Excuse Me, But I Think You Have My Chair
Posted: Saturday, June 06, 2009
by Sandra E. Graham
My Books and Articles
If you've every visited a new church, you've probably felt concern about taking someone else's preferred seat. And most often, new comers or visitors invariably sit in the back pews (I really don't believe that's a Baptist thing, or maybe it is). I have noticed that nearly everyone in my church has his or her favorite seat, so I assume it is probably the same whatever church you attend. It would be interesting to know if it is different at other churches or other denominations.
I can't help but feel that the Devil is at work when he uses church members to cause hurt feelings among established members and visitors. My next door neighbor attends a different church than I, but we are both Baptists. Suddenly the young lady stopped going to church and I was concerned that she was ill, although I had seen her outside quite often. Curiosity finally won out and I finally casually remarked that I had noticed that she had not gone to church for several weeks-what she told me shocked me to the core.
It seems that one Sunday she went to church just as she had for nearly a year and sat in the same pew she had always sat in. This particular Sunday, two ladies that had sat with her occasionally, sat down beside her and told her that she would have to sit somewhere else as they were having several family members attend that day and would probably be taking up two complete pews. These two ladies had been going to the church for many years, while my neighbor had been attending for less than a year.
Tears came into the young woman's eyes as she told me what the ladies had said to her and I could see just how badly she had been hurt by their insensitive actions. I was stunned that people could act so selfishly and call themselves Christians-of course, as a Christian, I can't judge these ladies, but I do feel prayers are in order here. A young lady is in danger of losing her faith and Satan may well have accomplished what he sets out to do every day of our lives. I will pray for this young lady and encourage her not to let hurt feelings caused by a few give the devil one more foothold in our already suffering world.
I will also pray for these two ladies who so willing became the pawns in the games that the Devil plays.
This issue brings to mind the time that I had moved into my neighborhood over twenty years ago and began looking for a new church to attend. I finally settled on a small country church just five miles from my home. I still remember my first day and how I worried that I might be taking someone else's seat when my husband and I went in and sat down-just four pews from the back of the church. We were very warmly welcomed and have been members now for several years and no one has ever told us that we had taken their seat. We have, however, moved up much closer to the front just recently as my husband has trouble hearing the Pastor and I have trouble seeing him.
As new members come in and older ones pass away, I thank God for all the wonderful members that belong to our church and how much they have become like an extended family for us. But we must all keep in mind and be ever wary as the Devil walks about, looking for souls to steal.'
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Something like that actually happened to me when I was 12, after my family moved to the east coast. My mother took us kids to the local Baptist church (Dad was Jewish, so church wasn't his thing), and I promptly seated myself in the back-most chair, which I guess was some kind of ritual superstitious taboo for some reason. My cousin, the 200 pound farmer yelled at me in his bossy voice, "You can't sit there!"Honestly, I had no idea! No explanation, either. That was one incident that made me realize church etiquette is more of a localized, provincial phenomenon, like wearing bones in your nose and bull fighting. As for my 200 pound cousin, he eventually became a 300 pound cousin, and is still as bossy as ever, and still asserts territorial dominance over newcomers to his town.Gosh, maybe there are 'special' seats in a Baptist church--I didn't know that either.Thanks for reading and commenting.Sandra
It's great to be an athiest!!! I don't believe in any of the thousands of possible gods available for misguidance and I don't believe in the devil AND I don't have to worry about sitting in the wrong seat on Sunday morning! Hallelujah!What's that old saying, "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all." Comments are always welcomed on the site but lets be adults here.Thanks, Ryan. There is another old saying----"I had much rather live my life as though there is a God and find there isn't; than to live my life as though there is no God and find there is."Have a good day.SandraAt least you have the grace to be thankful to someone----"Hallelujah".I will pray for you.SandraNo offense, but who do you look to for your misguidance?
What?! I thought this was an article about George Strait! j/kIt seems those ladies forgot, or never knew, why one goes to church.Makes one wonder, doesn't it? Whether they ever really knew.Thanks for reading and commenting, Ken.Sandra
Sandra, you are not alone, your church is not the only one. People by nature are creatures of habit, and it seeps into every aspect of our lives, even in times of fellowship. I am sorry for your neighbor, but at the same time, maybe God will use this to show her that she might have been putting a little too much faith in the church and people and not in Christ himself. You are right to point out that the devil steps in to take advantage of weakness, in this case, on both sides. Thank you for stepping up and being a voice of encouragement to her.I once attended a fellowship where at least once a month the pastor would have everyone remain standing after the last song and he would tell half of the left side of the room to get up and move to the right side and vice-versa. He did this in effort to avoid something like this from happening. He would also remind us that our names are not on the chairs, so we shouldn't get too comfy. It worked...and it also gave us opportunities to meet new people. And still after moving out of state, we settled into a new place of fellowship and found our favorite seats, but when the voice of pastor Steve echos in our head, we pick another pew :-)That's neat. I wonder if it would work at my church. Although, it has never been a problem there. Thanks for reading and commenting.Sandra
What a distressing story. It never ceases to amaze me how little some Christians know aobut loving their neighbor as themselves. I will join you in prayer that this young lady will receive a healing for her wounded spirit.Thank you, Grammy. She certainly needs our prayers. And she is probably a good person at heart--just misguided.Sandra
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