The Noisy Gong Show
By Victor Zarley of TheFinalHarvest.org
1Co 13:1 IF I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God’s love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (Amplified Bible)
Sister Rose, working in the kitchen downstairs at the church, mutters under her breath, “Why isn’t anyone else helping me? Do I have to wash these dishes all by myself?” She turns around, scowling at everyone sitting at tables, enjoying the dinner, busily engaged in happy conversation.
Suddenly, the sound of a noisy gong echoes throughout this page. Gong, Gong, GONG!
Pastor Rogers steps up to the podium, the look of boredom on his face, after all these years, preaching, preaching, preaching the same old thing, over and over again. Look at them out there, sitting in their pews, eyes glued on me. Why won’t they listen. Why won’t they “get it”? There are too many familiar faces and not enough unfamiliar ones here today, he thinks. Is it my job to do EVERYTHING around here? Can’t the congregation take an interest in bringing the lost into this building (where “church” is)?
Suddenly, the sound of a noisy gong echoes throughout this page. Gong, Gong, GONG!
Brother Hank (who sits in a pew toward the front of the church), is stuck in traffic so he tries to swerve suddenly out of his lane to merge into a faster moving one, but in doing so, he almost collides with a blue pick-up truck which Brother George is driving. He sits in a pew toward the back of the church and is completely unaware of Brother Hank (except at this moment). Brother George slams on his brakes, skidding his truck to avoid a collision, and then yells obscenities out his window. Brother Hank guns his motor, speeding out of there, thinking what nerve that guy has in yelling at him like that! He should never have been going that fast!
Suddenly, the sound of a noisy gong echoes throughout this page. Gong, Gong, GONG!
Anger blankets the world, honking hearts seem to beat around bushes of contempt. Cars swerve, nearly missing. Cooks fumble, steam is hissing. Bosses grumble, there’s no missing what ISN’T there—love. The love of Christ is too hard to bring with us into this boxing ring. At the sound of the bell, there is too much to swing. There may be seven days, but we are mighty weak, when it comes to love. “Thy Kingdom Come” is trumpeted from heaven but the canyons of this carnal world swipe at the sound until barely a whisper settles on the ground outside. “Thy will be done” echoes off the mansions in heaven, reverberating down to earth, but it lands, unnoticed in a junkyard guarded by growling dogs. “On earth as it is in heaven” is a jumble of letters, all mixed up, falling haphazardly, bouncing off speeding taxis, jogging businessmen, and UPS trucks.
The sound of a noisy gong echoes throughout this page, and here comes the Hollywood celebrities with gong sticks ready and the ever smiling Chuck Barris. Jesus shakes His head forlornly and weeps from His Throne in heaven: Gong, Gong, GONG!