Wounded By Windbags

Dr. Michael Richardson
3 John 9-11

​​Introduction:

A. Do you remember the little childhood rhyme?          
          
          “Stick and stones may break by bones
           But words will never hurt me?”

 B. Of course, physical abuse is a terrible sin and is always wrong and should never occur.  However,
     verbal abuse like physical abuse can also lead to life-long emotional scars.
 C. Odd how some people in the congregation think that unless a minister is in the pulpit “taking the hide
      off” his congregation he is not preaching. 
 D. For those of you who may think that way, the pulpit is meant to be a “guidepost” not a “whipping post!”
 E. One can see most commonly two types of preachers: builders and blasters
 F. Builders encourage the congregations and give them help to face the many issues in life.
 G. Blasters just make you want to dig a hole and crawl in. They never give you any solutions in life. They
     are “windbags”.
 H. Yes, in 36 years of ministry I have seen wonderful builder type ministers.
  I. Yes, I have also observed the “blaster” windbag preacher.
 J. However, the windbag blaster is not just found only behind pulpits. They can also be found in the pew!
 K. Sermons are sometimes developed with love, excitement; instructional teaching but this one is
     developed with sad recognition that some windbags are just not able to change.
 L. The epistle to II Corinthians is the epistle where the Apostle Paul reveals the most personal revelations
     about his experiences. 
 M. In this sermon I am going to discuss some of the experiences that I have had having to deal with
     windbags in the pew. In no way do I mean to belittle any individual but to point out the untold damage
     that can be done by an unthinking windbag in a pew. 
 N. It takes nature 400 years to develop 1 inch of topsoil. A man in a dozer can destroy in seconds what it    
     took nature 400 years to do. The same is true in church. A windbag in a pew can destroy in seconds
     what it took the pastor a long time to develop.
 O. I am willing to take a lie-detector test to the veracity of the accounts that I give.
 P. So, today I want to make some observations about windbags found in the pews and encourage the
     church to seek a closer walk with the Lord and the high calling to which Jesus has called us.

Part I—Some observations about windbags in the pews

 I. Pew Windbags never grasp the concept of “tact”

    A.Tact is defined as a keen sense of sensitivity in dealing with others with difficult issues.
    B. In the letters to the 7 churches we find “tact.” Jesus tells most of the churches something good about
       them first and THEN he says, “Nevertheless, I am somewhat against thee.” By doing it this way Jesus
        gets them to accept the criticism more readily.
 C. Pew Windbags never soften the blow.
 D. Let me illustrate with a story
    “A woman won a 3 leg vacation trip to Europe. She was to go to London, Paris and Rome. However,
    she only won it for one person and they could not afford for her husband to goal also.  She was not
   even allowed to take her beloved “Fifi”. Her husband assured her that he would take care of the dog.
   She called from London and asked about Fifi.  Her husband said, “Oh, the stupid dog got out into the
​   highway and got plastered all over the place.” She hung up immediately.  When she called from Paris    
   she was seething. She blistered her husband for 30 minutes about how tactless he was. She said, “You
   could have said something like Honey, Fifi got out onto the roof and fell. She may not make.”
   That way she could have been emotionally prepared for the death of her dog. Well, she called again
   from Rome. She informed her husband that she was going to get a new “Fifi”. She then asked how her
   mother was. Her husband replied, “Honey, your mom was on the roof…”
 E. Some people never understand tact Pew windbags are like that.

II.   Some windbags are just not very smart. What follows is a true experience:
            
          “ When I was first starting into the ministry, I was invited to spent the night 
            at a man’s home. An older preacher was with me. I went out to my car to get 
            something. When I came back into the house, I heard the man tell the older 
            preacher, “I do not believed that the younger preachers know as much as the older 
            preachers.” When I came around the wall his jaw hit the floor. I pretended like I 
            did not hear it and was glad that another young preacher did not hear it. The next 
            day I was to preach. During Sunday School, the lesson was about the appearance 
            of Jesus to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus.   That same man asked, 
            “Wasn’t that when God called him from the burning bush?” I thought he must be
             mistaken in what he asked. Then he asked it a second time. The church people 
             were embarrassed. Finally, he asked the question a 3rd time. They finally told him 
             that it was Moses who was called by God at the burning bush!"

