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Don’t Yell, God!

April 18, 2012 by Jim Meyer

Nobody likes to get yelled at.

Especially kids.

Many years ago, in my second pastorate, I was preaching one Sunday morning.

So the nursery workers could hear the service, someone installed a loudspeaker high on the nursery wall.  (I was always amazed that any parent put their child in that nursery because it smelled of gas.  We never did discover the source of the problem.)

Anyway, on this particular Sunday, I must have been passionate about some issue, because one of the little kids heard my voice, looked up at the speaker on the wall, and cried out:

“Don’t yell, God!”

I wonder how many people have been driven out of churches because the pastor yelled.

A pastor needs passion or people will fall asleep.

A pastor needs to vary his voice pitch to sound interesting.

A pastor needs to get excited every now and then.

But yelling?

I was scheduled to go to the dentist today, but my appointment has been postponed until next week.

Why is it that most people don’t like to go to the denist?

At least in my case, it’s not just the pain … I know I’ll leave that place alive.

I’m more afraid of the dentist yelling at me for not taking care of my teeth perfectly … even though I floss every day.

And I don’t like to get yelled at.

Let me share three reasons why pastors don’t need to yell when they preach:

First, yelling never makes a point more emphatic.

I once read about a pastor who took his notes into the pulpit with him.  In one place, he wrote, “Weak point.  Yell louder.”

My wife and I recently attended a church service where the pastor spoke a mile a minute during his message.  He sounded like former Lakers’ broadcaster Chick Hearn on steroids.

After the service, I told my wife, “He could have made his points more effectively if he had slowed down and spoken softer at times.”

I wish our politicians would quit yelling when they speak.  Maybe pastors can lead the way.

Second, yelling assumes that people aren’t listening. 

I’ll never forget the third sermon I ever preached.  (It was much better than the first two.)  It was on 1 Peter 4:8.  I went to my pastor that morning and asked him if it would be all right if I pounded the pulpit when I preached that night.

He said it was fine.

When I pounded the pulpit, I’m sure I felt better … but I’m not sure anyone else felt better.

Like many pastors, I once assumed that if I sensed I was losing people as I preached, I had to yell a bit to recapture their attention.

I no longer believe that … especially in a day when pastors use amplification when they speak!

Finally, yelling makes people feel that God is yelling at them, too.

I stay away from people who yell at me.  Most people act the same way.

And when a pastor yells at a congregation, some listeners – maybe most of them – sense that God is yelling at them, too.

That’s certainly the way the kid in the nursery reacted to me many years ago.

He so identified my voice with the voice of God that when I yelled, he thought God was yelling at him.

But doesn’t God also speak through a still small voice?  Elijah needed to learn that lesson.

I think the day of yelling preachers is long gone.  It doesn’t work anymore.

Passion is good.  Conviction is necessary.  Even an occasional rant is okay.

But yelling?

I agree with my small friend:

“Don’t yell, God!”

Posted in Conflict with the Pastor, Personal Stories | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments »

“This is MY church!”

April 16, 2012 by Jim Meyer

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of leading two workshops on conflict at the Christian Ministries Training Association convention in Pasadena, CA.

During one of the workshops, I mentioned how some churchgoers have the attitude that the church they attend is somehow THEIR church, like they own it to the exclusion of everyone else.

I mentioned, however, that Jesus said, “I will build My church …” in Matthew 16:18, and that Jesus is the Head of the church (Colossians 1:18).  Every church belongs to Jesus, regardless of its name or its pastor or its history.

When I said that, I received a lot of “Amens!”

Why is this issue important?

Because there are people in every church who believe they are more important than anyone else and that their agenda for the church should be carried out.

These people are variously called “powerbrokers” or “subterranean pastors” or even “Protestant popes.”

It has been my experience that most of these people operate behind closed doors.  They revel in their ability to influence church events and plans.

Sometimes they are charter members.

Sometimes they are large donors.

Sometimes they are corporate executives.

Sometimes they are people with their own agendas.

But what makes them dangerous is that they act like the church is theirs.

This sentiment usually surfaces during a time of conflict with the pastor.

