Phillips Brooks, the great American preacher of the 1800s, asked the operator of a local livery stable for the best horse he had. Brooks explained, “I am taking my wife for a ride and I want the very best for the occasion.”

As the livery man hitched up a horse to a buggy, he said, “This animal is about as perfect as a horse could be. It is kind, gentle, intelligent, well-trained, obedient, willing, responds instantly to your every command, never kicks, balks, or bites, and lives only to please its driver.”

Brooks then quietly said to the owner, “Do you suppose you could get that horse to join my church?”

What a joy it would be if all Christians who joined churches would fit that description.

Tags: character, church, Horse