Once there was a small community that at first glance did not appear to have much. There was nothing about it that would draw the attention of people from the outside to it and that was just fine with the people who lived there, for the land held a great treasure. The treasure was not of the sort that most people would be interested in for it did not consist of silver or gold or even oil. Instead, the treasure contained within the land was the soil itself. This was important, because the food supply over this entire region was dwindling to the point that people were actually starting to starve.

Now the soil of this community was not necessarily rich or overly fertile. In fact, when you looked at it it was pretty ordinary. Added to the fact that the community lay within an area without an abundance of lakes or streams and even those who might be tempted to try their hand at farming would take one look at this land and conclude that it was just too much work. Even though the world was starting to have trouble getting enough food to feed itself, this community just didn't look all that promising. What these people missed, had they bothered to look a little closer, was that this country had the potential to grow native grass that could accommodate vast herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. To those who knew the secrets of the land, there was an unending supply of food that was more than enough to take care of themselves and many others.

There were some in the community who wanted to share their abundance. After all, people on the outside were literally starving, and those with such blessings should help, shouldn't they? But there were also those within the community who saw it different. They had heard of people who were enemies of the land who would actively seek to destroy the grass and the cattle just to harm its citizens. There were also those who would want to "take over" and run things. Still others might be so incompetent as to accidentally harm the crops and the livestock to the point where the people of the community would have to go without.

And it's not as if these concerns were without merit, for there were always enemies and incompetents and those interested only in power and running things. No, they said, we must protect what is ours from harm. And though there were still a number of people in the community who maintained that they could keep the vigilance needed to protect the land while at the same time sharing its secrets with those who could be taught the responsibility needed to help feed themselves this life giving food, the majority finally won out. The land, after all, was a sacred duty and they had a duty to protect it.

So, the people from outside the community starved to death, while the people inside of this closely watched and well protected community... grew fat.

It's kind of a dumb story, isn't it? So what's the point? 

The point is just this: As Christians, we have been entrusted with the life-giving Word of God - the Bible and its great teachings. We benefit greatly from the proper use of this word and we do have a very real responsibility to its safekeeping and proper use. Within the body of Christ, the church, we have a duty to faithfully protect its teaching so that it will be safe from those who would subvert it, whether out of ignorance or enmity, as well as to keep the church from being taken over by those who simply like to run things and do them their own way. I want to emphasize that this is a true and genuine duty of all Christians and it is not unreasonable to take this duty seriously.

The question is do we then keep the saving truth to ourselves in order to protect it? This is often the desire of some who are part of Christ's body, but what of those on the outside? What of our duty to seek and save the lost? Is that superseded by our joint duty of maintaining the purity of the church? The obvious answer is that we have the responsibility to do both! We can invite others in to share the truth, and we can also be on the alert to those who are enemies of the cross - whether wittingly or otherwise - so we can remain vigilant to that possibility as well.

The fact is that there is always a risk to sharing the Good News with those who are lost, but I think we should keep this in mind: When Jesus was about to be crucified and would be leaving His disciples He prayed. He prayed not that God would remove His disciples from the world, but rather that He would protect them from the world. God was faithful to His part and the disciples were faithful to theirs and the result was a church that has continued to survive 2,000 years of attacks from those who have ill intent towards this holy body of Christ.

The truth is that we cannot let the rest of the world starve to death spiritually while we grow fat. We can maintain our dual responsibility of guarding the purity of the Word and seeking and saving the lost. There is risk, of course. I have never seen anything that promises great reward that does not entail some risk, have you? So let's get to the work that God has given us. We must be cautious, it's true, but we cannot let people die in their sins when we possess the life-giving nourishment contained within the Word of God. For, if we were to try and keep the Good News to ourselves, the news we receive at the Judgment may not be good at all.