The powerbroker takes a stand and tells his/her network, “This is MY church.  I am staying here no matter what.  My family is here.  My friends are here.  My ministry is here.  If this conflict becomes polarizing, then we’re staying, and we’ll make sure that the pastor is the one who leaves.”

This attitude – which is very prevalent in hundreds of churches – will eventually cause everyone in that church great pain.

Here’s why.

When a church is looking for a pastor, they pray about who God wants to assume that role.

Then they select a search team.

The search team surveys the congregation.

They solicit resumes and narrow them down.

They watch and listen to sermons.

They narrow down their candidates to a few and prioritize the list.

After months of work, they finally select the man they believe God wants in that church.

That pastor moves his family to a new city.

He believes that he comes with the call of God.

Then the pastor slowly tries to implement the agenda God has given him for that church.

And when the pastor runs into trouble with that agenda – usually between years four and five of his tenure – there are people in the church who say, “This is MY church.  We’re staying … and we’re going to make sure that the pastor leaves.”

But who prayed for these powerbrokers to come to the church?

Who searched for them?

Who called them?

Nobody selected them to lead that church.

They selected themselves.

Let me tell you what should happen when people are disgruntled with their pastor’s agenda.

It’s simple.

They can challenge and question his agenda when it’s first announced.

But after it’s been decided upon … the powerbroker and his/her friends either need to follow the pastor’s agenda fully or leave the church.

That idea also received an “Amen” last Saturday.

It’s wonderful to feel some pride in your church … but no matter how much you’ve attended, or served, or given over the years, that church does not belong to you at all.

It belongs to Jesus, who called a gifted pastor to lead it.

Let him lead.

Posted in Change and Conflict in Church, Church Conflict, Conflict with Church Antagonists, Conflict with the Pastor, Pastoral Termination | 2 Comments »

When Pastors Are Married to Their Churches

April 13, 2012 by Jim Meyer

How committed should a pastor be to the church that employs him?

I grew up in an era when pastors were expected to be available 24/7 to the people in their congregation.  In my first-ever class in seminary, Dr. Charles Feinberg – Mr. Talbot at the time – told our class, “If you can be anything other than a pastor, do it.”

Since I felt called to pastoral ministry, I didn’t know what else I could do.  (I had already tried working at McDonald’s and that experiment didn’t go so well.)

I had a friend in seminary who was a carpenter.  After he graduated, he went into that profession rather than pursue pastoral ministry.  He was able to be something other than a pastor.

But that was never true of me or many of my colleagues.  Bill Hybels used to say of pastors, “We’ve been had.”

Wives often complain that their hubands are married to their jobs, but in the case of pastors, it’s very much true.

While Roman Catholic priests have been instructed not to take a wife so they can be “married” to The Church, Protestant pastors usually commit bigamy: they marry both a woman and a local congregation.

When I grew up, pastors were more married to their churches.  Today, they’re more married to their wives … and that’s much healthier.

But pastors still struggle with how committed they should be to their church.

Let me share several thoughts about this topic:

First, pastors tend to be overly-responsible individuals.  They want their churches to grow both spiritually and numerically.  They want seeking people to find the Lord.  They want to visit sick people in the hospital and counsel people in pain.  They want to manage the church well and start new ministries and oversee worship services and make sure the church looks good and run the staff well … and on and on and on.

Scott Peck said that people who take too much responsibility tend to be neurotic.  If that’s true, then pastors must be among the most neurotic people on the planet.

When I was a pastor, I cared about every aspect of the church: music, small groups, leadership training, youth ministry, children’s ministry, and everything else.  Sometimes I was accused of not caring about certain ministries, but I tried to keep tabs on everything through the staff.  However:

Second, pastors are overly-sensitive to criticism.  In my second pastorate, I tried to help the deaconesses with their ministry and basically got kicked out of the meeting.  (I never interfered with women’s ministry again.)  But in that same church, the seniors were upset with me because I didn’t interact with them in any way – and they felt I had abandoned them.

While it sounds spiritual to say that pastors work for the Lord, He doesn’t directly pay their salary.  People in the church do.  And every pastor knows that when people in a church aren’t happy, they stop coming, giving, and serving.

