DRAMA ENVY: I WISH I HAD YOUR PROBLEMS

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  (Romans 5: 10)

All across my newsfeeds I see people posting about the haters trying to get at them, the cheating men/ women who don’t appreciate them, the fake friends who gossip behind their backs, and the devil--- the devil attacking them at every turn.

I envy those people.

I envy them because all their problems are external, and external problems are easy to fix. 

Got haters?  Stop listening to them.

Being cheated on?  Leave that fool and don’t take them back.

Fake, gossiping friends?  Stop telling them your business.  And stop calling them “friends.”

Hateful boss?  Transfer.

Dysfunctional, co-dependent family?  Move and stop calling them 20 times a day.

Nosy folks on Facebook?  Get off Facebook.  (If you can’t handle strangers you friended disagreeing with you, just delete your social media profile.)

And the devil?  The devil’s the easiest one.  FORGET THE DEVIL. Focus on God.  Jesus handled satan a long time ago. 

I wish I was one of those people who’s pleased with myself and afflicted only by external enemies and haters.  But sadly that’s not my luck.

My biggest enemy is ME.

Like Paul said, “The good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”  (Romans 7: 19-23)

I don’t wake worried in the middle of the night, afraid of what my haters are going to try.  I do stress over how prepared I am (or am not) to fulfill my part of all the deals I’ve made with God over the years.

I seldom get into a lot of drama with other people.  My headaches come from pulling logs out of my own eye.  My freshest and deepest scars have come from wrestling with myself.  And I’m a tough dude. 

So, I look with wonder at all these folks who only every have trouble because of what other people do to them.  It’s like the strange gospel narrative I hear in some Christian circles: 

We know that the Lord Jesus interceded in history to save us from sin.  But the way they tell it, the Lord apparently came to save them from EVERYBODY ELSE’S sins.  Must be because they quickly say that they don’t regret their old ways.    So they’re unrepentant ----but saved.  Therefore, they must be saved from what other people did wrong.  In their version of the gospel, every saint is a victim of sin, rescued by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

But I don’t read it like that. 

The way I see the gospel, Jesus came to save me from MY sins.  Jesus came to save you from YOUR sins.  We aren’t the victims. 

We’re the villains.

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5: 10)

I have my share of haters, false friends, unreasonable supervisors, crazy family, and spiritual attacks.  I know that you do, too.  But I strongly recommend a fresh assessment of who is the greatest source of trouble in your life.  Is it really ALL men? ALL women?  Is it really only their fault?  Or is it your choices?  Does the problem begin with what they do, or with how you respond to what they do?

But probably, it’s them.  Just them.  Not you, not you at all.

You don’t contribute anything to your own drama.

It’s probably just me.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1: 8-10)

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

#Awordtothewise

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

WHAT? NO APPLAUSE?

 

We like applause.  More and more, as a culture we seem to NEED it, and when we don’t get the public appreciation we think we deserve, things can get real ugly real quick. 

I’ve seen people go clean off on Facebook, ranting for paragraphs about “haters” who won’t like their brilliant status updates.  I’ve watched otherwise dignified award recipients implode onstage because the audience didn’t give a standing ovation.  And preachers----- a preacher who needs “Amens” and doesn’t get them can go from a spiritual leader to a bitter tantrum-throwing baby without changing his suit.

None of those people would’ve been able to stand Jesus.

You see, Jesus wasn’t a big giver of applause.

In addition to the 12 apostles, Jesus had a hand-picked group of 70 other disciples whom He ordained and sent out to preach, minister, and perform miracles in His name.   One day, they all checked in and gave their report.

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” (Luke 10: 17)

Now here’s where you expect Jesus to say, “Well done, good and faithful servants.  I applaud your success.”  But nope.  Jesus replied with a story about the time He threw Satan out of Heaven.    And then He said, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10: 18-19)

Instead of scheduling an awards ceremony and issuing commendations, Jesus reminded them of their purpose in ministry and told them, basically, “Get over yourselves.  Just be glad that you’re saved.”

Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10: 20)

Now, Jesus wasn’t against positive reinforcement.   In Luke 7:28, He called John the Baptist was the greatest of all the prophets.  In John 3, Jesus rejoiced at Nicodemus’ conversion.  A Roman centurion (Matthew 8:10) and a Gentile woman (Matthew 14:28) were among the people who received glowing public accolades from Jesus Himself.

But Jesus didn’t clap all the time, particularly not when what you did was the job God had called you to do.

Jesus rebuked the disciples because likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ (Luke 17: 10)

In other words, do your job and stop expecting applause for doing it.

It’s true that we all need encouragement.  But maybe that truth is less a description of innate human nature and more  description of cultured human weakness.

