Don't Put the Cart Before the Horse

The story is told of a man who took a great deal of pride in always looking dignified and neat He had a horse that was so beautiful that whenever he rode into town, people would stare admiringly at it and him. This gave the man a great deal of pleasure.

Then one day he bought a very old buggy. It needed a lot of work to refurbish it, but the man knew when it was done, it would be the best looking buggy in the county. So, day and night he worked on that buggy—carefully sanding and repainting it. He worked on the wheels making sure they ran true and were greased, so it would roll perfectly. Finally, after many weeks of work, the man came out of the shed pushing his new can which was now an eloquent piece of art

That afternoon he decided to ride into town to show it off. He took a bath, put on his best clothes and then went to the bam to get his horse. But when he got there, he found his horse dead. In the weeks of work on the buggy, he had forgotten to feed it!

What is more important a horse or a can? Obviously, the horse, but the man forgot about that and put his can first; now he couldn't even get to town.

At church, we often have the same problem. Many have been putting the cart before the horse. The gospel of Luke ends with the following words, "Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple blessing God" (Luke 24:50-53).

Many people today are willing to work at special events to help support the church—and that's wonderful. But please remember the first and foremost call of any Christian is to gather at the "temple" and worship God. Worship is the horse— the thing that moves our church forward. The building is the cart, that which allows us to carry the good news to others.

When people help in order to keep the church going, but then don't partake in the very reason the church is kept alive— to worship God and spread the news, we find ourselves placing the can before the horse. And if the horse dies, it doesn't matter how pretty the can is.