Last week, something wonderful happened at my house. Or maybe it actually wasn’t so wonderful. You be the Judge.
A young man who grew up a few houses down from us knocked on the door. He and a friend were in the process of launching a new business, “ATP – Apply The Pressure “. Our driveway had been selected by these budding entrepreneurs to assist them in advertising and marketing their new business. If we were willing, these two guys were going to pressure wash our driveway, and film the whole event. Then, they would use portions of the film as a part of their on-line marketing strategy. And, best of all, since our driveway was going to be used to advertise ATP, they would do the work for free!
That was an easy decision. “You’ve got yourself a deal!”, said my wife to these two business men. And off they went, working like a couple of beavers, and doing a wonderful job. And, get this: they also threw in, for free, a quick power wash of a section of the siding on our house which faces the street, and which was rather in need of some of this kind of attention. [To all of you young, and not so young entrepreneurs out there, here’s a tip - the old Louisiana Cajun custom of “lagniappe” - which means a little something extra for free - goes a long way in changing a client from being just another one-time customer, into being both a repeat customer and a friend.]
The ATP guys were all finished and gone by the time I returned home from the office. But this time, my wife didn’t have to tell me to go back out and see if I noticed anything different [something she often has to do]. The work that ATP had done was instantly and obviously noticeable. In fact, it could probably have been seen from space. The driveway was absolutely glowing as darkness fell. The concrete had been washed so white that it looked very much like it was covered in pristine snow. In fact, even now, that is the first excited thought I have whenever I look out of the window - “Look! It snowed! Oh wait; it’s just the newly cleaned up driveway.” This driveway is so clean and white that it is easy to notice when any fresh tire marks or other dirt appear and diminish, even slightly, the pure white sheen. When this happens, I find myself wondering what can be done to restore the now slightly messed-up driveway back into its formerly pristine, white as snow condition. But, that will take hard work, and probably another pressure wash, and I can’t see either of those things happening anytime soon.
But I’m sure you remember that you are supposed to be judging whether this event was wonderful, or not so wonderful. All you have heard so far sounds pretty wonderful, doesn’t it? As a Judge, you might be wondering whether all of the evidence has been presented. Listen to the Scriptural motto of all lawyers who represent defendants: “The first to state his case seems right – until his opponent begins to cross-examine him.” – Proverbs 18:17. Yes, there is more to this story.
Here’s the rest of the story. Our driveway was not selected randomly or by chance. Nor was it selected because we have a close relationship with the ATP guy or his parents. Nope, nothing that innocuous. Our driveway was selected for one reason – it was the dirtiest, filthiest driveway in the entire sub-division! Ours was the best driveway for them to use for filming purposes because it would easily show how well the ATP guys and their equipment work in difficult conditions. Our driveway was the best because it was the worst!
So, I guess, thanks ATP?
Our driveway was awfully dirty. But I didn’t ever really notice that fact. It had happened slowly, over the course of many years. I guess I just got used to seeing it that way. I never really gave any thought to the possibility that this was not the way it was supposed to look, not the way it was intended to look. And so, I never gave any thought to getting it cleaned up.
I wonder if this in some ways describes some of the people who have drifted away from any connection with The Church, from any connection with The Lord? My guess is that for at least some of these people, there was never a single, momentous moment they could point to and say, “Here is where I lost my faith”, or, “It was when this person said or did something that I decided to walk away from The Church and all things spiritual.” Instead, it was a gradual, slow process of moving away from God. It was probably hardly noticeable at first. But eventually, they were gone.
And gone they are likely to remain unless and until the day somebody “knocks on their door”, and reminds them of what life with God can really look like – so bright, so shiny, like pristine snow – the way it was when they first began their journey. The biggest question is this - Who is going to knock on their door? Will it be you?
The best news of all is that nobody is so far gone that they cannot return, that they cannot be bright and shiny again.
That’s the “gospel” in my driveway.
PS: ATP – (985) 502-7510. Give ‘em a call. If they can clean my driveway, they can clean yours!
Ambrose Ramsey | Shepherd
