The Fireman

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:38-39 ESV). The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once wrote about a town where a fireman lived. Everyone liked the fireman because he was a nice guy. He made it a habit to be gentle and kind, which was unusual for firemen, who were supposed to be tough. There was a fire one day, and the fireman charged to the scene of the fire with his fellow firemen and heavy equipment. As they came toward the fire, much to their surprise and chagrin, they encountered between themselves and the flames about two hundred townspeople. And each of them was standing there with a water pistol, aiming at the fire, squirting water on it. The fireman asked, "What's going on here?" A spokesman for the group turned and said, "Well, we all appreciate this wonderful work you're doing in our community, and each of us has come to contribute in some small way to your work." And they continued to squirt water on the fire. The fireman said, "I don't get it. You are all crazy!" "Oh we realize that we all could do more, couldn't we, folks?" said the spokesman. "Most definitely," everyone said, "But we just wanted to offer this token of our support." "You don't know what you're doing!" shouted the firemen. "True, but you have to appreciate that fact that everyone is willing to offer whatever help they can," said the spokesman. And everyone said, "Amen!" and went squirt, squirt. At that, the fireman shouted, "Get out of the way! This is no picnic, this is a fire, and a fire doesn't require well-meaning people who come to make small contributions. A fire is a place where people come to give their lives." Sometimes we are a lot like those people. We all appreciate the work others do, but we contribute little more than a squirt here or there. We encourage others with our gratitude and warm words, however they amount to little more than a squirt or two! I can easily imagine the Celestial Fireman saying, "Will you please get out of here! What I am looking for are disciples who are radically committed and willing to die for the sake of the gospel!" Kierkagaard also said: “I went into church and sat on the velvet pew. I watched as the sun came shining through the stained glass windows. The minister dressed in a velvet robe opened the golden gilded Bible, marked it with a silk bookmark and said, “If any man will be my disciple, said Jesus, let him deny himself, take up his cross, sell what he has, give it to the poor, and follow me.” What kind of disciple are you?