So here's another thing that kinda sucks about being a young pastor: confronting laypeople who are significantly older than you are about something that they are doing.
It's like seeing a sign that says "BEWARE: MINE FIELD AHEAD" and deciding to just keep on walking. You know that you are going to get blown up.
You're gonna get blown up because you've never walked in this field before. You don't know where to step. And, because you are young, you easily get fed up with getting sniped at while you are trying to carefully step, or getting pushed while you feel your way, or whatever. Then you decide to hell with it--I'm gonna charge right through this, life and limb be damned.
Discipline has its place. In fact, it has more of a place than we normally give it... at least, that's what I observe. It's much better to courageously have a hard conversation with someone than it is to try to manage them, or blow smoke, or just flat out lie to their face. Trouble is, how do you temper a hard conversation with gentleness and respect? Especially when you're getting anything but?
So, Holy Spirit, give me the courage to have the hard conversations, the wisdom to be honest and clear, the desire to be gentle and respectful, and the willingness to die Christ's death.
Oh... and if it's in your plan, just move those people to a different state or something.
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