Have you ever met someone who organized themselves to death?  Let me clarify: they had a place for everything and everything in its place.  Please don’t misunderstand: this is not a post against a person who is OCD or autistic.  I know some really cool people who are both of those.  I am referring to people who…

Have a file folder for every loose sheet of paper or category of possibility.

Have such a “fetish” for organization that to have one thing go cattywampus sends them into panic mode.

Have lists upon lists and have lists for their lists. 

CONFESSION: I.  AM.  NOT.  ONE.  OF.  THEM.

Don’t get me wrong.  I like order.  When I go home at night my desk is cleared and often ready for the next day.  My clothes drawers are orderly, but not overly.  My clothes are hung up at the end of the day (comes from upbringing and not having much).  And I am okay with the church functioning with some order.  But the problem with many churches (as I see it), is too many are ordered by their order.  To deviate from their “Order of Worship” would throw some people into a frenzy.  “What do you mean Communion was put last instead of in the middle?”  Now I have to stay for the whole service!  🙂    “What do you mean we are not going to say the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ every Sunday morning?”  It is, after all, my only time to pray during the week.   “What do you mean we started on time?”  Now I have to get here on time and not take a few extra minutes at McD’s. Meetings get thrown out of whack. “Wait a second.  Is that according to the by-laws and Robert’s Rules of Order?”  How dare him change things without telling me.  (Pure satire.  Statement made and what they really mean) 

You get the point.  Truth is: some churches organize themselves to death.  Nothing gets done without a thousand checks and balances.  Sadly, many think well-organized church programs, magnificent & well-kept  church buildings, more and longer meetings, better-functioning church systems, or by-laws guarantees longevity and success.   I am not opposed to order, but to be silly enough to think that stuff like that is going to make a dent or change the world is beyond mere cock-eyed thinking.   People’s lives are changed by Jesus…Jesus living in His people, and out through His people.  That will be my focus Sunday.   What can the church do to encourage people to enter the presence of Jesus?

I’d like your thoughts.  I might even use them on Sunday if they fit.   Okay, so I will plagiarize.   😉  On Monday’s post, I plan to share some of my thoughts on what tears people down and says, “Stay away!” 

I’d also like to ask your prayers for some folks.  One, for a new couple that led me to spend some time in the jail this past week.  No, not as in inmate.  😀  Another for Dan.  He has surgery next Friday.   Thanks.