The Hard Truth

A revolution is a movement — usually a radical and exciting movement — to change something: the government, one or more leaders as we have seen in the “Arab spring,” or longstanding cultural traditions such as the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. a few decades ago.

A revolution always includes the proclamation of the truth, often hard truth or truth that is hard to hear. Dr. Wade Bibb of Central Baptist Church Bearden, Knoxville, TN, told a story recently that comes from a revolutionary and compassionate mind.

Dr. Bibb was invited by members of his church to have Sunday dinner following the morning worship service. Once they were seated at a restaurant and everyone ordered, he was asked to say the blessing. (He added > parenthetically: “We preachers are never off.”)

Here is what he prayed:

Lord, bless the food we are about to eat . . . even though we don’t need it. We all eat more than we need already. We eat way more than most people in the world. Even so, we ask that you bless this food and us with it. Amen.”

When he looked up from his prayer, everyone at the table was silent and (appropriately) confronted by the truth, the hard truth.

Bibb was never again asked to say the blessing with that group. I don’t know if he was even asked to eat with them again…!

David Crocker, Executive Director