Travesty

I couldn't agree more.
Have you ever seen church people fight?
I have, and it wasn't all that long ago.
You know the reason they were fighting wasn't really all that important. It could be anything that would cause one group of people to be against another group.
In this case it really came down to which pastor they wanted to keep and which pastor they wanted to unload.
Of course people lined up behind the pastor they wanted. Even the elders were split right down the middle.
Since the leaders couldn't resolve this on their own, they did the un-biblical thing, they called a meeting of the members, and they voted.
Oh but before the vote, people were allowed to share their thoughts.
And that's when things got interesting.
I've seen angry people in the church before, but this was pretty bad.
Accusations flew, finger pointing, raised voices, a lot of poor me's.
I was having trouble remembering that I was in a church, except for the few who would use the Word of God to show they were right.
You see that's the rub really, we love to use the Word, but only parts that help us. Apparently the parts about loving one another wasn't on the reading list.
Look I understand were human, I am the least among my brothers and sisters. I know what can happen when feelings and passions get involved.
Is it possible that we are so focused on ourselves, that we have totally missed the point of being followers of Christ? Has the church in America become so self involved that the only things we get passionate about is worship styles, children's programs, money, and pastor popularity? Has our pride and stubbornness killed our churches?
As the words came fast and heated I wondered about the young people who were witnessing this spectacle. They have heard in their Sunday school classes how Christians just LOOOOVVVEEE one another, and then they see this. I wonder how many left thinking that Christianity is a joke.
They don't consider the damage they have done. The church will probably split. Leaders would rather have a scorched church than to admit that they should remove themselves for the sake of unity.
And that, my dear reader is the second most important thing a church must have to grow (Jesus Christ is the first by the way). Unity, and with that a Unity in purpose. Read Acts and find out that the people had everything in common. So few churches in this country can say that they are united. Satan loves that, since churches that don't have a unity of purpose usually end up fighting over the small stuff. Instead of winning the world, we just want to win.
But what some of these fine people probably have failed to realize is that there are no winners, only losers. The people lose, and their ministry loses too.
After the meeting a gentleman pulled up alongside my van, and motioned me to roll down my window. I pushed the button and the window came down.
"I just wanted you to know that this was a travesty".
I couldn't agree more.