Hugging your dentist

Another funeral this week, made me remember the title to this message.
Because most folks really don't want to "go," when it is time! Let me ask
you, when is the last time you hugged your dentist? OK, I know that isn't
something you even want to think about, but maybe you ought to! I read a few
years back that among professional people, suicide is the highest among
dentist. Why, because almost no one likes to go and see them. Now, I don't
know if that particular statistic is still true or not, but I can understand
how it would be.

I personally don't like the procedures that we have to go through, but our
dentist, is one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. On top of
that, he is kind and has a very gentle touch. His job is kind of like the
old saying, "it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it."

Now I have to admit up front that I haven't hugged him and probably haven't
properly thanked him for the service he does for my wife and me. Most of us
would rather not go to the dentist, but where would we be without them? I
can tell you from experience, IN PAIN! If you go, you have to go through the
cleaning process, then the lecture about the need to floss and brush
regularly. Then you may have to deal with any repair work that needs to be
done (not to mention the dreaded shots). But if you don't go you have to
deal with the eventuality of pain and possibly the loss of your teeth.
Simply, there are consequences to our actions.

OK, now let's take this idea and put a spiritual spin on it. I honestly
can't count the number of times I have heard the phrase, "If I ever walked
in the door of the church, the roof would fall in." It is my experience that
what those who say this or something like it really mean is simply, "I don't
want to go!" Now, they know they should go, because they know at least the
basic idea that eternal life is connected with God's church, but even though
they know it's good for them, they still don't want to go. Much like going
to the dentist, you may get the lecture about the need to take proper care
of our life if you expect it to end up like you would want, that's called
preaching. At some point you will need to deal with the cleaning process.
That is getting rid of all of the things in your life that causes your soul
to rot away and instead of a fluoride treatment you are baptized to preserve
you spirit. Instead of being sent home with a new toothbrush you go home
with a Bible in your hand and instructions to come back next week for your
regular appointment with God's church to worship Him.

Come to think of it, being a dentist and being a preacher is not all that
different, about the same number of people would rather not have to see us!
The greatest difference is that the dentist only sees you when you have a
problem with your teeth, which he can repair (most of the time). For the
preacher (speaking from experience) far too often we only get to see some
people in the funeral home and then it's too late to make anything better.

One of the problems of being human is that we tend to deny just how fragile
our life is and because of that we don't do the things with which we feel
uncomfortable. James speaks to this problem in James 4:13-17 where he says,
"Look here, you people who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain
town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a
profit." How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like
the morning fog-it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to
say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that."
Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting
is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do
it."

You still may not want to hug your dentist or preacher, but how do you feel
about getting closer to God? You may not have as much time as you think and
all of the fluoride treatments in the world won't do what God's cleaning and
preservation process will do for you.

Russ Lawson