Lessons From New York

Today on ESPN it was reported that former Yankees Manager Joe Torre (former Cardinal 3rd baseman) had agreed in principle to become the next manager of the LA Dodgers. Looking back on this situation with the Yankees I thought about how poorly George Steinbrenner and his sons handled this situation. It seemed that all of us knew the details of what happened between the Yankees and Torre. You did not have to even be a sports fan and you probably knew the details. When things go sour for any organization I always think that its better to keep the details in-house.

Too much of the time the Church acts like the Yankee organization. When problems arise between its members the community that its in seems to know whats going down. They might not even care about the Church and they still know. Some things that go on in the Church are usually solved, but even if they are not does the community at large need to know about it? The way that the Church handles its problems says a lot about its leadership and members. As humans we feel justified if we have been hurt by others and so we find comfort in those closest to us. The problem with this is that sometimes those closest to us are not the ones we worship with on Sunday mornings. If we love our Lord then we should show it by never profaning His name with the frustrating things that go on inside of the Church. We need to be mature and deal with any situation as the New Testament commands us to. A Church that handles all of its problems quickly and within the walls of the Church is a congregation going places with God.