The Scientist and the Chauffeur

Here’s something I got in my mail the other day which I thought I’d like to share with the rest of you.

An old scientist supplemented his retirement income by traveling from university to university with his chauffeur, Bob, and delivering a lecture on his field of expertise. Over the long weeks of travel, the scientist and Bob became friends.

One day as they drove to the next lecture, the scientist said, “I’m getting tired of giving the same lecture every day. You give the lecture this time, Bob.”

“Are you kidding?” Bob protested. “I’m no scientist.”

“These people don’t know that,” the scientist explained. “They have never seen either of us before. Besides, you’ve heard the lecture so many times you practically know it by heart. So you be the scientist, and I’ll be the chauffeur.”

“Bet the audience always asks questions after the lecture,” Bob argues.

“They ask the same old questions every time, and you have heard me answer them all. Just answer the way I do.”

After thinking about it for a moment, Bob smiled. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

The lecture went off perfectly, and nobody suspected that the ‘scientist’ addressing the audience was really a chauffeur. And during the question-and-answer period, Bob sounded like an expert. He had heard the scientist answer the same questions many times before.

Then someone asked a new question-the most difficult and complex question the chauffeur had ever heard. “That’s a great question,” Bob said. “It’s so simple, in fact, that even my chauffeur can answer it.” Nodding toward the front row, he added, “Take it away, Bob.”

Bob was a wise man not because of what he knew, but who he knew. As long as the scientist was close by, Bob had nothing to worry about. But if he ever tried to do a lecture without the scientist, Bob would be in trouble.

As Christians, we may not look wise or powerful to our non-Christian friends around us. In fact, we might choke on some of the tough questions about our faith that they throw at us. But we are intimately involved with someone who doesn’t just know the answers; but is the answer. And as long as we live in a close, daily relationship with Him, we can count on His power and wisdom to be ours. When the tough questions fly at us, we can always look His way and say,

“Take it away, Jesus.”

- Jo-Yi