When my grandmother died a few years ago just before her 91st birthday, her church rolled out the red carpet for lack of a better term.
It could be that she had quite seriously been a member of that church since she was in her teens.
As a matter of fact, she had been a member of her church since they were in the building BEFORE the bigger church that they built over fifty years ago.
When she passed away, it seems that everyone that had either ever been a member of that church or was related to folks that used to be members of the church that showed up to see her off.
It was very comforting knowing that there were folks that held me the first days and weeks of my life being there to see granny to Heaven now that I am in my forties.
Every church should be like that.
However, for whatever reason there are some churches that are just plain transactional. Churches that for whatever reason don’t give a hoot about you unless what you put in the collection plate made a thud.
Take for example the case of a woman named Olivia Blair. Olivia passed away, and had been a member of the Fourth Missionary Baptist Church in Texas for fifty years.
Five decades, almost every Sunday. Then she passed away.
Her last wish was to have her funeral conducted in the church that she spend so many days of her life.
However, Reverend Walter Houston made the decision that for whatever reason she hadn’t given out enough financially to the church over the years and basically told her family to go somewhere else.
What makes this even sadder is that Olivia had been physically unable to attend services in person the last few years due to failing health.
You would think that a so-called man of the Lord would see past something like that and look at the sum total of energy that the woman gave to her faith and that church in particular, but it seems that there are just some people that can only see money.
Even those that are supposed to be serving God.
