During the reign of Oliver Cromwell, the British government began to run low on silver for coins. Lord Cromwell sent his men to the local cathedral to see if they could find any precious metal there. After investigating, they reported, “The only silver we can find is in the statues of the saints standing in the corners.”

To which the radical soldier and statesman of England replied: “Good! We’ll melt down the saints and put them in circulation!”

That brief but direct order states the essence of the practical goal of authentic Christianity: Not rows of silver saints crammed into the corners of cathedrals, but melted saints circulating through the mainstream of humanity. . . . On campuses where students carve through the varnish of shallow answers. In the shop where employees test the mettle of everyday Christianity. At home with a house full of kids, where R&R means run and wrestle. In the concrete battlegrounds of sales competition, seasonal conventions, and sexual temptations, where hard-core assaults are made on internal character. On the hospital bed, where reality never takes a nap. In the office, where diligence and honesty are forever on the scaffold. On the team where patience and self-control are checked out.

The cost factor of being a saint occurs on Monday and Tuesday and throughout the week. That’s when we’re “melted down and put in circulation.” “Sunday religion” may seem sufficient, but it isn’t. And pity the person who counts on it to get him through. —Dallas Seminary Daily Devotional, 5-30-06

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” —Matthew 5:14-16