As time went by, the happiness in the church relieved some of Pastor Tom’s concerns about his presence there. The people were united in kindness, working hard at the parsonage, and helping his family adjust to their new home.
He continued to teach God’s love, as his predecessor had done, because it was an important thing to learn. He stressed that God’s love was not like the love we see on television, or read about in romantic novels. It wasn’t about us, but about those around us.
He told the congregation, “God’s love isn’t directed toward Himself, but focused on us. In fact, He loves us so much that He took Himself out of His comfort zone and experienced sin, the thing He truly hates, to save us. He willingly suffered the Cross. He loves us that much.”
“Shouldn’t we show the same kind of love? Shouldn’t our love be putting others first? Looking out for their needs and not thinking of ourselves and how it makes us feel? It is a hard thing to grasp, let alone put into practice, but that is what we are called to do. That is what ‘True Love’ is.”
Most of his people took to heart his teaching, with God’s spirit speaking to them, encouraging them.
They valued their new minister, as a pearl beyond price, strove to make him happy and to provide for his family.
As the summer progressed, Tom watched Franklin Conner continue to use his place of power to influence those around him. He was relieved when the influential man didn’t use his control to threaten anyone, or to make the lives of those working for him miserable.
But, the patronizing attitude and constant critical spirit from the man was exhausting. Tom had never been in prayer so much and so fervently, as he was during this time.
Some in the community listened to the prominent man, who loved his place of honor and prestige. In fact, it was this love of his image that kept him from actually tarnishing it by firing someone, or removing his money from the town bank, to get his way.
He was after all a man of God, in his own opinion, and knew what was best. He would continue to influence the people of this community for their own good, biding his time, just like he had done before.
Currently, he was using his sway to pressure the head elder and board members with his grievances and voicing his dissatisfaction with the inexperienced, young preacher. In his opinion, the sermons weren’t good enough and even inappropriate at times. He demanded that they obtain a copy of the sermon for each week and have them approved, just like before.
But the head elder and most of the board stood stoically beside their pastor and Pastor Tom was allowed the freedom to teach from God’s influence, and not man’s.
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A Tale Of True Love Page 12