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Focus on the Trunk of the
Tree During Times of Crisis in the Church
Eric V.
Snow, sermonette notes, 8-14-2010, Ann Arbor, Michigan, UCG
Would you
want to live with a nocturnal predatory, carnivorous female feline? Make offer of cat, “Maggie”: Friendly (will sit in lap, meet with
strangers), extra furry, “fixed,” litter box trained, indoors cat, has front
claws. Due to Yndira’s moderate allergy.
Now,
speaking of adjustments to marriage
. . .
Before
Yndira came to live with me, I had to prepare my place for her in advance. For example, I had to buy new furniture and
get rid of old furniture. I also
realized that I had to unload all my boxes of old Church of God magazines and
newspapers. After all, most of them I
never looked at and didn’t use actively.
I successfully found a new “home” for them: I shipped them to someone’s home in Virginia. But what made it easier for me to let go of
this collection? I also realized the
minutiae of the Church of God no longer interested me much. I see no need to keep so much documentation
about long, running arguments about relative trivialities or petty doctrinal
disputes.
S.P.S.: During times of perceived crisis in the
church, let’s focus on the “trunk of the tree” truths, not trivialities.
Unquestionably,
our church organization now has a crisis.
But this dispute is about matters of minor importance compared to the
doctrinal dispute that convulsed our church 15 years ago. The present problems don’t concern doctrine
primarily. They originated in
administrative matters, such as the location of the home office and how much to
spend on training new pastors versus preaching the gospel using the media. True, it becomes more serious to the extent
some advocate returning to a system of one-man rule or letting a small group of
men have practical control of running the church. Then it’s a dispute about church government or governance.
So then, how
should we react emotionally during these problems? I have 2 main points today.
1. If we focus on what’s more important, then
we will feel less angry, agitated, and anxious.
Jonah
4:8-10
Jonah got
much more mad about God’s destroying a plant than he would have been had God
destroyed all the people and animals in a large city.
One elder’s
point: People as upset over these
present issues as they were over what was in dispute 15 years ago. But the dispute then concerned a matter of
salvation: Was the Old Testament law in
four critical areas (the Sabbath, the Holy Days, tithing, and clean/unclean
meats) still binding on Christians?
What’s the dispute today about?
It’s mainly about such administrative matters as where the home office
should be, how this church organization should spend its money (training
pastors vs. preaching the gospel in the media), who should have won certain
elections to the council of elders, how certain people made certain decisions,
etc. These disputes have produced a
spirit of slander and accusation that’s much worse problem spiritually
than the underlying issues are. (Mr.
Kilough’s sermon)
2. Let’s focus our time and energy on higher
spiritual priorities instead of lower ones.
Let’s avoid
acting like the Pharisees.
Matt.
23:23-24
They
majored in the minors. They made
mountains of molehills. They wasted a
lot of time while carefully tithing on small plants in their gardens. Similarly, it’s a waste of time to visit
lots of slanderous, gossipy Web sites, such as in Facebook, about the church’s
present crisis. Sure, we should keep
ourselves informed about the basics. We
should be aware about what Mr. Luker and the Council of Elders officially
say. But it’s a poor use of time to
chase after rumors and gossip on the Internet.
It would be much better use of time to read one of the church’s booklets
or magazines instead. Sure, let’s pray
and even join in the church-wide fast that’s been announced for this coming
weekend. But let’s also remember that
no one’s salvation is at stake concerning the substance of these issues.
Stephen
Covey: “The main thing is to keep the
main thing the main thing.”
Matt.
12:1-11
Not
“harvesting” grain on the Sabbath, but casually taking a snack while walking
through a field. Pharisees would get
excited over trivial or perceived violations of the Sabbath while letting much
bigger issues slide by. The general
welfare of people’s lives was less important than avoiding the perceived
violation of trivial applications of God’s law about the Sabbath.
Apply the
general principle of Cardinal de Retz (1613-1679): “This maxim so necessary for princes—‘always to sacrifice the
little affairs to the greater.’”
So in
conclusion:
During this church’s present administrative crisis, let’s focus on what’s truly important spiritually instead of being distracted by petty details. Then we will feel less worried and use our time and energy better. By focusing on the trunk of the tree truths, we will avoid majoring in the minors and making mountains out of molehills.
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