A Word from the Web Master for July 2008

No Matter what I do, I'm Wrong...

Matthew 11:18-19

"For John (the Baptist) came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet Wisdom is justified by her deeds".

Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

We have all felt this way. Sometimes no matter what we do it turns out that we see our actions as wrong.. What is really awful about feeling like this is, it makes us want to stop doing things for people, the church and in the things we do in our lives.

And ok, many of us just don't do the "WWJD" thing. But, scripture does offer some examples of what to do.

Look at the two situations in the book of Matthew. We have a saint and Our Lord behaving in what would be perceived in completely different ways. They had critics no matter which way they lived. Neither John nor Jesus ever compromised what they were doing because someone didn't approve. They both knew their purpose and never compromised what They came to do.

We know we have some pretty high standards of how a job should be done, how organizations should run (especially the church) and how people should interact and communicate with each other for a smooth organization.

I am a communication monster. Anyone who has received my emails knows that I go overboard to keep people informed. But, I do it because I know what the consequences will be if people don't know what is going on.

Now, Salvation is not at stake here admittedly. If something in the organization breaks down, it is always fixable. Life will go on. But, in Jesus, there was only one fix. Imagine where we'd all be if He had compromised to please us. This never would have happened.

This puts things in perspective, for me anyway. And if the frustration builds to the breaking point, which happens more often than some of us would like to admit, we can turn to The Book of Matthew again, and go to Jesus for He will give us rest.

When things are working the way you'd like or people criticize for what you do, life will go on. Never give up! Keep working at it! Jesus did on the cross and is there for us today.

I keep all of you in my prayers,

Patti Jacko

WebMaster - West Park United Church of Christ