Though he
had no idea where to find them, Alvin McDonald went back into the cave.
The
previous day, three people had become separated from their tour group somewhere
in “Wind Cave”. Searching the cave,
located in the south east portion of the Black Hills in South Dakota, was not
going to be an easy task. With more than
139 miles of known tunnels (and an average of 4 more miles being discovered
each year), there was no telling where the lost tourists would be found. However, if anyone could find them, Alvin
McDonald was the man.
McDonald, born
in 1873 began exploring “Wind Cave” when he was sixteen years old. Over the next four years, until his death in
1893, he mapped the tunnels and a kept an extensive diary describing what he
had found. Alvin explored the cave with
nothing but candlelight which afforded him about four feet of sight. When the candles went out, he could not see
anything. In fact, the darkness was so
encompassing that he was worried for the sanity of the lost tourists. The lack of sight would only add to their
panic, so Alvin went back into the cave.
Eventually,
he found one of the tourists. Taking the
man’s hand, he continued calling and searching for the other two. Finally, after more than a day in the
darkness, the others were found. Alvin
lit the remaining candles and, thanks to his light and his knowledge of the
cave, led the three to the entrance and safety (Hold that thought).
Ask a
hundred people “Why do churches exist?” and you will likely get a hundred and
fifty answers. Some think the church
exists so that they can find friendship.
Others think the church should be a place of encouragement to help them
carry on in their Christian walk. Some
want the church to “Put on a good show”, or “Keep my children happy” or “Help
with my marriage” or “Hand out money and be benevolent” or… the list goes on
and on.
Now, those
things (and more) are great (In fact, our group does many of them), but they
are not the reason we exist!
The church
is here for one reason: To make disciples (or followers) of Jesus.
Now that
process starts in many different ways (like some of the things listed above),
but in the end our only real job is to take God’s light, go into the darkness
and help lead others out of the cave of their “lost-ness” (as someone else has
done for us).
Jesus said
he came, “To seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).
What are we
doing here?
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