predictability... losing sight of You... judging...

December 10, 2009

We were watching some people singing “gospel” on the TV news, and we started talking about Elvis and Jimmy S… and about how they started their singing in church as children… and how they and a lot of other people have gotten distracted by the recognition of the world… and then L mentioned how Billy Graham didn’t seem to get distracted by that… and that’s right, he seemed to have had a real gift of humility… but at the same time, I wondered aloud if he ever struggled with the way his evangelism organization was so set up with a pattern… I mean, I know it was a reflection of the times, and of how the “church” “worked,” but every crusade was so predictable, it was so planned and organized, they sent out instructions ahead of time of exactly how to make it happen before they went to any city for a crusade, and every service was totally predictable, right from the songs that were sung, and the length of the sermons, and the “formula” for the invitation, and the booklets handed out to the seekers, and everything… seems like so little was “left to chance” (or to Your Spirit??? And yet… they seem to have had great results…). … Interesting, I know that Billy has passed his “mantle” on to his son, but it seems to me like we never hear about “Billy Graham Crusades” anymore… (But maybe You used that pattern at that time because it “worked” in that time and place???... and maybe things have changed now, and You are working in a different way (that some people don’t like! Change isn’t easy for a lot of folks to take) (but that is reaching a whole lot of other people – including quite a lot of people, even leader-type people, who used to be totally “wound up” into the old formulaic, patterned way)…

Anyway, we were wondering about how that happens, how people (like Jimmy S… and even Elvis) wander away from what they believe in, from where their hearts were, from really walking close with You, Papa… and how easily that seems to happen… from the world’s acclaim, and from busyness, and from just getting caught up in the formula because it seems to work so well, and losing sight of You and the fact that maybe You’ve moved on from that place… and so on… and they don’t even realize it at first, maybe not even for a long time, and then when they “get caught” or “everything falls apart,” sometimes they do repent and return to You… but it seems to be hard to do, and some just don’t… or else they get defensive and refuse to admit their problem for a long time… and, funny thing, maybe they have been at the same time “judging” others for doing the same kinds of things they are doing themselves (like Jimmy judging the other televangelists, back then)…

And that reminded me of those words from scripture: “I thank Thee, Lord, that I a not like this publican…,” and Your sad response to that, dear Jesus,” Remove the log from your own eye, before you try to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye…” … and I realized, it’s so easy to judge… but truly, only You know the heart of another… oh Father, please, please help me not to judge….