I dislike it when I get perturbed in church. One of the reasons is that I dislike it when folks grumble in church. You know the ones I mean: “It’s hot!” “It’s cold!” “The carpet is dirty/ugly/torn.” “Why do we have to study this topic in Sunday School?” “That preacher is so long winded!” So when I’M one of the perturbed grumblers, I double dislike it!
However, I must say I was a grumbler at church yesterday. Hopefully, though, it was righteous grumbling! As I looked at the church bulletin, I noticed that the nicely printed front with an open Bible and a cross and some yellow flowers was accompanied by a large-print quote: “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me.” Martin Luther
Then I noticed waaaaay down in the bottom right-hand corner in tiny little print (my husband had to hold it up close to read it) another quote: “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.” Luke 24:45
These are stock bulletins that are sent to us, and we just add our announcements, etc., to them, so when our wonderful, Godly pastor's wife printed them up, I'm sure she never even saw it.
But...what’s wrong with this picture? It’s not what was said but the fact that God’s words were relegated to the far reaches of the bottom corner in tiny print and Martin Luther’s were given the “best seat in the house” and in huge print. This says to me that some people...in the church...think man’s words are more important than God’s.
Does this speak to you as loudly as it does to me about the condition of the church now?
