I
want to address the issue of how to have a perfect, problem-free church. King
Solomon gives us great insight into the issue in Proverbs 14:4 – "Where
no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes
by the strength of an ox." I grew up on a farm where we had milk cows,
hogs and horses. All animals on a farm share two things in common – they all
need a trough of some kind (feed), and they all dirty up the trough, barn,
barnyard, and even fields where they graze! You can get rid of the cows and
have a clean trough, but there won’t be any increase or profit. Or you can
learn to deal with the dirt that comes along with having cows and benefit from
the increase they bring. A farmer was asked, "Why did you choose to raise
livestock rather than crops?" He said, "Because live- stock don’t
need hoein’." They don’t need hoein’, but milk cows need milking. Twice
daily. Besides milk, the cows produced lots of other really nasty stuff. The
barn had to be cleaned every day, sometimes after every cow! It was not
pleasant or fun and NEVER smelled very nice. My brother and I kept
telling Dad we had a plan to keep the troughs clean along with other stuff the
cows nastied up – sell the stinking cows! But Daddy wouldn’t do it. He was
focused on the positive, plus side of the proverb cited above – "much
increase comes through the strength of an ox." He was like the pig
farmer who was asked, "Doesn’t the smell of pigs ever bother you?’ He
answered, "Depends on the price of pork." Daddy focused on the profit
the cows and their milk produced, not the dirt we had to constantly deal with.
Daddy
knew something a lot of preachers, elders and church members need to learn. The
church can be a squeaky, problem-free place where the "trough" stays
clean. Just get rid of people – old ones, young ones, and all those in-between
ones. Then there’ll be no need for a custodian and no worries about dirty
carpet because nobody will be around to walk on it. We won’t need elders who "oversee
and shepherd the church of God" because there will be no sheep / souls
for them to see over and give account for (Acts 20:28 * Hebrews 13:17).
No need to seek conflict resolution or do the hard work of talking to and not
about those we have issues with in the church, which is exactly what Jesus said
we ought to do in Matthew 18:15; no need to make plans and struggle with
leadership problems. If we got rid of every member, elder, deacon, or preacher
who at one time or another and in one way or another has added to the dirt and
nastiness that caused a stink, we could do away with the pews and pulpit,
because there wouldn't be anybody left. Will you listen to me? Jesus Christ
knew there was some dirt in the lives of His disciples. He knew who would
betray Him and that all His disciples would (temporarily) forsake Him. Knowing
all that, He still thought it worthwhile to go to the cross and die for them!
He didn’t give up on them because of the presence of some dirt in their lives.
He knew through His death, burial, and resurrection, those imperfect men would
be transformed into faithful heralds of the gospel. Therefore, let us not focus
on dirty troughs or dirty pews (that is imperfections of others in the church).
Let us not give up on each other because we sometimes have some dirt to clean
up. Let us focus rather on Jesus and the increase that comes when we work
together in His kingdom. Now, where’s your focus?
– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
An
internet ad’ showed a T-shirt with this message emblazoned
on the front: "Sometimes I wish I was an octopus so I could slap eight
people at the same time." We live in a rough and tumble world. There seems
to be little if any gentleness. Political leaders at the highest levels of our
federal government chew each other up with unkind words and irresponsible
speech designed to fan political flames among voters. Bullies do their damage
in our schools. Social media is saturated with much that is, rather than gentle
and civil, actually very anti-social! Prime-time TV programming is replete with
violence, both physical and verbal. Daily headlines remind us that at every
level of human society and relationships, our world can be a mean, harsh,
brutal, bruising, revengeful, place.
God’s people are called to be different – but sadly,
sometimes aren’t. Like the wag who said, "Some people are kind, polite and
sweet-spirited, until you try to sit in their pews." Some preachers spout
verbal violence while claiming to preach a gospel of peace. Be that as it may,
Christians follow One who was "gentle and lowly in heart" (Matthew
11:29). Jesus Christ could be bold and aggressive when the situation called
for it. Read Matthew 23 or see Him turning over money-changers’ tables
and chasing animals and hypocritical and irreverent humans out of God’s temple
with a whip in John 2:14-16! The Lord was meek but never weak. His
gentle hands held little children and reached out with a tender touch to heal
lepers most people avoided and never dared to touch. Jesus never dismissed sin
but was always gentle in dealing with sincere sinners who were open to God –
even with a woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1ff) or a
Samaritan woman who had had five husbands and was living with a man who was not
her husband when Jesus encountered her (John 4:1ff)! Gentleness was a
great need when the Lord walked among people. And gentleness is a dire need
today. The Bible calls on God’s people to see to it the church is a gentle
place. "Gentleness" is included in "the fruit of the
Spirit" along with love, joy, peace and other qualities that build and
strengthen human relationships (Galatians 5:22-23). Gentleness is
developed in every Christian who truly "walks in" and is "led
by" the Spirit (5:16, 18). The apostle Paul declares that a
bishop / elder must not be "violent"... but gentle, not quarreler" (1 Timothy 3:3). Elders are to be "gentle-men!"
