Too Many Buffaloes

I need a "buffalo stampede."

What is a buffalo in a church? It's a person who has no desire to grow in Christ, who never 'breaks down,' who pushes their own agenda (because all they do is 'play church') and who simply gets in the way. It's not that they're not nice people, it's just that they appear immovable. They are sucking the life out of churches across the region.

How do I get past the buffaloes and find the lost sheep? I don't know. I can't think of a way that won't involve hurting these huge, slow-moving creatures that are meandering about in our churches, grazing without consuming. Chewing without swallowing. Clearing out pastures without ever producing any meat. (Hey, I'd even accept some milk from them once in awhile!)

So I need a 'buffalo stampede.' That's when they finally start moving - - - out. I don't care if all I'm left with is a few sheep - all I want is to be with a group of people that have a consuming passion for Christ. "Give me Christ or I die!" Men and women who want Christ and not ministry.

Another thing about 'buffaloes.' It's not that they don't do anything. On the contrary, they are usually the busiest people in the church. They run programs, ministries, meetings, committees, etc. But the problem is that they don't simply run them, they run over them. They take them over. They enter into one of the deadliest places a church-worker can go: the ministry becomes their ministry and heaven forbid anyone who a) doesn't recognize them for that or b) tries to take it away from them. They have ownership issues which can stop ministries in their over-sized tracks.

The kitchen is their kitchen. The building is their building. The music is their music. And yes . . the pulpit is their pulpit. (A pastor can often be the biggest buffalo in the church.)

But I don't want to manipulate them into a stampede. I do love them. I need the words to preach that will cause them to change - or move on. They take so much of the resources of the church. Not just money and space. But our most precious resource: TIME. The clock is ticking and we need to be counting our days wisely. So I need to be able to distinguish the buffaloes from the sheep - and to breath a fire that even they can't extinguish.

So - back to my prayer. Help me, Lord. They make me want to quit. Either change them or move them along.