Hans the tailor had an excellent reputation so it came as no surprise that an important young executive chose Hans
to make him a custom, tailored suit. After the fittings, when the young man went to pick up the suit, he discovered
one sleeve was shorter than the other. One shoulder caved in and the other bunched out. In fact, the suit was a
grotesque disaster but the young man was rather timid and rather than protest, contorted himself into the suit and
wore the thing home on the bus.
On the ride home a man kept staring at him and finally asked, “Did Hans the tailor make that suit?”
“Why yes,” the young man replied.
“Wow. I knew Hans was a good tailor but I had no idea he could make a suit to fit someone so deformed as you!”
For years people have been trying to squeeze Christians into odd‐shaped moulds. So what do people expect Christians to be like? In one word: “Irrelevant,” but Christianity may be more relevant than they think. For example, have you ever considered the impact of faith on your health? Christianity Today reported the following findings:
- Christians live longer.
- Christians have lower incidences of heart attacks, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure and hypertension.
- Christians are less likely to abuse alcohol and are far less likely to use illicit drugs.
- Prison inmates who make a religious commitment are less likely than their counterparts to return to jail.
- Marital satisfaction and overall well‐being tend to increase with regular Church attendance.
- In fact, a Redbook Magazine survey reported that married couples who were religious had a whole lot more fun in bed than those who were not.
So don’t let anyone squeeze you into a suit made by Hans and just smile politely when someone tells you your faith is
“irrelevant.”