So a pastor tries intensely to please as many people and groups as possible.  He knows that when people are unhappy, they spread their discontent to others … and bad things happen.

So the pastor runs around like a wedding planner trying to make sure that everything at the church is always perfect so people won’t complain about his leadership … or his caring … or his spirituality … or his preaching … and on and on.

However, pastors wish they could be divine.  While they represent a divine God, they themselves fall far short of divinity.

Pastors don’t know everything.

Pastors can’t be everywhere at once.

Pastors don’t have all power.

Only God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.

Many years ago, a prominent church leader went into the hospital for a procedure.  He was angry with me for not coming to see him in the hospital, but I knew absolutely nothing about it.

He expected me to be omniscient, but I couldn’t be.  Even pastors have their limits.

I honestly believe that many pastors burn out because they’re trying to serve without limits (an indication of divinity) when they actually have many limits (an indication of humanity).

When pastors feel overly-responsible for their churches … when they act overly-sensitive … and when they feel like they have to be divine to succeed … they gradually drift toward being married to their church.

And in the process, the pastor puts himself in danger of being divorced by his spiritual bride.

I’ll write more about this topic next week.

What are your thoughts about pastors being married to their churches?

Posted in Conflict with the Pastor, Current Church Issues | 2 Comments »

Praying for Small Things

April 11, 2012 by Jim Meyer

Albert Pujols is considered to be one of the best players in baseball today … and some believe he’s the greatest hitter of all time.

Pujols is also a believer in Jesus Christ.

Last winter, when Pujols was trying to decide which team he should sign with as a free agent, he and his wife did something unusual.

He and his wife got down on their knees and asked the Lord to help them make their decision.

And Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels (from Anaheim!).

It’s amazing how the Lord guides us when we ask for His help.

My wife and I recently moved back to Southern California.  As I was putting my new study together, I noticed that I was missing several items: some magnets that I’ve purchased in other countries and a set of DVDs.

I have torn this place apart looking for them.

In fact, one night last week, I went through every box in the garage … and there were a lot of boxes there!

While I categorized all the boxes, I never did find the magnets or the DVDs.

Yesterday morning, I did something I should have done earlier.

I asked the Lord to show me where the magnets were.

Immediately, the Lord led me to look in a certain area of the garage.

I opened boxes I had opened several times already … only this time, I spotted a small box that I hadn’t remembered seeing.

The magnets were in that box.

But I still couldn’t find the DVDs.

A few hours ago, I asked the Lord to guide me to them so I could stop obsessing about where they were.

He led me to a stack of boxes in the garage.

A couple minutes later, I found the DVDs … in a box underneath another box that I had thought I had opened.

Have you ever had this happen to you?

You’ve lost something: your ATM card, your keys, your wallet, or your glasses.

You’ve looked everywhere and can’t find them anywhere.

And then you stop looking around you and start looking up.  You ask the Lord to show you where they are.

And He does … miraculously.

That’s a very small use of the power of prayer.  There are much bigger issues to pray about than lost magnets and DVDs.

But if the Lord can guide us to those items, can’t He answer our larger requests as well?

James 4:2 puts it simply: “You do not have because you do not ask God.”

If you want the Lord’s guidance, may I encourage you …

Ask.

Posted in Personal Stories | 1 Comment »

Keeping Our Promises

April 9, 2012 by Jim Meyer

Several weeks ago – my next-to-the-last day in Phoenix – I drove over to the Dodger camp in Glendale for one last look at spring training before moving to California.

While the fans lined the ropes hoping that a Dodger player might stop and autograph a ball for them, I spotted two men walking through the crowd: Don Mattingly, Yankee legend and current Dodger manager, and Peter Gammons, Hall of Fame sportswriter.

While Don Mattingly was once a household name, Peter Gammons is known mostly to baseball fans.  For years, he offered commentary on baseball matters on ESPN and now works for the Major League Baseball Network.  He’s been named Sportswriter of the Year three times.

