Each year I convince myself that the Foursquare business meeting will be something I can tolerate or possibly even enjoy. I’m an evangelist who loves to motivate and persuade people to embrace difficult but necessary challenges. Jesus went to the cross, so we can certainly endure difficult circumstances for the sake of advancing God’s Kingdom.
Even so. . . God will not give us more than we can handle. . . and I am less than certain that I can handle the reality of a prolonged Foursquare convention business meeting.
I usually start well with the report section, but my patience grinds to a halt once the floor microphones are opened. This is the portion of our business gathering where individuals are supposed to either ask for points of clarifications or discuss their concerns with the motion or agenda points of the hour.
This is when a room full of thousands of people is forced to listen to each and every concern of each and every individual in the room. Although everyone does not speak, it often feels to me as if everyone will. An endless stream of specific questions relevant to a certain pastor’s or church’s predicament, or an impassioned plea to accept or reject the current proposal.
For me, this is the hold me hostage moment of any Foursquare business meeting. A perpetual procession of concerned Foursquare constituents lined up at the microphone, dragging the business meeting into our lunch break, into the abyss of convention business meeting purgatory.
Would someone please end this business meeting! However, when I look around me at the masses of excited business attenders streaming to the microphone, I realize that I might just be out of place. As I mentioned previously, my spiritual gift set is weak on attending long, boring, convention business meetings.
Instead of being frustrated, maybe I should be encouraged that I am surrounded by a room full of people who will contend for the worthiness of the organizational board meetings that are necessary for the survival of any denomination, including Foursquare.
Then again, maybe I should just stop blogging and slip out the back door. . . I vote yes! Please, just let me vote yes so I can go eat something.
To do God’s work we sometimes have to bear the mundane parts.
God bless you always.