THE BREAD BASKET
RED TAPE
Many of us become nostalgic as we think about how things used to be,
when things were simple, uncluttered and serene, and when red tape was
almost nonexistent. I've wondered many times over-if Jesus were with us
in person during these days, how would His ministry be carried out in the
midst of our rat race, sophisticated, high tech world? Someone has quipped
that if Jesus were to do His same ministry on earth today:
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He'd be wanted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for turning water
into wine without a license;
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He'd be wanted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for killing
fig trees;
-
He'd be wanted by the American Medical Association (AMA) for practicing
medicine without a license;
-
He'd be wanted by the Department of Health (DOH) for asking people to open
graves, for raising the dead, and for feeding five thousand people in the
wilderness;
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He'd be wanted by the National Education Association (NEA) for teaching
without a certificate;
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He'd be wanted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
for walking on water without a life jacket and for flying without an airplane;
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He'd be wanted by the Society for the Preservation for Cruelty to Animals
(SPCA) for driving hogs into the sea;
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He'd be wanted by the National Board of Psychiatrists (NBP) for giving
advice on how to live a guilt free life; and,
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He'd be wanted by the Zoning Department for building mansions without a
permit.
I'd venture to say that few of us appreciate today's red tape, and yet
we're forced into it. The complexity of living in these days stands
in stark contrast to a simpler way of life that Jesus both taught and practiced.
Says the old Shaker hymn:
'Tis a gift to be simple, 'Tis a gift to be free,
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be.
In the midst of an increasingly complex world, may God grant us insight
in knowing how to "come down to where we ought to be."
--Paul W. Brubaker
November/December 2002
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