A long time ago I really wanted to be a public school administrator. At the time I wanted to serve a local school district as an assistant principal or principal and possibly secure a position as a “district level” administrator down the road. Why? I had a great experience as a kid in school. My teachers and principals helped me to achieve high school graduation! As I began a journey in education I thought, “I could help someone like I had been helped.” One day as I was beginning one of many failed attempts to “break in” to serve as a school leader, I called one of our “higher ups” for advice. This lady was nice to me and told me she could give me about an hour one after- noon to ask questions and seek advice about the things I needed to be doing to get through the door of climbing the ladder. When I arrived at her office I began to pick her brain about her past leadership experiences. I wanted the “good, bad, and the ugly.” When I made that statement, she immediately looked at me and said, “Allen, there is trouble in every corner, every day!” She wasn’t trying to be mean to me or scare me. This was her way of saying when you are dealing with people to be prepared for problems of all shapes and sizes…all the time.
I sat in the corner of her office asking questions, listening, and taking notes while she was honoring my request for advice. While she espoused her honesty about the position I thought I wanted one day, I kept thinking, “Do I really want to do this?” She had done a great job of really hammering on the ugly! That moment in time obviously made an impression on me. As time moved on, I have observed that trouble (problems) in homes, organizations, businesses, and even in church families, is always in the corner, or close by! She was accurate!!! My conversation with this administrator made me think of Genesis 4:7 (sin is crouching at the door).
The idea of us (humans) having problems with one another is not a new idea. Let’s turn to the Corinthian church. Wayne Jackson says, “One of the difficulties that plagued the church in Corinth was a spirit of divisiveness that ran counter to the Savior’s prayer for unity (Jn. 17:20-21). There were factions at Corinth that revolved around hero adulation (i.e., loyalty to men, 1 Cor. 1:12). Some were infected with jealousy and strife and were hardly discernible from the wranglers of the world. There were insensitive people who pursued their differences in the civil courts, much to the embarrassment of the cause of Christ (1 Cor. 6:1ff). This was a church riddled with division.”
While our troubles may not totally mirror the issues of the Corinthian church, we all are tugged by the world because Satan is seeking to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). Notice Bro. Jackson highlights what Paul pointed out in his letter to the Corinthians that existed there, a “spirit of divisiveness.” So many things cause us to be frustrated with one an- other which may lead us to becoming fractured. Are we not happy with the songs that are led during worship? Have we become disgruntled with the same old table coverings for the potluck? Or, are we so unhappy with another’s personality that we seek to be a stumbling block for them? “Trouble” ranges from small things to big things. May our division or trouble never be rooted in selfish things! T.S. Eliot said, “Most of the troubles in the world are caused by people wanting to be important.” How many of us have seen this idea play out in our lifetime?
On a good day, we all have enough problems to solve or issues to contend with. May we never be the cause of a problem or issue for someone. In a recent article I read by Bro. Chesser, he says, “God hates those who stir up dissension of any kind among his brothers (Proverbs 6:19). How much clearer does it have to be for us to get the point? God hates divisive undercurrents in the church! He killed the Israelites for complaining. And Paul used that as an ex- ample to warn the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 10:10). Paul tells us we are to “Do everything without complaining or arguing” (Philippians 2:14).” If we have problems with one another, let’s deal with those complaints if we can’t move on (Galatians 5:22-25; 1 Corinthians 13:1-7). Paul tells that if we keep on biting and devouring each other, we will soon destroy one another (Galatians 5:15). We all can agree that we all are not going to agree on every single “life issue.” But, we must agree that Jesus wants us to be united in Him (John 17:21). There is always “trouble in every corner,” but let’s not have trouble with each other, our life depends on it. The day I had the conversation with my administrative mentor I learned that everything, even leadership positions, come with its own unique problems. Life and Scripture have proven this to be true time and time again. Trouble may be in every corner, but may we avoid it!
