November 25, 2019 - When I was pastoring a church in Portland, Oregon , a young man walked into our morning service. He was on our membership roll but had not attended in several years. The members gathered around him and joyfully welcomed him back home.
As we left the service that morning, Deacon Gene Stufflebeam stopped to talk with me. “We need to go slow with that returned member,” he said. “He joined our church several years ago and everyone fell in love with him.” Gene went on to say that the man became a Sunday School teacher and added a lot to the church with his enthusiasm and dedication. “He taught his class for two months and then totally disappeared.” “In other words,” Gene said, “He popped in, popped off… and then popped out.”
For a while, the man entertained his fellow members with his wit and enthusiasm. He shouted “Praise the Lord” and “Amen” so loudly while I preached that I had a hard time staying on subject. For several months, he was a model member… attended all the services… and then… as he had done before… he suddenly disappeared.
We were lamenting how sad it was that the man had left again. “Yep,” Gene mused, “Your walk with God is not determined by how loud you holler… or how high you jump.”
“It’s how straight you walk after you come down.”
