{"id":37596,"date":"2021-09-03T09:18:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T14:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=37596"},"modified":"2021-09-03T09:18:13","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T14:18:13","slug":"a-gouge-in-a-pew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-gouge-in-a-pew\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gouge in a Pew"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\nA couple of weeks ago, I attended a friend’s funeral in an unfamiliar church building. I took a seat by an aisle and shortly noticed a gouge in the back of the pew support in front of me. The gouge was at knee height. To the left\/exterior, it was narrow and shallow; to the right\/interior, it broadened and deepened to about a quarter inch. Another, fainter horizontal scrape appeared two or three inches above it. None of the other pews around me bore similar markings.\n\"\"<\/a>I will never know for sure, but I would guess that the scrapes came from a walker or similar piece of assistive equipment. An older Christian once sat (has sat?) there for years because that was Their Pew. They shuffled into the auditorium on their walker, gingerly lowered themselves to the seat where I sat, folded up their walker, and dragged it into the same row.\nAs they were doing so, their lack of stability forced them to brace the walker against the pew in front of them. Every time, something (a walker brace? screw heads?) raked across the pew support. Service by service, year by year, those feeble hands wore away the gouge that I saw. That Christian may well be dead now, but the gouge still bears witness. They assembled.\nSometimes, it is the faith we display in our weaknesses that makes the deepest mark. Lots of strong, healthy Christians strode into that auditorium, worshiped, and departed without leaving a trace. However, the pew support remembers the Christian who probably couldn’t drive to church anymore, who couldn’t walk unassisted, whose pace was slow and even doddering. They certainly inspired pity, perhaps contempt, perhaps frustration from the custodial crew, but they came. No one would have faulted them for not coming. They came anyway, and the pew support testifies to their faithful obedience.\nSo too with the marks we make, and not only on pews. Some of the Christians whose singing I remember most are those who couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. They knew it and sang anyway. Loudly. They were humbled, but God was exalted.\nHow about the introvert who, with white knuckles and sweaty palms, welcomes a visitor to the assembly? Or the octogenarian who shows up to help a relocated brother unload the moving truck? Or the song leader who can’t read a note of music but listens to a new hymn over and over on YouTube until he feels comfortable introducing it to the congregation?\nHow about the apostle Paul, who struggled with covetousness but learned from Christ the secret of remaining faithful through poverty and prosperity alike?\nWe often seek to glorify God through our strengths. This is our wheelhouse. This is the thing we are good at. Look at this wonderful thing we are doing (for God)!\nPerhaps, though, He is best glorified through our weaknesses. This is not our wheelhouse. We are terrified. We are a hopeless disaster. We would not be doing this for anybody but God, but He told us to do it, and we are.\nThe ungodly might be laughing at us, but God isn’t laughing. He is pleased. He loves not only the sacrifices that arise from effortless self-confidence but also those offered in weakness, fear, and trembling. Against all worldly wisdom, we surrender our two mites, knowing it can’t possibly matter but trusting that it will be enough.\nIn Him, it always will be.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matthew W. Bassford A couple of weeks ago, I attended a friend’s funeral in an unfamiliar church building. I took a seat by an aisle and shortly noticed a gouge in the back of the pew support in front of me. The gouge was at knee height. To the left\/exterior, it was narrow and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[544,1113],"class_list":["post-37596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-membership","tag-weakness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58148,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/morals-in-the-pulpit-and-in-the-pew\/","url_meta":{"origin":37596,"position":0},"title":"Morals in the Pulpit and in the Pew","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Leslie Diestelkamp via\u00a0Think, Vol. 2, No. 5, July 1971 Once, when I preached a sermon on morals, a mature man in the congregation asked to speak. For perhaps two or three minutes he exhorted the people, giving complete endorsement to what I had preached. I believe his endorsement may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84025,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/better-than-complaining\/","url_meta":{"origin":37596,"position":1},"title":"Better than Complaining","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Leslie Diestelkamp via Think, Vol. 2, No. 5, July 1971 Instead of always whining and complaining about the morals of the world about us, God's people would do better to just demonstrate, in the pulpit and the pew, the qualities that are desirable. Let us say and do, preach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-find-repenting-hard-to-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":37596,"position":2},"title":"Do We Find Repenting Hard to Do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall Do we find it hard to deeply and truly repent because we are basically a \"good person\" who has literally been \"going to church\" our whole life? How do we get better at doing the basic and primary requirement of repenting because the kingdom of God is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89481,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-false-gospel-is-like-american-cheese\/","url_meta":{"origin":37596,"position":3},"title":"A False Gospel Is Like American Cheese","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall Let's begin with a question you may have never considered. Is American Cheese real cheese? Personally, I joke that American cheese is both an insult to cheese and an insult to being an American. But am I right? Is American cheese real cheese? According to the FDA,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-cheese-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41840,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-origin-of-the-sinners-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":37596,"position":4},"title":"The Origin of the Sinner’s Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ryan Hasty No method of conversion has gained such popularity amongst mainstream denominations in the last century than that of the \"Sinner's Prayer.\" It has been said that thousands of people utter this prayer daily in response to altar calls and one-on-one conversations between friends, relatives, co-workers, and schoolmates.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89365,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/love-one-another\/","url_meta":{"origin":37596,"position":5},"title":"Love One Another","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Luke Bower The other day, I overheard someone talking about how they enjoy buying things online. They even observed that as soon as the drone delivery system is perfected, they won't have to interact with the UPS person. It seems that more and more stores are moving in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/conversation-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37596\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}