A friend of mine recently got fired from a non-profit organization which is dedicated to winning souls for Christ. My buddy had worked there for quite some time, and he’s vehemently bitter about his dismissal, (obsessed really), and he talks about it incessantly. Even though he’s been gone for some time, every time I see him he begins anew criticizing the organization’s leadership and direction and there is no end in sight.
I’m involved with the organization, (sit on their Board), and have heard both sides of the story. The entity’s side of it is that new leadership came in and made some pretty drastic changes and my buddy and a few other old timers within the organization didn’t like the changes and/or the management (which the veterans deemed to be largely incompetent and unaware of what it took to run that organization).
Some of these old hands refused to support the new management and/or their policies and were not shy about making their opinions known to most anyone who would listen. The new management team told me that they didn’t want to let my friend go, but he was bad-mouthing them so badly, (and in some cases even refusing to follow orders) that it left them no other choice.
I came into the organization at the tail end of the strife and luckily was spared most of the “blood-letting”. There are always two sides to every story and in this situation I’ve heard both. As in most cases both sides have valid points. Mistakes were made by all concerned, (new management and the veterans), but I know for a fact that everyone wanted to achieve the same objectives, namely to further the work of Christ through this wonderful organization. That’s what’s so sad about the situation.
It’s a darned shame in fact that such good hearted people who love the Lord and badly want to serve Him are so angry and bitter at each other to this very day.
I’m privy to the financial status of the organization and big changes were indeed necessary in that arena. Had they not been made the organization would have likely continued floundering right on out of significance, (or maybe even existence).
At least from a financial perspective the entity is now stable, appears to be picking up steam, and heading in the right direction. If they make a few more tweaks here and there, it should be ready to roar right into the next century and do a lot of good by sharing the Gospel with those who desperately need to hear it. Unfortunately my buddy will not be there to be a part of it.
Last Sunday I visited my old church and they have recently added contemporary services. A few old timers and blue hairs have been griping about the loud music and ridiculing its format a little, but the church has added so many new members that the fire marshal told them that they couldn’t stuff that many people in there and now they’re up to three services and my pastor buddy is getting hoarse every Sunday morning.
When I made my visit I preferred to attend the contemporary service as opposed to the traditional. When I went to Sunday school a few of my old cronies in the class asked me (with smirks on their faces) if I could hear all right after listening to all of that loud music, (“racket”).
I grinned back that I could hear just fine and enjoyed it very much – Thank you very much. (Actually it was a Southern Baptist version of contemporary and tame in comparison to the services that I like where people don’t stare at you if you dare to lift your hands in the air and allow the Spirit to lift you on high.)
I don’t know if anyone left the church in a huff when they made the radical changes, but my Sunday school class friends admitted that albeit the music and blue jean attire of the contemporary service wasn’t there cup of tea per se, they couldn’t argue with the success it was enjoying.
My feeling is that God wouldn’t be blessing it so mightily if it was something He didn’t like. I view the changes in the other organization in the same manner. God wouldn’t be blessing it if the changes were not within His will.
I went to a Pentecostal church service with a friend one time and they were shouting, jabbering away in tongues, and running up and down the aisles dancing, and I was beginning to get a little nervous and wishing I’d worn my snake proof boots, because I figured they’d bring out some rattlers at any minute. I nudged my friend with my elbow and chided him that he wasn’t anything but a “Holy Roller”; he smiled widely at me and said, “That’s right and I’m ‘gonna roll all over heaven too!”
I have no doubt that he will too.
Hey I say: Roll baby roll!
Don’t let satan win you over with the same thing that got him booted out of heaven, foolish pride. Find some common ground and don’t demand your own way all of the time, (unless the change is not biblically grounded). Change is sometimes necessary . . .
If you like stability and no change – Focus on Jesus! He is the same today as He was a thousand years ago and will be the same a thousand years from now. One thing we should understand about Him is that He dislikes vanity, pride, and quibbling among His children. He more than anyone knows it leads only to destruction. You who have ears listen . . .
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
August 29, 2013 – Click here to listen