As you can see from this photo, there weren’t many people around yet that day.  One fan asked Gammons for his autograph (not Mattingly) and Gammons used the timeworn phrase, “I’ll get you later.”

Now if I was Gammons, I probably wouldn’t have stopped, either.  After all, he was walking with Mattingly – probably preparing to do a report on the Dodgers – and he wanted to keep the conversation going.  Fair enough.

But when Gammons did return – this time, walking with a Dodger minor league coach – he was once again asked for his signature, only this time he didn’t stop and sign as he had promised to do – he just kept going into the Dodger clubhouse.

It would have taken Peter Gammons less then ten seconds to sign something for the gentleman who requested his signature – and I doubt if a mob would have ensued afterwards.  The man asking would probably never see Gammons again.

But I’m not trying to jump on Gammons – after all, I didn’t request his signature – but on the casual way we make and break promises.

How many of you have had someone make one of the following promises to you recently?

“I’ll drop that in the mail today.”

“I’ll call you back by tomorrow night.”

“I’ll be home by six.”

“I’ll pick up your medicine on the way home.”

“I’ll be there at ten o’clock sharp.”

“I’ll pray for you as you visit the doctor.”

We make casual promises to each other all the time, don’t we?

We give others – often members of our family – assurances that they are important to us and that we’ll come through for them.

But what happens when we don’t come through as promised?

When my kids were small, I did everything in my power to keep my promises to them.  If they could learn to trust me, I figured, then maybe they could learn to trust their teachers, their employers, their pastors … and their God.

I don’t know how many promises I didn’t keep.  (I hope it wasn’t many.)  But I tried to keep every one I made … and made as few as possible so I could remember them all.

In The Message, Jesus says this in the Sermon on the Mount:

“And don’t say anything you don’t mean…. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it … Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’  When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.”

It’s especially important for Christian leaders to keep their promises.  For example, if a pastor wants to avoid conflict with churchgoers, then he needs to follow through with these promises:

“I’ll stop over and see your mother in the hospital later today.”

“I’ll bring a report to the meeting next week.”

“I’ll bring that book you asked about on Sunday.”

“I promise I’ll spend some time in prayer for your family.”

“I will see you for lunch tomorrow at 11:45.”

Keep your promises … and your credibility goes up.

Start breaking them … and watch your trust level go south.

Let me encourage everyone reading this to make fewer promises but to keep the ones you make.

Most of us do not have Alzheimer’s.

And when we realize we’ve broken a promise, we need to admit it, apologize for it, and then make good on that promise at the first opportunity.

I’m sure that Peter Gammons didn’t mean to break his promise to that fan.  He probably just forgot.

And we’ll forget our promises sometimes, too.

But if we want others to trust us … and we want our word to mean something … let’s keep the promises we make.

After all, where would we be if God did not keep His promises to us?

Posted in Current Church Issues, Personal Stories | 1 Comment »

The Best Deal in the Universe

April 6, 2012 by Jim Meyer

When I was in my early teens, our local radio station did something every Good Friday that now seems unbelievable.

For 15 minutes – from 3:00 to 3:15 in the afternoon – they did an audio narration of the crucifixion of Jesus as if seen by an eyewitness.

Up to that time, I didn’t know much about Good Friday.  I knew that Jesus died on a Friday, but the churches I attended didn’t celebrate that day, focusing all their efforts on Easter instead.

But that annual radio broadcast really brought it home for me.

Most of us are aware of the events of Good Friday … but how about its meaning?

The meaning of Good Friday is found in my favorite verse: 2 Corinthians 5:21.  Paul writes:

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

At a point in time, God the Father made God the Son something He was not.

He made Him sin.

The Son incarnate became Sin incarnate.

When did that happen?  On the cross … on Good Friday.

I cannot imagine what it’s like to become sin.

There are sins I know about … sins I’ve read about, or seen depicted in movies … but I don’t even want to think about them.

There are sins I’ve committed that I never want to think about again.

There are sins I’ve been tempted to commit but haven’t … sins that nearly frighten me because of their repercussions.

But on that cross, Jesus became sin itself.

He became pride.  He became lust.  He became slander.  He became murder.

