Wednesday, February 17, 2010

James 2:14-17

Ok. So. I'm just a wee bit bothered by THE Church. You know THE Church. The IN crowd. The cool kids. The leadership. The folks who get to decide who in the *Church* is deserving of "assistance" and who isn't.

There is a gal who is a *member* of my Church, but not a regular attender. Not one of the *cool* kids, or *the* group (ifyaknowwhatimean), any how, *Sally had breast cancer that was in remission. Found out several weeks ago that the cancer is back, it is in her spine and pelvis. Through circumstances beyond her control, She is being evicted from her home, her roof is falling in on it & has not had heat for three months (the furnace has been out). Sally is likely going to pass sooner rather than later.

Another member of our Church, a regular attender, not really a cool kid, but a servant of God, with a servants heart, went to one of the pastors of the Church to see what could be done. To see if a special offering could be collected as had been done in the past for others in similar situations. This person was told that at the risk of sounding cold hearted, "no" and that "in these economic times that they could not put the gold bowls out for anyone". When this member mentioned that *Sally would definitely be considered one of the least of these and that their family was supporting her, the member was told their family should be *wise* about such things".

I have to say first off that Haiti is very near and dear to my heart. I spent time there as a teenager on a mission trip in 1985. It changed me forever. I love the country and her people. However, how can you collect thousands of dollars for relief aid for people in another country, when you have a member of your OWN that is dying before your eyes and you are not willing to try and help. In your OWN Community. One of your OWN sisters.
The prominent thought in the verses noted above that really sticks out to me is this:
15. Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed", but does NOTHING about his physical needs, WHAT GOOD IS IT?
Anybody else have any thoughts or feelings on the subject?
*Sally's name has been changed for her protection.
**I am in no way genetically related to *Sally. I AM proud to call her a sister in CHRIST.
***for CLARIFICATION purposes, *Sally referred to in this post is not the same Sally reffered to in previous posts. K. we good. alright♥

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found a link to your site from Dave Woodson's Twitter. I would like to help "Sally" if possible. If her church leaders won't help then it is the responsibility oft he body to step up. I can help that happen. Please feel free to contact me at jamessamuelconlin@gmail.com or through my Twitter @jaconlin and don't loose faith in the church, it is made up of flawed people.

Pamela said...

Thank you so much! I will get with you to see how you can help. It is very heartening to me to see the body of Christ in action, not just in show. I agree wholeheartedly about the church. I am part of the church and, oh my, am i flawed♥

Aine Willis said...

I found you through Sarah Markley's blog. I am so glad I did. Your emotions and thoughts on this subject hit home for me. I have been feeling this same way about my church. It is painful to watch as church elders fall away from scripture. I pray that those in your church and mine are brought back to the heart of God's word. The scriptures you quoted are exactly what I have been thinking of lately.

Perhaps your feelings on this are the begining of a new heart for your church. Don't give up on them ... I'm not giving up on mine.

God Bless :) Aine

Pamela said...

Aine~

Thank you so much for your kind words. I ♥ Sarah's blog! I have made a covenant with one of our elders to pray for our leadership on a daily basis, and that elder in particular. It helps me to not feel bitter (for the most part) and to keep perspective that these folks put their pants on the same way i do...one leg at a time. I believe that satan will use anything to tear the church apart. even who to *minister* to. i think you hit that nail on the head when you said that this could be "the begining of a new heart" for our church. i'm praying thats the case. peace, love & joy to you, sweet sister♥

rjtaylor said...

I have always wondered why some churches don't set up a charity account to help those in need in their congregation. My church has helped out many members that way and I find that it keeps things nice and private. Charity should always start from home and we should not fault people for a perceived lack of preparation. Whether it is their fault or no ones fault, charity overlooks all that and provides.

Anonymous said...

I was recently informed of this situation involving Sally and I am sickened and ashamed of the decision making of this leadership. What happened to communtiy and isn't the church the people? God will not honor or prosper a ministry run by the hard hearted. Nothing we put our hands to will prosper if we don't repent and get off this path. Please join me in praying all the harder for real change and authentic fellowship that is christ centered and relavent. Each one of us needs to examine our hearts and repent of our own self- centeredness and ask God what we should do about the needs in our own churches and not just the surrounding world.

