I have been thinking about some things this morning and I'd like to know your
opinion on this.. It seems in a lot of churches today you have members who say
they want the Church to grow but when it does the older members fear they are
losing control. When newer members are asked to do things, what they do just
isn't good enough and it's discarded and replaced by something else without even
mentioning it to the person who was asked to do it in the first place. This
leaves the newer member feeling as if they don't even deserve a chance to remake
the project. Also when you have new members they bring new ideas with them that
are often deemed unnecessary or not worth the trouble. Now granted some people's
ideas aren't the best but they deserve respect and appreciation just the same.
Then you have church members who demand recognition. God's word teaches us that
if this is your desire then you have your reward.
Growing pains are a good thing if people's hearts are in it. But the key word here is hearts. Being angry and taking your
marbles and going home is not maturity and you hurt no one but yourself. If we
do what we do as doing it unto the Lord who cares what "CHURCH MEMBERS" think! A
church body with strife, envy, controlling spirits, jealousy, respect of
persons, or back biting, has not been made perfect in God's love. So when
church politics come into play the end is a bunch of selfish people thinking
they know more about running things than God. So here's the question: Do we
really want our congregations to grow or are we satisfied with the Clique. I
suggest we asked God to first help us grow in spirit and truth and prepare our
hearts and minds for new Family Members. If we do this instead of growing
pains, we'll have growing joy as we recognize the talents and gifts that our new
members bring with them. It's all about trusting God and "I must decrease and
God must increase". I see a lack of respect for one another and this builds
walls that are very hard to break down. Communication is vital to any body of
believers and I don't mean to just the clique. I challenge you to examine your
heart and ask yourself this question: Am I willing and prepared to receive new
members, with new talents, perspectives, gifts, and faults into my assembly? Do
I really care about soul winning? Am I interested in new ministries? And most
importantly, are my knees dirty enough? It shouldn't be that if the outsiders are in then the insiders are out. Let's merge into one body of believers in God's brotherly love and become BESIDERS.