He became violence, and rape, and betrayal, and abuse … every sin you can think of.

No wonder Jesus felt forsaken by His Father.  No wonder the Father turned His back on His Son.

Why did Jesus do this?  Paul tells us:

“… that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

The Son became sin that we might become righteous.

How does that happen?

If we admit our sinfulness to God … and trust Christ’s work on the cross for us … we gain divine righteousness.

Our sin … for His righteousness.

It’s the best deal in the universe.

I made that deal when I was six years old.  With my father kneeling beside me, I told Jesus that I was a sinner.  I asked His Son to become my Savior.

He did.

It’s the best deal I’ve ever made.

It cost me nothing.  It cost Jesus everything.

This is why we call the Friday before Jesus died Good Friday.

It initially looked like Very Bad Friday … until the events of three days later took place.

It’s only Good Friday in retrospect.

It’s why I sing with my brothers and sisters worldwide:

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present all too small,

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Posted in Forgiveness and Reconciliation among Christians, Personal Stories | 2 Comments »

Getting the Creeps … In Church

April 4, 2012 by Jim Meyer

Have you ever gone to church and suddenly developed a serious case of … the creeps?

It happened to me recently.

My wife and I visited a church that was recommended by a colleague.

After parking our car, we felt creepy because we didn’t know where the worship center was – so we guessed its location.  Fortunately, we guessed correctly.

As we walked toward the worship center, though, we didn’t know where to enter it.  Suddenly, a flustered woman appeared and tried to open the door.  It wouldn’t budge.

It felt … creepy.

She did open it on the second attempt, though, and we walked into a small worship center jammed with people … and I instantly felt claustrophobic.

And creepy.

We couldn’t find seats without assistance, so an usher pointed out two empty seats near the back.  We hurriedly sat down.

The worship time was somewhat pleasant, but also felt … well, you know.  I’ve seen worship bands arranged on the stage in various ways, but I’ve never seen six band members on the right side of the stage while the worship leader stood in the corner on the left side of the stage before.  It looked awkward.

I wore jeans to church, like I usually do, but the elders – who served communion – all wore coats and ties.  Some of you may be acclimated to that kind of formal attire, but nobody in our church in Arizona dressed formally, so it felt uncomfortable.

But nothing prepared me for the pastor’s message.

I look for three things when I hear a message: biblical accuracy, intellectual stimulation, and emotional connection.

The pastor was biblically accurate.

There was zero intellectual stimulation.  Many churchgoers may not need that, but I do.  Platitudes aren’t enough.

But I was most troubled by the pastor’s tone while preaching.  It was like he was divine and expected divinity from the rest of us.  We weren’t allowed to be human … nor was anyone else.

A pastor connects best with a congregation when he admits his humanity.  He includes himself in his preaching by using the term “we” and by telling stories that demonstrate that he’s struggling with living like Jesus, just like the rest of us.

But this pastor didn’t tell even one story … and made me feel like I could never measure up to his expectations, much less those of Jesus.

At the conclusion of his message, he told us that if we had fear or anxiety in our lives, we needed to repent of our sin before the Lord.

I felt terrible, because the church had already created so much fear and anxiety in me that by the end of the service, I still hadn’t repented of all my fear and anxiety.

Creepyville.

We couldn’t wait to leave.  All I was thinking was, “Where did I park?  Get me out of here.”

I freely admit that I am not the measure of normalcy when it comes to churchgoing.  There were people who seemed to love the church regardless of my feelings about it.

But the number one feeling I had that morning was:

THIS CHURCH IS NOT FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME.

And, quite frankly, they aren’t ready for any newcomers, either.

I felt like I invaded their secret club.

Have you ever had a creepy church experience?  If so, my readers would love to hear about it.

Posted in Conflict with the Pastor, Current Church Issues, Please Comment! | 2 Comments »

Moving Back Home

April 2, 2012 by Jim Meyer

The day after Christmas in 2009, Kim and I left California and moved to the Phoenix, Arizona area.

We had been invited by a friend to stay in a house he and his wife owned in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise.

Surprise was a great refuge.  Several months later, we rented our own place in a quiet community.  When Kim later got a job in Phoenix, we moved there to be closer to her workplace.

