Jealousy rears its ugly head

This week I had the opportunity to preach at Believers Fellowship Baptist Church in Moshi. It was very refreshing to preach in English. I enjoyed being able to run off on any rabbit trail I deemed worthy without getting lost for words along the way. My oldest son, Jay played his guitar while we sung Trust and Obey, Be Thou My Vision, and Grace Greater than our Sin. Then just before the sermon, Cathy sung Complete in Thee. It felt like it was the Schultz family hour. It was a nice change of pace from the usual services held at the village church.

I would ask you to pray for our village church. Lately, 2 people have shown us their ugly side and are causing some problems within the church. While I was preaching in Moshi on Sunday, Paulo was running the service at the village church in Kingereka. It was during this service that one woman brought many of her complaints before the church. Her biggest complaint was that I don’t visit the sick people in our church (she has been sick the past 2 weeks) and that I only give money to a few favorite people in the church. The truth is that on occasion all of our people have asked me for some kind of assistance claiming that they don’t have enough money for food or medicine etc. I believed them and would give them $5-$10 to help them. I may have done this 5-6 times for each individual over the past 4 years (an older widow in our church being an exception to the limit). At other times they would bring bigger problems to me. I would present the need to the church and let them decide how much to help the individual if at all. Now I understand that my little help here and there has created animosity among a few. Though in a different context, this reminds me of Romans 14:16, “Let not then your good be evil spoken of:”
It appears to me that jealousy is one of the biggest sins among our people group. It may be a result of the many years this country has spent as a socialistic government handing out spartan necessities to its people. It may be a result of other churches in the area that have become service stations to their attendees. Some churches offer loans for people to start businesses or to buy big items like bikes, motorcycles or tin roofs. Others have prescribed plans for helping with medical expenses. I can understand why the churches would do these things but it has created many more problems than it has solved. The biggest problem is that many of those people look to God to serve them as if it were an entitlement endowed upon them for their attendance to the church and the spare change they put in the offering plate. Doing things God’s way is always the best way regardless of its difficulty. Convincing people of this truth will always be difficult regardless of its blessings.
Please pray for wisdom on my part. Pray for these people who are jealous and bitter and please pray that the Lord would be glorified through it all. Already one man has written to tell me that he has sought forgiveness for his own jealousy.