Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Given enough time... the honeymoon ends

From the moment you enter a church... the countdown begins.
From the moment you meet someone new working at your church... the countdown can start.

Because it will inevitably happen.

Given enough time, the church will do or say something which will frustrate you.
Given enough time, someone who works at a church will let you down. Or do something regrettable. Or just plain dumb.

Ideally, the period of time which elapses between first contact and disappointment will be a lengthy one.

But the honeymoon will certainly end.

This is especially true the closer someone gets to "the eye" of a church or a ministry.

What matters then are the following three things...

1 - The relationship which has been cultivated before "the incident."
2 - The response of the church/minister. Hopefully full of grace and, where needed, apologies.
3 - The response of the congregant. Will they be able to coincide with the messiness of partnering with an imperfect institution and the imperfect people who work for her?

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