There are four things I like about Phoenix:

First, my family is there: my step-father, mother, sister, step-sister, and two step-brothers and their families.  I greatly enjoyed gathering together with family for major holidays.  I miss them all very much.

Second, we found a great church: Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria.  The church celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday, and I so much wanted to be there.  I’m sure the church has its share of problems – all churches do – but I rarely saw anything amiss.  I learned so much at CCV about how to minister to a secular culture.  And on our last Sunday, the service began with a spirited rendition of one of my favorite songs: “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty.  Gotta love a church like that!

Third, I enjoyed spring training.  Several weeks ago, my friend Dave came to nearby Glendale to see the Dodgers play at Camelback Ranch, and we had a lot of fun watching the Blue Crew together.  The following week, my friend Russ and I sat in that same stadium behind home plate with major league scouts.  (Many of them had radar guns to time the velocity of pitchers’ fastballs.)  I’ll miss the ease of driving to a stadium for a quick game.

Fourth, Phoenix was perfect for writing.  I’m not sure I ever would have written a book in California.  As difficult as it was at times, I needed solitude to complete my divine assignment.  Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and Paul all needed wilderness experiences to prepare them for greater ministry, and Phoenix fit that role in my life.  But to be honest, I’m weary of looking at the brownness of the desert.  I need more green in my life.

Throughout my life, God has always called me to my next assignment through an invitation to serve in a church.  This time, the call to move came through our minds and circumstances.  There was no way I could pursue my ministry in Phoenix.  For various reasons, Kim and I sensed that we needed to be in Southern California.

Reasons:

First, our kids are here.  Ryan and Vanessa live less than 90 minutes away, making it possible to see them more often.  And Sarah, who lives in the Bay Area, now lives 280 miles closer to us than when we lived in Phoenix.  Hopefully that gap will decrease further in the days ahead.

Second, my network is here.  The regional chapter of the Society for Church Consulting is having its initial meeting this week, and I want to be there.  I may have another ministry opportunity nearby as well.  Talbot School of Thelogy – my seminary – holds a variety of interesting events year round.  And Southern California offers many more opportunities for my RKB ministry … like the workshops I’ll soon be leading at a major convention.

Third, many of my best friends are here.  When I was in high school, I was a member of the Bomb Squad.  Four of my friends and I viewed ourselves as guys who had “bombed out” in love … and that bond united us for a long time.  Three of those friends still live in SoCal … while a fourth lives in Kingman, Arizona.  Kim’s two brothers live in SoCal as well, as do various ministry colleagues.  It wasn’t easy making friends in Phoenix, so it will be nice to see people once more who mean so much to me.

Finally, there’s a lot to do here.  Seven days ago, we moved to Sun City, 20 miles south of Riverside.  This is a beautiful area, a mix of rural and suburban, and a place of great beauty.  (There are canyons and valleys everywhere.)  We’re one hour from San Diego, Palm Springs, and the local mountains, and less than 90 minutes from the ocean.  While the traffic in the LA area can be brutal at times, it’s because people love to live here.  Phoenix is great if you like to hike, swim, or play golf, but those aren’t my favorite pastimes.  Being closer to the ocean is more my style.

I haven’t written anything for two weeks because of the move – my computer was offline for ten days – but I’m all set up and ready to go, so thanks for reading.

And it feels great to be back home.

Posted in Personal Stories | 8 Comments »

Quick Quiz on Church Conflict

March 16, 2012 by Jim Meyer

It’s the end of the week, and I’m exhausted, so I thought I’d put together a quick quiz concering what the Bible has to say about the causes and solutions to conflict.

If you finish the quiz – regardless of your responses – you get an automatic “A+” from me.

And if you get all 7 questions right, please let me know.  You’ll find the answers at the end of the quiz.

1. If your relationship with a Christian friend is strained, what does Jesus tell you to do about it?

a. Get a new friend.

b. Tell your other friends about the problem.

c. Tell your pastor about the issue.

d. Talk to your friend directly.

