Keeping the C in the YMCA

Several months ago the YMCA I am a member of underwent a corporate overhaul that started to stake its claim on the walls. Slowly, the newly painted walls began to take shape… the switchplates were replaced, new and smartly designed room and directional signs were hung, and the floorboard was neatly fastened. There was one thing sadly and obviously missing…all things Christian. As many of you know, I can be a fairly outspoken girl at times. On his first day on the job, I told the new manager that I was among many Christian members who would dearly miss Jesus if he did not come back. He assured me that I was going to like what I was going to see up on the new walls. (I had a feeling this meant that I would not like what I was going to see up on the new walls.) Sure enough, Jesus had been replaced with social responsibility.  

The first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was organized by George Williams as a refuge of Bible study and prayer for young men seeking escape from the hazards of life on the streets of London in 1844. There remains today a Bible study and prayer group at my YMCA who's motto is "Keeping the C in the YMCA". I am to understand that they are the party responsible for the last remaining yet most important remnant of Christianity in the hallway…the Bible. Above the Bible used to hang a jovial portrait of Jesus with children, which made me smile every time I walked by. Finally, after months of leaving a big white space where the painting used to be, they hung this…

Don't you just love God's humor? My recurrent smile has turned into a recurrent chuckle. Above God's word they hung an automated external defibrillator…a lifesaving device!

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. -John 10:28

READER COMMENT:  NOW,..... this post makes perfect sense. If someone has a heart attack,.... you get to decide which one of these lifesaving tools to to grab ie, if they are saved (the defriburator) & if they are lost, (the Bible). If you don't know their status, I say you take both, ask them, & then respond accordingly. "Brother, Have you been saved?" "Yes" the 'defib' "No" the Bible. If you remind the YMCA of the legal complexities in all this,.... once someone tries this and utilizes the correct tool for a "No" response, the lawyers might get involved & one of those two items will be removed leaving the YM_A, "C" less. Perhaps a better solution is for everyone to be issued t-shirts that indicates their status; red t-shirt with the word "saved" emblazoned on it or a flame colored t-shirt with the word "lost". This way, anyone who suffers a heart attack, will be served with the correct life-saving device. -C.

Please remember, BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, not a Bible scholar. If something doesn't look quite right to you, dig into God's word. The one thing I promise you is that you won't get bored! Many thanks to my Bible study friend Renee Driscoll, who helps me keep Bible Bait Biblically correct.