COMensarations
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Caucuses and Churches and Change….Oh MY! (Part 2)
Part 2 of a comparison of political caucuses and churchs and change. This part on dealing with a ‘situation’.
“Church is much the same in its current desire to welcome hordes of now-distant young folks into their communities of faith. It misses the energy of young children, the creativity of youth and the hope found in the presence of young families.”—My Neighbor
I guess it IS like with politics; church that is. At least compared and contrasted with the above. It all depends on the ‘church’.
The point here being that our church in Littleton was not quite like my neighbor’s party caucus. There’s pretty good representation of all age groups there. And things don’t seem quite as raucous a caucus.
The problems begin, however, when they actually come. You walk in one morning, ready to enjoy your Sunday morning cup of coffee, and the pot is dry. You’d munch on a doughnut as a meager substitute, but some scrawny little punk just ran off with the last Danish. You head to the sanctuary to find your favorite seat, only to find it filled, and what in the world is the racket coming from the front of the room?
“Since when do we have guitars in worship? Who approved that anyway?
You head indignantly to the next leadership meeting to air your concerns, but you have been bumped down the docket so the new associate minister can talk to the group about a youth mission project. The seemingly benign conversation degrades into a more passionate argument about the overall mission of the church, and before you can get in your two cents’ worth, the youth choir starts warming up nearby.”—My Neighbor
I don’t think I’ve ever gone to the leadership of any church I’ve attended in the last 40 years, i.e., 1968, when I’d been ‘confirmed’. Even with ‘indignation’. Sometimes with concern. But never with ‘indignation’.
“Dejected, you take a handful of aspirin and ask yourself where the good old days went, and why it was that you wanted all this new blood in your church in the first place.”—My Neighbor
I don’t ask where the ‘good old days’ have gone, if I become gravely concerned about a particular ‘church’. If I find it is going against what I know to be the truth of a matter, I pray. And I ask guidance from a source superior to all others and I act accordingly. When advised to, I don’t go back to that place. I don’t get angry because people didn’t do what I thought they should. I just leave them to their own devices....whatever they may be. No anger involved whatsoever. Nor any headaches. Neither are called for. Sorrow may be called for. Certainly prayer for their sakes.
After all....it’s not MY problem. Rather, as I understand it, it is theirs.
More later....on coping with ‘change’.
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on 11/06 at 08:48 PM