Enough!

Sunday, May 27, 2007

ENOUGH! Current mood: frustrated Category: Friends I've had it. Have you? You put up and put up and put up with fluff and think, "Okay. I've got it under control. I will be all right." And then, out of the blue, no warning at all, BAM! Someone (usually a "Christian") says one thing that, honestly,s/he meant no harm by, that makes you want to scream, to throw your hands up and scream "ENOUGH!" WATCH YOUR MOUTH Are you the one, the "Christian" who unwittingly said the word, the phrase, the comment that was the last straw? Sure, you are the jokester, just trying to have a little fun but it is as someone else's expense. Probably you had no intention of causing the harm you just inflicted. Probably. The Bible teaches us to take every thought captive, to not let any foolish communication proceed out of our mouths. You must keep in mind that you have no idea what those around you are going through. Although they may be smiling on the outside, their insides may be crying, may be dying. You don't know how their hearts may be breaking, how they may be just barely holding on. They (a lot of times) have come into church, into Sunday School, into a church settting needing so badly a kind work, a hug, a word of encouragement, and instead they get the wind knocked out of their sails, the feeling of being kicked in the gut. It's a shock, a harsh surprise that they were not prepared for. They did not have their defenses up because, after all, this was church! This was where it was supposed to be safe. These are supposed to be God's people! What the hell just happened? Yes, I wrote, "What the hell." Because that's exactly where it came from: hell. So be careful with your fun. Be careful with your mouth. Watch yourself. Guard your tongue. And try to think before speaking. You never know when someone has had enough. For the past three days I have been surrounded by people professing to be Christians. For the past three days I have smilingly taken their jokes, their ribbing, their put downs, their unkind words. My husband tells me if they didn't like me and feel comfortable with me, they wouldn't joke with me so much. I agree, for the most part. However, I--the Queen of Wit--sometimes need encouragement too. Sometimes I need to be taken seriously instead of mocked when I suggest things pertaining to my spiritual gifts. I need to be the one feeling welcomed rather than the one trying to make those around me comfortable all the time. So in conclusion, I write this blog to myself. All too often I am quirky and try to get the laughs. This weekend I took the brunt of things that those around me only meant in jest and usually I could have taken it. Frankly, I did take it. They meant no harm by it and truthfully, by doing and saying the things they did, they were actually trying to hide from the truths they learned and already knew about. I know how defense works. But Sunday morning, the man who spoke the words that sparked this blog, the man who is supposed to be a greeter instead turned into a defeater. His words were funny, in his eyes. To me though, they were darts, aimed at my fragile heart, and I did what Joseph did in the face of ungodliness: I fled. If he thought me rude for not bantering with him, so be it. Better to be thought rude of than to have started a war of words that would have led to letting the devil into God's building. There's already been enough of that.