A lot of pyrite has gotten thrown in with the genuine gold, plenty of dingy coal with the bright diamonds, but we can have or accept none of the treasure they bore without shouldering the entire load. (Also, only time will tell how much trash our own generations are adding to the load, and how little gold.)Rodney Clapp
I don’t know about you but I loved what he said. I’m not sure I have thought about it this way. Digging for gold takes effort and perspiration. Many hours are poured into the discovery of that first nugget. A lot of silt and debris is washed down the slurry in hopes that the glitter of gold will appear.
I guess I have decided I need to be more willing to go through the goo. When I see things going wrong, or at least as I perceive as wrong, I usually changes courses. Clapp makes me ask if the mistakes and the missteps are just dingy coal that must be dealt with to get to the diamond.
In my masters program I took a class on church conflict. I assumed I took it to learn how to avoid or minimize church trouble. After dealing with my share of church trouble I wonder if Clapp isn’t onto something. Maybe I needed to go through some pyrite to come to a place where we have gold. Maybe learning about conflict is only good enough to let you know you are in it and to inform you of what will most likely be to come. One of the statistics from the course was how few church conflicts are resolved in a positive way. Maybe the statistic was the problem. Maybe the majority were successful, some treasure was found while shouldering the entire load.
I’ve got to be willing to dig for gold. Gold as a fellowship, as an individual, and to see the possibility of gold in others lives. I am thankful for Clapp because he has taught me to see something different. Jesus said the harvest field was ripe but he didn’t say the fruit falls from the vine and walks over to the barrel for deposit. In any harvest a lot of chaff is left along the way.
May I enjoy today’s slurry.
