God Gave Us a Choice; Western Oaks Answered

This is just one of my random reflections from all that transpired this past Sunday morning. God was so good and gracious to us because He gave us a choice. He gave us an opportunity to define ourselves as a local body of believers.

Our defining moment came when an amendment was made during the special business meeting following the service. The meeting's purpose was to vote on a proposed 6.5-month severance package for our senior pastor. One member courageously stood to make an amendment to add another three months to the package. It was fascinating to watch the discussion, the worry and the fretting about whether we could afford to extend the severance to a total equal to 9.5 months of salary and benefits. Can we really afford this? Will this affect when we can get a youth pastor?

To me, what it boiled down to was whether we would be a people known for our graciousness and generosity or for our worry about where the money would come from. By a vote of 25-77, we chose to worry about the money.

It's ironic because when we needed a top-of-the-line piano not too long ago, many people at Western Oaks reached into their pocketbooks to raise the cash. When we decided to remodel and expand our worship center soon after that, many people at Western Oaks pulled out their wallets and their checkbooks and ponied up. We have no problem raising the money for the stuff we want. I don't recall any hue and cry over whether we could really afford those things. We just buckled down and did it.

I believe God gave us that choice on Sunday morning to let us see who we are collectively. We defined ourselves in that vote.

Still, that's just my opinion. Perhaps some folks simply may have been caught off guard by the amendment and were hesitant to support it because they didn't believe they had enough information to make an informed decision. Maybe that was the case. I'd like to hear other viewpoints on this one. If you have a different take on it, let me hear from you. Scripture tells us that "As iron sharpens iron, so one man [person] sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17)

We did hear from a spokesman from the finance committee who acknowledged that whether it was 6.5 months or 9.5 months, they were prepared to borrow from the bank to make the final lump-sum payment in January. Knowing that, what harm could have existed by erring on the side of generosity? Wouldn't that have been a true reflection of a church that says it lives like Jesus loves?