III.  Some pew windbags view themselves as being a “little smarter” than the rest of us. 
       
       Once again, this is a true experience. I was speaking in a church in Ohio. I made the 
       comment that the church was not in the Old Testament. I was not out of the stand 10 
       seconds when an angry windbag came up to me and asked, “What about the “church 
       in the wilderness?” I said, “Oh, you mean Acts 7:38 where it says, “This is he, that 
       was in the church in the wilderness….” Now I could have informed him that the 
       word church in that passage is “ekklayseeah” and means a “called out body”. I could 
       have  stated that Stephen was talking in typology and showing that as Israel was 
       called out of bondage we are called out of sin. However, I knew what the man 
       believed. He believed that the church started in Mark 3:14 where it says that Jesus
       took twelve into the mountain and ordained twelve. He said resoundingly, “Yes!”
       I then said, “Then you turn around and teach that the church was in the wilderness 
       before Jesus did that." He had no reply.

IV.  Some pew windbags are busybodies.

       Paul talks about those in II Th.3: 11 and I Tim. 5:13. A busybody is defined as
       “a nosy, meddling person interested in what other people say on do and giving    
       advice where it is not sought or wanted.  They always say to me when confronted,
       “But preacher I am only trying to help!” I point them to I Thess. 4:11 “And that
       ye study to be quiet, and to do your own and business to work with your
       own hands, as we commanded you; ” The Mike Richardson interpretation of
       I Thess. 4:11 is “Keep your mouth shut and mind your own business!"

V.  Some pew windbags know just enough Bible to be dangerous.  
      
      At one time I was the pastor of two small churches. One in West Virginia the other in
      Ohio. I went to the Ohio church once a month. The West Virginia church is a small 
      country church. Then a wonderful thing happened. A young married couple with two
      beautiful daughter began visiting our church and they were excited about the church.
      Unfortunately, the man’s uncle came also. Here’s the thing, the young man had long
      hair. But he kept it clean and more importantly he was not saved. The deacon in our 
      church was more interested in getting the older uncle to join than the young couple.
      Now the uncle did not like the boy’s long hair. On a Sunday when I was in Ohio, the 
      Uncle had the deacon read I Cor. 11: 14 where is states that it is a shame for a man to
      have long hair. Of course the young couple stopped attending our church. The next 
      Sunday I asked the deacon if he had read that verse. He replied, “Yes, it’s the Bible.
      I replied, “Did you read I Cor. 11:16? The deacon did not know what is said so I read 
      I Cor. 11:16 “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, 
     neither the churches of God” I then asked the deacon what if that young couple have 
     had their fill of church now? What if they never go to church anymore that that whole
     wonderful family never gets saved and goes to Hell because of your misused of God’s 
     word?  The uncle, of course, never came back. He got what he wanted. 

VI. Sometimes the pew windbag can be a woman as well as a man but mostly I have 
      found them more often to be men.

        However, sometimes pew windbags get their “come up-ens.”
        Chuck Swindoll tells the amusing story of Mildred the self-appointed arbiter of the
        Church’s morals. Most people in the church learned to avoid her just to keep peace 
        in the church. But Mildred made a mistake one day. She confronted George a new 
        convert. She said, “George, your truck was seen in front of the bar today and 
        everybody in town knows what you were doing!” George never attempted to defend 
        or justify himself. He simply blinked and walked off. That night George quietly 
        parked  his car in front of Mildred’s house and walked off!  Yeah, Mildred, take 
        that! Shut Up!  I could go on for days. 

Part II—The higher calling

 A. Php. 3:14 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ 
     Jesus.”
 B. In Rom. 15:1 the Apostle Paul gives up the following advice, “We then that are strong ought to bear
     the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
 C. Folks, it took God one night to get Israel out of Egypt with the 10th plague but it
     took forty years of wandering in the desert to get Egypt out of them.
 D. Sisters and Brethren, we need to stop being critical of new converts and driving them 
     away like Diotrephes did
 E.  We need to guide them and not dispute with them over matters that may not be that 
      important. The Apostle Paul gives us this advice in Rom. 14:1 “¶ Him that is weak in the faith receive
      ye, but not to doubtful disputations.”
 F. Folks, today in this sin cursed world the human family is plagued by drugs, abuse, divorce, and a host  
     of problems to numerous to name here.
 G. When people come to the church they are looking for answers to life’s problems.
 H. You are the ONLY HOPE for them to find the truth. 
 I. You may be the ONLY family some of them will ever have!
 J. PLEASE, be a loving servant to these poor lost souls
 K. Do not be a Diotrephes. ​