This week I attended our denominational meetings in Winnipeg. I look forward to these conferences every two years, and came with great expectation for the week.  But soon after settling into the business sessions, I remembered why I also get frustrated with these meetings.  It all comes down to decision-making … we take forever to make a decision!

There are parts of Assembly I thoroughly enjoy.  The public services always inspire and challenge me and that’s good for my soul.  It’s also great to catch up with old friends, some I haven’t seen in years.  I even met up with a few former students from when I was a youth pastor.  To see them grown up with families and established careers is fantastic.  That part of Assembly is great.

But one of the main reasons we come to Assembly is to make decisions, and that’s where we get bogged down every time.  This year a motion was put to Assembly, and when someone didn’t like it, he tried to change it.  In doing so, he actually made it into another motion and we had to temporarily divert our discussion on it before we got back to the original motion.  It was a wrong turn that wasted half an hour going down the wrong road, only to have to come back to the right road and start again.

There are also delegates who are incredibly nit picky.  Some don’t like the smallest of words, like the word “it” or “a” for instance.  I’m always amazed how long people can talk about the appropriateness of such little words and be so passionate about them.  Personally, I use the word “the” a million times a day and never think about how I’ve used it.  At Assembly, however, any word is up for debate, and a LONG debate.

Then there are those who feel they need to speak at the mic on every motion, and even after several people have already expressed the same thought.  Of course, they think they bring a new view or understanding, but it’s all a rehash of the same thoughts.  I wish we had a system where people could “like” a comment in the way one can on Facebook.  That would greatly streamline things.  When a comment is made, people could just register their “like” by hitting a button on their digital device.  We could plow through reams of legislation that way.

But whom am I kidding?  People want to have their say; they like to hear themselves talk; they’re delusional, thinking their point is going to change everyone’s mind.  So they keep coming to the mic. … and my frustration with the painful process of decision-making continues.

Here’s the thing:  God has put motions before us – actually, commands for us to follow. And, instead of agreeing with (voting for) his commands and putting them into practice, we act like Assembly delegates.  We try to change or tweak God’s commands to better agree with us.  We want to massage some nuance of the command so it is a little more palatable.   We try to make an argument for our position of not following a particular command.

I think it’s got to frustrate God like Assembly frustrates me.  If we would only vote “yes” to God’s commands, maybe life would be more enjoyable for us.  We’d dispense with much of the frustration.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  How have you tried to change or resist God’s commands? Leave your comment below.