Still on Walmart stuff.In 1899 German company Bayer invented Aspirin. The new medication was dubbed a wonder drug as it brought relief to those who suffered from certain types of physical pain.
By 1915 Bayer introduced the first Aspirin tablets. Stored in glass bottles they were more convenient to take, ship and handle. It was an instant success.
However when they were shipped the tablets tended to break as they shook inside the bottles. To solve this problem Bayer placed cotton balls inside the bottles so that the tablets would not move and break.
As Aspirin grew in popularity many companies followed the practice of putting cotton balls inside their bottles without really knowing the reason why Bayer did it.
Later on however, Bayer developed a coating that prevented the tablets from breaking. In time Bayer removed the cotton balls and shipped the bottles just as efficiently.
To this day you will find products that contain cotton balls in their bottles. When asked why manufacturers have them, their response is usually vague. Fact is they never really knew why they had it there in the first place.
Here is where discipleship interfaces with Aspirin. It is true that discipleship is about relationships and modeling the Christian life for others to see. However, we need to teach people to read and obey the Bible. This is the only way for them to know why we behave and live life the way we do. Without it all we're doing is producing mimics who imitate but don't know the reason why they are do what they do.
Discipleship is more than just transferring our programs, models and religious practices to others. It involves teaching others to know why they should live a certain way.
This we accomplish by teaching people to read, study, love and obey the Bible.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2Timothy 3:16-17
See Also: Prayer and Calcium
3 comments:
so true! great blog, pastor joey.
Cool analogy.
There are a million things people do without knowing why and I think it's so dumb. Preventing this would surely save us some headaches (pun intended).
That is so interesting! I thought the cotton balls were there to prevent humidity or something! So true, though - people who do good just for the sake of doing good (which seems like a noble cause) simply won't be able to love to the same degree as those who have encountered Jesus personally. Thanks for that, Pastor Joey!
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