Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi.
I had a difficult time picking out a scripture today. But one stirred up some old memories as I read it, so I thought I'd talk just a minute about it.
Who can lay a hand on the LORD's anointed and be guiltless? - 1 Sam. 26:9b
Let's just say we spent a looonnng time in one particular church. Like, 20 years long.
You don't stay that long in a church and not see stuff. Good stuff and bad stuff and sometimes truly awful stuff. People are people and sometimes we lose sight of what it's all about.
Sometimes it's the pastor that gets his priorities slightly off kilter; sometimes it's the church lay leadership. Sometimes it's both...or one leads to the other. Anyway.
Anybody who's ever been in a church meeting in which folks who have not attended the church in time out of mind come for the 'vote of confidence' in the current pastor will recognize where I'm coming from.
Now, I'm not here to excuse gross abuse of position. I'm talking about situations in which the pastor and the lay leadership find themselves at odds over procedures or processes or what color carpet to put in the sanctuary, and some well-meaning person who believes the Pastor is totally out of line feels it is their duty to the congregation to lead the charge to see the Pastor replaced.
Be careful. Proceed only by much prayer and seeking God, with honest evaluations of one's own motives, according to all scriptural (and denominational, if it applies) directives for handling such things.
And remember David's caution.
Thank you. Having been in churches almost all my life and having worked on quite a few Christian school staffs, I've sent all kinds of good, bad and ugly. We too, in the past three years have moved on from a very long time involvement with a ministry. Even just last week, we have heard some disturbing news concerning that ministry and it is a good reminder to just pray for them and not be angry or accusatory, but to be humble and realize that they may truly be placed by God in that ministry for a specific reason.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard, isn't it? That particular verse in 1 Samuel really walked with me through some tough spots...hadn't thought about it in a while, but when I was skimming through last week I came across that and kicked up a bunch of memories...water long under the bridge now. Yes, it's a good reminder to pray.
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