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BAD MEN IN A GOOD CAMP
I Samuel 30:21-25
Sunday Night Sermon
Sunday, August 30, 1998
Fair Avenue Baptist Church
[ Do not read passage - Wait ]
You need to learn a valuable lesson tonight. I’m serious, you need to learn a valuable lesson.
If you learn this lesson, it will help you tremendously.
It will help you stay faithful to God’s House for more than a few years.
Where are the men who were here 30 years ago?
Where are the men who were here 20 years ago?
Where are the men who were here 15 years ago?
I’m not talking about the men who have passed away or moved out of town.
Where are the men who were here 10 years ago?
Where are the men who were here 5 years ago?
Where are the men who were here 2 years ago?
I’ll tell you where they are.
Many of them are out of church, not all of them, but many of them are out of church,
and most of those who are going are not doing anything but taking up pew space.
Where are they?
Why aren’t they here?
Why didn’t they stay in one church?
Why have they hopped from church to church to church?
Why have you hopped from church to church to church?
It’s because they never learned with lesson.
What Lesson?
There will always be bad men in a good camp.
What?
Let me explain. And first let me set up this chapter with some background.
For some time now David has been hiding and running from Saul. Saul had felt threatened by David and tried to kill him.
David assembled a group of outcasts who were also running from Saul. They formed a small army.
Turn back to I Sam. 22:2 and let’s see what David’s army consisted of:
those in distress,
those in debt,
those who were discontented, meaning they were very discouraged.
Not exactly your best material to make an army.
Sounds like your average Baptist church,
distressed,
in debt,
and discouraged.
They made up David’s army.
They outsmarted Saul and won many victories against him.
While they are out running around and trying to stay away from Saul and trouble, their families were kidnapped from Ziklag.
The Amalekites had overrun the city of Ziklag and kidnapped the people.
David and his men came home and found their city burning and their families gone.
David and his 600 men took off after the Amalekites. But because of all their travels and running, V. 10, 200 of them stayed behind.
Some were too tired to fight,
Some stayed behind,
Some tarried with the stuff, another message.
But David and the other 400 men went on and killed the Amalekites and brought home their families.
They also brought home the spoils of war.
A great victory,
The Amalekites are dead,
The wives and children are home safe.
They reaped the spoils of war.
But here’s where the trouble starts,
And here is the message.
Look at VERSE 22.
Some of David’s men wanted to get rid of the men who were two tired to fight.
They wanted to send them away with only their wives and children.
Even with all the victories,
Even after watching God work great things in their lives,
Even after all the good things God had done for them,
Even after watching the evident hand of God,
Some still had a wicked heart.
Hey, there will always be bad men in a good camp.
When attendance grows year after year,
There will always be bad men in a good church.
When God blesses time after time,
There will always be bad men in a good church.
No matter where you go,
No matter how hard you look,
There will always be bad men in a good church.
Even when things are going good,
There will always be the criticizers,
There will always be the complainers,
There will always be the trouble makers.
There will always be someone who will say something or do something that will hurt your feelings.
There will always be bad men (or women) in a good church.
You didn’t change churches because of heresy or false teachers,
You didn’t change churches because of something unethical or immoral,
You changed churches because you got your feelings hurt or something happened to your little Roscoe or Roscoette.
Your little Roscoe was playing in the church and someone jumped all over them and told them to sit down.
You got mad, jerked your husband up and said, “We’re leaving.”
It doesn’t matter that the preacher’s straight,
and the preaching is right,
and the doctrine is solid,
but because someone said something or did something, you’re gone.
You failed to realize that there are always bad men in a good church.
Years ago I ran across a former member, a charter member, and when I asked him why he and his family left the church, he said, “Well, when some of them got to fussing and fighting, I just left.”
HEY, there will always be some fussing and fighting in the church,
WHY? Because there will always be bad men in a good church.
You can’t get away from it,
It will always be around us,
It’s just going to happen.
And it doesn’t matter how good things are,
It doesn’t matter how good the pastor is,
There will always be bad men in a good church.
Take a local Baptist church here in Gainesville,
The pastor was as good a man as you would ever meet,
He was the most giving and loving man you ever met,
He was doctrinally straight,
He was a good man,
He was a kind man,
He was the extra-mile Christian,
So, why wasn’t that church running 500-600 in Sunday School?
It’s because most Christians never realize and learn to live with bad men in a good church.
Here a few months ago a man in this church walked up to Dewayne Bryant and said, “What do you think about the letters the Pastor has been writing?” Dewayne said, “I don’t have a problem with it.” And the man replied, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Now, Dewayne could have said, “Well, I’m leaving. I can’t believe that someone would say something like that in church.”
But Dewayne realizes that there will always be bad men in a good church.
But wait a minute, another person says, “Well, I guess I’m going to another church if they keep fussing and fighting.”
That person does not realize that there will always be bad people in a good church.
There is no such thing as a perfect church,
There is no such thing as a church with no problems,
There is no such thing as a church with no complainers,
There is no such thing as a church with no criticizers,
There is no such thing as a church with no one with a bad attitude or a big mouth,
It just isn’t going to happen.
If it is right and good to teach a Sunday School class when things are going good, it’s just as right and good to teach a Sunday School class when things are going bad.
If it is right and good to tithe and give to Missions when things are going good, it is just as right and good to tithe and give to Missions when things are going bad.
If it is right and good to be faithful to church when things are going good, it is just as right and good to be faithful to church when things are going bad.
If it is right to sing in the choir when things are going good, it is just as right and good to sing in the choir when things are going bad.
Hey, if it is good and right to keep the nursery when things are going good, it is just as right and good to keep the nursery when things are going bad.
There will always be problems in the church,
There will always be fussing and fighting in the church,
There will always be bad people in a good church.
David, with his victories,
David, with the hand of God on his life,
David, with his army of men,
David had bad men in the camp.
The Bible even says, “wicked.”
Church, learn this lesson.
Church, learn from this lesson.
Church, learn from this lesson and you’ll still be here in 30 years.
To the best of my knowledge,
I could be wrong,
But this church has had 10 pastors, counting myself,
None that I know of preached heresy,
None that I know of were false teachers,
None that I know of were unethical or immoral,
None that I know of were bad men,
So where are all the people?
The truth is that most people never learn this valuable lesson.
Most people never stay in a church for life because someone hurts their feelings.
Most people never stay in a church for life because they do not come to understand that there will always be bad people in a good church.
Where are you going to be in 10 years?
Where are you going to be in 15 years?
How will you answer the question, “Why did you leave? What happened to cause you to leave?”
Brian, as a young Christian, you need to learn this lesson.
Teenagers, you need to learn this lesson.
Everyone of us need to learn this lesson.
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