That's One Way To Handle It

I read a lot of blogs everyday thanks to Google Reader. It doesn't mean I spend that much time on it, since the reader presents me with a snippet and I can then decide whether it's worthy of further review. Wade Hodges is one of those bloggers I read. He's just like me - Northern, Church of Christ, emergent... Ok, he's nothing like me. But I like him - He's about enlarging the Kingdom of God too.

Today, he snipped a post from Patrick Mead with an exchange probably every pastor friend of mine and his brother wishes he had experienced.

A couple was furious with our church. We had gone to see what happened to them after someone noticed they'’d been gone from our worship assembly for some time. "“We aren'’t coming back,"” the husband said. "“That is an unloving, cold church that claims to care about people but doesn'’t."” I asked him on what basis he made that judgment and he replied, "“We were gone four weeks from that church before anyone there even noticed. What kind of church doesn'’t even notice something like that?"”

Mead's response - priceless:

I replied, "“What kind of person are you, that you could be gone for four weeks and the no one in the church could tell?"” They were shocked by this "‘attack"’ so I pressed on. "“What work suffered because you stopped your ministry? What mission work ground to a halt because you withdrew your funding, prayers and support? Could it be '— just imagine with me a moment '— could it be that you never really were a part of the church? Could that be why your departure was unnoticed?"”

Friends, every single organization I have ever been a part of whether sacred or secular, ranging from the Boy Scouts to Procter and Gamble, has always made it clear to me what my responsibilities were, and saw that I carried them out. No sports team has ever "carried" me - I had to produce. No company has ever let me slide - I had to do my part.

People who have the attitude of the couple that Patrick was writing about were the subject of a sermon I remember by Chuck Swindoll many years ago. Don't remember it all, but I do remember the main three points. People not invested - not involved in the life of the church over time progress in this fashion. They begin by sitting, checking out the church. Then they soak up the teaching and the fellowship. But if the culture of the church and its leadership do not challenge and expect them to be involved in ministry themselves, they then sour.

Sit, soak, sour.

So Patrick Mead, I hereby declare you a fellow cat herder of the highest rank. May your tribe increase.