Somethings been bothering me lately so instead of writing this in my head and leaving it there I decided to write it here. As the title of my blog says, these are my thoughts and sometimes it helps me get over frustrations to put things down on “paper”. So, here it goes..
I’m on a boat, or better yet, we’re on a boat and there are other people there too. We notice a tiny hole in the bottom with just a drop or two of water coming in. Over time, that tiny hole begins to get a little bigger. The way I see it, we have 4 choices. There may be more but 4 is what I came up with. If you have more, use them on YOUR boat, One, we say nothing, we say nothing…we tell ourselves the hole simply isn’t there. Two, we complain about the hole to other people. We whisper “somebody else should do something about that hole” or “look at those people over there, they’re lazy, they should fix that hole”..etc.. Three, we do something about the hole. We dry the water and find a patch or some other way to fix the hole. Now everybody is fine. The boat sails on to bigger and better places. Or, number 4, we just leave the boat. We did a great job while we were on the boat. We helped the crew, we served food, we taught people about sailing, etc. We were good stewards of the boat. But once the hole started and there was trouble, it was time to go.
I equate this “sinking ship” to alot of churches nowadays. Just like any group of people put together for some type of common reason, there are issues that come up. In your family, you might have that uncle that gets a little “handsy” when hugging your girlfriend. At work, it might be that co-worker who complains about every little thing. At church, it can be any number of things too. He preached too long, he didn’t preach long enough, he didn’t wear a tie, I didn’t like his tie, I didn’t like that song, I don’t really like any song, etc, etc,etc,.. You can’t please everybody no matter how hard you try. BUT when there’s an issue with something, how do you handle it is the question. You might have a talk with that uncle, or ignore that co-worker. See above mentioned 4 things for what you can do. But what do you do at church? Issue, he preaches too long. One, do nothing, enjoy the sermon..or nap quietly (make sure you sit right up front if you do this one).. Two, (and this happens alot in too many churches) listen a little bit, but not too much. Just enough to have something to complain to your friend after church when you get to Shomar’s. Which you MIGHT get to if he’ll just get finished!! Three, do something. Face it, there are some things you don’t have alot of control over. I doubt he’s going to cut his sermon short so you can beat the Methodists to the City Cafe buffet. So if you can’t make it the entire sermon, sit at the back and quietly leave when you’ve had enough. Or (Heaven forbid), listen to what he’s saying. No matter how old or how smart or how..whatever.. you are, you still have much to learn. If none of these will fix your problem, them just leave. Find a church where he preaches directly by his watch. 11:50, invitation and really hope there aren’t any lost people there to “mess up” your Sunday dinner at Sports Page. Like I said earlier, this is one thing you really don’t have much control over. In this situation, these are your options. Or just stay home and watch Charles Stanley in your underwear…DVR him, you can fast forward through the commercials that way…
But there are some issues that you can do something about. I’m going to write about something at my church but I think the basic premise applies anywhere. My church has an older demographic. There are some wonderful older people there but not a whole lot of younger families with younger children. This is an issue for the future of a church. But it’s also an issue for the current members, especially young families with younger children. So what can our church members do. Once again, we have 4 options. One, do nothing.. Sit in a pew and think it’s sad that there aren’t more kids or young families. Two, complain that nobody’s doing anything. Or worse yet, stand in the way when others try to do something to bring more young family’s in. Three, DO SOMETHING. Go into the neighborhood around the church and invite kids and families to come. Invite your friends, your kid’s friends, their parents, etc. Be creative.. Think outside the box. Don’t follow, lead..Don’t just stand there, do something!! While it’s everybody’s job to help the church grow, you can’t worry about what everybody else is doing. Worry about what YOU’RE doing!! Or you can always just do number 4, and leave. Find another church. There certainly aren’t any issue’s there.. Will they have what you’re looking for? Maybe? But before you go, really think about what YOU have done to help fix this problem. Have you stopped and invited the kids playing outside across the street to come to church? Have you put up flyers for the VBS that’s coming up? Have you asked the people at your block party to come for a visit? What have you really done to help fix the issue. If you can honestly say that you’ve done all that you can do and nothings working, then maybe it’s best that you do leave. In my opinion, there are way too many options left before I abandon ship. So before you decide to do that, think about how you can plug that hole and keep the boat sailing along. There are still too many harbors left to visit and too many ports left to see..
Whatever you choose to do, most of all PRAY. God has the answers, just make sure you ‘re asking the right questions…
Thoughts from a Mad Bison 