People are people.
One of the aspects of biblical reading I try to instill into the youth here at Lake Harbour is that people in the Bible are just that…people. Oftentimes we see these individuals as infallible characters who always figure it out in the end, just like our favorite Marvel superhero. But people fail, and I think that is evident in the people we read about in God's Word. They are very open about their failures and how they've tried to overcome them.
In the same way that we sometimes look at Bible characters, I feel that our Elders, Deacons, Ministers, and others who have a featured in a role in the church body are often looked at as unable to fail. And this can be a very difficult task to take on. We can compare it to a glass house. Everyone sees inside your home, and so you always have to keep it clean and spotless. Why has the church decided to be that way? Everyone fails, yet some people feel a reluctance to share their failings because of the position they hold in the church.
I personally know a preacher who lost his wife and son in an automobile accident. He continued to preach and do the job that he believed God had entrusted to him. However, he was struggling a great deal with suicidal thoughts. He was convinced that because of the way church culture has evolved he was not able to share this burden with his church family. You might think this is an extreme case but I promise you that it is common place in a lot of our churches today. Many people feel the inability to share with others based on the current culture of the church.
And that is not okay.
If you read this and don’t like the fact that some of the people you care about the most, feel that way, or are struggling with certain things in their life, then I would encourage you to reach out to our Elders, Deacons, or Ministers to let them know they are loved and heard. This would go a long way in breaking down this wall that many feel when it comes to sharing their difficulties.