I had the opportunity last night to attend the West Virginia State Camp Meeting of the Church of God at the Rippling Waters Campground in Romance, West Virginia. Some would argue that the camp meeting atmosphere is equivalent to the audio cassette. It is still used by some but not an attractive medium to the population at large. Since I am always looking for ways to expose myself to different environments and good preaching I gave little attention to this consideration.
Dr. David Sebastian talked about the difficulties of communication and the all to frequent tendency of church members to “prepare for war” with one another based upon rumors and hearsay without ever having talked face to face. I would add that this is a far too frequent occurrence for friends, neighbors, and co-workers as well.
As Dr. Sebastian concluded his message he shared this quote (I missed the individual that it was accredited to):
“The church is not served well by unloving critics nor uncritical lovers.”
May I ask you how often you are critical of your church, job, or family without a loving heart as your motivation? Before you answer too quickly, an attitude of love would be marked by you desire to do a good job, concern for the people around you, your willingness to work hard, a measure of sacrifice, and a motivation to want what is best for the group and not yourself (as well as many other qualities). Maybe next time you could offer solutions to a problem rather than pointing out what is wrong. And then offer to see the solutions through.
May I ask you another question? When was the last time you felt that something needed to be addressed within your family, church, or place of employment but you just kept quiet. Perhaps it was fear that kept you from having that difficult conversation. Refusal to have the conversations that challenge everyone to do what is right is equally as wrong as just standing on the outskirts and complaining about what is wrong without sharing a part of the load to be carried.
Where can you improve?
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