Resolving Complaints

It is fairly common that some thoughts about the blog generate an email to me rather than a comment being posted online, which is perfectly fine. Yesterday, one reader wrote to comment on how the blog entry was a reminder of the infighting within Judaism in Jesus' time. We still can bicker in church. Not much changes. It reminded me of a sermon on Acts 6, Ordering Our Lives for Mission which said in part:

One group in the church insists that the pastors are playing favorites in the congregation. Some of the widows are not getting cared for properly and they have noticed that it is always the Gentiles who converted to Christianity who come up short, while the Jewish converts to Christianity are never lacking. For their part, the pastors, who are the 12 disciples of Jesus, say that they need to concentrate on the word of God and they don’t need to get bogged down in waiting tables...

In Acts, the 12 disciples call together those who are called out and they suggest a solution. The disciples say that they need to concentrate on sharing the word of God, but as the distribution of food to those in need is an essential part of what their church does, then they need to assign that task to some folks. The disciples charge the congregation with selecting seven men of good standing with the group who are full of the Spirit and wisdom. The disciples lay hands on the seven and ask God to empower them for service in the church. The word to serve in Greek is diakanos, and so these seven become the first deacons.

Notice what a master stroke of diplomacy. The first seven deacons all have Greek names. They were Gentile converts to Christianity. There was dissension in that group charging that the disciples, who were all Jewish, were playing favorites. The disciples charged not just the Gentile converts, but the whole congregation to pick deacons, and they chose seven from among the underrepresented group to take up service on behalf of the church. It’s the first evidence that if you complain about something, you will be placed in charge of the solution.

The full text of the sermon is online here: Ordering Our Lives for Mission.

Sometimes God lays a thing on your heart not so that you can complain, but in order that you can be part of the solution. Of course, sometimes you do need just give someone else constructive criticism and not take on the whole Christian Ed program in a church just because you thought of a helpful change that could be made. So it does take some discernment. But the thing that bothers you may be bothering you because the solution God has in mind is the one staring back at you when you look in a mirror.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church