Archives - November 2007, Part 3, from www.timewithgod.blog-city.com

timewithgod.blog-city.com — November 2007

Acts 6 -- Fnding A Better Solution

It's in there somewhere

I've heard it said that if you watch the nickels and dimes, the dollars will take care of themselves.  It's an old adage that speaks of being careful with the little details and that vigilance will automatically insure that large problems don't crop up.  God seemed to lay that on my heart as I read this chapter.

I began to imagine how this scene would play out today.  The kitchen crew might arrive 2 hours early to start preparations.  Then, true to form, many of the widows would show up at least one hour early, just because that's the way they do things.  They would probably chit-chat with the kitchen crew a little, then settle down with a cup of coffee and swap "news".  As the time for the meal neared, I could see a small group of shy Hispanic-only-speaking women timidly entering the fellowship hall, and seeing that the meal was not yet ready and the other group was already "solidified", they would hover in the hallway or even outside the building, uncomfortable being in a building that they don't frequent.

As the dinner bell is rung, the group of ladies who arrived first move as a group to the serving window.  They fill their plates to overflowing, seeing the abundance of food, and take their seats.  Their noble intentions are to not waste a separate plate, but instead to wrap the remainder of their food with foil to take home and reheat for their evening meal.  The Hispanic ladies, having not been taken in by the first group due to the language barrier primarily, wait patiently until all of the first group have been served, then they queue up for their meal.  The kitchen workers, unaware that more Hispanic ladies had come up and were waiting with the others outside, have served too much food to the first group and now have to ration the remainder for the second group.  As they are seated, it's impossible not to notice the generous portions on the plates of the first group and the take-home afterwards, and hard feelings ensue.

In this case, it might be easy to say that ladies in the first group, without being told, should wait for "seconds" until all are served.  Looking further, the kitchen crew would do well to better regulate the portions.  Quite possibly they might prepare extra food, just in case, and preserve any leftovers for the next week.  But despite all of this, the root problem as I see it is the separation of the groups due to the language barrier.  Were the non-English-speaking group made to feel more at home and possibly included in pre-meal activities, even Spanish/English classes, the problem might solve itself.  Absent these, about the only solution is a bilingual "regulator" to correct the other problems.  That seems to be what was chosen in this chapter, but I don't feel that it solves the fellowship problem.

Cultural and racial issues do impact the way a church functions, and because of past prejudices, unfortunately it is the older group that is affected the most.  We never see this problem with youth.  Often, our "easy solution" is to simply "honor" the non-English-speaking group by letting them go first.  But this never really integrates fellowship.  I imagine that this earliest church found out the same thing.  Much like my desire to learn Russian and to attempt to speak to Ukrainian and Russian orphans in their own language while I was adopting, I imagine that the better answer might be for the majority group to exit their comfort zones and stretch themselves if the church is ever to see real, true, integrated fellowship.

Father, I pray that You will give us opportunities to try this in our own church.  Help us to commune with our brothers at the mission, not simply set a table for them at our meals.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Published: Friday, 30 November 2007