How we use people in the church.

One of the reasons I stopped blogging was I found out I had been removed from a committee I had been part of for the last two years. It is a committee of some significance and clout, and it was very ego boosting to be removed. It was also a committee that was trying to do some really interesting things – to create a vision of us as the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia being one church expressed across the three tikanga, instead of being three separate churches who get together to squabble over the cookies every now and then. So it was very ego deflating to be removed, and also really sad, I enjoyed the two weeks I spend at the meetings.
But what really annoyed or angered me was that no-one saw fit to tell me. I found out in the minutes of the group who made the decision. You would think that being a church we might have some clues as to how to care for people. But no. Not a one. There has been some surprised that I might be angry. So why didn’t I blog. I was just too angry and was not at all certain what I might post. It consumed so much of my energy and time fretting and fuming over it. And that annoys me as well, that I did respond like that , and that no-one thought that maybe I might be taken aback!
In a similar story one of my colleagues was told by a member of the clergy that her job would end next September so that a new things could be done. Just straight out. She was a little taken aback. And the member of the clergy didn’t understand that either! What is even better, the bishop hasn’t contacted her to talk about the decision and how she feels about it. We use and abuse people so badly.
I am reminded of a story Jesus told about specks and logs. God I hope that I see the log in my own eye, how I treat people, and learn from this, and not focus on the speck in others