Here I go again – talking about church:
- Clayton King spoke at our church this past Sunday. I love listening to this guy. He mentioned ‘playing both ways’ on his high school football team. I can sooo relate to that, and I’m just like he was – it wasn’t that I was so good – it was because as a team we were that bad. When people ask me what position I played in high school I have to answer witha run-on sentence.
- The message Clayton was sharing was about defending the pastor. He made some references about how pastors can be over worked and under paid and talked about how traditional, or ‘classical’ as he put it, churches are the worst about it. He referenced some tough situations he’s seen preachers’ families go through and some lessons he’s learned in his own family relationships. He said something like ‘it’s no wonder so many preachers kids grow up to hate church because of what the church people put preachers’ families through’. I can sooo relate to the statements he was making. Not to sound ‘woe is me’ or anything, but it is truly a miracle that my siblings and I stepped foot in church after we were old enough to say ‘NO’ to our parents. Maybe that was God’s purpose for my dad stepping out of pastoral ministry when we were teenagers.
- Speaking of stupid church people. (here’s where the really ‘stupid’ part of this post comes in). It was very ironic at one point in Clayton’s message he mentioned the Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Baker scandals that took place back in the 1980’s. I remember all that crap too even though I was young. I remember my family had just been to the PTL place right before their scandal was revealed (I remember a water park mostly and a bunch of boring church stuff). Anyway, that’s not the stupid part or the ironic part. The irony of Clayton mentioning that in his message was because just the day before someone else mentioned Jimmy Swaggart – at our yard sale. This is the stupid part. This stupid church lady (I don’t feel bad for saying that) was looking through some books we had for sale and noticed we had a lot of Christian material. She made sure to tell us she loves Jimmy Swaggart and thinks he is the best one she ever watches on TV. I was humored and simply let her express her admiration for a man I remember failing big time but I suppose is redeemed by grace – or at least I hope since he is still preaching in the name of Jesus. Then this lady got to a book in the stack titled ‘Purpose Driven Church’ and she started talking stupid. She was saying something about how Rick Warren, the author, is the anti-christ or some crazy crap like that. I was so shocked I didn’t catch half what she said It didn’t make sense anyway. It was probably her vague translation of some off the wall theory made up by a back woods preacher at a Bible study that took place in a trailer park down by the river. I just know she was saying some pretty stupid stuff about Rick Warren that I could never believe to be true based on what I’ve read or heard myself about the man. I wasn’t humored and I didn’t entertain her ignorance. I basically turned my back to her and started talking to Shawna about something else. The lady left right after that thank goodness.
Stupid people never cease to amaze me – especially in church.
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