PatrickMead

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Silly Dilemmas

We have three services each and every Sunday morning. I preach at each of them and enjoy doing so, but it has presented me with some situations that remind me how silly I am.

Take the Lord's Supper. No, I mean take it. How many times are you going to take it? I take it all three, but twenty years ago I would have taken it once and considered multiple takings a sign of liberalism run amok... or at least, liberalism walking briskly.

I considered taking the bread in the first and the wine in the second but that only confused everybody and gave the ushers hiccups as they tried to remember what to do.

So now I take it every service and am glad I do. However.... I don't give at every service. I only give once. One time, as a staff, we met and asked ourselves how to lead our congregation in giving (this is an incredible staff! They ALWAYS lead from the front, giving first, serving first, etc.). It was decided that it was a bad thing that two of our worship services never saw us give. We weren't modeling for them. So, let's split our giving into three checks and give some each service" Sounded good until volunteers who counted for one service but not another came across our checks and thought "those lousy hypocrites. This is all they're giving!" So, I'm back to giving one check.

Silly? Sure! Absurd? No question! But so are most things we puzzle and worry about. Will Jimmy do well in his clarinet lessons? May I speak for the universe and say, "Who cares?" There are only 18 jobs for clarinet players in the world and most of them require you to be an alcoholic so let's not fret over it shall we? And when was the last time you heard someone say, "Pete, you played the tuba in high school, didn't you? Drag that sucker out of the closet and play something for the party!"

I don't have a "the churches of Christ salute you" bumper sticker on my car and never have. Reason? Well, the small "c" always freaked me out for one, but the real reason is that I don't always drive in a holy and righteous manner. I would hate to bring shame on the church because I didn't come to a complete stop at a blinking red light (that is, a light that goes on and off, not to be confused with the euphemistic "That blinking red light!").

Silly? Yes, yes, yes.

Half of the elders' meetings I go to wind up discussing some issue or some complaint that is so, so silly -- at least to me. I think God has to shake his head and call Michael over to point it out sometimes. "Can you believe THAT'S what they're worried about?"

I pray daily for wisdom. I pray daily that I will only regard as important the things that God regards as important and that He waves off, I will, too. I think I'm getting better at it.

But maybe I'm just being silly.

7 Comments:

  • At 6/08/2006 09:02:00 AM , Blogger Naomi said...

    I have a book, "The Churches of Christ Salute You" (Capital 'c') that was published in 1953. I picked it up a while ago and have not yet brought myself to read it, but I anticipate that it will be pretty funny.

     
  • At 6/08/2006 10:56:00 AM , Blogger David U said...

    I think HE is up there saying "they just don't get it, do they.......but they are mine and I love them all...ALL!" :)

    Kinda like dads down here.

    Keep em coming, PM!

    DU

     
  • At 6/08/2006 05:15:00 PM , Blogger Jim Martin said...

    Patrick,
    A wonderful, funny, thoughtful post. Thanks...

     
  • At 6/09/2006 06:37:00 AM , Blogger Mark said...

    "Half of the elders' meetings I go to wind up discussing some issue or some complaint that is so, so silly."

    If only we could know in advance which half of the meetings these would be!

     
  • At 6/09/2006 07:02:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Hehe, you leave your car unmarked for the same reason I do. I'm not always a courteous driver, so I'd hate to give Christ a bad name over my driving bloopers.

    Maybe we need a time of persecution for the church to wake up and see that lightbulb fixtures, song selections, and particular worship service arrangements don't really matter. God help us if that's all we care about.

    -Dan Curtis

     
  • At 6/09/2006 12:05:00 PM , Blogger Bill Williams said...

    Why are we so silly? What would Jesus think of proclivity to major in minors, while minoring in majors? How would Jesus react if He were asked to comment on our meetings to discuss ministry?

    Luke 10:41-42... "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "You are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

    Why do we spend so much time managing the minutiae? Perhaps it's easier than dealing with the real issues. Perhaps because we just need to feel the power of squashing small things under our powerful feet. Perhaps it’s because we just don’t get what it means to follow Jesus.

    Matthew 23:23-24… "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

     
  • At 6/23/2006 10:35:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Patrick, I let my non-baptized son take the grape juice during communion.

    Why?

    Because he's got autism, and I figure that I would rather have him drink a shot glass full of grape juice every Sunday--and try to explain to him why we do it--than have a fight with him every Sunday about why he can't have the juice!

    What I tell him is that this is the time during the service where we tell God "thank you". These days, when I ask him what we're doing at the Lord's Supper, he says, "Thank you, God."

    Everyone I've said this to so far has been understanding and supportive. But I'm still waiting for someone to express shock and horror that I would let an unbaptized child take the Lord's Supper!

     

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