Would You Die Before You’d Ask for Help?
Why would a dying person not call for a doctor?
I felt helpless. A man I’d never seen before came to talk with me one Monday afternoon. He asked if I’d help him with his marriage. I inquired about the problem. He said his wife had sued him for divorce. I asked when the divorce was final. His answer: “Friday.” The man wasn’t a member of the church. He seemed to have no spiritual values. But that attitude isn’t confined to non-Christians.
Several years ago I was talking with elders of a church who wanted me to consider working with them. We
They were very honest about their problems. I was impressed with their openness. They mentioned several times in our discussion about the church being divided. They repeated the idea enough to get my attention.
My time was about up because of another commitment. I told them I had to go but I had a question that kept nagging me. Could I ask?
They encouraged me to ask anything.
I said, “You keep telling me about the church being divided. I wonder if this eldership is divided?”
“What made you think that?” they asked.
I replied, “It’s been my observation that a group is the lengthened shadow of its leaders. When you’ve talked about the church being divided, I’ve wondered if this eldership is divided.”
They said they were. They had five elders. Two were allies on one side. Two were allies on the other side. One didn’t take sides.
I asked them how long this had been going on. Was it a month, six months, longer? They said longer. I asked who were they working with to repair the damage.
They said no one.
I asked another question. If the temperature had been 104º for seven days in a row, the air conditioner was broken, and no one in the congregation was in that business, what would they do?
They quickly replied, “Call an air-conditioner repairman.”
“How soon?”
They said, “Before Sunday.”
“What’s the hurry?”
“People get upset when the building is too hot.”
Observation: Why do we think it’s urgent to get the air conditioner fixed before Sunday but if the leadership is broken, we’ll go months and years without asking for help?
There’s a better solution.
Discover and use God’s wisdom.
- Ask for it (James 1:5)
. Work
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“Would you die before you’d ask for help” is tabulated with 69 views, and 70 today – how is that?
Eric,
I don’t know. I think some of the numbers get there when I’m posting the blog.
Good question. I don’t know how the views today could be more than the total.
Many people wait to go to the doctor because they believe it will go away with time. Some have gotten very sick or died following that philosophy. Some churches are like those people. It is not an effective way to heal division and hurt.
Thanks for the good thoughts.
Gary,
Thank you for your observations.
Excellent thoughts as always, Jerrie.
Thank you.
thank you brother Jerrie. God bless.
You’re welcome.
Thank you for reading.