Anonymous said...

I am very sad to hear of this situation and really discouraged. Lately it has been a struggle for me personally to stay plugged in at a church where the elders are so out of touch. I don't understand where we are going if we aren't investing in our own hurting and damaged brothers and sisters. Shame on us if we are more interested in church planting than providing for the needy. Maybe that is why we can't barely pay our bills? We are spending on things we should'nt and then we don't have it for the things we should. I thought we stopped supporting our missionaries so we could invest more resources in MC? So why then are we church planting in Valpo? I am sick at heart over the direction we seem to be going. How much more will God allow?

Anonymous said...

Wow!!!That is all I can say......I have been really hurt by this attitude of indifference by our leaders. What the heck is going on and why does another church have to step in and help Sally? Shame on us. Let me say this we need to get our priorities straight and really repent. Rise up church and take back the ground the enemy has taken. Call our leaders to repent and get off this unholy path. Until we the body take a stand we will continue to watch our church fall apart. Too many people have left, for it to be just hurt feelings or sin we need to wake up and affect change by standing up and saying no to this behavior. And by the way, where is the youth pastor we were supposed to hire? When will our kids count instead of pastors assistants or computer guys? I think our priorities are out of whack!!!!!

Pamela said...

thank you all so much for yyour comments. i have made a covenant with one of the elders to pray for this leadership, and this elder personally, on a daily basis. This elder has also said he will pray for me. i know i am not perfect, i know i sin and fall so short. i also know that we are to love others as ourselves and i want to be part of a church where "love wins" is more than just a catch phrase.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Pam for being brave enough to confront the hypocracy and failings of your church leadership. It's not an easy thing to do, but it is so vital that we ALL remain true to our calling as followers of Jesus Christ. We are called to LOVE PEOPLE. . .something that is truly only a catch phrase at CC. There is a real disconnect bewteen the intellect of the leadership to know what needs to be done, and their hearts to actally live it out. The other "anonymous" post is right. . .the real church needs to stand up to these wolves in sheep's clothing and be committed to love even if their "leaders" won't, can't or simply don't know how. Of course, how can you truly have the love of Christ in you, but not know how to love others????Keep standing firm in the TRUTH because the truth will set us all free. What is done in darkness, will be revealed in the LIGHT.

Pamela said...

let me further say that i do not believe that these one or two men, leaders, represent the feelings of the *church in its entirety. i do not think for a moment that all of the hands and feet would have responded the way this one leader did had they been given a choice. thats where my biggest frustration lay, is in that the hands and feet where NOT given a choice. where not even told of the need. i would just ask that all of the kiddies play nice in the pool. no name calling, mud slinging, etc. i have tried to be very intentional about leaving indentifying names of the people and place involved out so as to be as christ following as possible. i would ask that everyone else do the same.♥ my hope is that thru this, God will effect the change that is His will. NOT MINE. peace

Anonymous said...

I am just sad that over and over again people just leave, and move on to another church! If all the abuses of power were to be illuminated and the sin confronted how much greater could we affect change? Many of us will post anonymous rather than be persecuted and thrown out. We live in fear while the devil has a field day at our church. Where have all the godly elders gone? Please tell me they haven't all left and joined other churches?Come back and speak the truth and stand up for right. Are we a cult that only worships our own self important ministry? I choose to stay because I don't want to give up I will pray for real change and hope for real change. Please join me in this desire. May our leaders hear their sheep and listen. Repent brothers and sisters and examine your hearts lest your children be dressed in rags and manifest in their bodies your sins!!!!!!

rebeccalynn said...

