I was humming that old tune a few weeks ago when I suddenly thought of that phrase in a slightly different light. “Tell me about it!” we sometimes say to people who are complaining about something, not realizing that we have had the same or worse experience. Or sometimes people say it to us, and if we are as mature as we like to believe, we suddenly stop whining out of sheer embarrassment, realizing that here is someone who has not only had the same experience but to an even worse degree. I often wish Jesus were here to say that to those who complain about his church.
So they hurt your feelings? They didn’t come see you when you were sick, they didn’t help you when you were depressed, they didn’t praise you in public after you did a good deed, the preacher preached a sermon that stepped on your toes, and you don’t like the way the Bible class teacher looked right at you when he mentioned a particular sin.
Tell it to Jesus. No one complimented him on his sermons. They usually just got mad and walked away. Even his own disciples scolded him for insulting the Jewish rulers. They called him a liar, a blasphemer, a madman, demon-possessed, and a child of fornication, none of which was true. He didn’t sit there pouting, he kept right on teaching, right on serving, even people who didn’t deserve it, like you and me.
So the elders won’t listen to you, especially when you think you have discovered something new. They won’t use you in the way you think you should be used. You aren’t asked to lead the singing as often as you think you should, or teach the classes you think you should be allowed to teach. They won’t give in to your pet ideas about how things should be said or done or presented. So why should you bother to try any longer? Why should you keep a good attitude, or do the things you are asked to do as well as you can when you aren’t even appreciated?
Tell it to Jesus. I found ten passages in the gospels where the people in charge “communed with one another” to see how “they might destroy him.” At least seven of those ten were completely different events. Has anyone in the church done that to you yet? Has anyone taken up rocks to stone you? Has anyone nearly pushed you over a cliff? Has anyone even come close to crucifying you yet?
No, but the church is full of hypocrites. Why should I even have to sit in the same building with them? Why can’t I just leave and do it my own way? You know their two-faced worship isn’t acceptable to God, so why must I keep company with them?
Tell it to Jesus. He never stopped attending the synagogues on the Sabbath, and that wasn’t even part of the Law, it was simply a tradition that had begun after the return from the captivity. He still attended the feast days right along with all those horrible people, even the Feast of Dedication, which was just a civil holiday. He never left the work God gave him to do because someone hurt his feelings. He never quit because people didn’t give him the due he deserved. He never allowed the sins of others to cause him to forsake the God who deserved his love and loyalty.
Are you going to let those phonies do that to you? If you do, doesn’t that make you one of them?
…The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 2 Chronicles 15:2
Dene Ward
So they hurt your feelings? They didn’t come see you when you were sick, they didn’t help you when you were depressed, they didn’t praise you in public after you did a good deed, the preacher preached a sermon that stepped on your toes, and you don’t like the way the Bible class teacher looked right at you when he mentioned a particular sin.
Tell it to Jesus. No one complimented him on his sermons. They usually just got mad and walked away. Even his own disciples scolded him for insulting the Jewish rulers. They called him a liar, a blasphemer, a madman, demon-possessed, and a child of fornication, none of which was true. He didn’t sit there pouting, he kept right on teaching, right on serving, even people who didn’t deserve it, like you and me.
So the elders won’t listen to you, especially when you think you have discovered something new. They won’t use you in the way you think you should be used. You aren’t asked to lead the singing as often as you think you should, or teach the classes you think you should be allowed to teach. They won’t give in to your pet ideas about how things should be said or done or presented. So why should you bother to try any longer? Why should you keep a good attitude, or do the things you are asked to do as well as you can when you aren’t even appreciated?
Tell it to Jesus. I found ten passages in the gospels where the people in charge “communed with one another” to see how “they might destroy him.” At least seven of those ten were completely different events. Has anyone in the church done that to you yet? Has anyone taken up rocks to stone you? Has anyone nearly pushed you over a cliff? Has anyone even come close to crucifying you yet?
No, but the church is full of hypocrites. Why should I even have to sit in the same building with them? Why can’t I just leave and do it my own way? You know their two-faced worship isn’t acceptable to God, so why must I keep company with them?
Tell it to Jesus. He never stopped attending the synagogues on the Sabbath, and that wasn’t even part of the Law, it was simply a tradition that had begun after the return from the captivity. He still attended the feast days right along with all those horrible people, even the Feast of Dedication, which was just a civil holiday. He never left the work God gave him to do because someone hurt his feelings. He never quit because people didn’t give him the due he deserved. He never allowed the sins of others to cause him to forsake the God who deserved his love and loyalty.
Are you going to let those phonies do that to you? If you do, doesn’t that make you one of them?
…The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 2 Chronicles 15:2
Dene Ward
RSS Feed