You’ve
met them, you’ve had your perspective on life changed by them (sometimes good
sometimes bad), maybe you’ve even been one of them a time or two. I’d like to introduce or re-introduce to you,
some church members we’ve all known throughout the years.
 |
| Anonymous Al |
Anonymous Al –
You know the one who writes letters to the leadership complaining about
everything but never gives you his name. He never has to answer for the damage
he inflicts by his comments and negativity.
 |
| Billy the Bully |
Billy the Bully –
Yep the church is full of bullies but Billy outshines them all. He is the loudest, most demanding, not just
with his voice but with his actions. If
he doesn’t like something he removes it, if he thinks something is a terrible
idea he sabotages it. It’s his way or
the highway and to be honest, churches do themselves a favor when they show him
the highway.
Wanda the wet blanket –
Ah yes dear Wanda, she’s been in the Church for 50 years and any new idea is
either doomed for failure because “we tried that and it didn’t work”, or “we’ve
never done it that way before”. Dear
Wanda, “bless her heart” loves to throw a wet blanket on any idea that is
presented.
 |
| Backstabbing Gummie Bears? |
Barbara the back-stabber –
Whenever there is gossip flying around or dissension or fighting of any kind,
you just know that it has either been instigated or fueled by this woman who
just seems to love making everyone as miserable as she is.
But
to be fair the Church is full of the following as well.
 |
| ERIN |
Erin the encourager –
Every church has one. Erin is always
smiling, always building others up even when she has her own struggles. You never hear anything but positivity come
from her mouth.
Harry the helper –
Need a lawn mowed, some snow shoveled, roof fixed, a leaky faucet replaced,
etc., Harry is your man. This brother
isn’t as young as he used to be but it never stops him from lending a hand, no
matter what it does to his back.
Betty the baker –
While her talents don’t always help with our bulging bellies she just knows how
to spoil us. Always there with a plate
of brownies or a cherry pie. She loves
to sweeten lives by the sweet tooth and does it with a smile. |
| Modern Day Epaphrus! |
Pete the prayer warrior –
When he says, I’ll pray for you he means it.
This isn’t the casual mention of you in a 2 minute prayer, this is him
wrestling in prayer on his knees, before God, tears flowing down his face, on
your behalf. Epaphras in Col.
4:12
has nothing on Pete. He loves God and he
loves you, and he loves to go to God for you.
Here’s
a few more that you can use your imagination to come up with descriptions for –
Timothy the tightwad, Sallie the sniper,
Gideon the Giver, Bob the builder, Sammie the smiler, not to be outdone by
Freddie the frowner.
God
give us all grace as we try to allow His Spirit to flow so heavily in our lives
that he takes our natural strengths and weaknesses and allows us to be like
Jesus rather than like the first four on this list.
So
finally, which one are you? Which one
would other people say you are?
In
Christ,
Lance
