How To Behave In Church

HOW TO BEHAVE IN CHURCH

I Thessalonians 5:12-15

INTRO.- ILL.- A young mother went to her doctor for an appointment. She took her little five-year-old son with her and made no attempt to restrain him from ransacking an adjoining room. Finally, after hearing a bunch of bottles being rattled, she said to the doctor, “Doctor, I hope you don’t mind little Johnny being in the next room.”

The doctor replied, “No, it’s okay. He’ll be quiet when he gets to the poisons.”

I know. What a story! That doctor did not sign the Hippocratic oath, did he?

But the point I want to make is this: That little boy’s behavior was bad. And, of course, any mother who would allow such behavior is not performing her motherly duties either.

Some little children behave badly!

ILL.- Some years ago I was in a grocery store and happened to run into one of our young mothers who had several of her children with her. Her little boy Joseph was sitting in the shopping cart. I don’t remember how old he was, but I leaned down and said, “Hi Joseph!” I was merely trying to pay attention to the little boy and demonstrate love.

And suddenly he took a swing at me and knocked my glasses down the aisle. His mother promptly said, “Now Joseph!” And I thought to myself, “If he had been my kid I would have ‘now Josephed’ him really good!”

His behavior was bad! But it wasn’t his fault. His mom and dad hadn’t attended to his training as much as they should have. Bad behavior in children comes as a result of a lack of parental discipline. THAT’S JUST PLAIN BIBLICAL FACT.

Proverbs 13:24 “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful (and I might add, quick) to discipline him.”

Proverbs 22:15 “Folly (or foolishness) is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.”

ILL.- A long time ago when I was in the 5th grade at Eugene Field Elementary School in Webb City, MO, a boy got into an argument with our teacher, Mrs. Bull. AND YOU DIDN’T WANT TO MESS WITH THE BULL, MRS. BULL, that is. I don’t remember what Clarence Ward said to Mrs. Bull that ticked her off, but in just a short while he was out of his chair and she was chasing him around the room. The rest of us students were laughing our heads off. As Mrs. Bull was chasing Clarence, occasionally he would turn around and hit at her with his coat, thinking that would keep her away. BUT IT DIDN’T.

I don’t remember what Clarence got after the chase ended, but I know it wasn’t good. HIS BEHAVIOR WAS BAD IN SCHOOL. Somebody did something wrong, or else they did very little to train that boy.

ILL.- A guy lost his job and the word spread quickly about it. A friend asked, “Why did you get fired from your job?” “Well,” he said, “You know what a foreman does. He’s the guy who stands around and watches everyone work.”

“What’s that got to do with it?” his friend asked. “Well, the foreman got jealous of me and fired me. EVERYONE THOUGHT I WAS THE FOREMAN.”

Brethren, standing around on the job is bad behavior! IT’S A MATTER OF NOT WORKING.

Of course, I’ve seen worse behavior than that in the working world and you have too.

ILL.- While working as the Asst. Manager at the Silk Tree Factory in Cape Girardeau, MO, the company sent us several young men as “trainees.” These young fellows were supposed to train at our store to become assistant managers in other stores.

One young man came from the retail business. In fact, he had already worked for Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby. I knew that something wasn’t kosher with him, because he was always “knocking” those other stores from the minute he walked into our store.

One day the personnel manager of the company showed up at our store and he asked me to take this one young man and show him how to fill insurance papers and so on. We went to the breakroom and I proceeded to show him how to fill out the papers. He threw the papers at me and said, “I don’t want to do this! Besides I already know how to do it!”

So I just walked out of the room and went about my business. Sometime later my manager came to me and said, “The personnel manager wants to know why that trainee doesn’t know how to fill out insurance papers. He wants to know why you didn’t teach him how.”

I said, “I tried but he didn’t want to be taught.” And then I told the manager what the young man said and did.