Preachers (and really, all Christians) are directed to "avoid foolish
and ignorant disputes" and the strife that springs from them. Instead,
"a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to
teach, in humility correcting those who are in opposition ..." (2 Timothy
2:23-25a). Gentle with opponents? Who does that? Christians are "to
speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all
men" (Titus 2:2). Peter said "a gentle and quiet spirit" is
"very precious in the sight of God" (1 Peter 3:4). Many people
are harsh, hard, and hostile in the way they speak to and about others. But our
gentle Savior continues to call – whether you are a shepherd of God’s people or
one of the sheep, God desires that you be gentle as you deal with others inside
and outside the church. God help His church be a gentle place in a gruff world.
– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
Good Shepherds and Good Sheep!
An
old adage says, "There are two sides to every story." King Solomon
seemed to suggest this idea 3,000 years ago in Proverbs 18:17 – "The
first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor
comes and examines him." There can be, and often is, more than one
side to the story. Let’s think about elders in the church form two different angles.
My observation after nearly fifty years in the church is that these men,
overwhelmingly, are sincere and godly men. But it is important to understand
none of them is ever perfect or flawless or infallible (romans 3:23). They
carry an awesome weight of responsibility on their shoulders. These men are
referred to variously in the New Testament as "the elders of the
church" (Acts 20:17) and as "overseers" who are
charged to "shepherd the church of God" (Acts 20:28a). And
while some even inside the church rate or rank neither the church nor the role
of elders very highly these days, elders are called to guard and guide and take
care of the church – a high and holy calling since she is "the church
of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28b). How could
we ever dare underestimate or devalue and show disdain for the church when it
cost Jesus the hell-like agony we see at the cross to purchase and provide for
her salvation? God forbid. The Holy Spirit of God indeed sets the bar high for
those who would serve the church as elders. The apostle Paul lists
qualifications for elders at 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and also Titus 1:9.
The requirements make for challenging reading. God expects elders to be not
just good men but men who are examples for the rest of the church. The apostle
Peter says exactly that in 1 Peter 5:3 where he reminds elders to shepherd
the church eagerly, not "as being lords over those entrusted to you,
but being examples to the flock." Men serving
as elders must set an example other Christians can follow in both their moral
behavior and devotion to the Lord and His work. A man who cannot or will not
stand the heat that comes with these awesome responsibilities ought not to be
in the kitchen!
Let consider the "other side of the story" as
regards the elders of the church. It’s not just elders on whom God lays some
heavy demands! Church members have serious responsibilities toward the elders
of the church. Are you willing to hear them? "Remember those who rule
over you (your leaders [ESV], who have spoken the word of God to you, whose
faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct ... Obey those who have
the rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as
those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for
that would be unprofitable for you" (Hebrews 13:7, 17). Shepherds will
give account for God’s sheep. But sheep will give account if they turn out to
be a billy goat! A good church must have good elders to be all God wants it to
be. The other side of the story is that it is equally vital and necessary that
a good church have good members who choose to respect the role and work of the
elders and relate to them in ways that are healthy for the entire congregation.
God bless His shepherds and His sheep.
– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
The
words that make up the title of this little piece are from an old English
proverb. They speak to us about the nature of time and opportunities that come
with it. Most of my "growing up" days were spent on a farm in Giles
County, Tennessee. In those days hay bales were "square" or
rectangular in shape as compared to today’s "rolled" or round bales.
I learned firsthand to appreciate the English proverb mentioned above. When it
comes to making hay, you literally have to do it while the sun shines! There is
a limited window of opportunity after you cut the grass down to let it dry in
the sun and then get it baled and warehoused in the barn and used to feed the
livestock through the winter. So the phrase, "Make hay while the sun
shines," has come to stand for things in life where the opportunity to do
or achieve or accomplish a certain thing has a limited time frame before the
opportunity passes.
"Make
hay while the sun shines" certainly has an application to spiritual life
and the well-being of our souls. For two thousand years the apostle Paul’s
words in Ephesians 5:16-17 have urged readers to understand the urgency
in making spiritual hay while the sun shines – "See then that you walk
circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days
are evil." The English Standard Version renders
the passage this way – "Look carefully then how you walk, not as
unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are
evil." The next verse follows with this directive: "Therefore do
not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." The Bible
is never brash or vulgar, but neither is it ever concerned with political
correctness or modern sensitivities or touchiness about being
"judgmental" or "intolerant" or to assign labels on people.
The English Standard softens up Paul’s language verse 16 of the
above-quoted Scripture, calling Christians to not live as "unwise"
people but as wise. But the King James and New King James employ a stronger
English word, urging readers to be careful to walk / live as "fools."
The "fools" Paul is describing in context are those who fail to seek
and obey and honor God while they can. In the words of 2 Corinthians 6:2
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation." Among other things, that passage of Scripture admonishes
us that the opportunity to be saved is a finite one. It is a "day."
Jesus Himself was cognizant of the fact that the opporunity to do the works of
God and fulfill His will while on earth was a limited one. His words in John
9:4, preceding His miraculous healing of a man born blind from birth,
drives home the point – "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while
it is day; the night is coming when no one can work." A passage
at Jeremiah 8:20 sums up a sad era in the history of God’s Old Testament
people – "The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not
saved!" Sadly, God’s people had squandered their opportunity ot be
saved. A gospel hymn asks, "Why do you wait dear brother? The harvest is
passing away; Your Savior is longing to bless you: There’s danger and death in
delay" ("Why Do You Wait?" by Geroge E. Root, verse 4). If you
are reading these words, the sun is still shining on you. There is yet time to
learn God’s will and live your life for Him. Now is the day of salvation. Make
hay while you can. Will you think about it?
– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
