Dan Holland reflects on when a ‘blessing’ ………… isn’t !
Sleepless in the Manse
It’s beyond strange, pastor Ostrich reflects as he tosses and turns through yet another sleepless night, how much division a ‘blessing’ can cause. Ever since that legacy, kindly left by a late Christian brother, arrived in the church bank account, all manner of strife has broken out. No-one seems happy anymore. In fact, the use of the gifted money is weighing heavily on everyone. Perhaps Ostrich just needs to explain things a little more succinctly. But no-one seems to listen when he speaks!
‘We’ve never had that kind of money and perhaps that’s a good thing’ pastor Ostrich exclaims to his wife, Owl. ‘It brings so much pressure with it’. The church committee finally decided to use the money to fund a building extension. This, hoped Ostrich, was the end of the bother. Little did he know it was just the start of an ugly affair. Owl listens patiently but concludes, ‘there are no surprises here, we are simply seeing the outworking of what is inside all people’s hearts.’
Let’s discuss
He has more meetings than ever. Ostrich is called to regular ‘discussions’with all three ‘church extension’ factions. Worse, one group have now called for a full church meeting which Ostrich is expected to chair – it sounds desperate. Ostrich has no strong opinion on carpets, but, even though the extension remains a building site, the colour of the future carpet is rousing very strong feelings. Probably the worst thing he has ever done, according to the ‘church extension is sinful’ group, is starting the project without God’s blessing. They seem doubtful that he will ever ‘get it back’ without immediate repentance.
Sabbatical?
Owl is trying not to let-on but she is seriously concerned about Ostrich. He’s perma-frowned, pre-occupied and showing signs of stress. He’s trying to hide it, but he’s barely sleeping. He can’t – or won’t – see that placating the different groups now, and being so excessively ‘reasonable’, will only result in greater distress in the long run. He buries his head deeper in the sand. She’s recommending he take his sabbatical earlier than planned, to get some perspective. Perspective! Owl gives a hollow laugh. Perspective is very difficult when your head is a metre underground!
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Dan Holland is a UK missionary with Through Faith Missions (‘TFM’). He wrote “Through the Tunnel – Free at Last” published by PUSH Publishing, as his personal testimony.
Recently Dan has produced two short books – “Caring for the New Christian” and “Growing as a New Christian” (for local fellowships, and for the new ‘convert’, respectively). Links here:
https://christian-publications-int.com/CaringForNewChristians.html
https://christian-publications-int.com/GrowingAsANewChristian.html
The above article, and any that follow, are based on characters highlighted in both books.
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