Wisdom From the Furnace Man

The furnace man came out to my house the other day.

He was there to install a new thermostat.

He was friendly and talkative.

His grey hair and glasses gave him the “happy grandfather” vibe.

Within minutes, he asked me what I do for a living.

“I’m a pastor” I said.

Immediately he responds, “Well, let me ask you a question…”

I’m thinking, “Oh boy—this should be interesting.”

He asked, “Do you think the church all over is still declining or are people starting to come back to the church?”

I thought about it, and answered slowly…

“I’m not sure if there’s been much of a change in the overall statistics. Our church is growing a lot—but it’s young and reaching people with kids, we’re pretty modern and our music is loud, we throw lots of parties and BBQ’s and car shows and stuff like that.”

There was a bit of an apologetic tone to my explanation of our church to this older gentleman.

The furnace man paused.

He stopped working.

He turned around and looked at me.

And then he smiled.

“That’s the way it should be,” he said.

He continued, “I can’t imagine Jesus ever wanted us to freeze time and act like we’re not living today.”

Driving his point home, he said: “It’s like the movie Sister Act. I think that movie really should have opened the eyes of the church. The church has to change. If it stays stuck in yesteryear, it won’t be long before it dies completely—and I don’t see how that honors Jesus at all.”

Boom.

The furnace man was dropping wisdom like bombs.

We are alive today.

Jesus promised “I will build my church.”

He is building his church. He is building it now, today.

He’s building his church with today’s people, today’s language, today’s technology and today’s songs.

Thank you, Mr. Furnace Man, for that reminder.

PS—Mr. Furnace Man goes to a Lutheran church. His favorite thing about his church: the new cushioned seats (he really hates pews).