Think About it -- Thank you all!

This weekend, we are with our grown children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The occasion is the wedding of a granddaughter.

There is much joy, laughter, and innocence.

And forgiveness.

Just the total life experiences of my wife, me, and our five children amount to 342 cumulative years. You don’t accumulate that many years of relationships without some bumps in the road. Then add that to however many years of relationships with non-relatives, it adds up quickly.

At the rehearsal dinner last night, I looked around and saw people I had just met, some I have known for more than 30 years, and many more in between. I quickly counted more than half a century of relationships.

Some of those relationships have gone through seasons of extreme difficulty. Evil actions, poor decisions, and surprise trauma brought about much of that difficulty.

As we were eating, I got a call from my brother who told me his wife’s brother had just been killed in a motorcycle accident. She (my sister-in-law) tried to say a few words, but her sorrow was so overwhelming, she couldn’t really talk.

I came back to the table and slowly got back involved in the celebration.

That small assembly of about 40 people was an example of the relationships and experiences any congregation may be experiencing on any given Sunday.

There is a significant portion of our population that cannot handle stress in relationships without responding with violence. They can go through life, for the most part, without ever seeing those who caused them great pain. But then, at a store, a wedding, a funeral, or at church, they come face-to-face with that individual who caused that harm.

Think About it

Often, the only thing needed to turn away the resulting wrath you may see developing is a gentle word. To respond with dominance can escalate something you probably know nothing about. That pain between 2 or more people in your congregation could go much deeper and span many more years than you are prepared to deal with.

And you’ve no idea about the nature of phone calls they may have just received as they walked into the church.

You are always an ambassador of Christ.

That is just one of the many reasons church security is different, and one of the many reasons we appreciate what you do every week.

Thank You, all!