You're Sitting In My Seat...

[JerryNumbers]

I saw a man say to a vistor, "you are siting in my seat. I about choked. The man has had two head injuries and is a little slow some times. I later told the lady that we don't have asigned seats.

 

I've told this before, my wife's twin sister, who is now dead, once came up to a person at their church, saying, "You need to move, your setting in my place."

 

Unbelievable at what some will do & say.

[John81]

All of this reminds me of a time when we had a guest preacher, a fine, elderly "retired" pastor, who preached beyond the time most expected the sermon to end. Within about two minutes of preaching beyond that expected time, an elderly lady in the back row began pounding her cane into the floor.

 

I don't think the guest preacher heard it as he kept right on preaching without notice. The little old lady began pounding her cane even more forcefully into the floor, making faces and disgusted, loud, sighing sounds. This went on for at least ten minutes when the guest preacher finally came to the end of his sermon. At which point most in the sanctuary heard the old woman speak with obvious contempt, "well it's about time!"

 

As bad as all that was, and I'm very thankful our guest pastor never noticed or heard her, the sermon he was preaching was very good, straight from the Word of God, and worth hearing all the way to the end, including those last ten minutes where he really brought it all together. Yet in her impatient and angry state, that one elderly woman missed the message and who knows how many others near her missed at least part of it, and how many of the rest of us were distracted by her antics.

[DaveW]

I reckon he heard.........
But if he really was a godly old preacher he acted with grace towards her.
I think I respect him.

[candlelight]

When I first started going to my IFB church in 1999, I was shocked at the whole "sitting in my seat" thing.  I wasn't used to this, so I immediately started sitting on the other side of the church with my son, while my soon to be husband, was still sitting in his "assigned seat."  I don't like boring.  Moving around in church, gives me spontaneity.

The only problem with the whole "assigned seat" was with a man who had Autism.  He came late to church one Sunday, and much to his surprise, someone was sitting in his seat.  He began throwing a temper tantrum, while the choir was singing.  My pastor handled it with grace and dignity.  He suggested the person in this man's seat, please sit elsewhere.  They complied.

[Eric Stahl]

All of this reminds me of a time when we had a guest preacher, a fine, elderly "retired" pastor, who preached beyond the time most expected the sermon to end. Within about two minutes of preaching beyond that expected time, an elderly lady in the back row began pounding her cane into the floor.

 

I don't think the guest preacher heard it as he kept right on preaching without notice. The little old lady began pounding her cane even more forcefully into the floor, making faces and disgusted, loud, sighing sounds. This went on for at least ten minutes when the guest preacher finally came to the end of his sermon. At which point most in the sanctuary heard the old woman speak with obvious contempt, "well it's about time!"

 

As bad as all that was, and I'm very thankful our guest pastor never noticed or heard her, the sermon he was preaching was very good, straight from the Word of God, and worth hearing all the way to the end, including those last ten minutes where he really brought it all together. Yet in her impatient and angry state, that one elderly woman missed the message and who knows how many others near her missed at least part of it, and how many of the rest of us were distracted by her antics.

 

Maybe he heard her and was encouraged like someone saying amen!

[John81]

I reckon he heard.........
But if he really was a godly old preacher he acted with grace towards her.
I think I respect him.

He was in his 80s at the time and his hearing was diminished but I can't really say whether he heard the cane thumping or not. If he did, he didn't let on and he never mentioned it to our pastor, and I agree, much to be respected and great grace shown.

 

If he didn't hear it, I still respect him for his willingness to guest preach in his 80s, his presenting such an excellent, biblical sermon, and preaching it to the end rather than cutting it off just because of the clock.

[Arbo]

When I first started going to my IFB church in 1999, I was shocked at the whole "sitting in my seat" thing.

In all honesty, had that happened to me I would've left at that moment and let it be known why I was leaving. It is unreasonable to expect new people to visit and feel welcome if they are subject to such inhospitable behavior. There is more at stake than the regulars' comfort. Sometimes it is the visitor's soul.

[JerryNumbers]

I'm sure glad that Jesus did not get offended & left the earth without us having a Savior.

 

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

Joh 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Joh 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

[candlelight]

In all honesty, had that happened to me I would've left at that moment and let it be known why I was leaving. It is unreasonable to expect new people to visit and feel welcome if they are subject to such inhospitable behavior. There is more at stake than the regulars' comfort. Sometimes it is the visitor's soul.

 

This man has a legitimate medical problem.  He has Autism and was prone to having outbursts when his world had become disruptive.  My pastor explained it to the guest, so there was no problem.   

[DaveW]

We had a guy with a head injury who was often inappropriate.
Eventually I had to ask him not to come any more because he was becoming unmanageable.
I look back and realise that I made a mistake in that.
We had him with us for 10 years as a small church and he was gradually improving, but when we merged with another small IBC nearby and our size more than doubled, he struggled to handle it.
He was always a handful, but the change was just too much for him.
However, I have since discovered that there are some here who probably needed him around so that they could grow.

And it wouldn't have hurt me to have to deal with people's reactions to him either.

He won't even talk to me now.....

We all have much to learn - I think me more than most.

[Arbo]

This man has a legitimate medical problem.  He has Autism and was prone to having outbursts when his world had become disruptive.  My pastor explained it to the guest, so there was no problem.   

I misread.  I believed you were describing two separate incidents.

 

 It seems that your pastor handled it well.

[candlelight]

I misread.  I believed you were describing two separate incidents.

 

 It seems that your pastor handled it well.

 

I believe it was me that misread, Arbo.  The first part of my post was talking about how I would take my son and not sit in our "assigned seats" b/c I like spontaneity.

Yes, my pastor did handle it well.  This man also loved to correct the pastor's speech.  My pastor has a hillbilly accent, and this man would always correct his grammar.  My pastor was always gracious with that, as well.

[JerryNumbers]

We had a guy with a head injury who was often inappropriate.
Eventually I had to ask him not to come any more because he was becoming unmanageable.
I look back and realise that I made a mistake in that.
We had him with us for 10 years as a small church and he was gradually improving, but when we merged with another small IBC nearby and our size more than doubled, he struggled to handle it.
He was always a handful, but the change was just too much for him.
However, I have since discovered that there are some here who probably needed him around so that they could grow.

And it wouldn't have hurt me to have to deal with people's reactions to him either.

He won't even talk to me now.....

We all have much to learn - I think me more than most.

 

Amen, we have much to learn.

 

Dave we will make mistakes, & if we learn from them, that's great, if we don't, that's sad.

 

And our hindsight is so much better than our foresight.