"For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach." (Titus 1:10–11)
On Sunday April 27th we had a visitor with us at Grace Community Church. if you were present you know exactly who I am talking about. She was expressive, loud and hijacked the pastoral prayer.
At first I did not realize what she was doing. I thought perhaps she was just a friendly charismatic Christian who didn't realize she was being a distraction. After talking with her after the service I realized there was nothing friendly about her. This woman was there for the sole purpose of disrupting the service and looking for a way to insert herself and her influence. Her mission was to introduce destructive ideas and to mislead, but her intentions were shrouded in the language of genuine faith. But this means nothing because we know even Satan knows the Word of God. (Matt. 4:6, Mark 1:24, James 2:19) The words of Paul apply directly to this situation. Her words were full of boasting, but were empty because none of it was for the edification of the church or the glory of Jesus. She was insubordinate and deceptive. She was a false believer. Praise God for his protection over us Sunday!
Several in the church said they had concerns the minute she came into the building. If any of you ever have concerns about someone like her, please let an usher know right away. We are making changes to our policies to help prevent such things from happening again. When it comes to the prayer time, we ask that all prayer requests be written down ahead of time and given to me or to an usher who will deliver it to me when I am available.
If you have questions, please contact me.
--Pastor Dave
In retrospect, it didn't seem that she was disruptive enough to have made an issue of it in the service. If she had left immediately after the service, the "friendly charismatic" tag may have continued to have been applied. Although her prayer was out of place, I did note that she asked for permission first.
ReplyDeleteCertainly for us "frozen chosen," (and I'm one of them!), such displays make us uncomfortable. I grew up Catholic where there used to be a hushed reverence upon entering the church. Modern Protestantism has lost that and too many services make one feel that they are in a shopping mall. I think that Grace has managed to strike the proper balance as we remember that God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
Rick I agree. Everyone's tolerance level of expressiveness is different. Mine is pretty high due to my pentecostal upbringing. I agree that though we have been able to maintain our commitment to order, that we are at the same time not presbyterian popsicles. Thanks for the comment!
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