Being Snooty And Smug

I just got home from a business vacation with Cynthia. We went to a big city for a convention I had to attend. We spent a lot of time out shopping and having a good time.

It's been a while since I visited a big city. This one is one of the largest cities in the United States and we had a blast.

We saw a decent number of homeless people and, of course, I had forgotten how insensitive I was in my thinking toward the homeless. We walked past them with shopping bags and food and I ignored them. Cynthia showed empathy several times but I was just hard of heart toward them most of the time.

We kept shopping - mostly for her - and she asked, "Is there anything you want?"

I said, "I really would like a pair of nice boxers to sleep in (too much info?)"

So we set out to find some nice boxers. We looked for a while and were sent down the street to some huge multi-level men's store I'd never heard of.

We walked into the plush lobby and I should have walked out the second we walked in.

All of the sales associates were wearing suits. It looked like a grand cathedral. There were suits from wall to wall and most of them looked like they would set me back a month's salary. But, I was on vacation and trudged ahead.

The guy in the suit who met us asked what we were looking for and sent us up the elevator to the second floor. More suits there. More sales associates in suits. And when we got off the elevator, everyone stopped and stared at us.

Now, listen. We were dressed casually. I was wearing khakis and nice shoes, and an American Eagle shirt. Cynthia was wearing a nice shirt and khakis. But we weren't dressed like them.

A man stopped us and said, "Are you looking for someone?" Yeah. Not, "Can I help you?"

His question was meant to say, "You have no right to be here. You have no right to shop here. You can't afford this place so leave now."

But I'm too stupid to stop when I'm offended. I wanted to say, "Yeah, I'm looking for your sense of humor." But I didn't. I told him I was looking for boxers. He sent me toward a lady who led me over to a corner of the store.

She kept looking me up and down like I had leprosy. She wouldn't let me touch the boxers. It was like I had a disease. I was lower class to them. I just said, "You know what? Don't worry about it. I don't see anything I like."

We left. I was irritated.

I had some time to reflect on it for a while. Why was I so irritated? Because these people were middle-class, most likely, like me. And they weren't any better than me. They waited on high class people, but they got snooty because I wasn't good enough for them to wait on. It was about what "class I was in." How dare they!

Oh, snap. Wait a second, I thought.

How had I been thinking about the homeless people earlier? I had seen them as below me and had been hard-hearted in my thinking toward them because of their "class." Well, crud. I wasn't any better than the people in the men's store.

Let's go a step further.

How about my post the other day about the SBC? Some took it the wrong way, I think. I'm not blaming the SBC for my fall. My point was that the resolution they voted on will really do no good in the end. However, the people that make up the SBC and the committees are just people. And if I'm wrong, it will be because I judge the people, not the group.

How about this? What about when people walk into our churches and they look a little different? They don't act like us? They don't fit into the cliques we've formed? What would your church do if an alcoholic showed up? What would your church do if a man fresh out of prison showed up? How would you feel? (I hope you would respond positively in all those situations - and many of you would.) But unfortunately, many don't. And that's about class - that's about our snootiness and smugness.

Guess what? From members of the SBC, to those of us in church, to the people in the men's store, to the homeless, we're all human. Strip us all down to our boxers, and we're just a bunch of vulnerable people in need of God's love and mutual human understanding. But with our protective shields of piety and smugness on, we judge and look down on others. And that's not how it's intended to be. I'm guilty.

It's innate in all of us and it needs to be fought against. And I was reminded of that when I wasn't good enough to buy a pair of underwear this week.

Great Article For Helping Your Pastor

Found this article by Thom Rainer about how to help your pastor. Great read.

Hope church members will take it to heart.

When To Confront From The Pulpit

Just a disclaimer - I've done what I'm about to complain about. And I was wrong to do it. In fact, it grieves me that I did it. I learned from it when I did it and hope that others won't make the same mistake.

So what exactly am I going on about?

In the past two weeks, I've heard about pastors who have heard there was adultery occurring in their church; instead of dealing with it in biblical fashion, or talking to those involved, they addressed the individuals from the pulpit. Once, it was done directly, and once it was done in a roundabout way so that everyone in the congregation knew who the pastor was talking about, but he didn't mention any names.

Before I start making points, I'll tell you about the 50 or so times I did it. I was arrogant. I thought I had the black and white truth and biblical authority to lash out against people. I thought the pulpit was my right to say what I wanted, when I wanted. Uh uh. Doesn't work that way.

I'd hear about someone living together, having an argument with another church member, being stupid inside a committee meeting, or whatever, and I'd make a whole sermon point about it. I wouldn't mention a name, of course, but I'd make sure they'd hear my point.

On one occasion, after the music director left after the deacon controversy, I preached a whole sermon out of anger. It was basically a "don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you" sermon. It wasn't right and it wasn't well received.

You know why it wasn't right? First, because I was angry. Secondly, because if I had a problem, I needed to deal with it in private with the people I had a problem with. I used a bully pulpit to make a point to people and stirred the pot. I was airing dirty laundry that was personal business and I had no right to do it.

Does the pastor have the right to preach on adultery, anger, gambling, etc.? Absolutely. But in the course of normal preaching. Not when we're using another person to make a point. Not when we're showering down the Word of God on someone to lash out on them instead of going to them first.

It's the misappropriation of the pastoral office, plain and simple. It's the abuse of the Word and the pulpit. And it does harm to the congregation and those who have sinned. It doesn't make the situation better, it makes it much worse.

You know what to confront from the pulpit? The enemy. Other church members are not our enemy. If a church member sins, we seek them out and restore them, plain and simple. If they don't want restoration, we grieve the loss and pray for them wholeheartedly. We tell the church to pray for them.

But we never, ever air their dirty laundry. Because we might just find ourselves in their position one day. God help us all when we do.

Great Is Your Faithfulness

I didn't put the video together and don't care for some of the images. I love the song though.