The Ever Popular Tater Family
2 Corinthians 13:5
We are so thankful for all our families in the church. Each family is of vital importance to the church body.
Now, in reference to our own personal families, most of us have family members that we are especially proud of.
But sadly to say, most of us also have family members that we’re not particularly fond of.
We won’t even claim kin to them! We’ll say we’ve never heard of them.
The church family is not any different. Some church members make the church look good, and some, well, not so good.
Now, there is a family that I am thinking of that is so large they are a part of just about every church.
They are the ever popular Tater family. No doubt you already know them, and, like me, you’re not to proud of them either.
As a matter of fact, I really don’t think God is very proud of them.
Now, let’s see if we can identify some of the Tater family.
1. There’s old man Dic. You know him, Dic-tater!
He tries to run everything. He thinks nothing can get done of he isn’t in charge.
He has to tell everyone how things should be run, usually his way or no way.
Sometimes he holds the Pastor’s position. Sometimes he holds the deacon’s position, and sometimes he is just a layman.
God cannot bless a church where Mr. Dic-tater is in charge.
The church belongs to God. Jesus is the head of the church. “Upon this rock I will build MY church…….”
The Pastor is the shepherd and spiritual leader of the church. He is responsible for the spirituality of the local church. He is not a dictator, but a leader, and he gains respect through his leadership, not demands it.
The deacons are his spiritual advisors, uplifting, encouraging and supporting their pastor, and respecting him as the Shepherd/Pastor of the flock.
No deacon should be in control of the church, but instead the Pastor and deacons should work together as a team promoting harmony, unity and love in the congregation.
The church in which Mr. Dic-tater is in charge will always have problems, whether it be a pastor, board member, or layman.
2. The second member of the Tater family is Ole Ro. Yes, Mr. Ro-tater.
He is here one day, and you think he is going to be faithful and beneficial to the church, and the next thing you know he has rotated to another church.
He isn’t there long either, and he rotates to another church.
And if you wait long enough, he will eventually rotate back to our church!
He is in the circulation ministry!
Another characteristic about ole Mr. Ro-tater is that he is always changing the way he believes.
He isn’t stable in his doctrine, but changes with the wind, rotating back and forth.
Mr. Ro-tater also rotates his church attendance. He may come to church Sunday but next Sunday is his day to go the lake, go see Aunt Sally, or do some work around the house. Eventually he will rotate around and sneak back into his pew.
I Cor. 4:2 tells us that we are required as stewards, to be found faithful.
3. The third member of this Ever Popular Tater family is Sister Agi.
Sister Agi-tater. She’s not married, because she can’t find anyone she can get along with.
She’s a trouble maker for sure! She is always stirring up trouble in the church.
If she doesn’t see any trouble brewing, she’ll start some!
She causes a lot of confusion in the church, being an active supporter of any negative thing going on.
She’s zealous when it comes to trouble, but cold-hearted when it comes to unity and harmony. James 3:16 says, “for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”
Now Sister Agi-Tater has a uncle named Iri. Ole Iri-tater, pronounced “Eri-tater” is always irritating something in the church.
When I think of irritate, I think of the phrase “rubbing against.”
When you try to start a new program, Ole Iri-tater begins rubbing against it.
When you want to start a new building for the growth of the church, Ole Iri-tater begins rubbing against it.
When you want to buy a bus to pick up kids for Sunday School, Ole Iri-tater starts rubbing against it.
When you have new ideas for church growth and you are all excited about, leave it up to Ole Irr-tater to rub against it.
It’s like the old gentleman who was always against everything the church did.
One day they decided the church would look nice if they bought a new chandelier for the foyer.
Sure enough this old gentleman was against it.
When asked why he opposed to purchasing this new chandelier he replied, “We don’t have anyone who can play one. Besides what we need for this church is new lights!”
I guess we will always have Uncle Iri-tater around to keep us humble!
4. The fourth member of this renowned Tater family is cousin Hesi.
Yeah, you guessed it, Hesi-tater. She’s a dandy!
Nothing gets done around the church as long as cousin Hesi has anything to do with it.
She’s a hesi-tater.
When you want to start something for God old Hesi will hold you back.
Now it is certainly good to plan, calculate, have fore-thought. But Ole Hesi will still hesi-tate even after careful planning!
She hesitates about working for God.
She hesitates about taking a Sunday School class.
She hesitates about witnessing for Christ.
She hesitates about going to church.
She hesitates about praying.
She hesitates about paying her tithes! OH THAT HURTS!
She hesitates about winning souls.
As a result souls are lost, and the church loses opportunities that may never return.
Ole Hesi-tater straddles the fence. She holds back. She see-saws back and forth, and she drags her feet.
Ole Hesi-tater also hesitates at God’s promises, hesitates at His Word, and hesitates at God’s divine will for her life.
5. Then there is old Brother Spec. Spec-tater is his name. Now, one good thing about this old gentleman, he’s there every time we have service. He even shows up at our “work days.”
Yeah, he’s there alright, sitting on the pew with his arms folded.
He doesn’t put forth any effort.
He doesn’t participate in the singing, the worship, the prayer time, and he sure doesn’t participate in the offering!
And when service is over he goes home just like he came!
Ole Spec just watches everyone else from the sidelines.
Yeah, when we have a work day ole Spec watches us work.
When we go out on visitation ole Spec sits on the porch and watches us go by.
When we pray around the altars Ole Spec watches us pray.
He didn’t come to participate, he just came to watch.
He’s not in the game, he’s just a spectator.
And when rewards are given out in heaven someday, he’ll be just a spectator again because he never was a participator.
6. The sixth member of this peculiar family is Miss Imi, yes, Imi-tater.
She wants our church to be like the church down the street. She wants our choir to sing like the Billy Graham crusade choir.
She wants the preacher to preach like some TV evangelist.
She just wants us to imitate some other ministry and not give God a chance to mold us into what He wants us to be in His own unique way.
God doesn’t want us to be like somebody else, or worship just like the First Church.
He wants us to yield to the Holy Spirit and allow God to use us according to His perfect will.
7. The seventh member of this Tater family is old brother Ampu. Yeah, Ampu-tater.
He has amputated himself from the church altogether.
He doesn’t come anymore. He has cut himself off from the church.
He got hurt, or he got mad, or something happened he didn’t like, so he just cut himself off.
The problem is, when a member of the body is cut off, it will die. The church will continue, but the amputated member will die spiritually.
When Ampu cut himself off from the church, he cut himself off from God’s blessings, good Christian fellowship, worship and praise, and even cut himself off from becoming his full potential for God.
Ampu needs our prayers desperately.
8. Lastly, there is a member of this Tater family that really doesn’t fit in.
She’s different. She was cut from a different mold.
She acts different, looks different. She’s got a different attitude. It’s hard to believe she is in the same family.
Her name is Sweet Tater. Yeah, she’s has a different spirit. She has a sweet spirit.
She always has a smile on her face, even when they are receiving the offering for the third time!
She loves her neighbor, even if they ain’t no good!!!
She loves God with all her heart and is excited about doing anything she is asked to do.
She’s a sweet tater! Oh, her characteristics is found in Galatians 5:22-23.
Every church need some sweet taters in them! The rest of the tater family just needs to get saved!!
Sweet tater always has a kind word to say to everyone. She even tells the preacher he did a great job, even when he didn’t!
Sweet Tater always wants what is best for her church, following the leadership of the Pastor and church leaders without complaint.
If the music is too loud, she just worships anyhow.
When the building is too cold, she just wraps up.
If the message is too long, she enjoys it anyway!!
She’s a sweet tater! We need more sweet taters in the church.
