I decided I would say something to him. A fellow elder. Transparency is good, as a general rule, with the right person, at the right time.
“I didn’t hear too much from the sermon on Sunday.” I actually meant, “I didn’t hear one thing.” I would have rather confessed anything other than this. Anything. Part of my job is to be a learner, especially from Scripture, and I had failed. To make matters worse, my wife did hear something from the sermon.
He responded, as if in passing, “Oh, I didn’t either.” I was surprised by how casual he answered, as though it had happened before.
“I don’t come to church to hear a great sermon,” he continued. “I come because these are my people, my family.”
Over time, he had grown and changed through the preaching of the Word, and we had also discussed and prayed through sermons together. But his soul wasn’t waiting to be fed once a week on a Sunday. Scripture was lively to him most every day.
That was my introduction to lower expectations for the local church. Since then, I have discovered its wisdom. We have expectations of course—baptism, the Lord’s Supper, theological orthodoxy,
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
