Grammar is soooo important.
My journey to find a new church home was a tedious task. I went past and to all kinds of churches. I went to traditional services, contemporary services, exciting services, dead services, and everything in between. Before I started my search I was under the impression that it would be an easy fit. I figured I know God, churches surely know Him, so there's not really much else to it. I was WRONG!
As a visitor there were certain things that caught my eye....or turned my stomach...or didn't touch me in any way which was the worst of all. Sometimes the preacher was really good, but the choir just couldn't get me there. Other times the music was sent personally from God, but I couldn't tell who "called" the preacher or what he/she was exactly "called" to do. There are several other things that I looked for or missed, but I could go on and on about that forever.
One day I walked into a church that I knew was MY church. I was greeted, made to feel comfortable, the music was moving, and the preacher worked the Word like a master. I had no doubt that I had found my new church home. I went there for a month or so just to make sure I wasn't being tricked and once I felt like there was nothing fake about the church I took the step of joining.
It was all I could hope for! There was a large celebration because I joined and I filled out a few papers and was told what I needed to do. Stay faithful, pay a determined amount for assessments, learn all I could about the church and God, be involved, and go to the new members class. After a couple months I was sure that I found the right place for me.
At my second new members meeting something very interesting happened. We had discussed the role of the various elected boards of the church and we talked about a few of the ministries and then the facilitator asked, "Did you new people sign the least?" That hurt me because I really loathe the destruction of the English language. For me, it's a major turn off and makes me question how serious or how worthy a leader is of my follow. I held my peace and waited until the meeting was over to approach him.
I was a little bit nervous to question a leader since I was a new member, but I was reassured by his disposition and heartfelt desire to help me out. Here's our conversation.
"I'm really enjoying the church and I feel welcomed here. Thanks for accepting me with such open arms."
"You are more than welcome. As our membership grows, so does our ability to reach more people. Will you be telling anyone else about us?"
"I sure will! Other people need to come."
"Well what can I help you with because I know they are about ready to lock up for the night."
"Ummmmmmmm....."
"Go ahead son. It's ok to say what's on your heart."
"Well I was listening to everything tonight... at the end of the meeting you asked us if we had signed the least. My mom was an English teacher and that just kinda got under my skin. It also confused me because we had already joined and I didn't know exactly what kind of lease you were speaking of. I mean do we have another financial obligation or is this a spiritual lease that we are signing with God? I'm just a little confused."
He laughed and said, " I didn't misspeak."
"I'm lost. I'm completely lost."
"This is a great church. We have a beautiful structure, the people are happy, the choir is great, and the church is growing. There is a way that we do things here so listen carefully. At OUR church, we keep everybody happy by doing the least we can. Our ushers are happy because they do the least amount of work they can when it comes to making people comfortable. They'll greet you, but that's about it. Our choir is happy but that's because we don't demand that they come to practice, we let them do the least amount of practice to get by. Now they are blessed with good voices so why put the extra demand on them? The people are happy because we don't keep them here long and we don't ask them to do anything through the week. The least they can do is come on Sunday and that's good enough for us. Our officers are elected but they don't really have to do anything after that. They have meetings, but those are just times where they get together and chat a little. The amount of money that we ask the members for is just enough to pay all the bills. Our preacher?... oh he's happy because he does the least he can too. He doesn't have to visit or counsel or do revivals. He can just come on Sunday. You understand what I'm saying? The greatest part about our church is that we do the least. As a new member, I need you to buy in and go with the program. That's why I asked if the new members had signed the least. I didn't misspeak."
The truth about it is, if the least you could do was good enough for God, then He wouldn't have blessed you with the ability to do more.
