When I was a boy, I had the great pleasure to get to know one of the greatest preachers I had ever heard. There was a man named Earl Cantwell from Silverton, TX that was greatly respected in our area. He was a very kind and gentle man that was thoroughly loved in every circle that influenced my family. Even as a boy, I understood that when he spoke, I listened. By the time I met him, he was a very old and feeble but his mind was razor sharp.
One Sunday he came to Levelland to speak to our church. As he was wrapping up his sermon he was stepping down from the podium and fell. Some of the men helped him up and walked him back to his seat. After church, it was determined that he couldn’t drive back home, so Dad volunteered to drive him the hour and a half back to his home if someone else would follow us in his car. Dad asked me if I’d like to go. Of course I would!
As we drove, he and Dad discussed a variety of topics as I bounced around in the back of an old Pontiac and tried my best to hear the conversation. He was talking about the “Great Debates” in the 1930′s and 1940′s that he was a part of as a young preacher. The various denominations would gather and the preachers would debate topics relating to the Bible and what this particular passage meant and why they were right and everyone else was wrong. It was evident that the preachers became like prize fighters that were sent into the ring to win the argument. What a sight this must have been. It was then that Brother Cantwell said something that has stuck with me to this day. “I pray every day that God will forgive me for that. We were so concerned with being right that we forgot about the truth.”
Have you ever done that? You hear about the way a church does something and you sit back and say, “Well…that’s not right. I’m glad we don’t do that.” Have you ever sat in the pew of a church you were visiting and thought to yourself, “Only two songs and then a prayer? I hope they have a really long main prayer then.” It sounds so silly, but the danger is real. Sometimes we get so caught up in being right with our traditions and our beliefs that we forget what is really important. Read 2 Timothy 2:22-26. Have you ever gotten caught up in a foolish and stupid argument because someone did something different from you? I know I have. Are my friends at the First Baptist Church going to hell because they have an organ? No. Is it different than what I am comfortable with? Yes.
Be careful, brethren, that we do not lose sight of what is really important. May we all “pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace”.
May God bless you and keep you!
Matt