TRAFFIC CONTROL

The last blog entry discussed general conflicts congregations become involved in.  This entry focuses on one I was a witness to.

As a church elder for over seven years, I had seen my share of conflicts, but this one seemed to have been a particular threat to the welfare of the Church—by that I mean church local and Church universal.

We’re told in the New Testament how sometimes, in order to produce better fruit, the “dead wood” needs to be pruned out of an existing tree— so it goes with many a congregation, and as I reflect on the circumstances, I see they mirrored the three basic tenets of Psalm 59:  1)  My enemies stink, 2)  Beat them up, God, 3)  I’ll praise You for having done it.

The incident that I recall had three adult friends (an older married couple and an older widow) attempting to undermine the authority of the pastor and his elders.  There is a difference between having a conflicting opinion on how things are done and attempting to implement your own agenda as a renegade parishioner. 

The pastor sat midst his elders, discussing the perceived threat, and we took turns offering our constructive input.  I’d been in prayer to that point, and when my turn came, I shared the vision the Lord had given.  It was a traffic signal—the kind you see hanging from a wire in the middle of intersections all across the country. 

“The Lord is showing me a traffic signal, “I explained, “We are, if you will, at a “cross” road, and there are three (the couple and their friend) that are like this traffic light.  They need to 1) Stop what they’re doing, 2) Yield to the Holy Spirit, or 3) Go.”  We decided to pray that way, rather than confront them in a non-spiritual manner. 

In Psalm 59, David maintains that his enemies need not be his enemies—likewise, our pastor’s “enemies” were undeserved (though not unexpected—as a pastor, one will always have a target on one’s back—being continuously shot at by Satan and his flaming arrows).  The psalmist continues, suggesting God scatter the motley crew, for if He simply kills them, people will eventually forget, but if he scatters them, they will not only be ineffective, but God will be glorified in their being moved.  In this modern day example, the man and wife moved from Illinois to Ohio, and the widow moved to New Hampshire—ironically where we moved several years later.

Did we glorify God in their exodus?  Yes.  Not because they left, but that God caused them to leave in such a diverse manner.  It is possible to love someone while not loving what or how they do what they do.

Conflicts come, and conflicts go.  To have peace in the middle of them, recognize your problem, allow God to take care of it for you, and then thank Him for that deliverance.

b(Les)sings

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Psalm 59

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.
 ²Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
 ³For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD.
 ⁴They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.
 ⁵Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.
 ⁶They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.
 ⁷Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?
 ⁸But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.
 ⁹Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.
 ¹⁰The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.
 ¹¹Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
 ¹²For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
 ¹³Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.
 ¹⁴And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.
 ¹⁵Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.
 ¹⁶But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.
 ¹⁷Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.

FLACK FROM THE FLOCK

Congregations do weird things sometimes, just ask any pastor.   To that end, you’ve probably heard the statement made by many a shepherd at one point or another:  “Ministering would be so nice if it just wasn’t for the people.”

Over the years of attending houses of worship in more than one faith, I never recall being in one that actually “split over the color of the carpet”, but I have heard about such, and probably you have too.  Unfortunately, the psychology of mob mentality does exist, and when it rears its ugly head in a group of parishioners it can be disastrous to the Kingdom of God. 

The problem is that the good they think they’re trying to do by accomplishing the collective agenda will come back and bite them.  When they rebel against those that are in authority over them, they lose the protection that’s been afforded them in the first place. 

Sometimes, in His infinite wisdom, God will allow us to do foolish things, to be the schoolmaster that prevents further stupidity in the future—but sadly, that does not negate the painful lessons learned in the process.  When you do it God’s way, you have peace—when you think you know better than leadership, strife will be your reality.

In the 58^th Psalm, David asks God to thwart any success his enemies might otherwise enjoy.  He asks for their sustenance to be interrupted, their weapons to become useless, and for death to come upon them before the appointed time.  The psalmist intimates that the greatest treat lies with the once-oppressed that see God exact His vengeance on the former enemies of His children.

Vindication, with its own structure, can bring the greatest peace of all, because it tells the vindicated that the effort—in spite of the bruising—was worth it. 

b(Les)sings

Psalm 58

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
 ²Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
 ³The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
 ⁴Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
 ⁵Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
 ⁶Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
 ⁷Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
 ⁸As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
 ⁹Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.
 ¹⁰The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
 ¹¹So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.