Four men, grumbling under their breath, trudged through the rough, muddied terrain toward the unexpected meeting spot chosen by their senior colleague. They were all deacons at Pine Creek Baptist Church. They had been summoned by their chairman to a construction site — a site that had nothing to do with their church.
The purpose of the meeting? To pray.
“Why all the way out here?” whispered James, the youngest deacon, his brow furrowed in frustration. The others groaned or chuckled in their agreement.
They soon found Deacon Eli, his hands clasped, eyes surveying an emerging structure. His greeting was a warm, knowing smile, unfazed by the puzzled looks on his colleagues’ faces.
“Why have you brought us here, Eli?” Thomas asked as respectfully as he could.
“God has had a talk with me, Brothers. And I want to share it with you.” Then, with a sweeping gesture towards the expansive site, Eli began, “Do you see the progress being made? Do you see how the buildings are rising and the development is coming together?”
The four deacons looked around, observing the workers moving with purpose and precision.
One of them nodded, “And…?”
“Constructing a building demands care, commitment, and unity of purpose,” Eli explained. “First, a plan is sketched, then the land is cleared and prepared. Then, the foundation is poured. A frame is added, like a skeleton. Walls are then added, along with a roof, windows, and doors. And then we finish up with electric, drywall, lights, painting, and you get the idea.”
“Yes,” said one of the deacons, mildly perturbed. “We get it.”
Eli then looked at the deacons. “And how do we build up new believers at Pine Creek Baptist Church?”
A hushed silence befell the group.
“Come to think of it, how do we add to the current believers already there? You know, some believers need repairs, renovations, added floors.” He looked at each of the deacons in turn. “How do we do that?”
“That’s for the pastor to—“
“Is it?” Eli cut in. “You can’t outsource everything to the pastor. Besides, the way you all beat him down at the last meeting–“
“Hey, we didn’t beat him down. We just pointed out some things he needed to work on.”
“I see,” answered Eli. “And did you patiently explain why he might need to work on these things and how such changes would actually help him and his ministry and our entire church? And did you take the time to listen to his heart and his struggles? Bottom line, Gentlemen: Did you… did we… show grace?”
The deacons looked around nervously. Some kicked the dirt off their shoes.
“No, we did not. Most of you just vented your frustration. Indeed, you did the same thing last month with the youth pastor. And I’ve seen you do it to the music leader as well in the past.” More silence. He continued, “And you didn’t address these complaints with any tangible plan in mind. Or any real concrete standards. You just gave your opinions. And you weren’t that gracious or charitable about it.”
“I just tell it like I see it,” grumbled Ernest.
“Indeed, you did. But is that what Paul says we are to do?”
“The Bible says we are to be honest, right!?” cried Ernest.
“Yes, it does. But the Bible also says we are to hold each other accountable to God’s standards, not our own. And we are to deal with one another in love, grace, and wisdom.”
Silence.
Eli lifted up his Bible and opened it to a place he had saved. “Let me read you this verse from Ephesians 4. ‘Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.’ That’s Ephesians 4:29.”
The silence that followed was intense.
Eli finally said softly, “We are deacons. We are servants. It’s our duty to serve. And that means we must help, encourage, support, and edify those in our church. I have not been doing this like I should. And, therefore, I confess to you my fellow deacons my failure in this. God has taken me to the woodshed on it, and led me, I believe, to share this with you.”
There was continued silence from his colleagues, but he noticed a couple nod in agreement.
“We are servant leaders. Servants first, then leaders. And when we lead, we lead by example. We all, myself included, need to do better in this. I know you all have the ability to do these things. I’ve seen it. But we’ve drifted away from these virtues in the last couple of years. We’ve allowed ourselves to get anxious, self-centered, and not very godly. We need to get back to the business of building up our body of believers — a precious body that we’ve been entrusted to serve. Will you commit to that with me?”
The deacons nodded their heads. Some with tears in their eyes.
Eli led them in prayer and then left them to their thoughts.
The men soon returned to their vehicles. This time, not with grumbling. But with a newfound purpose.
They had a church to help build.
The preceding story was inspired by my recent study and meditation on Ephesians 4. It is entirely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. I chose to focus on a group of deacons to help convey this story, but want it noted that all of the deacons I’ve served with – at my current place of ministry as well as my previous – have been and are a blessing in my life.
If you enjoyed this story, you should check out The Campfire, a short story about a pastor that is available on Amazon for 99 cents (or free if you’re subscribed to Kindle Unlimited).
I liked it! You made your point very clearly.