Cutting In (4 of 5)
Series: Seeing Red
James Merritt
Mark 3:1-6
Introduction
1. In one of my former churches, I had a deacon whose wife was actually on the pastor search committee that called me to the church. For reasons that Teresa and I never knew, he didn’t like me from the time he met me. From day one, he was critical about every single thing I did, any new idea I proposed, or any action that I took. In the two years that I was pastor of that church, we set and then broke the record for the most baptisms in that particular state. We went through a period of time seeing people saved Sunday morning, Sunday night, and even Wednesday night prayer meeting (that was back in the day). Nothing ever seemed to please him. He was never satisfied.
2. It all came to a head at a deacon’s meeting we were having just before Christmas. Everybody was in a festive mood. We were going to go out to the shut ins in our church and serve the Lord’s Supper. Being right across the room from me and out of the blue, he lit into me about some things I don’t remember now, but they were extremely minor, extremely nitpicky and extremely wrong. I want to confess that I got angry. After he finished, all the other deacons were looking around at each other trying to find the door. I got up and walked over to him and stood right in front of him and I said to him, ‘‘I’ve had it with you. All you have done since I have been here is gripe, nitpick and complain. It doesn’t matter to you that people are being saved. It doesn’t matter to you that the Word of God is being preached. It doesn’t matter to you that God is moving in a tremendous way. All you care about is that we make sure we are dotting your ‘‘i’s’’ and crossing your ‘‘t’s.’’ Then I said to him, ‘‘If you ever say another negative word to me, one of us is going to be leaving this church and I’ll give you a clue as to which one will. There are a lot of other churches in this town.’’
3. I am not claiming to be Jesu ...
Series: Seeing Red
James Merritt
Mark 3:1-6
Introduction
1. In one of my former churches, I had a deacon whose wife was actually on the pastor search committee that called me to the church. For reasons that Teresa and I never knew, he didn’t like me from the time he met me. From day one, he was critical about every single thing I did, any new idea I proposed, or any action that I took. In the two years that I was pastor of that church, we set and then broke the record for the most baptisms in that particular state. We went through a period of time seeing people saved Sunday morning, Sunday night, and even Wednesday night prayer meeting (that was back in the day). Nothing ever seemed to please him. He was never satisfied.
2. It all came to a head at a deacon’s meeting we were having just before Christmas. Everybody was in a festive mood. We were going to go out to the shut ins in our church and serve the Lord’s Supper. Being right across the room from me and out of the blue, he lit into me about some things I don’t remember now, but they were extremely minor, extremely nitpicky and extremely wrong. I want to confess that I got angry. After he finished, all the other deacons were looking around at each other trying to find the door. I got up and walked over to him and stood right in front of him and I said to him, ‘‘I’ve had it with you. All you have done since I have been here is gripe, nitpick and complain. It doesn’t matter to you that people are being saved. It doesn’t matter to you that the Word of God is being preached. It doesn’t matter to you that God is moving in a tremendous way. All you care about is that we make sure we are dotting your ‘‘i’s’’ and crossing your ‘‘t’s.’’ Then I said to him, ‘‘If you ever say another negative word to me, one of us is going to be leaving this church and I’ll give you a clue as to which one will. There are a lot of other churches in this town.’’
3. I am not claiming to be Jesu ...
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