God's leader wants to die...

For those who read the blog that are new to exploring God, the book of Numbers is the 4th book of the Bible, not a sci-fi read. I have been reading the book of Numbers this week and will sit down with a friend and we will share with each other how God spoke to us as well as answer some questions of accountability.

I'll be honest, I was not expecting to hear much from God while reading the book of numbers and honestly some of it seems very very very repetitive, however I read some verses last night that really stood out to me.

Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt (slavery) and after a while all they do is complain about having to eat Manna (God provided food) each day. Here are a few verses from Numbers 11:

¹⁰ Moses heard the whining, all those families whining in front of their tents. God's anger blazed up. Moses saw that things were in a bad way.

^11-15 Moses said to God, "Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, 'Give us meat; we want meat.' I can't do this by myself—it's too much, all these people. If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I've seen enough; I've had enough. Let me out of here."

Moses gets so tired of the people of God whining that he asks God to kill him. It may seem like an extreme requests for people who have never led God's people but I can tell you that I have met many good, Godly pastors (men and women) that simply walked away from ministry because of the whining of God's people. They eventually reached their capacity to listen to God's whining people and walked away.

I have it easy at Catalyst compared to a lot of my pastor friends and the petty crap they have to deal with in their churches. I honestly deal with little to nowhining at this point. I am sure it will come at some point in the future, but I have very little tolerance for it. After 35 years in the church I have found that the people who whine the most are typically folks who are marginally engaged, do not serve, and most likely are not financially generous in supporting the church.

I am sure that none of us would want to consider ourselves one of God's whiners, but maybe we should examine ourselves?

Are you constantly whining/complaining about your church or your pastor? Are you doing anything to make a difference? Are you fully engaged in the life of the church, are you serving in the church, are you being financially generous in supporting your church? Do your conversations about your church/pastor make your pastor want to stay or walk away?

Pastors, we are guilty of this to. Are you supportive of your leadership or do complain about them to people outside your church? Are you guilty of whining about financial obligations to your denomination? Are you whining/complaining about district leadership? Do your conversations inspire people to serve or leave them with a desire to walk away from volunteer leadership?

Let's commit to supporting our pastors and volunteer leaders (God's leaders) and encourage them in the work they are doing. Sure, there are times to air legitimate complaints, but let's not drive Godly leaders away from ministry because of our whining, complaining, "what have you done for me lately" attitudes.