2. In which book of the Bible do we find this counsel: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

a. The Gospel of John

b. Romans

c. Titus

d. Hebrews

3. Many Christians are suprised to learn that the Apostle Paul had such a sharp disagreement with a fellow leader that they parted company.  Who was that believer?

a. Timothy

b. Titus

c. Barnabas

d. Silas

4. True or false?  The NT teaches that God will destroy those who destroy his church.

5. The NT mentions the names of specific troublemakers in its pages.  Which person is not mentioned as a troublemaker?

a. Stephanas

b. Diotrephes

c. Philetus

d. Alexander

6. What does the NT say that a church should do with members who abuse and slander others?

a. Love on them real good.

b. Break their necks.

c. Report them to denominational headquarters.

d. Identify them, confront them, and if they’re unrepentant, remove them from the church.

7. If people in a church accuse their pastor of wrongdoing, which of the following should NOT happen to the pastor?

a. He should be kicked out immediately.

b. He should be treated with dignity and respect.

c. He should be treated without partiality.

d. He should be able to face his accusers in private before he’s accused in public.

Answers:

1. d

Jesus tells His followers in Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.  If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.”

Most relational and church conflicts would be resolved if we’d just put that one verse into practice.

2. b

This verse is found in Romans 12:18.  It tells us that while we can control our responses to other people, we can’t control their responses.

3. c

The story is found in Acts 15:36-41 and has been a blessing to many Christians … because try as we might, most of us have found that there are Christians we like with whom we cannot serve.  On this occasion, Paul and Barnabas parted company over the value of John Mark.

4. True.  Paul states in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?  If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.”

The pronoun “you” in these verses is plural. The temple mentioned here isn’t the temple of our body (as in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) but the place where God dwells with his people. Destroy a church, and God will destroy you. I didn’t say it … I’m merely pointing it out.

5. a

The household of Stephanas is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16:15 as being Paul’s first converts in Achaia.  John had a problem with Diotrepehes in 3 John 9-10.  Paul had problems with the other two guys in 1 and 2 Timothy.

6. d

But churches today don’t do this.  We prematurely forgive antagonists and troublemakers without ever rebuking them or asking them to repent.  It’s like we’ve cut these verses out of our Bibles because we lack the courage to obey Scripture.

7. a

1 Timothy 5:19-21 lays out principles for dealing with pastors and church leaders in a fair way that are accused of wrongdoing.  Paul tells us in verse 21 that all of heaven is watching the way a local church deals with its pastor.  However, many … if not most … churches restort to option “a.”  If the pastor is accused of doing something wrong, he’s assumed to be guilty and is driven out of the church.  This is a scandalous plague that needs to be eradicated in Christian churches.

How did you do?  Let me know if you got 100%.

I apologize for sending out two of these quizzes prematurely.  I hit the “enter” button twice trying to format the outline.

Posted in Church Conflict, Current Church Issues, Please Comment! | Leave a Comment »

The Beauty of Spring Training

March 14, 2012 by Jim Meyer

Spring training.  Those two words used together have often caused me great joy.

I became a baseball fan at the age of six.  Growing up in Anaheim – 25 miles or so from Los Angeles – my first baseball memory was hearing Vin Scully on the radio calling the Opening Night game between the Phillies and Dodgers … in 1960!

My dad took me to my first ballgame that year.  The Pirates – and Roberto Clemente – beat the Dodgers 5-2 at the Coliseum behind Bob Friend.  I can still see big Frank Howard of the Dodgers, quite an imposing figure, in right field.

The only option I had for going to spring training was Palm Springs, where the California Angels played.  (The Angels trained in California and the other Cactus League teams trained in Arizona.)  My mother took me to a game there in 1969 … but I remember another game in 1972 much better.

Nolan Ryan had been traded from the Mets to the Angels.  While facing the Giants in Palm Springs, Ryan hit three batters in the first two innings … and he threw hard.  Many of us in attendance that day wondered if the Angels had made a mistake trading their most popular player – Jim Fregosi – to the Mets for Ryan (and several other players).

But spring training really came alive for me when my mother and step-father moved to Phoenix.  I was able to stay at their place and visit the eight major league camps with full access to all the players.

