Not Caring about Sharing

Hello my Friend!

I didn’t write you last week and I’m feeling bad about it.  I wish I could report adventures kept me from communicating but I’d be lying.  By the time Sunday dawned, I was so discouraged I put myself in quarantine instead of writing.  It’s hard to be encouraging when you hate the entire planet.  When you believe nothing will solve the world’s problems but the rapture, wisdom dictates a time out.  I decided to engage in serious tea time therapy.  Three cups later smoke was still coming out of my ears.

It hadn’t been a bad weekend either.  Saturday was spent with a group of homeschoolers.  They rented a church for a fancy shindig and I nobly signed up to volunteer: I enjoy the busyness of gatherings.  Placed on kitchen duty, I spend the majority of my time shuffling platters of yumminess from the kitchen to the hall.  It was an afternoon of honest back breaking labor with hardworking friends.  It was nice.  Until it wasn’t…….

It’s been a rough year as far as churches are concerned.  I’m supposed to be learning something, but I think I’m failing the lesson.  Since September, I have witnessed 4 churches behave in ways I wish they hadn’t. I’m not certain the Lord was impressed either.  Truth be told, I’m trying to say these places behaved like selfish, deranged, over privileged teenage monsters without coming out and saying it directly.

How am I doing?  Subtle enough for you?

Before you give me trouble, let me assure you I’m not expecting perfection.  I don’t need the “church-is-a-hospital-for-sinners-so-expect-sin” lecture; that won’t help me because it isn’t the sin of these churches that has caused their problems, it’s their success.  I decided this as I watched a church staff member lose his spleen on a hard working volunteer.  I had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the right time and witnessed this fellow's face turn as red as his shirt as he explained everything the volunteer committee had done wrong.  Without going into details, something broke, not a person, not a heart, but part of the building.  The cost of the repair was minimal and the fellow was having a bad day.  I know because I’ve turned red and lost my spleen too.   

I think the problem starts with chairs.  Once a church starts buying chairs things get tricky.  It should be stated that acquiring a building generally happens before chairs are purchased.  Sometimes, church buildings come with chairs and that is a bonus.  Regardless, if the building comes with chairs or not, people are blessed to own a church building.  They say things like, “God was kind to give us this building and we are truly thankful.” And they are.  This thankfulness continues unabated for quite a while.  Members are happy paying a mortgage instead of rent and everyone is pleased.  So happy in fact, that they drink juice and eat cookies, it’s a really good time. 

Years can pass and members move into their new home and become versed in the power of chewing gum and coffee stains.  They are blessed church building owners.  At some point though, if the Lord sees fit to grow the congregation, someone is bound to say “Hey, don’t you think it would be a good idea if we bought some chairs?”  Of course, another congregant will agree because who doesn’t like chairs? 

Did you know chairs are stupid expensive?  Look it up sometime, you’ll be amazed.  The church is amazed too, but purchases the chairs anyway because people at church need a place to stash their mochas. This is when things get tricky.  The church becomes known in the community for having rooms with seating.  Organizations that don’t have building or chairs, are continually looking to rent places that have them.  Churches fit the bill and are willing to share their space with building-less groups.  This agreement works fairly well until something happens to the church’s chairs.  Here’s why – chairs can break.  There are many reasons why this happens but sadly when a building-less group breaks a churches chair the mochas will fly.

I have a theory and I’m willing to share it.

Churches are good at remembering God owns their buildings.  Maybe because they are adorned with crosses.  It’s hard to be a selfish shellfish when you are staring at the symbol representing the Lord’s crucifixion.  Churches are not as good at remembering the chairs belong to God too.  I think it’s because the chairs cost so much, but we covered that…. I suspect that if we put crosses on every chair in the church, it might be easier to remember our possessions belong ultimately to the Lord.

I don’t want to go all Christianese on you but here’s the truth, we make up the church.

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 1 Cor 12:12-14

So if I’m finding the church kind of lame and bad at sharing their resources, it makes sense that I would reflect upon how I’m doing in these areas.  (Badly I think, I was so cross with one of my children for spilling tea in the car I told her she couldn't drive my car till she was 30.) And because I love company I wanted to ask you friend, how are you with sharing your toys these days?  I urge you to take an inventory and reflect on the past year.  Have you conveyed the message that people are more important than possessions?  That the scratched paint job on your car is less important than the teen who backed into the parking meridian?  That relationship is the most valuable treasure you can possess?

Summer is a great time to get generous, work on relationships and share your sandbox.

I’m praying for you this week,

xoxKaren