It's Not About You

                On the last Sunday of November, I thanked Ben Brock for displaying the scripture graphics on the visual screens during his father’s morning message. He and his younger brother, Zane, a freshman at Pawnee High School, take turns serving in this ministry at our church.

                Our conversation turned to the 13th win by the football team on which Ben and Zane played. Their coaching staff, featuring their father, our pastor, Mike Brock, had coached the high school team to 13 wins and just as important, no losses.

Zane, Mike, and Ben Brock - my favorite
freshman player, my favorite coach, and my
favorite junior player of the Pawnee Bears -
photograph from Caryn Tucker Brock's digital colletion
As I thought of Ben and Zane's courtesy, I recalled the
church's Thanksgiving dinner when the two Brock high
schoolers readily helped Wanda Rice Nix carry 
containers to her car. I commented that probably no
other Black Bear players were quicker to obey than 
them. Zane quipped, "Our dad is our coach!" 
Zane and Ben, keep setting  for all the good example
 that your parents have taught you. 

                As we exited the sanctuary, I questioned Ben about their upcoming playoff opponent, Mangum. I mentioned rain was predicted for Friday. He indicated Mangum had received much less rain than Pawnee. The Pawnee Black Bears’ ranking allowed them to host the game at Pawnee. Then Ben replied confidently, “We are used to playing in the mud and rain.”

                On the Friday after Thanksgiving, within a few hours of the kick-off of the playoff game in Pawnee, Ben’s response about rain leaped wildly into my mind as I put out a round bale of hay in the mud. I drove to put out the bale without incident, but as I pulled the damp, fishy-smelling, protective bale wrap off, Ben's excitement for "mudball" fleetingly crossed my mind.

When I stepped into the mud around the bale ring to lift it, my boots sank several inches. I prayed silently for strength to get out. Even though thick mud clung stubbornly to my boots, thankfully, as I pulled with all my might, out they came. Yet as I moved the bale ring, the muddy mess made me feel unstable, tottery and sure to fall down. I couldn’t go down in this quagmire! I called loudly, “Lord, keep me up! Keep me up! Keep me up!” 

                Even though my gloves were such a muddy mess, I hadn’t fallen. As I drove slowly to the house with a thankful heart, someone other than myself entered my mind. I thought, This is the very weather Ben was hoping for and probably praying for. Lord, help them to play their best. 

                That rainy night’s muddy game afforded the Pawnee Black Bears their 14^th win. They completed the 2019 season with those 14 wins and only one loss.

                As I thought of the contrasting desires of  the Brock boys and me concerning weather, I recalled our pastor’s favorite statement for maintaining a unified church congregation. “It’s not about you.” This attitude guarantees unity and harmony in our rural church congregation. Decisions may not please every member each time, but if Biblical principles are not being violated then we must remember “It’s not about me.”

                My mother thinks my connection with our pastor is a story worth telling. I first met Mike, as his 3^rd grade music teacher, the first year I began teaching in Fairfax. He and his fellow blondie, Tommy Hendricks, would race up the steps of the stage at Marlin Crowder Elementary School - if Mrs. Rice, their teacher, was not within earshot. They delighted  to slide into the chairs on the front row. Occasionally, I had to say, “Now, Mike and Tommy.” In my inexperience, I thought the boys ran because they couldn’t wait to learn musical note values, the lines and spaces, and other bits of music theory. Instead they were “ready to roll” after tolerating all the desk time their little, energetic third grade bodies could stand.

                Now forty years later, on a weekly basis, Mother and I find ourselves on the second row of our church taking notes as we listen attentively to Mike’s sermons. Mother began privately praying after only hearing a few of his strong Bible-based sermons for God to give us Mike as a pastor. However, she knew he was teaching and coaching and was pleasantly surprised and grateful when he agreed in 2018 to serve as our pastor.

                God has given the church dedicated, godly men as pastors over its 122-year history. We daily thank Him for graciously giving growth to us in a tiny town when so many rural congregations are dwindling in the 21st century. Only our great God calls a rancher’s son, gives him the capability to convey the truths of God’s Word, returns him to a congregation of rural residents he understands, and places in his heart a willingness to consistently prepare weekly messages replete with nourishing, life-changing scripture.

                “It’s not about me” had to be remembered by Ben, Zane and Mike for a successful football season. A congregation of believers must do the same. Peter admonished in his epistle in I Peter 3:8 - 

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; 

love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;

Mike, our pastor, and his sons, Ben and Zane, along with so many of our small church flock, model compassion, tenderheartedness and courtesy. That’s God plan for a loving church.

When a pastor and congregation do God’s work His way, God will get the glory.