Aunt Ida's big change

Editorial for July 28, 2005

By Jim White

Editor’s note: At some point I suppose it was inevitable that you would meet some of my family. Every so often I get letters from my fictional Aunt Ida, a staunch member of the WMU at Bluebell Baptist, and from time to time I may share them with you. As with most of my family, she could never quite make the transition to Jim, much less to James, so you will understand her salutation. As you will see, Aunt Ida and her husband, Uncle Orley, are country folk who have human hang-ups, but who also have the spiritual gift of discernment.

Dear Jimmy,

Ever since we got our new young preacher last year, things have been changing faster than the view out the side window of Ricky Rudd’s Ford. Don’t any of us want to hurt Brother Bobby’s feelings because he means well, but I just don’t think he understands the pace at which most of us move. Once I get on my feet and start moving, any sudden change of direction could cause me to topple over and break something. As a result, I guess I’m a little leery when it comes to change. We’ve tried to go along with most things, and I’ve got to admit more folks are coming to church now than at any time since Nixon lost to Kennedy. But, the wheels almost came off the wagon a couple of months ago.

It all started in the May business meeting. You remember the old yella piano down in your cousin Emma’s Sunday school room? It had sticking keys and a cracked soundboard when the Wilsons gave it to the church 30 years ago and it hadn’t healed any with the passing of time. Well, the preacher found somebody willing to come and haul it off if we would give it to him; and, since nobody living can remember hearing it play, it seemed like a good idea to me. Brother Bobby asked the church to approve giving it away, so Uncle Orley made the motion and it got a second. We were about ready to vote when all of a sudden old Brother Badden commenced to hollerin’ that they used to make piano keys out of ivory and that we might be fixin’ to give away a fortune. Well, it was an amazing thing to see people’s eyes light up with dollar signs when he said that. After nearly an hour of wrangling, somebody finally had presence of mind enough to call for the question and we voted. The vote was 36 to give it away and 37 to keep it.

That was bad enough, but what happened later was even worse. Folks lit up the phone lines and those that have email stirred things up until finally the whole town was either for the piano or against it. Both sides dug in their heels and neither was willing to give up so much as a quarter note. Poor Brother Bobby got so addled that he looked like a bomb had gone off in his grits. Finally, Uncle Orley met with the deacons and told them this whole fracas made about as much sense as the farmer who sold his mule to buy a plow. He finally got what he wanted, but he was worse off than before. He reminded them that the church has a job to do and when we get sidetracked by such things we not only fail to do Jesus’ bidding but we look pretty foolish to boot. Well, I can only say that the Lord took over and deacons started confessing and asking each other’s forgiveness and praying. It turned into a real revival right there.

The next day Brother Badden drove his pickup to the church where he and several other men lately of the pro-piano party loaded ol’ yella into the back and hauled it out to his farm where they dumped it into a gulley. They said that it had caused enough trouble in the church and we needed to be rid of it. Not a single person has objected.

It’s truly amazing, nephew, the things that can happen to a church when the Spirit takes over. The pity is we are usually so busy trying to figure out how to do things ourselves that we don’t give him the chance. Or, worse, we get so blinded with pride that we can’t see how we are bringing division and shame and weakness to the body of Christ. For now at least, Bluebell Baptist is a different church. Now, that’s a big change that I’ve been praying to see. Keep us in your prayers, and we’ll do the same for you.

With love, Jim White is editor and business manager of the Religious Herald.