I have always been bothered by people who are too critical of church staff. It undoubtedly goes back to my own experiences in church and some of the abuse I took, but even in the best of times I have ben stricken by the fact that church members often do not seem to exhibit that same sense of grace and toleration that we say the world needs to have.

I enjoy preaching sermons about this, from time to time, often referencing Galatians or Matthew, where people are encouraged to not “bite and devour one another” or threatened that they will receive grace I the measure in which they give it to others. It can be a harsh standard, but I like to think that being a person of faith means holding yourself to a bit higher standard of behavior.

I brought all this up because I was sitting on my sofa the other day, talking with my extended family, when I heard my brother in law say something like “before you say something bad about a minister, think of at least five things about them that you are willing to over look. After all, they're humans, just like we are, and they deserve at least that much of a chance.” What a great thing to say! I told him I'd blog it, so there it is. I know that, in virtually every place where I have worked with people, I would have dearly appreciated people taking that attitude. I think that all of us would like to be treated that way.

It's one thing to say “count to ten before saying anything,” but “think of at least five things you're willing to overlook” goes so much farther. Rather than justify ourselves by delaying our potentially hurtful acts and rethinking our justification for them, this ethic calls for us to totally give things up. More than that, it calls for us to admit that other people might have feelings and failings that are like ours. That's good stuff.

So this leads to what I want to ask you: is there someone in your life that you are struggling to tolerate? What five things about this person are you ready to overlook, as a start to appreciating that this person is human, too? Can you put aside at least those five things, even if that other person cannot or will not ever change them? If we are going to be people who experience grace, what better place to begin?

Photo Credit

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment