If you’re a member of a church, do you find yourself looking at the actions of others?
Any congregation is made up of different people with different behaviors and priorities. As such, you and the others may and will act differently when inside the church.
And while some are focused on praying, others might be preoccupied with doing something else entirely. And if you’re a church-goer, how would you feel about that?
A post on Facebook became viral when an encounter like this took a different turn.
“A lady went to her Pastor and said “’Pastor, I won’t be going to your church anymore.’” The post started, and as far as opening lines are concerned, it is pretty alarming from the get-go. Then, the pastor asked why.
“’Ah! I saw a woman gossiping about another member; a man that is a hypocrite; the worship team living wrong; people looking at their phone during service; among so many other things wrong in your church.’” The member recalled to the pastor.
Then, the pastor said “Okay,” in reply to her request to leave the flock.
It might be an answer we didn’t expect, nor did the member. But before she could leave, the pastor gave her additional instructions.
“’But before you go, do me a favor: take a full glass of water and walk around the church three times without spilling a drop on the ground. Afterwards, leave the church if you desire.’” The pastor added.
The challenge was strange, to say the least, but it was also easy.
The woman obliged and carried out the task to finally rid herself of the other members.
“She walked three times around the church as the Pastor had asked. When she finished she told the Pastor she was ready to leave.” The post continued.
Her task may be confusing at first but the pastor revealed the reason behind it.
“’Before you leave I want to ask you one more question. When you were walking around the church, did you see anyone gossiping?’” the pastor asked after the task was done.
The member said no, she didn’t. Then the pastor asked if she saw any hypocrite. She said no again. Then, he asked if she saw anyone looking at their phones. She said no to this too.
The pastor asked her, “You know why?”
“’You were focused on the glass, to make sure you didn’t stumble and spill any water.’” The pastor said, “’It’s the same with our life. When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we don’t have time to see the mistakes of others. We will reach out a helping hand to them and concentrate on our own walk with the Lord.’”
In life, especially at church, we are often too focused on what the others are doing instead of looking inward.
This lesson can also be applied outside any church. We are too focused on how people should live or if anyone is transgressing anyone when our focus is to answer the question, “How about me? Am I living accordingly through kindness, understanding, and compassion?”
It’s easy to judge others, but when we face ourselves in the mirror, that’s when the “glass of water” truly matters.
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