As I write this my heart is really heavy. Our family has been through a lot lately. My father died recently and I understand how precious family is that much more. I cannot pretend to understand what us going on at my church home all I can do is pray. Pray for our leaders to line up with scripture if they aren't. Pray for all of our hearts to be softened and made tender to those in need. Pray for repentance and forgiveness to abound at CCC and most of all pray that if we are going the wrong way that we all have the courage to see it!To our leaders I would say obviously some of the things we are involved in aren't working out. Change isn't always good and I believe we do need to adjust some things. Our children need a youth pastor badly, this is no reflection on those who are working with them now but this should be a priority. Since Josh left things have been a bit stale at times, and this can be a problem when you deal with teenagers and their short attention spans. We need someone dedicated to keeping them plugged in and excited. I fully acknowledge that while I know little of what is going on, it does seem as though this hire is not moving forward. Our leaders need our prayers while they navigate this hiring process and we should support them as the bible tells us too. I don't believe it is wrong to question them and hold them accountable, but we must do so with love. I have been really distressed by all the anger and pain caused by many of the decisions that have been made. Watching many of my friends leave has been very difficult and I miss them. With this tide of people leaving we have lost faithful servants and tithers and we are not picking up the slack. Many of our programs are understaffed and the same people serve every Sunday, not allowing themselves time to worship with their families. We need others to step in and serve giving of themselves to help further the mission of our church. Without more help we will continue to use the same people until they are exhausted and burned out. Our hearts must be tender to serve each other at all times. My prayer for all of us is that we love one another as Christ commands us too. May that love be reflected by our desire to serve one another and give God what is already his. I want to be obedient to scripture and trust God to take care of the rest. I will held accountable for only my actions and I do not have to answer for those of anyone else!May we all understand this truth and walk in it at CCC.

Anonymous said...

Many of the leadership have been asked to leave and warned not to speak out about this process if they want to get a severance package. What kind of "church" would treat its fellow pastors and elders this way? I say you reap what you sow....get ready for the harvest CCC! Many of the practices now in place are also employed by cults to keep their members in control. Read up on these tactics it might save a few of you lemmings!!!

Anonymous said...

First of all, if "Sally" is a member, why does she not attend church? I believe every member has a responsibility, financial and otherwise, to support its church. Second, we may not know the whole story here. There may be a reason why Sally was not helped - it is not our place to judge why the leaders do this or that. I agree with Becky - we only have to be accountable for our OWN actions. I have talked to many of the people who left and not one of them has been upfront about the real reason they left. I believe many have left just because they didn't get their way about something. They will find that every church has its shortcomings -no church is perfect and we are all flawed. One thing that could have been done for Sally is for the body to contribute by word of mouth. I'm sure many would have contributed if they had known the need. It did not have to come to this point where there is dissension, gossiping and creation of distrust for our leadership.

Pamela said...

first off i must apologize to the last two anonymous' as i have been out of town, and then entirely too caught up in other things to sit down and blog, so i did not realize that there were comments to moderate. please accept my sincerest apologies.

In response to the final anonymous comment, *Sally did attend CCC regularly for several years, and as i understand it, was also baptized there. As you all know, this is not her first round with cancer. She has had several other health issues inbetween her first occurance and victory over it, and this diagnosis. She is, however, attending church now.

i am sure there is far more to the story than you and i will ever know. as far as who left and for what reason, again, i'm sure we will probably never know. there is always gonna be two sides to the story. (or however many parties are involved)

my problem with the situation at hand is this: i am an adult, with a post secondary education and a little bit of life under my belt. i have been in more than a handful of churches and have studied the bible. i have been alot more flexible on some views and remained pretty steadfast on others. when the bible says to "Love your neighbor as yourself," James 2:8 Then i do my best to do it. and if it says
"Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" and if we aren't doing it because this person did not give enough money to ccc or show their face in the building enough to suit folks, then i think we have a real problem. i can't find anywhere in the bible where it qualifies who we are to love or who we are to help. last time i checked the church was the body of believers, not the building you meet at once a week for your fashion show and keeping up with the joneses. when i asked why an email wasn't sent out about the need, i was told because that wasn't the specific request. i'm not bitter. i'm angry. its not about my way or your way. its about Gods way. face value is face value.

Pamela said...

FYI!
Definition

Gossip:(n.) The tattle of a gossip; groundless rumor.