Rotten People, Rotten Church

I am sure the title grabbed your attention.  Depending on your experience, you might even have suspected terrible things about the content of this post.   After all, you don't have to spend much time around church people before you can find someone who will have such an opinion about a church or even the church.  Sadly to say, you can all too often find pastors or other ministers who express, either publicly or privately, the same sentiment.

I would not be one of those people.

Now if you want to protest at this point and say that there are churches that are rotten or people that are rotten, then you are missing the point.   I have now served twenty years in the rural Maine church.  I grew up in the rural Maine church.  I have seen a lot.  I have seen power struggles.  I have seen people push change, fight change, make change, decry change.  I have heard people bemoan the lack of newness in the church and bemoan the loss of tradition.  I have watched pastor's abuse and be abused.  I myself have been hurt by people, pastors included and have been caught in other people's plots.  I have listened to pastors, sometimes at pastor get togethers, not only tell war stories, but complain to each other about people in general and people in particular.   I have also heard plenty of complaints about pastors, usually in particular.

I am far too human to claim that I have never complained.

Yet these days, I find that I am increasingly uncomfortable with this negative sharing, no matter how accurate or emotionally satisfying it is.  As pastors and ministers we have two main forces that should guide us.  Love for God and love for people.  When we complain and display such negative attitudes, we are practicing neither.  It does not matter that our complaints may be all too true.  There is really no justification for rehearsing, rehashing, and bemoaning the sinful attitudes that we encounter in the church.  It just takes their sinful attitude and joins it with one of our own.

Jesus told us how to respond.  Bless those that persecute you, bless and curse not.  Love your enemies.  Be kind to those who mistreat you.  Do not repay evil for evil but overcome evil with good.  When we begin to complain about that person or those people in church as pastors, we display a total lack of Holy Spirit power which enables us to love as Christ loves.  As a speaker once encouraged a group of pastors, "Don't bolt when the sheep poop on you."   Sheep poop.  So do babies.  Pick your metaphor.  You may not enjoy the experience, but if you can't handle it with grace then you shouldn't be shepherding or parenting.    Listening to Nate and Charlene laugh as they tell stories of their baby peeing on them during diaper changes, it reminds me that when you delight in someone, even their lack of control, their mess, can be an opportunity to love and celebrate, even if the experience itself isn't enjoyable and smells bad.

I am thankful that my experience at Bean's Corner right now makes celebrating our church easy.  But that is hardly the point.  No matter what you experience from others, you have the power to have a loving and positive attitude through the power of the Holy Spirit who fills us with the love of Christ.   In everything give thanks, rejoice in the Lord always, all things work together for the good for those who love God and are called to His purpose. Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth but only what is good for edification.  If your focus is on Christ, and it is His church, then there are no rotten people and no rotten churches.  Just some that take a lot of power to love.  Fortunately, God is omnipotent and He has freely given us the power of the Love of Christ in the Holy Spirit.  Time to reflect that.