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Wednesday, May 25, 2005 | ||
We love you, pastor, but ...
By JOHN HATCHER Somebody has got to say it: church houses have their share of liars! Ive been a church-directing minister since 1974 and one thing that cripples the church, as well as society in general, is the big lie. For those who have not been keeping up with this column in the last several weeks, Ive devoted the space to commenting on the Ten Commandments. Today is number nine: You shall not bear false witness. Every so often I ask members of our congregation to get honest about their truth-telling by asking them how many had told a lie within the last six months. Invariably more than 90 percent of the hands shoot up, although a few reluctantly. But thats not particularly the kind of lie or deception to which I refer today. The number one lie of which far too many Christians are guilty is the lie they make when they say, I love you, whether that be an exchange between members or ministers. I know from personal experience. More than 15 years ago I was asked to serve as pastor of a church. Oh, they loved me. They said it to my face. They brought fresh vegetables to my back door during our first summer. They invited my family and me to their socials. I commented to my wife, These folks know how to love their pastor. But lo and behold, not too long after my uncelebrated first anniversary the secret meetings started happening. One day after I had conducted a funeral, a group of the brethren asked me to resign, indicating they had been meeting and praying about the matter for three months. They had amassed a long list of some 50 accusations against me (nationally, about 25 percent of all current pastors have been fired or forced to resign in the past). Now, did I have my problems? Yes. Had I made mistakes? Yes. Were there some visits I had not made? Yes. But where was love in the equation? Where was that love of that great chapter of love found in 1 Corinthians 13: Love is patient and kind...love does not keep account of wrongs suffered... Is Biblical love only reserved for the repenting derelict? What about for an imperfect pastor (which all pastors are)? Take another church: its pastor had fallen into immorality and resigned. Several years later after he had cleaned up his life and repented of his sins, he asked me if I would assist him in approaching the church where he had screwed up, to ask them to forgive him of his sins, his failures as leader, and generally for hurting the church through his tragic witness. The deacons of the church took up the matter at a subsequent meeting and voted they would never forgive him for what he did and would not permit him to stand before the church and ask forgiveness. These same men are counting on a merciful judge on that great judgment day to forgive their sins and invite them into the joys of the kingdom. What gives? What misrepresentation of the message of Jesus: You who are without sin can cast the first stone. On the other side of the pulpit, theres far too much deception in violation of the ninth commandment. I hear folks in church tell one another, Well, you know I love you. Yet, when a meal is needed? When someone is needed to care for children by a parent is in the hospital? When grace is needed to cover a case of bad temper? Where is the love? The challenge of the church for the 21st century is to achieve a critical mass of being love rather than a critical mass of programs, ministries, and activities. The early churches were distinguished not by how many ministries they provided, but how they loved one another. It seems far too many churches restrict the teaching of the fruit of the Holy Spirit to a remote class taken only by a few, never the power elite. The Apostle Paul said the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control All that is a state of being and not doing. Weve got to get back first to being the church of Jesus Christ rather than doing stuff that makes us competetive with the Disneyworld. If you say you love someone, then be patient and kind and loving and ... John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303. |
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