It was billed as the great “stain mystery” of the Bronx. Residents of the co-op City housing complex complained to the manager of this 35 high rise building complex that yellow ugly stains were ruining their clothes after washing them. New washers were installed; the Fabric Care Institute was consulted; even the New York school of Dry Cleaning; the New York City Department of Health and the New York based soap maker Lever Brothers were all brought into the case but to no avail.

Finally, the 50 member “Co-operators against the stain” committee, representing the 60,000 residents turned to the “spot doctor”, of Proctor and Gamble. The “spot doctor”, or as he’s sometimes called the “Detergent Detective”, watched the residents do their laundry and discovered a clue which cracked the case.

 He reported:
“The residents were not adding enough detergent. They thought the presence of suds…was sufficient enough to clean their clothes…they used enough…to dissolve the soil but not enough to hold it away from the fabric. Results: Dissolved dirt began settling back in and staining the clothes.”

The bottom line, as they say, was “suds are not enough.” What they needed was more detergent, the stuff which dissolves the dirt and keeps it away. It is said that Jesus needs people who Talk the Talk but more importantly who Walk the Walk. Jesus needs people who live out the words they speak. Jesus doesn’t need any more talk which only creates the illusion that real cleaning is going on because there is a lot of suds. He needs the Walk which gets down beneath the suds and works to remove and keep away the things which are staining His people.

CONSIDER, many of you are Walking the Walk; many still would perhaps like a place to put your Talk into a Walk. Let me suggest Matthew 25: Ministries. Great cleaning is going on M25M and is a great place to Walk the Walk.

If you would like to Talk this Walk, contact us and we’ll get you in touch with our other “Walkers.”

Rev. Wendell Mettey
Revised 11/18/2013

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