Grumbling, Growling and Griping

This past Sunday, Jim Testerman used the aliteration "Grumbling, Growling and Griping" as part of his sermon. This reminded me that while on vacation recently I was thinking about the general attitude of people around me.

As a minister, I often hear a lot of complaining. It is not that people who attend church are always complaining, it is just that generally if they are happy they don't have a need to speak to me about it. So, it goes without saying that the main reason those who attend church speak to their minister is because they have a complaint about something.

I have done my best throughout my 20+ years of ministry to realize that the complaints are not meant as a personal insult or as a judgment on my character. But I must admit that anytime you hear 80% complaints versus 20% compliments it is going to affect your attitude as well.

I often find myself in a rather foul mood immediately following worship services or special events because of the complaints that I hear from people immediately after about how they didn't like the songs or the lights were too bright or the music was too loud or they couldn't understand the person speaking or the temperature was too cold, etc. Often my foul moods spill over into snapping at my family or turning around and complaining about things myself.

Having spoken with ministers from all over the country, I realize that I am not the only one who has experienced this. It would seem that the vast majority of ministers feel that they are more often surrounded by negativity than by positive reenforcement or affirmation. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that ministers feel that they deserve to get more appreciation or kind comments. However the intense levels of negativity are very draining and often make it difficult to not get caught up in it as well.

We all have problems that may lead us to grumble occasionally; we will all find ourselves around people at times that may make us just want to growl; and I know that certain things such as politics, taxes, news, weather, etc., will give us what we consider just cause to gripe. However, I have decided to make a concerted effort to NOT grumble, growl or complain. If I don't like being around people who express those attitudes, then I need to make certain that I am not one of the problems.

So as my first good will effort in this new campaign: I think President Obama has some really nice shirts....and I think that it is great that my boys listen to Christian heavy metal and screamo using their iPods and earbuds.