Bob! he said as he opened the blue print, “This is going to be a four teen-story building! On the ground floor we will have our bookstore, on the next floor a conference room, then the residences of all our employees, and above offices!” “Offices?” “Yes, we will rent it out and get an income!” “For whom?” “Do you know what our salaries are like?”
I looked at the present bookstore, “What’s wrong with this?” I asked. “It’s in the best location, it’s got hundreds of thousands of people passing by, and you’ve got space for another hundred thousand books! What’s wrong with this place? Why do you want another place, and that to a building?”
“It’s a project Bob! I love projects! This store here was the project of somebody fifty years ago, I need another huge one to keep me going!” “Come here!”
I tell him, “You know what that is hanging on your wall?” “The map of India!” “You want a project?” “What is it?” “There,” I tell him, “That’s your project! It’s not building buildings for God, it’s bringing our people to God!”
And as I watch many of my dear brethren gathering money and building huge buildings, I think of another call I received a few days ago from a poor village somewhere in India. “Brother we need funds!” “For what?” “A cemetery!” “Why?” “So, we can bury our dead the Christian way!” And the story goes on. We invest in buildings, in cemeteries but hardly in saving souls, do we?
Many years later when we climb those golden steps, we will be greeted by one with a book in hand, standing before the Heavenly Gates: “What did you do for Jesus?” “I built buildings!” “I guess you have your name on all the buildings too?” “Oh yes you can go down and see my name if you want proof, it’s on a plaque at the entrance, in case you’ve forgotten to enter it in your book!”
“Your name isn’t here!” “Yeah but it’s down there!” “So you’ve got your reward dear friend!” “But, but…” “No buts, it’s not buildings God wanted you to do down there, He wanted you to tell them of His love, His faithfulness and salvation, for which He died on a cross!” And as we are led away, the angel whispers with a sad smile, “And not just to build cemeteries too..!”
