The First Self Righteous Church

My friend R's son is in jail awaiting trial for the murder of his girlfriend's father. R told me that when it happened she and her husband approached their pastor and said they were sorry for the embarrassment this brought on the church. The pastor said that, on the contrary, he had been waiting for something like this to come to light, so that the church could get real.

R's family problem has certainly turned out to be the wedge into realness. (You may want to recall, at this point, the Bible verse that begins "Unless a seed dies. . . .") R tells me that the rest of the congregation has now been emboldened to step out of the shadows and share their pains, confess their sins, and admit their need for prayer and help.

A year or so ago, another friend of mine and her husband attended a wedding in Vermont and spent the evening with a California pastor and his wife. As the night wore on the West coast strangers confided to my friend and her husband that they had an alcoholic son and have never told the congregation about him. My friend N mused to me upon her return, "Why can't we just give ourselves permission to be sinners." Just imagine, we agreed, if that minister ever got the nerve to step up to the podium and ask for prayer, who knows, revival might break out.

The assignment for today is to watch Ray Steven's "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" posted below. There you will learn about the day when "seven deacons and the pastor got saved, and $25,000 got raised, and 50 volunteered for missions in the Congo on the spot." It's a true story too. (Or at least it's true that it's a story.)

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.