Some of my most vivid spring training memories:

*One day in Palm Springs in 1977, Nolan Ryan pitched for the Angels, went into the clubhouse and showered, and then walked around the stands for a few minutes.  (Nobody recognized him).  When he left the ballpark, I followed him outside and asked him to pose for a picture for me.  (I’ll post it if I can ever learn how to work my scanner.)

*Danny Kaye, the entertainer, used to sit in the stands in Palm Springs when the Mariners were playing the Angels.  One time, he sat in the stands right by me, trying to hide from the public.  Didn’t work.

*In 1978, Rod Carew was traded from the Twins to the Angels for 4 players.  When the Angels visited Sun City to play the Brewers, I waited by the Angels’ bus for Carew.  He was carrying a Pepsi in a six-pack holder.  While he signed three cards for me, I took the plastic holder off his hands … and kept it for years.  (If I still had it, could I put it on ebay?)

*I once spotted Angel owner Gene Autry outside the Cubs’ ballpark in Mesa … and Leo Durocher walked right up to him.  I got a great picture of the two of them.

*Speaking of Mesa, Yankee Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Gomez once worked for a sporting goods company and showed up at Hohokam Park where the Cubs played.  He posed for me, too.

*In the early 1980s, Greg Minton was the closer for the Giants.  One day, my son Ryan crept underneath the stands and found Minton waiting to take batting practice in the cage.  When I asked to take a photo, Minton put Ryan on his lap and embraced him.  Minton signed the photo the following year and wrote, “To Ryan, Take My Job, Greg Minton.”  Priceless.

*Ryan approached Reggie Jackson for his autograph one spring.  Although Reggie can be a first-class jerk, he signed two cards for Ryan … because NBC was filming the encounter.

*In 1984, future Hall of Famer Goose Gossage signed with the San Diego Padres.  At his first press conference at Scottsdale Stadium, Gossage stood against a wall below the upper stands and answered reporter’s questions … while Ryan stood in the stands and tried to take Goose’s hat off his head.  (Another great photo.)

*Jose Canseco of the A’s had a monster season his rookie year in 1986.  The following spring, Ryan got Canseco’s autograph at Scottsdale Community College where the A’s trained at the time … and there was nobody around.  (I took their picture, and although Canseco has turned out to be a jerk, it’s still one of my favorite photos.)

*In 1988, Ryan and I visited the Mariners’ stadium in Tempe.  (The Angels are there now.)  A gangly 18-year-old kid appeared and happily signed autographs for the ten or so of us who were gathered.  His name?  Ken Griffey Jr.

*That same day, the Mariners played an intrasquad game.  When the players were done on the field, they showered, changed clothes, and then sat in the stands.  Ryan and I walked up to players and got everyone’s autograph as many times as we wanted.

*Back in 1999, my daughter Sarah and I went to a workout at the Giants’ ballpark in Scottsdale … and we were the only two people getting autographs afterwards.  When Barry Bonds came out, he asked Sarah before signing, “Why aren’t you in school?”  When I asked him to sign a card, he bent the corner (telling me, “Now you can’t sell it”) and then signed it … and after he left, I just bent it back.

*That same year, Sarah and I drove to Mesa where the Angels once had their minor league complex.  Carney Lansford, former third baseman for the Angels and A’s, was the manager of an Angels’ farm team.  Because Sarah went to the same high school as Lansford (Wilcox High in Santa Clara), they had a great conversation about teachers they had in common.

For years, the great thing about spring training in Arizona is that you had full access to the players.  When they drove into the parking lot, you could meet them as they went into the clubhouse.  After they got dressed, you could meet them going to the practice field.  After practice, most of them would stop for photos or an autograph, and after they got dressed, you could try and catch the ones you missed going to their cars.

That’s all changed now.  The players drive into guarded parking lots.  You can’t get near them when they walk toward the field.  They’re all millionaires … and they act that way.

But I remember a better time … a simpler time … and I will always celebrate the beauty of spring training.

Here are some more current photos of spring training in Arizona:

Giants and Royals in Surprise, March 2010

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