Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
@#$%
@#$%
I've often
wondered why people get so upset about stupid stuff.
You know what I
mean; and I'm not cataloging lest I pick your/my/our/their favorite stupid
thing that triggers so much...
With a world at
war, nation in decline, so much meanness and madness and misery, and a
Presidential election featuring a blowbag, buffoon, bourgeois, and boy, you'd
think people would/could differentiate the important from the incidental.
Too many
won't/can't.
Why?
Is it pride,
prejudice, control needs, sick pathologies, or...?
Sure, all of 'em
are a part of it.
But I've never
felt any of the aforementioned was/is enough for people to go postal,
apoplectic, irregular, irascible, and irreconcilable.
Then it hit me;
and you can decide if "it" was inspired or indigested.
Lots of people
freak out over stupid stuff because they can't handle the important stuff.
The stupid stuff
is in reach of their pride, prejudice, control needs, sick pathologies, and...
@#$%
"It"
hit me after preaching today.
I mentioned how
burying a 22 and 42 year old this week puts things into perspective.
A woman who I'd
never met before came up and wanted to argue with me about a sign that went up,
then down, and then up again as
if the Kingdom rises and falls on such...
Sigh.
I just can't get
that upset about...when compared to a young man who dies in a tragic car
accident or mom of a 9 and 10 year old who goes home to Jesus after battling
cancer for five years.
I can't even
muster up any indignation toward the purveyors of the pathetic.
I just say
nothing in a Titus 3:9-11 kinda way.
Expending
emotions and energies on stupid stuff is, uh, stupid.
I know my lack of
concern for stupid stuff offends some people; but stupid stuff just seems so,
uh, stupid.
@#$%
Psst.
Stupid is a
Biblical word.
It's often used
to describe stupid, uh, stuff.
So if you've got
a problem with references to stupid stuff being, uh, stupid, take it up with
the Biblical authors and their inspiration.
@#$%
I've been alive
for as long as I can remember.
If that doesn't
make sense to you, check out Revelation 3:1-6 before continuing.
It's a born anothen thing.
Anyway, I'll
never forget Tony observing, "Some people pray, 'And if I die before I
wake...' Some of 'em need to pray, 'And if I wake before I die...'"
People who are
awake don't sweat the stupid stuff because they've got more important things to...
@#$%
Granted, like
that lady who accosted me after worship about the sign, there are people who
think what I think is stupid is really, really, really important.
O.K.
Buy or sell.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe liturgies
and signs and carpet color and oil or wax candles or organ versus Fender or
vestments or gravy rags aka neckties or Robert's Rules or brass plaques or the
inane bigotries of Sister-Bertha-better-than-you or...are really, really,
really important and not as stupid as I think.
Maybe I should
show more concern and spend more time and exhaust more emotions and energies on
that kinda stuff than gospeling, visiting people in the hospital, spending time
with the grieving, and...
Nah.
The more that I scratch the surface of
my relationship with Jesus, the more I believe I'm called to move away from
that kinda religion about Jesus to a relationship with Jesus on matters that
really, uh, matter here and now and, uh, forever.
@#$%
Blessings and Love!
11 comments:
Amen,brother! You just scratched the surface of the "stupid'stuff that distracts,and destroys. The world is in chaos, people are dying in Syria, and the church is.....
Dear Bob,
I know exactly how you feel; but you DID send some of us recently that e-mail pointing out the issue from someone. That's why I responded.
The last thing that I want to do is to try to change you.
I will never forget (and mention often) that Church that several years ago, who said that if they didn't get you (and your honesty) they did not know what they were going to do!!
My dear student and friend, John Winterbotham, who was in the Outlaws Motorcycle gang, (he said you fight your way in and you have to fight your way back out) and who can recognize a phony a mile away--was so impressed with your new book. He was going to write a review for you!
Then it hit me; and you can decide if "it" was inspired or indigested
A better way to say this:
if it was inspiration or indigestion
That way it reads better and even speaks better.... IMHO -- besides, I am not sure that indigested is an actual word.
WRP,
I make up lots of words, friend.
I usually use "the Holy Spirit or that pepperoni pizza you ate last night"
Good one!
Can there ever be anything more stupid than the "color of the carpet in the sanctuary" and then the cloak and dagger installation before anybody realized what was going on?
Bob, you must love Jesus a whole
lot to stay in the ministry this long !! You'd probably get more
love from people making hoagies at Subway than from some
parishioners.
Saw your piece this AM . . . trying to fight off a cold . . . Here is my relevant experience:
Had a big event all day yesterday (500 Jews and a US Ambassador), so I drove 30 miles to make a 6PM evening service where I really love the Pastor.
To my sad discovery, he no longer preaches Sunday night services . . . to make it worse, the 20-something worship band played contemporary music which the lead singer destroyed, singing every other note as nasaly flat as he could.
You know I sing classical music . . . It made my teeth hurt, my eyes water . . . It killed my worship experience because it was so loud -- so bad -- I couldn't even function.
So, I talked i earnest to one of the sound guys. I gave him the name of a great voice coach. I tried to be loving a positive. I thought "this is not about you, its about doing out utmost for His highest" in crafting an uplifting worship experience for all those seekers who come to this church service.
It is about discernment not complaining. I had to stop and ask myself if this was worth the effort . . . or if it was my own issue. As close as I might actually get to humility?? OMG!
I would think if people did that before complaining, they would complain less.
Be blessed . . . I need to take my vitamin C now.
Bob,
Thank you for this message today. It puts things back in right perspective. I suppose that's why there are committees..to handle these unimportant, day to day things. But we...we must be about our Father's Business! There is no time for silliness or stupid stuff any longer. I'm with you!
You ask: I've often wondered why people get so upset about stupid stuff.
The answer:
>>>>> The fight is so fierce because the stakes are so small.
Oh, another thought...I was thinking the past few days about Moses. He was trying with all his might and strength to get a rebellious, proud, stubborn, complaining and vicious people out of slavery and into the land of their inheritance. I'm believing and asking God for the next generation of believers - the Joshua's and Caleb's who say "we can, we will, we are able."
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