Archeology has given us occasion and tools to examine the residue of past cultures in order to learn something about the lives of earlier man.
Now that we are running out of primary sites for digging, modern anthropologists are delicately dissecting city trash for clues about the lifestyles and worldviews of urbanites.
Hoping to be an up-to-date examiner of the times, I instructed our resident archaeologist (otherwise known as cleanup man) Leo Kolodziejczyk to keep a record of the items left in our church pews after the Sunday morning worship service.
Some weeks later he came back to me with a well-cataloged list. I thought you might be interested in what he found:
Hairpins
Fingernail clippings
Dirt cleaned from combs
A poster tack
The rubber heel from a lady's shoe
A piece of a comb
Cigarette butts
Burnt matches
Candy wrappers
One unused prophylactic
White thread and a needle
Tom bulletins
Tithe envelopes (on the floor)
A pornographic book
Used facial tissues
Soft drinks
One wet diaper
A small battery-operated fan
Paper airplanes
Corn chips
Rice A paperback love story
Wooden bracelets
Chewed toothpicks
Raisins Wet piece of a used cigar
Chewed gum, on sides and under pews
Shopping bag stuffed with news papers
Wire bag twister
Torn sock with dirty heel and hole in toe
Part of a car manual
Lots of torn bits of paper
Paper clips
Plaster footprints
Crumpled paper note: "Will you have lunch with me ?"
Uneaten candy drops
Empty, worn-out, plastic wallet
Lots of pencils and pens Half-eaten
Milky Way chocolate bar
Sandwich baggies
Potato chips
Numerous coins, mostly pennies
Crayons
And a Bible with a used lottery ticket (a loser!) for a bookmark
I'm not sure whether our worshipers are voraciously hungry for the Word or for lunch. Or perhaps they have brought their sins and vices to the church to leave them there, or maybe they are just bored--draw your own conclusions. Sometimes I wonder if I am preaching to their real world. Are you?
