The Solutions to your problems

Have you been dissatisfied with how your church has handled a particular problem or problem person, wondering to yourself why church politics failed to fix our problems? It’s because Satan is busier in the church boardroom than he is in the barroom.

I frequently hear from different people about the problems in their churches or from others about the problems with how poorly the city and county handle their responsibilities. My questions then become, how can you contribute to solving this problem you’re so troubled about, what’s the best solution, and how will you help out? Because if you’re passionate about a problem you see, it’s better to work toward being part of the solution than it is to gripe about it.

If you are waiting for your church leaders or your local politicians to make bad situations better, I feel sorry for you. Most of the people we are waiting for to make the desired improvements are more concerned with their position/office and with preserving their organization/institution than they are with whatever problems you worry about. If you are disappointed with the state of affairs you see, you probably have misplaced your faith and trust. I hate to break it to you, but most decisions are not made in “formal” meetings. They are decided in the “informal” meetings out in the parking lot before the meeting even happens.

What are some positive steps you can take toward resolving problems? You can draft up a plan, offer resources, put in the effort, and volunteer to work on it. This is as true for your church as it is for your city.

If you are upset with your neighborhood, ask a police officer what you can do to help make a difference and how you can make our city a better place. Or take a drive out to the old Sam’s Club and volunteer at the Second Harvest Food Bank. Or go talk to a school principal and offer to help tutor at-risk kids. There’s no lack of opportunities for you to make a positive difference.

Do you know what the difference is between being frustrated about a problem and simply grumbling about it? Most people like to criticize and fault-find a lot more than they like participating in the solution.

For example, it’s easy to sit in your armchair and take a potshot at the potholes on our roads, though you never hear a follow- up from those critics on how to best repair our roads. It’s the same thing when your church isn’t “growing.”

You don’t have to be special or smart to point out problems. Thanks to Facebook, we no longer have to submit a “letter to the editor” to air our contempt. It’s easy to hide bravely behind our keyboards and smartphones and lambaste those “in charge.” Social media has emboldened us, but the fact is, truly courageous people don’t have the time to be critical of others because they are too busy making a difference.

If you think you’re too weak and powerless to make a difference, then you see yourself as a victim. And let me tell you what, the world will eat you alive — in that case you’re better off keeping your opinion to yourself if you don’t think you can help fix it. All you are doing at that point is wasting a lot of emotional energy, and no one likes sour grapes. Like the old impolite saying goes, “put up or shut up...”

Maybe the deeper problem is we as people are addicted to complaining. Complaining isn’t a spiritual gift, it isn’t a sign of compassion, and it doesn’t indicate you care. Complaining all the time is evidence of a critical heart. Fault-finding is straight-up hypocrisy. It’s not insightful or profound to point out what’s wrong with the world without participating in the solution.

What if we as believers hounded lost souls about their need for Jesus with half as much zeal as we pestered people about COVID, masks and vaccines — whichever side of that debate you landed on. If your concern is legitimate, do something more productive than complaining. If God lays a burden on your heart, it’s not for the purpose of whining about it. Whether it’s the poor condition of our roads, the homeless, COVID, racism, inequality, drugs — whatever it is, no one wants to hear what the problem is without hearing your solutions. In other words: What are you doing to fix the problems besides complaining, worrying or blaming?

Watch your words and compliment more than you complain. Then and only then will people listen and begin to take you more seriously. Don’t complain about City Hall until you hitch up and haul your fair share of the burdens in our community.

Don’t wait around for your church leaders or your politicians to fix the problems that trouble you most. Take responsibility, roll up your sleeves and get to work — you’ll never need permission to do the right thing.

Originally published on Oct 15th 2021 in the Kingsport TimesNews:

https://www.timesnews.net/news/faith/stop-complaining-and-be-part-of-the-solution/article_b0edcef6-1700-11ec-a74f-9fd25d8fd231.html

Forgetting the forgotten no more

 

Today evoked an unexpected emotional experience for me as we pumped concrete for a bus driver, who happens to also be the Principal at his school.  By the way, his wife also drives a school bus on a different route, and she is the Science teacher at another rural school.  

I wonder why we never hear about servant-hearted people like this on CNN or Fox News?  After all, who would care about a family of educators in rural Southeast Kentucky, instead, the region is most likely thought of as the armpit of America by the TV elites, and simply forgotten about by most of us.  After today though, it will be a long time before I forget about this forgotten region again.  

To get to Lynch Kentucky, we crossed Black Mountain, at just over 4000 feet above sea level, it's the highest point in the state.  The deep forests and towering mountains enshrine the region like a fortress, keeping outsiders out, and insiders in.  The terrain was beyond rugged.  My picture of the sunrise does not do proper justice to the majestic beauty of the area.  The drive up and over the mountain was hair-raising at times.  Razor sharp switchbacks, sheer cliffs and straight drop-offs, the road was nothing short of the stuff legends are made of.  

The road going into Harlan County is so curvy, and the terrain so steep, it takes about a half an hour to go ten miles.  The rugged landscape is breathtaking, it's truly awe inspiring.  

I suppose today evoked so many emotions for me, not simply because I read Hillbilly Elegy, or before that, Night Comes to the Cumberlands, but because my family actually comes from this impoverished region.  My dad left Southeast Kentucky back in the early 60's with the largest migration of Americans in US history as many folks from the Appalachian area moved to the Great Lakes in hopes of escaping their bitter existence, looking for a better life.  I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel gratitude or guilt about this.  

So today, I witnessed Lynch KY, a weary and worn-down town, buried and hidden within a wonderful wilderness.  Forgotten by most of America, forsaken and abandoned by the rest.  The lure of steady income from the coal giants having dried up mostly, it's only a shell of what it was 100 years ago.  Harlan County is ripe with rare beauty, a place resting in times gone by, quiet and tranquil.  Sadly, with no industry or any chance of a future for this or the next generation, it seems like intergenerational-welfare is the only hope for most of the folks around.   

The juxtaposition of the amazing views, the splendor of one of the most beautiful places on earth, the towering mountains capped with rich forests all being witnessed in real-time, contrasted to the hopelessness stemming from such extreme poverty and the bleak future for the folks there was deeply moving.  I left asking myself, what are the invisible chains shackling the people there?  Is it simply "acceptance" at their plight?  Are they victims of their circumstances?  What can be done to reinvigorate the region?  Clearly, coal wasn't the only precious resource extracted from there, something intangible has been taken as well.  Also, though, from the people I met today, I see there are people who stick around these dying towns not because they are stuck, they stay because they can make a difference, and they care. 

If you've never heard this song, you need to click on this link below :

You'll never leave Harlan Alive