Empty Amens

The preacher preached a good sermon today…I told him that it was a great message…He said, “don’t let it be great and not apply it…Because it becomes nothing if it is great but we do nothing…” I can only imagine how that must be the bane of many a preachers…Studying, researching, preaching and teaching their hearts and souls out so they can encourage and edify the church…Yet time after time, we hear folks bellow a hearty amen, a rowdy applause, and a “well done brother preacher…” But see little if any changes. I can only imagine how heart breaking that is to a preacher…

But not just to the preachers alone…to us too…Regular Joe Blow members…who want to move forward, who want to progress, who want to see changes…People, regular everyday people, who know we can do better, who want us to practice what we preacher…regular folks get frustrated when we don’t see changes too. 

As I sat during the Caribbean Lectureship, there were a couple of sermons that were directed to preachers/leaders of the churches…They talked about the fact that most congregations in the Caribbean do not have elders and that we (the preachers/leaders) need to do a better job of equipping the congregation. The preacher should know the needs of the church, and feed the flock based on those identified needs…We cannot think about getting elders if we do not “qualify” the women…and the children. So much attention is given to the qualifications of an elder…But what about his family. The entire discussion ceases to exist if a man’s family is in disarray! And so where is the food to feed the families?

Too often I hear of people getting divorced, or folks who are having problems in their marriages. A “simple” sermon on God hates divorce is not enough to keep families together…It is not enough food to feed the flock. In some cases, messages on marriage and family are almost extinct in a church…Untouched by the preacher in charge.  We spend so much energy bellowing about the nitty-gritty that we forget to feed the church with meat…As one preacher so eloquently said. I heard a lot of amens, but I wondered to myself if preachers, leaders, men and women would go back to their respective congregations and start talking about these things…I wondered to myself if we were going to take the message and apply it…I sat there and thought to myself that between all the countries and individual congregations represented at the Caribbean lectureship the messages would be able to cast a net far and wide…IT would be able to reach a multitude! We would be able to make some dynamic changes in the Caribbean, and at our local congregations…Or would we?

Or would we be saying “amen” to the same sermon this time next year? Sometimes I wonder if we are just filled with empty “amens.” I mean I hear them EVERY Sunday, and I just can’t help but think, where are all the amens going? Why aren’t they being practiced? Why do we listen and get excited to all these wonderful sermons and go nowhere with them?

I have stopped getting excited…I have stopped getting hyped…And I try very hard not to say amen unless it applies to me. I often find myself in a place, unmoved…And the reason why I am unmoved is because I am tired of seeing no movement…No progression…no forward thinking…Sometimes I feel like we have to fight, kick, and scream just to do something good…Dreams become killjoys because of the unsupport of others…So why dream? Why have a vision if the people around you lack vision? Why express yourself if your ideas are quenched by those without foresight?

And despite feeling all those feelings, the preacher must still preach…He must still study, and diligently prepare his lesson to feed the flock. As much as we (the regular lay person) feel frustrated, so too do our preachers/leaders. Have we ever stopped to think about the blood, sweat and tears some of our men of God are pouring out daily?

So to the visionaries, pioneers, preachers, teachers, leaders, and everyone who wants to see the church progress…DO NOT GIVE UP! Do not grow weary! Do not grow discouraged! Do not stop fighting for what you know is right and for what you know can benefit all others in the end! Discouragement is simply part of the pie we were given…It is part of life, and it is part of what we must endure…But we, through God’s strength, must stand firm, stay strong, and keep pushing…At the end of the day, those who know better need to do better...And therefore we have a God given responsibility because of what we know...We cannot wait for others to do what we know is right.

Push for the change you want to see…Push despite the naysayers! Push, and keep pushing…Because in the end, God will have the final say and your work will be blessed.