Jesus said, ‘No doubt you will quote this proverb to me, “Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” No prophet is welcome in his own hometown (Luke 4:24).
John Fogerty’s group Creedence Clearwater Revival is unforgettable to anyone who has owned a radio in the last 50 years. A few years back, in an interview with newsman Dan Rather, Fogerty was remembering a key moment in the 1960s.
The group was one of many bands to perform at a particular event. As the final group to warm up, and thus the first band to appear on stage, suddenly CCR found they had been unplugged. John Fogerty yelled to the sound man to plug them back up, that they weren’t through. The technician did so reluctantly, then added, “You not going anywhere anyway, man.” Fogerty said, “Okay. Give me one year. I’ll show you.”
One year later, the group was so hot with hit record after hit record (“Proud Mary,” “Born on the Bayou,” “Bad Moon Rising”) that “we were too big to play in that place any more!”
Turning a sarcastic putdown into a healthy sic ’em!
I’m remembering the first day I began pastoring a church on Alligator Bayou some 25 miles west of New Orleans. In April of 1965 I was in my first year of seminary. The church was running 40 in attendance, and had done so for the two decades of its existence.
After the service, I’m shaking hands with worshipers as they exit the building. Behind me, coming through the doors, two men were talking. They had no idea I could hear them. One said, “Well, this little church is doing about all it’s ever going to do.”
The other fellow agreed. But it was like a spark to my powder keg. Everything inside me went on full alert and I said, “We’ll show you!”