So, it first came up on my trip to the airport (flew to NashVegas to move Ty home, that's another story for another time:). Tex was kind enough to ride along and take my car home. During the drive we got on the subject of how churches sometimes get so inward looking that they loose sight of their commission. Tex has some strong opinions on this, he went to baptist school from kindergarten through college and he also has worked for several churches. I had similar experiences at different times in my life. And, its not that we were even upset about it, it just gets kind of sad. Had a similar discussion with Log on the drive home from the big Nashty, and talked about it a bit with the wife on the way to Waco for Easter. The trouble is, it is very hard to look both in and out.
We should be looking at ourselves to make sure we are happy with what we are doing, but we should also be looking outside ourselves to make sure we haven't gone off the deep end.
Here is what I'm talking about, and yes I know this isn't something new, and yes I know I don't have the answer. Sometimes, people just get too obsessed staring at themselves. So a church starts off with a purpose to reach the lost and help those who are needy. But before long the focus is on poaching members from other churches and creating amenities for its members. Please realize I am not talking about all churches everywhere, I am just saying that this happens sometimes. So instead of building mission churches, they expand and build more buildings and gyms and other reasons why you should never leave. The first time this bothered me was about 8 years ago when I heard someone from the mission field say they could build the church building and provide a pastor in Guyana for $20,000. The next Sunday I heard about expanding the current church to provide amenities totaling $2 mil. Would it sound different if they said the cost to expand the gym would be 100 mission churches????
The same thing happens when leaders and politicians from the South chastise the rest of the country for their morals, or lack there of. I'm sorry, but the South is a very profitable area for the adult film industry and it still has large pockets where open racism is acceptable. I'm not saying every person and every town is this way, but I have lived in and around this part of the country and speak from first hand experience. The coasts have their problems too, but they are not more or less moral than the South or the Mid-West.
Same kind of thing on the political radio last week. A local station I listen to plays Rush during lunch. I'm not much of a fan, but it was on when I got in the car and I wondered what he was going to say.... When his beloved Republican party made a big mistake last week (the RNC sponsored a trip to a bondage club) I left him on for a few minutes and.....I don't know what I was expecting. Wasn't this a misuse of campaign contributions? Not only that, but it was spent on shady endeavors. Well, was there outrage??? Nope. Crickets. To be fair maybe I missed it. But if you can't see that your side is just as corrupt as the side you always attack, then how are you a credible person?
So what is it? I would throw the word hypocritical in.... But I'm not even sure I always know what that means. Plus I know that I am guilty of doing the same thing multiple times and well..... it just seems harsh. I always thought hypocrisy was something you kind of know when you are doing it. Maybe not. Maybe you just kind of slip into it over the years. Before you know it, you have overlooked all your own faults and start turning opportunities to learn into me vs you or us vs them. Its even worse if you have people around you that enable the myopia. And..... Ok, I'm cutting it off. Feel like I've waded a little to far out there. No offense meant to anyone.
Thanks for the read.
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