A committee is a good place to study character---and also to develop it.
Remembering this not only makes the time pass faster, it also adds much value to the hours every church leader must spend in committee meetings. It opens the window for a good close look at human nature.
Thinking back over many years of committee work, I find that one particular type of individual has often captured my unhappy attention. It is the person who feels compelled to comment on every subject. Uninhibited by lack of knowledge and experience, he is an instant reactor. And his ideas are often as far out as they are fluently expressed. When he asks for the floor, the stifled feelings of exasperation around the room are almost audible.
It is not a new problem. A long time ago God listened in on an informal committee meeting that went on for several days. Those in attendance were Job, his three "miserable comforters," and a young mart named Elihu. Even a good man like job was talking too much, and God finally took over the meeting with a shattering question: "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" (Job 38:2).
Another famous Bible character, Peter, struggled with the same propensity. For a long time his impetuous pronouncements came close to canceling out his considerable talents. Once he precipitated a small crisis for Jesus by his unfortunate remarks to the Internal Revenue people. On an other occasion when the Saviour, towel and basin in hand, knelt before him at the Last Supper, Peter cried: "Thou shalt never wash my feet." And on the Mount of Transfiguration, though overwhelmed by the awesome glimpse of divine glory, he came up with an irrelevant and totally impractical suggestion. The record states the sad and simple truth: "He wist not what to say" (Mark 9:6).
One shining fact gives us great courage: God did not give up on Job, or Peter, or a host of others who were well-known for their quick tongues. Many of them, their energies tamed and personalities refined, later be came honored spokesmen for the divine program. They are our examples.
Committee meetings will be with us till the end. Good judgment prevails and wisdom is multiplied when we seek collective understanding. Our opinions are important, our suggestions are needed. Let's just make sure we are not listed as one "that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge."
Reprinted by permission from the Far Eastern Division Outlook, April, 1973.