If the value of your service is determined by the recognition you get for doing it there will be irresistible pressure to modify your work to generate more recognition rather than to fulfill your mission.    You might stop telling the truth because untruths get more likes and retweets.  You might say what gets the congregation hyped even if it’s not exactly what the Holy Spirit wanted you to say. 

So, it’s good for all of us (including me) who serve God in public to check in with our Master and hear Him not clap but say:

Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven!

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

A REVOLUTION OF NOBODIES

One of my Facebook friends posted a question on one of our denominational group pages.  She vented her frustration with pastors and leaders in the church.  And then she referred to herself as a “nobody” in the denomination.   This is my reply.

I'm a pastor, but I haven't been in ministry very long.  I'm not a presiding elder or a bishop.  I've been a CME all my life, but  most of that lifetime was spent as a lay member of the church.  So, I feel pretty low on the totem pole of authority in the church, but I have had a chance to observe some of those way higher up than me do their work.
And here's what I see for whatever it is/ isn't worth.

 

We have

(1) UNSPIRITUAL CHURCH PRIORITIES. At annual conference the reports of many new souls saved get a nod, but the reports of paying financial assessment "round across the sheet" get a standing ovation.

We're taught and prompted to care more for the dollars than for the souls.   And that is what "successful" ministry (supposedly) looks like.

This leads to:

(2)  INCONSISTENT BOTTOM-UP EXPECTATIONS.  From that twisted concept of successful ministry local churches come up with inconsistent ideas of what a pastor should be.   

From the bottom-up, a "good" pastor means something different to different congregations.    Some churches will let you steal the furniture and even carry it out to your truck for you just as long as you give 'em a good hoop on Sunday morning. 

Down the street, the next church expects a leader who can guide multiple community-based outreach initiatives, but turn a blind eye to lay people who treat the church treasury as a personal investment account.

Around the corner, they want absolute integrity but they refuse to do anything to save another soul or add another member beyond the 4 they have.

One town over, they only respond to pastors who cuss out the official board and manipulate the internal drama, and they'll raise a million dollars for a preacher like that.

Which result in:

(3) LIMTED TOP-DOWN OPTIONS.  From the top-down, bishops and elders work with what local churches produce to supply the convoluted and inconsistent demand for "good" pastors.

A bishop may personally disagree with a preacher's approach, but if that preacher has produced the membership and financial numbers that we applaud, , plus congregations loved them; how can a bishop justify setting that person aside for someone who can't produce those same numbers?

And then there's the what-about-so-and-so argument which sounds like: "Oh, you want me to stop because I 'borrowed' a few dollars from the benevolent account.  What about that preacher who slept with the entire alto section of the choir?"

Thus causing

(4) THE NOBODY EFFECT. Watching all of this happen from outside the bar of delegates and from outside the voting majority at church conferences does make you feel like a "nobody." 

You think, "Does nobody else see how crazy this is?"

"Does nobody else realize that we're arguing about minutia while people are starving to death across the street?"
"Does nobody else want to actually learn more about God?"

And conference after conference when nobody else seems to see what you see, you think, "Well maybe I'm the nobody."

Simply reviving that feeling year after year isn’t a viable solution. So we need something that goes deeper than revival.    

We need:

(5) A REVOLUTION.  Revival’s bring back the current state with fresh energy.   Revolutions change things at a fundamental level.  

We need a revolution that deposes the financial report as the most important report at annual conference and installs the review of evangelism as the chief concern. (Oh, wait.  We don’t review evangelism in any meaningful way at annual conference.)

We need a revolution that makes Biblical mastery the non-negotiable standard for every minister on trial/ would-be CME preacher.  And part of that revolution is understanding that getting a theological degree is not the same as understanding, knowing, and BELIEVING the Word of God.

We need a revolution in which the many, many, many preachers and lay persons who just want to serve Christ can stop choosing their words carefully and can speak boldly in the assemblies of the Lord.

The problem is that revolutions are inherently messy and disruptive.  There are always unexpected consequences, and there is the possibility that along the way the revolution will itself become as corrupt as the status quo it wants to overturn. 

Revolution is risky, but we don’t  really have a choice.   
 Well, actually we have 2 choices:

(Option A) Continue this death spiral of decreased memberships and diminished spiritual integrity.  Eventually a map of the CME Church will show mostly empty buildings with a handful of massively thriving mega-churches in America, and probably a vibrant network of churches in Africa that feel isolated from the Biblically inconsistent congregations over here.
At that point, the big churches will break away, the African churches will break away, the little churches will die, and some theology student will write about  us for her doctoral thesis.

(Option B) Revolution.

But hey, that’s just how I see it; and I’m nobody, too.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116