Saved to Serve

I once knew an old man who was possessed with a mania for buying up wheels of all sorts. A wheel, whether from a wagon, a cart or a wheelbarrow, possessed peculiar attractions for him; and yet in all his life he never owned even a wheelbarrow. He did not put his wheels to any use. He is a pretty good counterpart of the man the ultimatum of whose idea of successful church work is that of getting people to join the church. A good many churches where this idea has been followed are, therefore, practically nothing more than a heap of wheels and bolts and bars that are of no use because they have been put to none.
“Saved to serve” is a good motto, but it implies more than we are sometimes disposed to take into consideration. It means that we must train people as well as save them. It is not enough that we induce men and women to be good; we are to see to it that they are put in the way of becoming good for something.