wrong thinking

“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times . . .”

As your mom or dad jambs their finger in your face and repeats that well-worn phrase for the millionth time you roll your eyes & turn off your ears. They’ll have to say it again later because you’re still not listening . . . true?

Sadly, we sometimes treat church messages the same way. After a simple introduction of the passage things like, “Uh, I’ve already heard this message. I could preach this message I’ve heard it so many times. Does this guy have any other messages or illustrations?” run through our heads. Before the message starts, we’ve already rolled our eyes & turned off our ears. In our minds we complain about the wasted thirty to forty minutes that lie ahead.

That’s wrong thinking.

Last week, I found myself wallowing in disappointment & selfishness as the preacher stood to deliver God’s word. “I’ve already heard this message,” I thought. “Doesn’t he have something else he could speak on?” How selfish! I had the gall to look back through the blue composition book that sat in my lap, look at the notes & considered not taking notes because I “already have this anyway.” Instead, with a sigh of boredom, I opened the book to a clean page & prepared to take notes. On the same message. For a third time. Filled with a complaining spirit, I wrote across the top of the page: Does he have any other illustrations/messages?

I wish I could tell you that as soon as I wrote those horrible, selfish words, I marked them out. But I didn’t. In fact, I started grudgingly taking notes. As Brother DeGuarde preached, those words seemed to lift from the page. “WRONG THINKING! WRONG THINKING!” my head screamed! The Holy Spirit grabbed a hold of my heart & I was ashamed. After ten minutes of conviction because of words I wrote myself, the top of my page said:
Does he have any other illustrations/messages? <---wrong thinking
What does God still need to teach me (through this message)? <---right thinking

All I had to do was change my perspective. Though I have been saved for over a decade, there is still much for me to learn. I should never come to a service with the predisposed thinking that I have nothing else to learn. You & I have heard it before: repetition aids learning. How true.

So, the next time you sit down in a service & begin to shut down because “I’ve heard this a thousand times,” give yourself a mental check & don’t be tempted by wrong thinking.