Tony Campolo once said to his congregation:

“I have three things I’d like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don’t give a $#!%. What’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said $#!% than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”

If I was sitting in his congregation that morning, he would have been right about me. And I’m embarrassed by that.

I’m afraid that sometimes we seem to major in the minors. I know of a church council meeting where half of those in attendance voted to offer both coffee and orange juice before the worship service, and the other half voted to offer just coffee. When the meeting was over, just about everyone left mad because the other side could not see that their side was “clearly right.”

And while we argue over the coffee, or the color of the carpet, the right setting for the church thermostat, and so many other things that will not make any difference in the years to come, people are not hearing about Jesus. And worst than that, they aren’t seeing Jesus alive in us.

There was once a group of people in the Bible that had a lot of things right, but they also had a way of focusing on the small things while the big things were left at the wayside. One day, a lawyer in the group asked Jesus, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Matthew 22:36-39)”

It’s my hope and desire that the people of Greater Heights United Methodist Church, and the church as a whole, might be a place where those who have a relationship with Christ are always known for our love and not our bickering.