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1 Corinthians 14:23-26 (KJV)
If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

Focus for a moment on the last phrase,
Let all things be done unto edifying.

Let all things: 
·   Build you up, 
·   Make you more like Christ, 
·   Improve your fellowship and relationship to God and one another.

Let all things strengthen the unity of the church.

Let all things teach us something.

And
Let all of this glorify the Lord.

With that in mind, I want to share with you some lessons I think I am learning these last couple of weeks.

I. WE LEARN THROUGH TRIALS
And when we learn, God is glorified.

A trial like this is never pleasant, but there are lessons to be learned. If we are able to grow as believers because of it, God is glorified.

What are we learning? The list might be as varied as the members of our church, but here are some lessons we may hope to receive.

A. We are learning to trust the Lord
Will He pull us through this?[1] We know the promises of the Word of God. We get to see if they are true.

B. We are learning to forgive
I think I learned many years ago to forgive the multiple attacks upon my person. These attacks have been directed toward my wife and my son. It’s a new bent on forgiving.

C. We are learning patience
Patience is perfected in persecution, trial and tribulation.[2]

D. We are learning to love
We are taught to love those who hate us and do us evil. We get the chance to practice it.

E. We are learning unity
Those who rally to support and defend us when we are attacked become truly precious to us.

II. I CAN TAKE THE WIND OUT OF THE SAILS OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS BY BEING TRANSPARENT  
BUT I can’t take the wind out of the sails of gossip. That must be the work of you as an individual member. 

If I share too much information two negative things happen
A. I risk burning the bridge for their repentance

B. I imply to the congregation that I will do the same to them, if ever they disagree with me
What that means is that I cannot always tell you why I do certain things.

I therefore must risk my own reputation for the sake of preserving the character of those who are opposed to me.

What will not help is for everyone else to talk about the thing to each other. That’s just gossip and serves no purpose. 

Instead, pray.

My heart’s longing is to see people come to love God, love each other and repent when in sin. Pray to this end.

III. WHO PAYS THE PASTOR?
There was no complaint about finances at all. Our brother’s complaints were all about our ministry. 
He did not like Pastor .... preaching Wednesday. He felt like that wasted his time preparing to work with the teens, saying, “That’s what we pay the pastor to do.”

I do not believe the church pays me to do anything. I am called by God and supported by God. People in the church give as an act of obedience and worship to God. 

The money, once given, belongs to God and not to the people who gave it.

To “provide for things honest”[3] we have in place several protocols.
·   The offerings are counted immediately after being received and locked away in a safe. 
·   Those counting are trusted ushers, who revolve so that it isn’t the same men every time. 
·   The count is then confirmed by our treasurer and a report made before being deposited into the bank.

Though the Bible does not require it, all our salaries and any subsequent raises, are submitted to the deacons for approval.

III. THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE MINISTRY BELONGS TO THE PASTOR
This is, in fact, the very thing Apostle Paul addressed in 1 and 2 Corinthians and Galatians.
It’s doctrinal, but it’s also practical.

Hebrews 13:17-18 (KJV)
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.

Every one of us will stand before God.
But I am the only person in this room tonight who will give and account for how I watched for your souls.

In this case, our brother set his own standard for what he thought a great teen pastor should be.
He said a great leader would have 24 activities a year, not counting Sundays and Wednesdays, a good one would have 12 per year, etc.

For the record, 
I would not consider having that many activities. I want to teach families how to be families.
Malachi 4:6 (KJV)
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

It is a parent’s right to choose the sort of program they wish their kids to be in. 

It is not their right to attempt to change the philosophy of one that exists.

IV. IF IT BE POSSIBLE, LIVE PEACEABLY  
Romans 12:18 (KJV)
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

I was in tension with our brother since even before he joined. One of my very first conversations with him he complained that I had too many guest preachers.

In fairness, he tried to find ways to get along with me.
·   Praying with me
·   Complimenting me when I began to exercise
·   Buying things for me
But he never did agree with me, or ever come to the altar.

There was constant tension in the school with this brother.
Anita’s tremors have been so much better this year. We thought it might have been because of exercise and diet.
But they returned with all of this.
We now believe they were caused by the stress this brother has placed on her with his children in the school. 

I have had to wrestle with it.
I should have protected my wife better.[4] I should have disallowed them from being in the school years ago.

I knew he had “sown discord” over the years, but I did not know the full extent. 
I learned this week of some cases where he had, been calling certain members complaining, about something or another. 
One man said that he was surprised this took so long.

A thought came to me, “Why wasn’t I made aware of these complaints?”
I decided that it was probably better that I did not know. Sometimes the best way for you, as a member of the church, to deal with murmurers is not to “tell on them” but to rebuke them personally.

V. THE AUTHORITY OF THE DEACONS 
This is a common misconception in a Protestant church. 

One person I know (not in our church) likened deacons to the job stewards on union sights. It is the deacon’s job, in some people’s eyes, to represent the membership in opposition to the pastoral staff.

Biblical deacons are servants of the pastors, relieving them of necessary tasks so they can give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. 

A pastor might ask them to do more, but this is all they are in the Bible.

Finally,
VII. I LEARNED A VERY VALUABLE LESSON FROM BROTHER ..........
Since this revolved around the will of God and who knows it for the ministry of the church. Brother ....... said, when discovering the will of God about a thing, we have three resources:
A. We have the Word of God
If the Bible clearly teaches it – that is the will of God.

B. We have Bible principle
Sometimes the Bible doesn’t give “chapter and verse” on a subject, but there is clearly a principle established in the Bible.

Lacking those
C. We have good old common sense
This is by far the least reliable of the three and any two good men might disagree on what is common sense. 

It is not a good policy to get in a conflict over a disagreement of this nature.[5]



[1] For the most part I think He already has.
[2] James 1:3 (KJV)
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
[3] Romans 12:17 (KJV)
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
[4] I’ve been thinking on that. How much should I have tried to protect my wife and son? If I had put them in a room where no one could ever hurt them, would they have been healthier for it? We grow stronger through trials, but there has to be some time for recovery AND it’s nice to have some support through it. 
[5] Dr. David Gibbs says, “How many of you understand that good men can disagree and still be good men?” I would add that what makes a bad man is how he responds to the disagreement.