Jim Corley met his friend, Alex, at the dealership where Alex worked.

“Jim, I feel like a hypocrite every time I go to church because I fail to live for Christ so often.”

“Alex, what do you call this part of the dealership?” Jim asked, nodding to the area outside his cubicle.

“You mean the showroom?”

“Yes.  And what’s behind the showroom, past the parts counter?”

“The service department,” Alex said confidently.

“What if I told you I didn’t want to bring my car to the service department because it was running rough?” Jim asked.

“That would be crazy!  That’s the whole point of service departments — to fix cars that aren’t running right.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Jim replied.  “Now, let’s get back to our initial conversation.  Instead of thinking of church as a showroom where image is everything, start thinking of it as God’s service department.  Helping people get back in running order with God is what the church is all about.” *

“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth.  ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed Him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to His disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and “sinners”?’  Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’” – Luke 5:27-32 NIV

It has been well-said, “The church is not a hotel for saints; it is a hospital for sinners.”  Similarly, the church is not a showroom; it is a service department.

Sin is a universal and grave condition (Romans 3:23; 6:23).  Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2) and places us on the path to eternal destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).

We are all sinners.  Therefore we all need the Great Physician, Jesus.  Only Jesus has the cure for sin.  It cost Him His life; He died on the cross for our sins so that we may have forgiveness and receive the gift of eternal life.  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

God will forgive and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  God will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Those who accept His offer are added to the church (Acts 2:41, 47) – God’s “service department.”  In the church, the hospital for sinners, the Great Physician – who is also the Master Technician – completes His work.  It is also His design that those in the church, the family of God, also minister to one another with encouragement, support, and love – even “tough love.”

An honest inspection reveals that we all are not “running right.”  Don’t go to the showroom; come to the service department.  There, the Great Physician, who is also the Master Technician, will make you whole.

-- David A. Sargent

* Source: Choice Contemporary Stories and Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers, and Writers, Craig Brian Larson as quoted in www.ministry127.com

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

Archived issues of Living Water can be viewed and accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org