Choices

We make them everyday.
Some good, some bad.
Take for instance my son's first day at junior high. He thought is was a good idea to wear socks that covered his entire leg, and yes he wore shorts with those.
Ouch.
I don't know about you, but I think I've seen Mike Vick in that nice suit he has about a billion times.
Talk about some bad choices.
I mean think about it, this guy is going to lose millions of dollars, probably spend some time in the big house, most likely lose his job, over a few bad choices.
When we think about it, sometimes bad choices really don't hurt us much, we learn from our mistakes (hopefully) and we move on. We may get bruised a little, but nothing to severe.
Other choices however can have a lifetime impact on us.
The church is no different. The leadership and the congregation have to make choices. Sometimes they make good choices, sometimes bad, and like any other choice, bad ones sometimes don't hurt us for very long.
But there are times that bad choices can hurt and even kill our ministries.
At the time the choice seems simple and logical to us, but I'm afraid we don't take the spiritual into account. We seem to leave God out of the decision process.
Christians have to factor in things like faith, and God's will. Two very difficult things for us humans to discern. A decision that seems logical to us may lead the church into place that God will not bless. Soon the church is dead.
While it is difficult to have faith sometimes, I think God's will is easier to figure out. Reading how Jesus reached out to people should give us a clue on how we proceed. It was a total sellout. He gave Himself 100% to His creation. He saved nothing for Himself, He gave it all.
And yet we hold on to this or that, comfort and tradition become our gods and every choice becomes based on these factors. Something that Jesus never taught.
And then we scratch our heads and wonder why our church isn't growing.
I sat in a church of eight, kind and dedicated, people ready to preach to them one Sunday. The elder came to me to apologise for the small number. He told me that they didn't have any young people anymore, and it bothered him, however he felt that churches were compromising by using more contemporary music to draw younger people. He felt that just wasn't right.
I smiled and listened, all the while thinking that the choices they had made have killed their church. They aren't alone and I'm afraid many churches are heading for a time when they will make a choice or already have made choices that may be popular with some of the people, but be a disaster for their future.
Like Mike Vick, all it takes is one bad choice.

Dear People of Church X

An open letter to church X.
You don't even realize it.
I wasn't sure I did either, but I do now.
You don't realize it now, but you will. You will see that Satan uses good Christian people to destroy ministries.
It happens every day.
Good, well meaning people who think there doing the right thing.
Stir up some trouble, flex your muscle, show everyone who's the boss.
But what you don't realize is that your church's ministry, the very thing that you claim is important, will be gone.
And it will take years, if ever, to rebuild it.
You see the church may operate sometimes like it's in a vacuum, but it isn't.
People talk, and boy do they like a good story.
The one about the church down the road that can't get along, that is in the middle of a fight.
People love to see God's people acting like wrestlers at the WWE, or Nascar drivers who bump each other.
And we all know how a good story spreads.
Good luck asking someone to come to church next Sunday.
Hey if they want to get involved in a fight, they can go to the school board meeting.
Nobody wants to walk into a church that is so tense that you could bounce a quarter off of the piano.
But your so busy pushing your agenda, you don't even see that.
So here is my suggestion.
The entire leadership, everybody, take a mission trip to Haiti. I could even arrange it for you, I have some good friends that would love to help.
Look at the poverty, see the need. Remember what it is you were called to be. Remember you are here to serve. You might not be quite as selfish.
You might even humble your hearts before God.
Because that brothers and sisters,
is the only way God is going to bless your ministry again.
Tom

Guilty as Charged

It started out as my normal drive home from work.
I hit the channel that provides news, trying to keep up to date.
And then it happened.
This particular news station had decided to do a news story on young pastors just going into the ministry.
I was interested.
Well they were going to interview the pastor (or Imam, I guess) of a newly opened Mosque in Virginia.
I was disappointed.
It was a grand event, the Governor of the Virginia was coming, kids were playing on the swings, hamburgers were frying. The announcer said that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States with 2 million converts and growing.
I was sickened.
And then the announcer interviewed the hamburger cook, a man that sounded like he could be your next door neighbor. I'm not sure I will ever forget what he said.
The announcer asked him what he thought of the Mosque being right next door. He said, "It's great, they are really nice and they are involved in the community. If Christians were like this the world would be a different place".
I shut the radio off, I sat in stunned silence as the only sound now came from the tires and the air conditioning.
I was guilty.
Most Christians make broad assumptions. They assume that people just aren't interested in spiritual things, WRONG. They assume somebody else is surely reaching out to people, like the pastor, since that's why they pay him, WRONG. They assume that the church is involved in the community just because they meet in a building that's in the community, WRONG. They assume that people will feel the love of Jesus just because they meet in a building once a week, WRONG.
And maybe we don't say these things, but it's surely the way we live.
I have to admit that the hamburger cook is right. If God's people, the followers of Jesus Christ would understand that Christianity is more than sitting in a pew, waiting on Jesus to take them, then the world would be a different place.
And I'm guessing people wouldn't be interested in following a god that is indifferent and lacks compassion.
Isn't it funny that people would rather hear about a god that talks about violent conversion, than a God of love a peace.
Folks it isn't the message.
It's the messengers.
Guilty as charged.