Taking Time for the Gospel

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about an hour. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. 

At about 3 minutes

A middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, then hurried on to meet his schedule.

At 4 minutes

The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.  He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars! Two days before, Joshua Bell performed a sold out concert at a theater in Boston where attendees paid an average of $100 per seat  to sit and listen to him play the exact same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and peoples’ priorities.

The people in the Metro station missed an amazing opportunity to enjoy “high society” living for free. What a shame! If they had only taken a moment from their busy lives they would have enjoyed, at no cost, an experience many others paid a high price for! Why not take advantage of this? Because it was not a good time.

Sadly, too many will miss out on the gospel of Jesus Christ because other things were too important. God grants salvation freely to all who will partake of it (Rom. 5:15-16; 6:23; Eph. 2:8) but many put it off because they feel they have “more important” things to deal with right now (Mt. 8:21-22; Acts 24:22, 24-25). What a shame to miss out on God’s free gift because we never found the time to dedicate to Him.

Perhaps others did not stop because they viewed this man as a street bum. They failed to recognize the beauty of his music, the talent he possessed, and the expensive violin he used, and simply viewed him as a lowly street performer. They viewed him as possessing limited talent and simply walked on to their destination. Sometimes, we as Christians might miss opportunities to share the gospel because we evaluate someone incorrectly. May God help us to take advantage of each opportunity that comes our way.

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