Many
years ago, a District Superintendent told one of his young preachers that he
would come to that novice’s church to preach on a particular Sunday. When he
arrived on the appointed day, there were very few people in the pews.
“Apparently
you did not tell them I was coming,” the DS huffed.
“No,
sir, I didn’t,” the young preacher replied, “but they found out anyway.”
So
the DS in his sermon excoriated those who were there because there were so few
of them. He scolded the faithful about the faithless, which is both
disrespectful and counter-productive.
I’ve
heard that done throughout my years—teachers scolding present students and
parents for those who were absent, politicians scolding present voters, retailers
scolding present shoppers… and the list goes on.
Recently
I was thinking about the attendees at my funeral. Most of the people I want to
be there won’t be. They have a good reason. They are dead. I won’t be there,
either, so I can’t even scold those who do attend about those who are absent. Life
is so unfair…
John
Robert McFarland
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