Reading some posts about how ridiculous the World Vision mess has been lately, I became a little more than ticked off. It is another indictment against the church. To those who feel as I do, know that there are many enlightened, open, and affirming churches that supported WVs original change toward acceptance. Churches in our country that continually display their blatant irrelevance are dying off or marching toward their inevitable demise. I am reminded of a story about a pastor who moved the American and Christian Flags out of the sanctuary where they were never noticed, and if so, only on Sundays. They had become glorified dust collectors that were no longer acknowledged or appreciated. The pastor moved the flags to the foyer of the church where they were proudly displayed in a prominent spot - to be seen by all who enter the church throughout the week. This had been a non-issue and perhaps a welcomed change for weeks- until a spokesperson for a group of well-meaning and concerned church members emailed a THREAT. The email stated that if the flags were not placed back in the sanctuary by Sunday, outraged congregation members would stand up during the service and not sit down until the pastor returned the flags to their rightful place. Of course, the letter also implied that the church could potentially lose members over the movement of the flags - a threat that is standard in letters like this. Personally, Id like to see this...Id chuckle to myself and let them stand there all week if they so desired. Side Note: I have found that group usually translates to one, maybe two people, and three at the most. I am not sure of the outcome, but I can tell you that these types of issues and threats happen all the time in organization; churches, schools, the scouts, and businesses. They come in the form of a person spewing venom, parking lot rants, well-crafted emails, and worse still, ANONYMOUS letters. In most cases everyone knows who wrote the letter as it will bear the imprint of a well-known personality. After a year of conducting one of the ensembles Ive directed, I pushed for a change in the concert attire- moving from the modern pilgrim look to an outfit that looked classically current. I received a letter informing me that I had lowered the integrity of the group and that people would stop coming to our concerts over this detrimental change. After a few more sold-out concerts I laminated that letter for safe keeping. We all have important business that we can do...feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, serving at a shelter, consoling the grieving, collecting home goods for those without... but instead leaders are constantly forced to deal with minutia and silly matters that are time consuming, emotionally exhausting, and have little to do with what is really important. The morning after a wonderful concert, I received an email from an unfamiliar address. It was a note from a concert-goer who was very upset that, out of the centuries of great choral literature, I had forced an audience to endure a performance of John Rutters Gloria. The email was filled with emotionally charged language. According to him, the majority of the sold-out crowd that gave more than one standing ovation felt just as he did. I read it, chuckled, and later laminated a copy to put in my Just for grins notebook that I keep. I once had a women make her way to me immediately after a worship service to tell me how angry she was at the song selection for that Sunday. Apparently, every song sung that day was new to her (including the ones we sang each and every Sunday). I apologized that the music did not meet her exceptions. From there she made her way to the pastor to let him have it next. Listen, she was truly and genuinely angry- veins bulging, spittle landing on my forearm as she spoke...she was filled with rage-- really. I did not know her well enough to know whether or not this was her standard reaction or not. Regardless, I found it overly dramatic and somewhat alarming. Just then, a miracle happened. As I later came to understand it, in the 1-2 minutes that elapsed between her speaking to me and then to the pastor, an outrageously large contingent of the congregation approached her and begged her to speak to the pastor on their behalf to relay the great displeasure of the ENTIRE congregation---over the music. In later conversations with staff members, we found it fascinating that no one else seemed the least bit upset or concerned. People bully their way to get what they want using all sorts of tactics. I It happens all the time. I regret that Ive played that role, too. I think back to the pastor who moved the flags and am forced to acknowledge that in churches there is an unspoken rule that church workers, pastors in particular, are suppose to be nice at all times and in all cases. When a church leader stands up for themselves- refusing to be treated as a doormat, their behavior is often deemed and exploited as inappropriate by those not getting their way. This, too, I find fascinating. All of these situations remind me to keep things in perspective. I need to continue to remind myself that when everything is seen as a matter of life or death, there will be a lot of dying. All shall be well, and this, too, shall pass.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 19:56:57 +0000
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