whatcha gonna do?
Many people have said, “Ministry would be fun if it weren”t for people.” I find that so true. I was on the plane going to Salt Lake City on Sunday and engaged a man in conversation. He was a Doctor from Oregon that had attended a board meeting in ATL for a medical lab company for which he sits on the board. Obviously a mover and shaker in the medical world. He politely asked about my work. I started to give him some bull about helping entrepeneurs start businesses. But I decided to fess up as to what I did (although I did hit a little pride and tell him I have a D.Min 
) I guess I thought that might put on sumewhat equal footing (yeah right). Anyway he started asking questions about why to start churches. I gave him the usual spill about providing places to reach people, reaching new generations, providing leadership, blah, blah, blah.
He remarked one time, “Isn’t that tough. ” To which I replied, “Yeah church people can be pretty rough.” We both laughed, but that is the truth. The most unforgiving people I know are church people. It is like they forget what “grace” means once they receive it. The other thing I notice is that we are pretty good at extending grace sometimes to unbelievers but attack one another like piranhas. I confess this is one of the issues I deal with. I’m pretty good with unbelievers and new believers, but give me a break if you have been a believer for 50 years and still complaining about music, carpet, the way people dress, what people eat or drink. Perhaps you need to read Acts 10 again.
So to all you people who have gotten on my nerves this week: GRACE!
