Complainers...

I am at a loss.....
Complaining spirits just get on my nerves.
I mean really?..... Are you that narcissistic that you have to make everything out to be about you?
Unfortunately, being in the ministry I am faced with this ALL the time!
Here's just a few that I hear about every week:
It's hot in here
It's too cold in here
The music was to loud
Didn't get much out of the sermon
Don't like his shirt, he should be more dressed up
Didn't like the music this morning
Teacher was not prepared for Sunday School this morning
There's no one here yet
The coffee is too strong
The coffee is too weak
There is no doughnuts
There are doughnuts?.... we should have something healthier.

I mean, you name it and someone has or will complain about it.
I guess I do understand that things just get on your nerves sometimes, but some people actually believe that their complaint should be fixed right away. They don't look at it as an inward war of attitude but of a complex that they are righted this to be fixed.
 We are allowing the world to even change the way we believe church should be conducted....
Everyday we get everything we want and usually at exceptional speed.
Burger without onions? Bam
Ice Cream Cone? Boom
Go get a Double Ristretto Venti Nonfat Organic Chocolate Brownie Frappuccino Extra Hot with Foam and Whipped Cream Upside Down Double Blended ( actual order to a Starbucks.... I googled it!)
SHAZAM!
We want to custom order a church that meets all our wants and needs to the point it will fit none other than ourselves.
We ignore the overall well being of a church and want it to stay inside our little comfy, cozy, safe, secure, box that we have labeled as ours.
And I guess I somewhat understand loving something enough to want to protect it, but you just can't.
It's like having a child.... wouldn't I love to be able to keep Asher small forever, to snuggle with him like I do now, and to take care of his every need ... he would never need to drive, or marry, or any other thing to involve changes in our relationship.... but that is not reality. You miss out on so many blessings running or hiding from change.
It's all a disease called "Mine-itis"... it's real, it was on Sesame Street.:) 
We arrive at church, ready to punch our Holy timecard, expecting a time of fellowship, worship, and Bible study--
We have given no other time through the week for this. We emerge an unhappy and disappointed person who, even before we knew it, already checked out from meeting with Him.
Everything is a distraction that Satan puts in front of us to further keep us from having intimacy with the Holy Spirit.
And we leave saying.... " I didn't get much out of church today... ( and listing all the reasons why)".

And I know this is not Christian-ly to say... but I want to tell them to go somewhere else. My first instinct is to say there are a hundred churches in a 5 miles radius..... go somewhere else!!!!
I want people to be focused on the God who loves us so, not ones who are focused on how hot or cold the sanctuary is.
Do they know who they are hurting in the process?..... They are discouraging the ones who make church possible. The leaders who work so hard for hours a day or week praying and petitioning on their behalf. 
If they only realized the grief they caused I think they would be happy to shut up. Then again maybe not?....
It's hard for me not to get angry.... A man that I hold very dear comes home discouraged a lot.

To be excited about church and what will come is overshadowed by those who are tugging at the other end for things to stay as they are.
It's quite an ordeal, just to even change the paint color.....Ok, to me even writing that makes me say "ridiculous" in my head!
When have we let the fleshly, worldly attitude sneak into the place we can escape all that?
More than anything... it's tiring, and disappointing, and discouraging, and exhausting.....
I challange you.... think about the big picture. Think about the overall ministry of your church and what you are there to do.
I tried an exercise last Sunday..... we were singing " How He loves us" and I replaced "us" with "you". I was pleading at those around me that God loves YOU.  My attitude needed changing and all I had to do was focus on passing this most incredible to those around me. I looked at my sweet Josie Belle who, in fact, was wearing her Mama's sunglasses and thought about our sweet children and the life they will have knowing the love of God. Josie Belle, Oh how he loves YOU!
The key, in my opinion, is getting our attitudes in check and understanding the REAL meaning of church.
Loving others, sharing the incredible love of Christ, supporting each other, encouraging each other.
If we are truly the spiritual person we say we are.... the joy will come supernaturally and the misery and complaining spirit will return to where it was born.