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 We
have heard of a business meeting where some disgruntled members
presented the elders with their reasons for wanting to change
preachers. One offered, "My daughter says he preaches too
long." The elders were not too impressed with that, but
suggested they might ask the man to plan his lessons for a
better use of time.
A
second complained, "But my wife says he preaches too
loud." The elders thought they might turn down the public
address system and solve that weighty problem.
And
the third said, "The bad thing is, the liberals just don't
like him." Well now, that is going to be a bit harder to
handle. Makes me think of a bumper sticker: "Get a taste of
Religion — BITE A PREACHER." The man who devotes his full
time to preaching the gospel deserves better than that.
There
are bound to be good and bad preachers — and some who should
be doing something else. But aside from the
"professionals," and the con-men who think it is an
easy way to make a living, preachers are a pretty decent lot.
With the education, drive, and self-confidence necessary to make
a reasonably successful preacher, a man can make more money and
have a less demanding life doing something else. That is why
those in it for the money usually drop out in eight to ten years
and get into some
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other field.
It
takes a good man Charlie Brown, to go right on doing research,
preparing the sort of lessons you and your elders feel are most
needed, and presenting them to an audience of note passing
teen-agers, sleeping parents, ceiling-gazing gum-chewers and a
liberal sprinkling of crying babies and their struggling
mothers. More than once I have had the strong temptation to
close the book and shout, "O.K., you win, you can have
it!!"
And
then I see the sober, thoughtful look on this teen-ager; the nod
of approval on that parent; and a young mother comes to me after
service with an apology for her child, and a request for my
outline so she can study it when the child sleeps. If there are
problems that fret and discourage us, there are also people who
need the Lord, and are appreciative of your efforts to bring the
two of them together. When you speak of good and bad preachers
— remember the good and bad people they work with, and the
fact that, despite rumors to the contrary, preachers are people.
Mothers
and Dads, encourage your boys to accept the challenge of the
greatest "service" job on earth.
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