A soap manufacturer, not a Christian, was walking down a busy street with a Christian minister. Said the soap maker: "The gospel you preach hasn't done much good. There is still a lot of wickedness and wicked people in the world.”
The preacher made no immediate reply, but they soon passed a child making mud pies. She was exceedingly dirty. It was now the preacher's turn, and he said: "Soap hasn't done much good in the world, I see; for there is still much dirt and many dirty people." "Oh, well," answered the manufacturer, "soap is useful only when it is applied.”
“Exactly," was the Christian's reply; "and so it is with the gospel.”