Retired pastoral buddy Tex Luther and I were having a Monday morning debriefing breakfast. As regular relief preachers for pastors on vacation or congregations with pastoral vacancies we often get together to share our previous day's experiences.

Tex had supplied a church whose pastor had just accepted another call. It was a congregation notorious for having had a passel of hassles, resulting in splits among the members and revolving pastors. I was scheduled to fill in there in a few weeks. Not wanting to parachute into a volcano, I asked Tex what was going on.

His answer was to tell me a story.

A pastor was walking around the parsonage backyard when he stumped his toe on a half-buried old lamp. When he picked it up, a ragged old genie popped out.

Annoyed at being disturbed, the grouchy genie grumbled, “Okay, you found me. Now tell me your wish and make it quick. I want to get back to my nap.”

“Wow!” said the excited pastor. “I've always dreamed of this happening. Wait a minute and I'll be right back.” Quickly he returned with a map of the Middle East, unfolded it, and showed it to the genie. “My wish is that peace and harmony will come to this area – Iraq, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Afganistan and all the other surrounding countries.”

“Are you crazy?” exclaimed the genie. “Give me a break. I'm an old genie. The Middle East has been in strife and at war for thousands of years. That's something not even I can do!”

The pastor thought a moment and then said “Okay, I'll make another request. I wish that my church would be a place where everyone could live in peace, where everyone would love and respect one another, and there would no longer be any bickering, petty feuding, and quarreling.”

There was a long pause as the genie pondered the wish. Finally he said, “Let me take another look at that map.”

Laughing as Tex finished his story, I asked, “Are you telling me this congregation is a hopeless case?”

Again Tex replied with a story.

Johnny had been bad and was sent to his room. After awhile he came out and told his mother he had been praying.

“Fine,” said the pleased mother. “If you asked God to make you good, I'm sure he will help you.”

“Oh, I didn't ask him to help me be good,” replied Johnny. “I asked him to help you put up with me.”

After Tex finished, I said, “And your point is?”

“My point is,” he replied, “we need to remember the wise insight of someone who said, 'The church is not a museum for saints. It is a hospital for sinners.' If there is a basic teaching of our Christian faith it is – nobody's perfect. We're all sinners. So, to quote one of your St. Murphy's Commandments, specifically The Pastor-Member Relationship Rule. 'Don't be surprised when sinners act like sinners.'”

I mulled that over a moment before saying, “That reminds me of Darrell Royal's comment about coaching his UT football team, 'You dance with who brung ya!' In other words, you play with the players you have, not the ones you wish you had.”

“Right,” said Tex. “Pastors need to face up to that fact about their members. And church members need to remember the same about their pastors. We're all sinners But we're all we have. Realize that, accept that, and maybe we'll stop putting down each other and start putting up with each other.”

Pushing back my empty breakfast plate, I said, “Food for thought, Tex. Food for thought.”