The "Bike To Work" crowd means business. They have a web site, a strategy group, a mission statement, and an acronym (BTWD-Bike To Work Day). Their aim is to "reduce congestion and improve air quality." They probably also want participants to enjoy biking and get healthy, but the main interest appears to be environmental. I am not writing this to be critical, though for six and a half miles I had to dodge ten times the regular number of bicyclists on the Bear Creek Trail. I admire their dedication and the success they have enjoyed in getting so many to become involved. They had food stations set up along the trail, they got media attention, and they were organized to the point to setting up a registration process online or physically in downtown Denver. They proclaimed today the annual "Bike To Work Day" and they followed through to be sure everyone knew about it.
This initiative may or may not enjoy huge success in meeting their objective, but if they do not it will not be from lack of trying. They will undoubtedly win converts to their cause, and they already have. The thing that strikes me is that they truly believe in their cause, and their efforts prove it!
The early church was all about the business of spreading the good news about Christ. It made it into their conversations (Acts 8:4) and to the top of their priority list (cf. Mat. 6:33). They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). They were able to get the gospel to every creature under heaven (Col. 1:23). They did it without media attention, though profane and secular writers certainly took notice of them (often contemptuously). They had limited resources, community support, history, or respectability. But, they grew, which a cursory study of Acts readily shows. What they had was a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3) and a life with Christ at the center.
How is our fervor for the Lord? Are we ready to do what it takes to "get the word out" and convert as many as we can? How deeply do we believe in the cause we sing, pray, and preach about each week? Whatever else we may hope to accomplish individually or as the church, our main interest should always be the souls of mankind. We will never have to tell anyone what our emphasis is. It will be obvious! May we have the fervor of our first-century counterparts and get out the word about the Lord!
This initiative may or may not enjoy huge success in meeting their objective, but if they do not it will not be from lack of trying. They will undoubtedly win converts to their cause, and they already have. The thing that strikes me is that they truly believe in their cause, and their efforts prove it!
The early church was all about the business of spreading the good news about Christ. It made it into their conversations (Acts 8:4) and to the top of their priority list (cf. Mat. 6:33). They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). They were able to get the gospel to every creature under heaven (Col. 1:23). They did it without media attention, though profane and secular writers certainly took notice of them (often contemptuously). They had limited resources, community support, history, or respectability. But, they grew, which a cursory study of Acts readily shows. What they had was a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3) and a life with Christ at the center.
How is our fervor for the Lord? Are we ready to do what it takes to "get the word out" and convert as many as we can? How deeply do we believe in the cause we sing, pray, and preach about each week? Whatever else we may hope to accomplish individually or as the church, our main interest should always be the souls of mankind. We will never have to tell anyone what our emphasis is. It will be obvious! May we have the fervor of our first-century counterparts and get out the word about the Lord!
--Neal Pollard
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