went to a corporate church service today. Sat two rows behind a couple and their son. I'd guess the son is around 10-11 years old. I met them during the "greeting" time. Seemed like a regular kid.
The service starts, and people are standing during the singing. Out of the corner of my eye I notice the mom turn to the son and mouth "stand up". He had sat down at some point during the singing. Who knows, maybe it was cause there were two elderly ladies directly in front of him, sitting.
So a couple of songs later I notice the son, standing. He's shifting around a bit where he's standing, but not touching or impacting the two elderly ladies in front of him, who are still sitting.
Now, mom turns to him and says "Be still". The boy stills for two seconds. Then he just sits down.
Pissed me off.
He's sitting and you tell him to stand. Then he's standing and you tell him something else when he's not bothering or interfering anyone.
Can I peek at your "Acceptable Behavior for 10 Year Olds in Church" manual, please ma'am?
He wasn't being loud, wasn't being disruptive. He was just being a kid. You know, even at that age the kind who sits there and fidgets in the dirt while the P.E. teacher is giving instructions about a game they're going to play?
You know, in a few years she's going to wonder why he's rebelling against her/God/church and she's going to be clueless.
Wake up.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Wow. How convicting. We did the same thing today. Big church - as one of my kids call it. I had to FIGHT the urge to do the same sort of thing with my 9 year old. At first, just out of habit, I told him to stand up as we were singing. I had to bite my tongue when I looked over at him after I told him to stand and he was swaying. I almost stopped him, but something wouldn't let me.
It has been so difficult for me to rethink everything I have learned from a child and let so much of it go. But I know there is a lot that must go. How amazing that the enemy has got us to the point of seeing church as we do. It is all about appearances, checking off the list, getting it right.
Please don't be too hard on the lady you saw today. A few years ago, I am sure I would have done the same thing (probably did). It scares me how close I came today, even.
The anger has to be directed at the enemy - who has so easily convinced us that this is the way to love God(in fact that pretty much sums up the sermon we heard today) Put on your finest clothes, go to a building with other believers, sit up when you are supposed to, stand up when your told, sing the songs, listen, share a few handshakes then leave.
It is amazing how easy it is, in a setting like this, to hide your heart and no one has any clue. That helps explain why the man we saw on the news last year that had been convicted for child pornography was not only someone that we sat behind in church week after week, but also were involved in ministry with.
What a snow job the enemy has pulled on the church. And we have bought it. Wake up is a good way to state it. We have been sleeping way too long. I thank God that He is opening our eyes to the truth. There is hope that the next generation will be free of the baggage that so many believers today carry.
As for me, today was my last "stand up" mouthing. I think I've had enough.
One word, dude: relax.
you're right, the anger is directed at the enemy....I think.
If the lady today was being "religious" about appearance, properness, acceptable do' and don'ts, that makes me think to when Jesus chastised the rule-abiders back then.
That leads to an interesting thought. When Jesus rebuked, He was probably angry at the enemy for causing blindness. It seems also He was rebuking the hard hearts of those folks. Even if satan was "in" on blinding them and making their hearts hard, He was calling them out for having hard hearts.
The comment on "appearance" is dead on. Put on certain clothes. Look a certain way. Act a certain way. Say certain words with a smile.
"Hey, brother! I'm doing good. Bless God, hope you have a good week in the Lord!" And yet the same guy in his life will be struggling with lying, embezzlement, adultery, porn or whatever.
A question that has been on my mind a TON for several months now is, "Where is the discernment of the Holy Spirit as demonstrated at the beginning of Acts 5?"
Discernment like that sniffs out things like the man y'all used to sit behind and minister with, and as in Acts 5 it would strike fear in the hearts of Believers. Leading to some repentance and God-fearing.
To me Acts 5 is how it should be. The Body seems to have lost a lot of its fear of God.
This is kinda drifting from the original thread, but it all ties together:
• appearance vs. Truth
• Truth should include "old school" fear of the Lord
Come, Holy Spirit, do this in our midst.
heh heh, I can't tell if the anonymous comment to relax was for me or the woman in church.
It was probably for me. In going back and reading the original post I am taking a pretty hardline take on that lady.
Stems from growing up that way. Raised in a code-based, "proper" type church, and with a mother who was very appropriate-minded as well and never held back in telling us so. It was never said in love, it was said with a scorn/scowl on her face. The full "prim & proper" treatment.
I always lumped the codified religion I grew up with and my mother's societal (religious?) scoldings into the same hat.
When I began to follow Jesus, realizing it wasn't about religion, or appearance, and that in fact Jesus rebuked those adhering to codified living, I not only became free but also embraced the disdain for that gunk.
I was looking at the situation from the boy's perspective. Being told to do "right", then when you do what you're told is right even that's wrong, even when you're not bothering anyone.
Since it happened in church, the boy might correlate his mom's behavior as "that's what God is too". After all, his mom knows God, so she must know that God also disapproves of the innocent behavior that seems innocent to me. If I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't to my mom, God must think of me the same way.
I paralleled that situation to what I went through years ago, and it reminded of the feelings I had as a boy.
Personally, I don't think you came across too hard. I think the anonymous "dude" would probably have told Jesus to relax. Your words mirrored Jesus' attitude toward religion. I feel strongly that you have Him on your side. And he is NOT and never will be anonymous. Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous stop hiding!
a·non·y·mous ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-nn-ms)
adj.
Having an unknown or unacknowledged name: an anonymous author.
Having an unknown or withheld authorship or agency: an anonymous letter; an anonymous phone call.
Having no distinctive character or recognition factor.
Post a Comment