My Dad was a great fellow. He was rather introverted, even
bordered on being timid. But there was a kind of inner
stability about him that made you know that his timidity was
not a sign of anything—except the wisdom it takes to be
quiet and listen. He had a philosophical bent about him and
when he did say something, you could usually put it in your
pocket and use it later because it always made good sense.
We moved to the Plains of West Texas when I was 5 years old.
My dad kept books at the cotton Gin for Hume Russell. Later,
when we had saved up a little money, he bought a dry cleaning
shop in Morton. In addition to cleaning clothes, Dad ordered
tailor-made suits for the National Tailoring Company in
Chicago. We still have a nice quilt Mom made out of the wool
suit samples he would show to prospective buyers. He was an
expert at measuring a person for clothes and “that’s the
key to having satisfied customers,” he would say. We
didn’t always have much—didn’t even have a car until I
was 12 or 13—but we had nice clothes, so everybody thought
we were better off than we were.
One thing my Dad said about clothes has stayed with me all
these years. “Things wear out where they don’t fit,” he
said. In other words, if you buy things that fit you, you can
wear them much longer. Things wear out where they don’t fit.
That’s true of humans, too, you know. Folks soon wear out
where they don’t fit.
If you’re in a crowd where you don’t fit, chances are you
won’t stay long—mainly because you don’t think you look
good there. When you feel welcome—that is, when you
fit—you’ll more likely stay longer and be more of a part
of the overall picture.
Where do you fit here? Let’s look at some things that are
necessary for a good fit.
A good fit begins with a good measurement. You have
to measure yourself. Introspection may be the hardest kind of
inspection. First of all, it requires complete honesty. You
have to take a long look at your assets and liabilities and
see how you can best use what you have and try and do better
at what you lack. That’s not easy, but just remember, not
everybody fits into every slot, and you’re apt to wear out
if you force yourself into some area where you don’t fit.
Self-examination always begins with a good heart (Psalm
15:1-2)
You have to want to. You won’t fit if you don’t
want to. Many times people who complain about not being a
part, don’t fit in because deep down, they don’t really
want to. If you want to, you can fit. How sad to see some
folks who complain bitterly—and talk loudly—because they
don’t have a place when they never tried to fit in. The one
talent man (Matt 25:24) didn’t fit into his master’s plan
not because he couldn’t, but because he decided not to.
You have to stay in your own place. Not everybody
fits everywhere and not everybody can do everything. Sometimes
you have to just be satisfied with where you fit and try to
fit nicely into your own spot. Actually, if you try and force
yourself into a place where you don’t fit, you mess up the
whole picture and someone who actually fits where you’re
trying to is left to fit where he doesn’t fit either. And
that makes for trouble. The various parts of the body function
together to make the whole body strong, but the liver
doesn’t try to be what’s it not and the feet don’t try
and take the place of the ears (see ).
Everybody fits. There are no unimportant parts in
this picture. Every single part—no matter how small or
seemingly insignificant it may seem—has a place. When a part
is missing, it messes up the entire picture and, rather than
blending in to the whole, the void causes people to see only
the missing part, thus distracting terribly from the big
picture. And how wonderful just to know that you have a place,
and one that no one else is fitted for. When Paul says we are
“knitted together,” he says the knitting is supplied by
every joint contributing its part by “the effective working
by which every part does its share” (Eph 4:16). Only when
every part does its part can the whole body be effective.
So, let’s get together. Let’s gather together all the
parts of this church and fit them into the overall scheme of
things and get to the business of being lights in the
world—a picture that will reflect to the world around us
that we’re serious about the business of going to heaven and
that we’re interested in taking as many people with us as we
can.
Dee Bowman
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