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Fearsome Foursome
Here’s something I recently wrote to our church pastors. It seems possibly useful to all our ATD community:
You will likely get grumbling from people who are understandably put out and stressed. During this plague, the grousing falls into four general categories. Below is a description of each and my recommended response.
- The bully who believes that everyone must follow their own chosen response
This bullying is often unintentional, but nonetheless damaging to the redeemed community. Usually, the bully will employ his favorite articles or education to call others “idiots” when they don’t act as he would. This cuts across the spectrum of reactions, from the stay-inside-go-nowhere person to the let’s-all-just-ignore-this-foolishness individual. Please remind the bully that the biblical response is to trust God without testing Him. Fleshing this out mostly falls into the “meat sacrificed to idols” category. [See Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 8.] That is, no one else call tell you how to exactly apply trust-don’t-test to your specific situation. Thankfully, the Lord has told us how to treat with each other: One who eats [goes to get food] must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat [leave home] must not judge him who does. [Rom. 14:3]
- The biblical thinker who remembers that Hebrews 10 commands Christians to not forsake meeting together
The ekklesia [church] is built on the idea of ekklesia [assembly]. In other words, gathering together is in our very name! So please agree with this brother who sees the need to gather as Jesus’ church. However, comfort him that the Hebrews 10 command is not discussing missing a few weeks of church. The tone is a lifestyle issue – missing regularly or not make the assembly a priority.
- The citizen deeply concerned about the economic impact of continued isolation
It may prove that our political leaders used poor calculus in determining their “man v. mission” parameters. In other words, the price may prove far too high for the number of lives saved. Regardless, it is not the place of believers to attack or smear those faced with difficult decisions. It is rather our place to encourage those who lead. You may wish to share this quote I sent to a few regional leaders last week:
I should have realized the trouble I was getting into. There’s nothing worse than having people look up to you – because the more they expect, the worse you feel when you fail them. Take my advice. You don’t want to be the one in charge. Becoming a leader is, in a way, like falling off a cliff. It feels like a lot of fun at first.
Then it stops being fun. Really, really fast.
…Personally, I like it much better when someone else does the decision making. That way you have legitimate grounds to whine and complain. I tend to find both whining and complaining quite interesting and amusing, though sometimes – unfortunately – it’s hard to choose which one of the two I want to do.
Sigh. Life can be so tough sometimes. – Brandon Sanderson, The Scrivener’s Bones, 129-148
- The person sick of being told what to do
Bombarded with information and opinion at a clip no human brain can manage, our brethren are particularly overwhelmed with shame (see #1 above) and ever-changing directions. In their frustration, they may snap at you. After all, at our church you are dealing with the trifecta of civil disobedience! Christians are by nature counterculture; Americans are revolutionaries at heart; and Texans take self-reliance to a level that “don’t dial 911.” Therefore, when people get angry at you for saying no to something, please do not push back. Forgive them as God in Christ has forgiven you.
God bless,
Wayne