Amazing Grace and Haters

This post will be a bit of a personal rant, so I apologize in advance.

That said, I shall now continue!

Our family attends what we consider to be the most wonderful church on earth (that's how it should be, right?) We are part of a large congregation thus earning a spot in the "mega church" category (if you must categorize) Never the less, it doesn't "feel" like a mega church. People there, as a whole, are friendly and easy to get to know. I like to refer to it as a "big church with a store front atmosphere."

Oddly enough, I don't care much for crowds and avoid them in most situations. By the grace of God, we normally sit up front which makes it possible for me to remain fairly oblivious to the activity of the masses behind me.

On occasion though, we are bumped to seats further back in the crowd. The last three times this has happened have proven to be disturbing and eye opening experiences.

Let me back up a little. Before each service I actually pray about our seats before we enter the sanctuary. I believe that even something as trivial as where we sit is important. Nothing happens by coincidence! In the past I have met some wonderful people who have become close friends simply because we ended up sitting next to each other during church. Those sorts of "God-incidences" are wonderful!

Now, back to the disturbing, eye opening stuff!

A couple months ago on a Sunday morning, my family was seated in a different area, still close to the front but to the right of where we normally sit. I smiled and nodded as I lowered myself into the seat beside a middle aged lady and two other females who appeared to be her daughter and grand-daughter. All three of them, including the grand-daughter who looked to be about eight years old, returned my smile with icy stares.

"O.K.! This should be interesting." I thought and reminded myself that nothing happens by accident.

We had a few minutes before service started, so I introduced myself to the middle aged lady. She obliged my offer of a handshake with all the enthusiasm of a stone statue.

I felt like I was sitting by three big blocks of ice!

My intuition often picks up on the emotions of others. I think that's part of the reason I don't like to be in crowds. I feel bombarded and overwhelmed by it sometimes. That morning was definitely no exception.

Sometimes people come to church with a lot on their minds. Maybe they've just lost a loved one, or have gotten bad news about their health. They may be carrying a burden that seems too heavy to bear, and that causes them to appear withdrawn or cold toward others. People who are in those kinds of situations rarely realize they are giving that impression and will usually respond favorably when approached in a friendly manner.

The longer I sat by that woman, the clearer it got that she was not one of them. She (and the other two) obviously had some kind of "hate" issue going on and that issue was potentially affecting everyone around her.

I ended up praying for them, especially the grand-daughter throughout the remainder of the service.

Two weeks later, we ended up sitting behind the same trio. Again, they were all cold and hateful acting. A lady I know was seated to the left of the ice people. As the service ended, I tapped my acquaintance on the shoulder and asked her to retrieve something from under the seat for me. She happily leaned over to get it but as she did so, "ice lady's" daughter interjected and barked at me for asking.

I was shocked. I'll admit I almost "lost my religion" at that moment. I'd done nothing to evoke such a response from the woman. I wasn't even talking to her! I decided instead, to take the "high road" and ignored her comment. Meanwhile, the lady I knew (who happened to look as shocked as I felt) handed me the article I'd asked for along with an apologetic smile.

Now, fast forward to last night's service. It was one of our "renewal" services celebrating the approaching end of our annual fast. We had "special" seating, which ironically meant we had to sit further back in the auditorium than usual. Go figure!

The crowd was bustling around, as is usual for a week night service. People tend to come in later because most work during the day and have to rush to get there.

Walt and I stood in the aisle by our assigned seats and visited with several of our friends while we waited for service to start. Two women I've never met before sat down in the seats beside ours.

The five minute countdown appeared on the screen, indicating it was time for everyone to settle in. As the lights lowered and the praise band struck up their first chords, a young lady I recognized appeared at the end of our row with her four year old daughter perched on her hip. She scanned the row searching for two empty seats and decided to settle for a single seat instead, since that was all that was available. Her little girl would have to sit on her lap.

Like I said, I recognized the young woman, but I don't really know her. I've watched her since she started coming to the church and have to say I admire her dedication. She is faithful and enthusiastic, and never misses a service. I've noticed that she shows up on Wednesday nights in a uniform, obviously having rushed straight to service from work. This has been going on for nearly five years now. Even though we've never really even talked, she has been a blessing to me.

The empty seat she'd spotted was directly on the other side of the two women seated by me. As she entered our row and attempted to pass the women, they made no attempt to move out of the way for her. This meant she was stopped between me and the seat in front of me ... and quite literally standing on the toes of my left foot!

"I am so sorry!" She apologized, then leaned over and asked the woman next to me if she could please let her through to the one available seat.

I was totally shocked when I heard the woman respond to her with a harsh scolding! She said, "Well that's why you're supposed to get here ON TIME, honey!"

And she refused to budge, forcing the girl to crawl across both her and her companion in order to be seated.

At that point I wanted to apply the "five fold ministry" to the stubborn woman's face (if you know what I mean) ! I don't know if that woman was a visitor or a regular and I guess it doesn't really matter. My question was, how could she treat one of God's children like that and still call herself a Christian?

Visitor or church member, she had no regard whatsoever for whatever circumstances precluded the young woman's late arrival. She was instead, only concerned about the horrid inconvenience the girl had caused her by asking politely to be let past.

On one hand, I feel a bit guilty for allowing myself to be ruffled by such incidents, but on the other I believe there is such a thing as "righteous indignation". Didn't Jesus Himself say, "Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me .." when his "followers" tried to snub the little ones? Didn't he become angry when unacceptable things were happening in the temple?

I know our Heavenly Father loves us all, "haters" included, but I'm also pretty certain He does not approve of the haters actions ... especially when the haters are supposedly Christians and should be representing HIM to the rest of the world.

If we can't be nice to each other while we're sitting in the church, how are we going to behave ourselves while we're out in the community?

Ah! But back to the whole "All things happen for a reason" theory. I understand there must be some purpose for even these experiences, and I've learned that it's likely I'll continue to be exposed to similar things until I figure out just what He wants me to do about it.

So far so good ... so help me Lord! I've come to understand that I shouldn't follow my first impulse which is to smack the hater or give them a piece of my mind. To be honest I am praying now against any possibility of becoming a "hater" of the "haters" myself. That would be just plain wrong.

No, love must ... and WILL prevail! As one of my former pastor use to say, "Hurt people" hurt people." So maybe the haters I've come in contact with recently have been hurt at some point and need a good old fashioned healing.

Or a good old fashioned "come to Jesus" talk!

Either way, I am praying God reveals the answer to me soon, so I can act accordingly and pass this test ... and get back to the "happy" Christians who sit in our usual section of the sanctuary.