Three Questions (or ‘Headstrong’ Part III)

I thought it best to hold off on answering the final question right away.

I can’t say I was completely blindsided by it, but I was still unprepared. They wanted to know if I would consider delivering some of the Sunday sermons at church.

I blinked with surprise.

I could see how all three questions were closely linked, we did not discuss this fact. If I wasn’t a known tither and if my attendance of regional church meetings was poor, then these were strikes against me. I would be expected to get all my ducks in a row, so to speak, if I were to accept this role. I was humbled that they saw me in this sort of light despite my obvious inability to play completely by the rules. I was also a bit confused, though. Why would they want to risk this – i.e., want to risk placing someone like me in that sort of a position? And by ‘someone like me,’ I’m not referring to my marital status. I’m referring to my annoying, non-conformist nature tendencies. I saw what they were proposing as a recipe for disaster, and wondered how well they had thought this through. As I’ve asserted elsewhere, THERE’S SOMETHING ABSOLUTELY WRONG WITH MY CHURCH!

 (http://remembering-my-journey.blogspot.com/2012/04/theres-something-wrong-with-my-church.html)

I held off of on answering the question out of respect. I had an immediate response formed in my head, but felt that two ‘negative’ responses were enough for one day, so I asked for a bit of time to get back to them. My response was relayed a week later via email. I thanked them for the faith they had in me but politely declined. My reasons were simple:

1. Playing the proposed role really isn’t an interest or desire of mine.

ü  I like to keep a low profile and want to keep things that way.

ü  I lead a really busy life and taking on more responsibility at this time wouldn’t be wise. My children don’t need me to be even more distracted than I am right now.

ü  I’m mindful of my church context and have observed that divorce is a really sensitive topic for the overall institution. The result is that there is a lot of fuzziness in members’ minds about the church’s actual position on it. I would rather not take on such a public role without absolute clarity on the issue among the members. Even then, I’d still turn such an offer down.

  They left the offer on the table in case I change my mind. I know I won’t.