(This has caused quite a stir on the Statesmen Journal Website. Thanks for the heads up Erin V)
Church members were too busy to help needy man
PATTI WARKENTIN
December 13, 2007
On a recent weekend, I joined with other volunteers in decorating our church for the Christmas season.
Saturday morning as I was pulling into a parking spot, I noticed a man sitting on the steps of a church building. He was tucked back under the porch protecting himself from the blustery rain storm. With snow on its way, I felt sad for this man who was bound for a miserably cold day!
I parked and went inside the church. The church I attend is a large church and decorating it is no small task. We decorated eight towering evergreens and 10 smaller evergreens all with lights and ornaments aplenty. Underneath each tree were empty boxes wrapped in colors that matched the decorated trees.
The worship center was festooned with brightly lit garlands. The garlands supported giant wreaths. The lobby decorations needed to be strategically placed so as to not block six wall-mounted flat-screen TV monitors used to advertise church programs.
Also of significant concern were the "IMAGINE" banners that adorn the church, reminding us of the fundraising process going on for a new building.
We had been working for about an hour when I glanced down the hallway and noticed the homeless man standing at the door of the church, just looking in. I don't think he was knocking, just looking in. In the flurry of activity, no one seemed to notice him.
I went down the hallway and opened the locked door so he could come in. He just wanted to use the bathroom. After showing him where the bathroom was, I looked around hoping to find a man that might be available to visit a bit with him. Everyone was busy!
As he exited the bathroom, I brought him into the partially decorated lobby and offered him a cup of coffee, a scone and a place to sit that was warm and dry. He stayed for about five minutes and then left. No one visited with him ... we were all too busy!
As he left, and since then, I have been struck by the contrasts of that moment. A church full of people preparing to celebrate Christmas. The coming of Jesus -- the very Jesus who had time for the sick, the poor, the prostitute, the demon-possessed, the wealthy, the leader, the foreigner, the lost, the hungry, the dying, the broken -- and we were too busy to celebrate His love by loving others.
A church full of people who have TV monitors advertising programs and new buildings promising new programs, and we were too busy to stop, listen and love!
Patti Warkentin of Salem is a working mom, grandmother and volunteer. She can be reached at pattirandall@comcast.net
Saturday, December 15, 2007
What does help consist of?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I am still not sure what to make of this article. I was there that day and I felt like given the time of day and that the church wasn't open he actually did get some help. I felt that Patti helped him. Had he come on another day he would have received another type of help. But a scone and coffee is actually pretty good for a Saturday.
I had a few thoughts after last nights meeting.
1. I liked Scott's take on the 2nd Tim. passage - that being we can view what is Scripture based on if it holds up to the things listed: inspiration of God,profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. My thought in light of this however is - what if some of those passages DON'T stand up to the afore mentioned list? Do we not view that as Scripture(even if it's in the Bible)? - and how does that impact us and how we use the Bible?
2. I also felt like it was HUGE that we in essence said that writings that are not the Bible could be viewed as Scripture. That's pretty big for me and leads me to my next question: If that's what we really believe than why do we usually exclusively study just the bible without bringing other sources in? What would it look like to bring in other sources? Are we afraid of this?
Post a Comment