This morning while I was playing with my son I noticed a very strong smell hovering around him. No matter where he went in the house the fowl smell followed him. Having an 18 month old I knew exactly what it was...you guessed it, it was a dirty, stinky, poopy diaper. At this point I had two options, option one allow my son to continue to stand around in his poopy diaper or option two pick him up and change him. Option one produces a very irritable and unhappy baby while option two produces a very content and happy baby.
It amazes me how my 18 month old son understands that a poopy diaper is a bad thing and it makes life miserable.Only God can use a moment like this to teach me a major life lesson. The reality is life is filled with poopy moments. I realize that many Pastors that blog like to keep things positive which for the most past I agree. The problem with taking this stance
all the time is that when the crap hits the fan every body acts like nothing is wrong
(either because we don't want to face the crap or because we don't want to offend anyone) while standing in waist high poop! Whether the "mess" is in our lives or churches it doesn't help our families or churches to totally ignore the "mess" all around us. The sad part is that many of us have gotten use to living and even worshipping in waist high poop and find nothing wrong with it.
Let me take this a step further...what is poop? (sorry about the poopy talk but you got to admit it's a great analogy:) It's left over waste that our bodies don't need. Because God is such an amazing Creator He created our bodies with the ability to distinguish the difference between substance (the good stuff) and waste (the bad stuff). Substance keeps us going strong and healthy and waste is the toxic material that can do some serious damage to our bodies if we don't get rid of it.
So how does this "weird/funny" analogy apply to our lives and churches?
We can't be okay with wallowing in waist high poop. A mediocre mindset is poop, unforgiveness is poop, resentment is poop, bitterness is poop, a religious attitude is poop, legalism is poop, SIN is poop, you get the idea.
Keeping things positive is a wonderful idea especially since we live in a very negative and sarcastic world, but as leaders and Pastors we can't be afraid to help people get out of their "mess." I've met too many Pastors who love using the "keeping everything positive" statement just because they don't want to get dirty. Let's be honest MINSITRY IS MESSY! We're fooling ourselves if we think throwing a lifeline from the pulpit will help people become the men and women God created them to be.
So if you're a Pastor stop thinking that if you ignore the "mess" all around you that somehow it will all disappear. As leaders and Pastors we should strive to keep things positive but we must be ready and willing to roll up your sleeves and clean up. A lifeline is okay but what people really need is someone to be a life guard willing to jump in and help them out of the crappy situations of life. My point is that when we REFUSE TO STAND IN POOP WE ARE MOVING FORWARD!
My name is Gabe Trevino and I REFUSE TO STAND IN POOP!!!
Just wanted to remind all you DAGer's out there to come and join us at the church at 9pm as we countdown to 2009! There will be amazing worship, an inspiring message, breakfast, a family movie and of course prayer & communion at midnight followed by fireworks! For those of you reading this that are not a part of DAG we invite you to come and enjoy the evening with us.
