Big Words and The Lynch Mob

So we had a congregational meeting at church to discuss Danny Mercer and whether to invite him back for a second interview or not. This meeting was so derailed, so hijacked by individuals of self intrest I saw it as a sincere confirmation of why I abhor such meetings.

"We should not hire him because he homeschools his children."
"We should not hire him because he has a missional theology and won't explain what a missional theology is."
"We should not hire him because someone in Mass. says he was overwhelmed by the challenges of his previous church."
"We should not hire him because he is an introvert."
"We should not hire him because the last minister didn't do hospital vists, home visits to the elderly, and he did not say he was planning to do those things either."
"We should not hire him because..."

The reasons were numerous, some legitimate concerns, but most simply shallow and unfair. The attack on the commitee was just as harsh and scathing. The process was wrong, The commitee was deceptive, There was not enough time to get to know him. On and on the lynch mob tarred and feathered those in their path.

As I sat there listening to the corrosive dialouge of the congregants I thought back to the lyrics of a song by Casting Crowns,

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?

The caustic stench of each individuals oretic goals had filled the air of this meeting. The body of Christ was not reaching beyond itself, it was not healing a broken world, it was not teaching the precious message of redemption, it was not feeling the challenge to go: instead the body of Christ sat and squabbled over process, personality, and educational preference.

WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!!!!!!

We must be salt and light. We must bring the precious message of hope to those in need. We must NOT think of ourselves more highly than ought. We must not place our needs, our wants, our partiality on the altar of self idoloatry. Doing better is living into the the pursuit of becoming a living sacrifice. Doing better is to hunt for oppurtunities to move outside the walls of our buildings, outside the walls of our comfort, outside the walls of our foolish flesh and touch the proverbial lepers, tax collectors, and prostitutes of our world with the passion of Christ; that passion that called us the day we wept as broken vessels in need of a passionate God.

WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!!!!!!