BibleNote Writer
He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.
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Registered: 01-2008
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When Some People "Had the Preacher for Dinner"
I had as a layman sometimes heard preachers, especially evangelists, preach about the evil of "having the preacher for dinner". What they meant was that sometimes people talk negatively about the preacher at their dinner table. This is often very detrimental to the Lord's work, since others, especially children, then have their minds filled with the things that are "wrong with the preacher". When they then hear the man attempt to bring God's Word to their hearts, these things are replayed and prevent the good that could have been done. Their minds are at least somewhat prejudiced against anything the man might say in or out of the pulpit.
Years later, I was the preacher. My wife and I were invited to dinner. So, in one sense, the people literally had the preacher for dinner. I sadly discovered though that they previously "had the preacher for dinner" in the wrong sense -- or at least talked negatively about me in my absence.
How did I find out you might ask? Well, I wasn't the only preacher attending the meal. I happened to be able to figure out some things, "reading between the lines" so to speak. The other preacher asked me some key questions which made me realize that he had gotten some inside "information". His ears had been filled with negative talk about me.
Not only was this bad for the children of the people who did the talking, but the talk was very effective in setting up a barrier between the other preacher and myself. You see, I became the "enemy". Nothing I could say or do could undo what the others had already decided and discussed between themselves. I feel that I lost a friend, which friend wasn't nearly as good a friend as I had formerly thought.
quote:
...a whisperer separateth chief friends. Proverbs 26:28b
Last edited by BibleNote Writer, 15/Apr/2009, 11:53 pm
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18/Jan/2008, 7:49 pm
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