THANK YOU

I do not know about you, but to me there seems to be a great lack of common courtesy and civility in the world today and worse this lack of basic manners have crept over into the church. The general rule of common courtesy and decency is to praise in public and discipline (a bad word for most Christians) in private seems to be something I learned in the Navy that does not apply to the Christian world. Did you know God wants us to have more courtesy and manners than those folks in the world? But, that is not what I see going on in the church. Now please do not misunderstand me here I am NOT saying we should do things for God and our fellow man for a “pat on the back” or a “well done,” but when someone does something for you (especially if they go above and beyond what is expected) the least we should say is “thank you.” To do less is nothing more than arrogance and a heart condition that screams of a genuine lack of gratitude and thankfulness to God and man. Paul told the church at Rome, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:21) Not being thankful to God and man most often is due to our imagining we are better than someone else and need not express our gratitude for their service and express they are equal to us. Please let me give you a few examples I have seen recently in my life, examples of things that are not getting better and something I feel God truly hates. You know when we do not “But speak the truth in love so that they may grow up in all things . . .” (Ephesians 4:15) as Paul taught the Church at Ephesus then we are rejecting the truth of the word of God for the person we are to be sharing with. We have rejected the truth for the individual and now the Holy Spirit cannot work in their life. Faith comes by hearing! When we speak the truth and they hear our words have it be; the Scriptures, a thus says the LORD, or holding their feet to the fire on a point of courtesy, morality, or holiness God then can begin to work in their lives. I have a pastor friend in Africa who could not get a visa to come to the States. In the past he had no problem, but with the new regulations and restrictions America has put into place to prevent terrorism he could not get a visa unless tons of paper work was completed on his end and by the people hosting him. Another friend asked me to fill out the paperwork for him so our mutual friend could come, but after finding out the extent of the paperwork and the private ministry information I would have to reveal I declined. Now in the past I have called my State Senator to request a letter from him to be sent to the Consulate or Embassy on behalf of a friend wanting to come to the States. The letter is not you must give this individual a visa, but I am aware this individual wants to come to my States; which is another way of saying please give this guy a visa. I have done this for two other pastors with successful results. Now I do not want to abuse this kindness from our Senator’s office and like to use it only for emergencies, but since he was a good friend I went above and beyond and called. After many days of calls and many emails my pastor friend in Africa got his visa. Wonderful he got his visa, but months later (by chance from my brother) I heard my pastor friend from Africa was in the States. Now here is my point. When my pastor friend from Africa came to the States he never once called or emailed letting me know (just to say hi) he was in the States, and the real kicker is as of this date my pastor friend from Africa has never said “thank you” for helping him get a visa. This my friend is arrogant and a self-serving attitude that God is not happy with. We think just because God dealt with our sin our character flaws have been dealt with also, well my friend I am here to tell you that is wrong thinking. Did you know God is more concerned about our character then He is about our sin, abilities and gifts? He can do something about our sin, abilities and gifts, but our character flaws like not saying thank you is something He expects US to handle and when we allow these to become a major part of our character it destroys our Christians witness and the authority God gives us as leaders and ministers of the Gospel. Bad attitudes and ungratefulness does not speak of a clean and humble heart. There is another example I would like to share with you. I am not sure if a lot of folks know, but I have contacts in the US government from my days as a Joint Medical Planner where containers (40x40 dry wall) can be sent from door to door in some cases for free. Yes that is right for free. I have helped send containers to Nigeria, Kenya, Peru and in the process at different stages of sending container for free through the US government to: two different ministries in Mozambique, one ministry in Ghana, and another ministry in Nigeria. Again to do this I must go above and beyond what is expected in a normal relationship and requires many hours of phone calls and time behind the computer imputing all of the information into a special database I have access. I get nothing for this help (except a pat on the back from God which is enough) only stress and sometimes frustration with dealing with international issues. Of the four containers yet to be sent (for free mind you) the only way I hear from these folks is when I call or email them. Never has any of them picked up the phone and brought me up to speed with what was going on so I could contact my contact (who I really want to keep happy) in the US government and let them know why the delay. Weeks even months go by before I call or email and ask what is going on and usually get something like, “well you know we have been very busy around here at church.” When someone does you a favor (especially when they go out of their way) you should take their time and effort serious and thank them every time you talk with them, not to do so is nothing short of arrogance, selfishness, and self-serving. Not to do so is just a reflection of thankless heart condition. Remember the verse, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” (Matthew 12:34-35) Whatsoever is in your heart will come out your mouth. Maybe that is why God teaches us to keep our peace? I find people who have nothing seem to be more thankful than people who are trying to protect their treasures. And the reverse of that truth is true; whatsoever is not in your heart (like saying thank you) will not come out your mouth. If you have to force yourself or even make an effort to remember to say things like: thank you, you are welcome, or please (all common words of kindness and courtesy) shame on you it is a reflection of a heart condition whereby God has not been allowed to work on your character. You know the people we really love the words, “I love you” just comes off our lips without any thought or effort, it is automatic they are in our heart and they come rolling off our lips without any pretense or thought. When I call Mike Olufemi (our Operations Director at our Maternity Clinic) in Aveile, Nigeria with our monthly payment for salaries and maintenance Mike starts the conversation off by saying “I love you” and then goes on for about ten more “I love yous” before we settle down and talk business. Mike does not have much (and he is thankful) on this earth, but his heart is full of love for me and God thus, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” What a joy it is to talk with him when he calls two or three times a month just to say “hello” or at the beginning of the month when we send our support. We start our conversation with “I love you” and end our conversation with “I love you” and everything else between is sweet music. This inability to express thankfulness and gratitude is nothing more than a sign our flesh is alive and well and we have not allowed God to deal our flesh a death blow. Our mighty flesh (our ungodly attitude, emotions, and feelings) must be destroyed. How can the might of flesh surrender to the Almighty? It is very difficult, if not impossible. This is the reason why it must be destroyed. We see this in the victory of the Children of Israel over the Egyptians, "Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea." (Exodus 15:4) Like the Egyptians our strength and might must drown, but the weakness of the flesh is another story. Weakness surrenders much easier than strength does. And in that surrender the Lord's strength can become what He intends it to be, " . . . And he said unto me, My (the Lord's) grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness . . . " (II Corinthians 12:9) When our mighty flesh cannot surrender, the Lord performs a mercy killing. "But He overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever." (Psalm 136:15) God intends for our flesh to surrender, this is His intention. We are to have a soft heart where our flesh automatically (this is God’s intention) submits to God’s direction and will in obedience and when it does not submit to God we must allow God to work in our lives to the point where He can deliver our flesh (ultimately) a death blow, if not then the next steps along the continuum of His dealings and judgments in our lives are harder on us and our relationships. And in the end if we do not allow God to work in our lives our salvation (sorry my Baptist friends) could be lost. So how important is saying “thank you?” In the short run seemingly not important after all we have God’s and our brother’s and sister’s grace to fall back on, but in the long run how important is our salvation? “Thank you” for taking time to read this article. Written by David Stahl