Consider The Worth
Have you ever looked at something and wondered how much it would be worth if it were sold? Perhaps it was a piece of keepsake jewelry or a firearm that has been passed down through the family. Maybe it was an old car or truck that was still in near mint condition. Perhaps it was a book from very early days. Most of us have touched things of value and wondered just how much they might be worth.
Have you ever ridden through a neighborhood somewhere and marveled at the houses in the area. You just have to wonder how much, don’t you? Well, anyway, you get the point. We often find ourselves trying to estimate the value of something.
Have you ever considered the value of your church family? I’m not talking about how much you could get for it on the open market. I’m talking about it’s value to you. How much is YOUR church family worth to you? Is it something that if lost, you would grieve and long to have again? Or, would you just say, “Oh, Whatever. We’ll go somewhere else.”
Personally, I could not conceive of going somewhere else right now. I’m not talking about as far as employment. I just don’t see how I could live without you. I would sorely miss Dennis McCoy “floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.” I would miss Charlie Fields picking on me and me on him. Man, there’s not enough space here to keep on. I can close my eyes and look at face after face and note something I would miss about each one of you.
It is hard to conceive that people would leave a church family over petty things. I have known people to leave because “the preacher looked right at me while he was preaching.” Or, “She passed right by me and didn’t say a word.” Things like, “I just don’t like those kind of songs… and that song leader, well…”
Is a church family of so little worth that petty things can buy you away from it? Do I have such a low value of the group that Satan can wave the bill of a little excitement in this area or that of another place and buy my seat here? Do I consider the worth of this bunch so insignificant that I would sell out to hurt feelings, which are actually my problems, not the problems of others anyway?
Would I be willing to walk away just because there was one or two who didn’t like my preaching or the way I talk? If there was something that didn’t particularly fit my idea of our tradition, would I go elsewhere because of it?
Now, mind you, there are some things which are intolerable. If Jesus is presented as someone less than God, that’s intolerable. If there was teaching that He did not die for our sins or raise for our justification, that’s intolerable. It people here practiced the notion that Jesus did not ascend to become our High Priest or that He would not come and completely fulfill His redemptive work, that would be intolerable. And, even then I would have a responsibility to deal with it in a Godly way and try to correct the problem. My walking away would not fix it. And, how would I explain to God that I knew there was wrong going on somewhere and did nothing to correct it?
You know, it might just be a good idea to sit back and close our eyes and consider the value of this church family. And, if you are reading this and are not a member of this particular congregation, the same goes for where you are. Pull up every face in the crowd. Put a plus on the ones you want to keep and a big X on the ones you want to throw back. But, when you start the process, like it or not, you are marking on God’s kids. I might want to consider the fact that if He is happy with them, perhaps I should be too.
Now there is just one other thing. If I could just walk away, would the problem be with me or someone else? Or, would the problem be with you? Now this is where the rubber meets the road. If the problem is with you, whenever you get where you are going, it will follow you there as well. Sometimes we get under each other’s skin a little, but we get over it. It happens all the time. But, when you consider the value, man, how could we sell each other for so little?