"But Christ said, 'He that loseth his life shall save it!'"
"Yes, but He did not intend it as a mere remark about people's houses."
It did not seem to me that Christ meant simply giving up to other people easy and ordinary things like houses or like money, but that He meant giving up to others our motives, giving up the deepest, hardest things in us, our very selves to other people.
"And so you really think that if Christ came and looked at this house and looked at me in it, He would not mind?"
"I do not know. I think that after He had looked at your house He would go down and look at your factory, possibly. How many men do you employ?"
"Sixteen hundred."
"I think He would look at them, the sixteen hundred men, and then He would move about a little. Very likely He would look at their wives and the little children."
He thought a moment. I could see that he was not as afraid of having Christ see the factory as he was of having Him see the house.
I was not quite sure but I thought there was a little faint gleam in his eye when I mentioned the factory.
"What do you make?" I asked.