Early in 1980, we relocated our family to Davis, California following the call of God to do so. We thought we were going there to start a church and help a lot of people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. As we were leaving there seven years later to come back to southern California, the Holy Spirit made it clear we had been there to further our education in the things of God. We did establish a church which we left to another, young couple who were just getting started in ministry.
We spent seven years scratching at some pretty hard ground as we sought to establish something of lasting value for the Kingdom of God in middle of the state. To be sure there were some victories. We saw people born-again and saw them and others come to an understanding of some of the things God had planned for them. Some of those people remain fast friends to this day. Of course it was not all victorious and glorious and everyone did not choose to participate in what God was doing.
In the previous post, we mentioned the hypocrisy of the church when it opens its doors to everyone and later decides who should be there. We faced a situation in that little church that we would not wish on any pastor or leader anywhere. Since no one knows the lady anyway, I will go ahead and use her real name. The way God works, this post might fall into her hands at some point and God can use it for His glory.
Victoria came to the church after having spent a year overseas with the Christian, youth, missionary group, Youth With a Mission. We were excited to have her there because most of the church were still college-age, young people who were not yet grounded and established in their faith. We hoped Victoria would be a good example of how a person in that stage of life dealt with the accompanying challenges. All our hopes were not quite met. She did have some ideas that were helpful in the church meetings, but when given just a little responsibility, she ran with it, not considering the larger picture. Then, after a couple months of being in our weekly services she realized, much to every one's surprise, she had never been born-again.
Receiving Jesus as her Lord did not tone Victoria down much, if at all. It seemed I could not do anything right as pastor of the church. She organized a meeting to see if I could be convinced I was not the right man for the job of pastor. She started a college-age Bible study in her home. She seemed to be very uncomfortable when I showed up one night.
Discernment being what it is, or sometimes is not, it took me several months to realize how badly the church was suffering because of Victoria's influence. Let me hasten to add, I believe she sincerely thought she was doing the right things. She was simply, sincerely wrong. To her credit, my wife repeatedly saw the problem before I did and encouraged me to encourage Victoria to simply leave the church. One of my problems is that I do not give up on people. Sometimes that is less of a problem than at other times. (When I did not encourage Victoria to leave, my wife began to pray her out.)I hold the firm belief that everyone is better off having some kind of Godly influence in their lives and who knows, but that I might be the only one showing them Jesus.
By and by, Victoria left the church of her own accord. She was gone just a few weeks when winter turned into spring in that little church. Without any additional action on our part to encourage people to attend our services, the church attendance doubled in the space of about two months. One of the people who came at that time became our worship leader and our worship times became dramatically more spiritual, energizing, and exciting. At least I thought so, and I had been the primary worship leader up until that time.
If I had it to do all over again, Victoria might not have lasted as long as she did in that church. My discernment is better these days. We almost certainly would have discussed her situation earlier. She was an intelligent and talented young lady and I believe she sincerely wanted to see things improve at the church. Make no mistake, she was going about it all the wrong way. It really was all about her, and what she thought best. Give her some credit. She took action to change things she thought needed changing. There are not all that many people in any church who will do that. When she finally realized things were not going to be her way, she left. I hope she found the right place. My opinion has not really changed on that over the years. I still believe everyone should determine for himself or herself where God wants them to be.
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A few days ago I saw a starling with a branch in its mouth, and the thought came to mind of love and peace. Then again yesterday, I saw what I thought was a pigeon, with a branch in its mouth and the thought of Noah sending out the dove after the flood, and how it returned with an olive branch in its mouth. Once again, the thought of peace and love came to mind. I saw a third bird today, a dove, and I couldn’t help but remember the peace and love the other two birds had brought to mind. The starling, which was black, was carrying a dead branch and the “pigeon” (which it turns out was a dove) was carrying a branch that was green, a piece of live vegetation. This must be significant. I think now, as I’m writing this, the significance of the life or lack of in both of the branches could mean something to someone. God made a covenant with Noah that day using a dove, and once again He made a covenant with His people with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the “new” covenant, He put in place the Good Shepherd, which is how Jesus is described in the bible. There is a parable, told by Jesus, about a shepherd leaving his flock of 99 and going after the one that walked away. Isn’t this the way the pastors of any church should treat those who faithfully attend their churches? It seems to me that in this whole Storehouse back-and-forth we have lost sight of something very important. It appears to me that when a member, who has attended faithfully, has been in service, and has tithed how God would lead him to in that church, those who are acting as the shepherds would seek him out if they thought he was veering off the path, not put themselves in a position to kick him further off of it. Any pastor today, who is in leadership over a congregation of people should be far more concerned about the way they represent the Good Shepherd, than they are about their own opinions, knowledge, pride, etc. They are to lay down their lives for their brother when they are under the impression that one is “lost.” The Great Commission (Matt. 28:19) is to go, therefore, and make disciples of men. If people are getting the boot, how can you really clean your hands of the responsibility you had in their lives to fulfill this clearly laid out calling on every believer? Being a new Christian, trying to seek God the way the bible says we should, I would consider myself a lamb. I’m not sure if there is blood-guilt in heaven, but who’s going to take on mine when a church goes askew?
ReplyDeleteAs a spectator over much of what has happened, this has caused me to scrutinize the church as a whole. I haven’t given up on God, but I am about to give up on the church. Over the past few weeks, I have experienced several different kinds of churches. Being asked to leave a church is tantamount to leaving a child at the store because they walked away from their parents without asking permission first. The child was merely seeking something out, and the parents act irrationally because they did not see what the child saw. Does this make the child wrong? I am convinced that the church today is far too OCD about their attendees abiding prohibitively by a specific doctrine. God’s word tells us not to get caught up in that, and it also says there are two great commandments. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. When someone is asked to leave a church because of a doctrinal issue, I would surmise that the love has gone, and the peace is distant. At that point it has become all about human pride, and not one bit about God’s word and God’s commandments for us in the “new” covenant. I was told that there are four different kinds of love in Greek: storge, philo, eros, and agape. All four mean love in different ways. Ask yourself which one of these you are showing, if any. I know what I’m going to say is the unthinkable and the unspeakable. That is, for all parties concerned, put your pride on the shelf because the agape thing to do would be for the one who couldn’t even do the “dirty work” himself to apologize and ask the other to come back, and do this all unconditionally – nothing required in return. The other should accept the apology and return – with the same unconditional attitude. That’s what God would want to happen – wouldn’t this action be to God’s glory? Proverbs 16:18 says that “Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall.” Both parties are good men; both love God, so how can you not love one another? Where did the cooperation go when this became a competition? I pray this post gets to the appropriate parties. Me personally, I don’t think either one of you will do this. But of course, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.
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