For the 3 of you who care to know where my last post was heading, here it is. I left off saying the following:
Little dogs are lot like timid believers, a lot like scared Christ followers. And groups of little dogs are a lot like little groups of inward focussed Christians. They want to run with the big dogs but hey are too scared. They want to see God do great things in their midst but their faith is too small. They long to do great big things for God, but when they look in the mirror all they see is a little dog, not the God who made them standing right behind them. When they go to battle they think they’re going it alone, they don’t realize the God of the universe is right there with them. And so they live little lives. And while that’s sad enough, sometimes they do something far worse…
Tomorrow I’ll tell you what that is.†
What do they do? They lash out! They are so jealous of what they see happening in other people’s lives that rather than praising God for what He’s doing through others, they seek to tear it down. They are living defeated and insignificant lives by choice, but they seldom stop there.
What could be worse than living small and insignificant lives?
Encouraging others to live that kind of life with you, that’s what. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Misery loves company?’ Well, small minded people love company as well. It makes them appear bigger than they are—tougher, more significant than they are. I guess the theory is that a whole lot of small minds might eventually equal on average sized mind. Who knows?
And it usually doesn’t matter much except when godlypeople get caught in the crossfire.
Every now and then I see it and I’m faced with a choice. Do I try and say something to the small-minders or do I just let it run the same sad course? The compassionate side of me wants to grab them and get their attention long enough for them to see the damage they do to others when they slander and gossip about the great things God is doing in and through the big dogs (not physically, but propped up through their reliance on God). But the logical side kicks in and reminds me that they never listen. They can’t hear anything over all the yapping. Have you ever heard a little dog yapping incessantly? The decimal level is roughly the equivalent of a 747 getting ready to take off—only a wee bit louder. It’s useless to try and talk sense while that’s going on. So you wait. But while you wait for the yapping to die down people get hurt.
I’m telling you, it’s a dilemma!
It happened again this week as I heard of some hurtful people settling in at yet another church ready to do the same thing they’ve apparently done at countless churches for years—yapping. Undoubtedly, when the dust settles and everyone sees things clearly the pattern will be the same. And I’ve tried to help many times before so I might sit this one out.
I just hope someone else has the courage to stare them down. The worst thing that can happen is that they pee themselves. The best?–They repent and start to help build God’s kingdom rather than tearing it down.
If not? Well it’ll be their puddle, they’ll have to swim in it.