A Cub Scout ... kind of

While playing with Larry and Jimmy Weston, two neighborhood friends, they asked me to stay for a Cub Scout den meeting. Their mom, the den mother, also encouraged me, so I stayed.  

After the games and scout work we ate hamburgers – with dill pickles. I hated dill pickles, but realized that if I were to be a bob cat or a bear or a wolf or some honored animal, I’d better start eating them now. Next week we did the same – work and eat. So I got a Scout handbook and began working on projects that would qualify me for weblows badges and arrows. 

Then came that special Friday evening at Vestal school where cubs and den mothers gathered to honor the boys with awards. I sat in excited anticipation, waiting for badges I had earned. As each boy’s name was announced he would go on-stage to receive his deserved awards. Finally, the last boy received his badge . . . but Ronnie Carlson was never announced. Holding back tears I asked my den mother why I didn’t get my badges. Some 60+ years later I still hear her whispered reply, “You have to become a Scout first.”

But I thought I was a Scout. I attended all the meetings, did all the memory work, finished my projects, and learned to eat dill pickles. Why wasn’t I a Scout? She explained, “You never signed up with Cub Scouts of America.” Huh? Doing all the scout things didn’t make me a cub scout? 

That was worse than hearing there’s no Santa Claus. I had worked hard and faithfully for months. Attended every meeting. Followed all the handbook requirements. I did what all the other cubs did. In my heart I was a Cub Scout. I deserved the badges. Sorry, Ronnie. 

As an adult I hear, “I go to church. I give money. I partake of communion. I pray. I read the Bible. I’m in a small group. I hate coffee, but I drink it at the Coffee Corner. Sorry, Ronnie, in faith you never personally yielded your life to Christ. You never turned from sin or were immersed into Christ. The Holy Spirit was never in your life. Jesus never became your Lord and Savior.

Communion is for Christians – even those weak in faith. A study of Scripture shows that the only ones who partook of the Lord’s Supper were Christians. [Acts 2; 20; 1 Cor. 10; 11] Yet, communion is not for merit badges. It’s staying in contact with our Savior. Motivated by love, not recognition.