Friday, May 11, 2012

Voice of Reason Sometimes Unpopular

The priests and prophets presented their accusations to the officials and the people. “This man should die!” they said. “You have heard with your own ears what a traitor he is, for he has prophesied against this city.” -- Jeremiah 26:11

The voice of reason can sometimes be really unpopular, especially when those pushing forward an idea are loud and determined. Popularity has no place in some decisions and yet it always seems to be there.

Do we begin another contemporary church service? When? And will all the logistical issues be worked out? Now the dissension is over whether the committee ever really decided to do it at all.

Well, we didn’t vote on it. There never seemed to be any point in it. This is something that is going to happen unless the church council decides otherwise. Maybe it is needed. Maybe not. No one knows. But it is one person’s dream and he won’t let it go.

Logistically it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Repeat the earlier service. Sounds simple. Except that one of the praise bands simply can’t perform during a later service. Two of its members work at a different church during that later time slot and two others are graduating and moving away. No one has addressed that issue yet.

There are other issues but who cares, right? Just forge ahead and hope it works out. And all at a time when three staff members are leaving. It’s just a disaster waiting to happen.

Or is it? Is this something God has called this church to do? Honestly, I’ve not heard anyone ask Him. Maybe they’ve done so privately but certainly not before or after a meeting on this subject. And when God is not involved, it just won’t work.

There is one voice of reason but no one is listening. She isn’t saying don’t do it. She’s simply saying taking a deep breath, take more time to plan and prepare and postpone it for six months. Unfortunately, she’s one of the staff members who are leaving.

The priests and prophets wouldn’t listen to Jeremiah even though he told them exactly what God told him to say. Because it wasn’t what they wanted to hear. Aren’t we all that way sometimes?

There are times when we need to hear what we’d prefer to ignore. We always need to quiet our own minds and seek wisdom and guidance from God. Rushing forward without doing so just isn’t smart.