did," replied the old cowboy.
"If you spoke to God, what did he tell you the proper attire should be for worshipping in here?" asked the preacher.
"Well, sir, God told me that He didn't have a clue what I should wear. He said He'd never been in this church."
posted by Michael at
6:11 PM
2 Comments:
heh heh. good story!
Let me tell you a tale... a true tale... a few yaers ago, when I was a fulltime Missionary Evangelist, I actually did a similar thing to this in real life. I dressed as a smelly hobo, asleep near the front door of the church one Sunday morning, complete with empty wine bottles warpped in bown paper bags laying around me. I lay with a big old dirty jacket pulled up and an old battered hat covering my face.
No-one said anything to me at all as they entered the church for the service inside.
About 30 minutes into the service, the Pastor introduced the guest speaker that morning, and I walked in the doors of the church and down the centre aisle of the church - to a stunned silence. Still wearing the hat and coat, i walked to the pulpit, disrobed the 'costume', and begun the short message.
Needless to say, people either responded really well to the visual and spoken message that morning, or they left in disgust.
Obviously, the Pastor and I had teed it up togther beforehand.
It was an interesting experiment in teaching people to "love their neighbour".
And yes, this really happened.
Cyalayta
Mal :)
By
Mal Kiely [Lancelots Pram], At
September 11, 2007 10:28 PM
Ha! Both stories most excellent. Team Gherkin, that's awesome.
By
Wendy, At
September 12, 2007 7:18 AM
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