Lets Stay Focused

As a pastor I have heard a lot of complaints about a lot of different things. And as a pastor I do my best to keep an open mind and allow people to share their complaints and I try to do my best to allow people to share without trying to impute my opinion especially when I have one of a different opinion. I have heard complaints over music, over preaching style, over bible translations, over drinking coffee or water in the church, about using the church for the public to use, over how could I marry people that are living together and have children together already, about how can people come to church in jeans and a shirt, this is to name some of the ones I’ve heard on more than one occasion(most of these I have heard at my prior church) I have heard a lot of people complain about a lot of stuff. And on an occasion I have been told because these complaints they were leaving the church or if it didn’t change there were leaving the church. As a pastor when you hear that it breaks your heart. You know what though? Let me tell you what I have never heard. Never, not once in my 6 years of pastoring have I heard someone say, “Pastor I am leaving the church because people aren’t getting saved.” No one has ever approached me and said, “Pastor if more people don’t start to get saved then I am out here.” I also have never heard people come to me and say, “Pastor I am leaving the church because people just are not being changed.” No one has ever said, “ I am out of here because people in this church are not becoming more like Christ.” And I wonder why? I wonder why we get so excited about the stuff that doesn’t matter? I wonder why we get so emotional and so focused on stuff that when we die isn’t going to matter at all to God but on the stuff that will matter we just are quiet and show no emotion. Why is it we will complain and actively protest on lets say, what people wear to church but when it comes to sharing Jesus Christ to the neighbor or co worker we never say a word. Why is it people are going to hell and that just doesn’t faze us like it does when the carpet got dirty. Why is it we can be vocal and opinionated when we it comes to this stuff but when we are in a Sunday morning church service we rarely are moved by worship we sit or stand and we sing with frowns on our face. We hear the word of God preached and rarely shout out amen in agreement. Why is it when it comes down to the things that matter we have become emotionless, unconcerned, un passionate but for other stuff we are very emotional, very passionate and very concerned. Why? I don’t know the answer do you?