Nitpicking

If you’ve ever had the joy of dealing with head lice then you know that nitpicking (removing the eggs of the lice) is tedious, time consuming and requires a good eye to spot all of the hair follicles embedded with these eggs. Thus, it’s easy to see how the word has come to mean any concerted hunt for small hard to find imperfections. This past weekend I heard one of the speakers at the Spiritual Training Workshop at Cordova mention they avoided giving certain information to a notorious nitpicker because they would… yes, nitpick it to death! Nobody likes a nitpicker. Hey, even Jesus castigates the Pharisees for their nitpickish ways!

So, I was surprised when I found myself balancing on the razor’s edge of nitpicking hairsplitation. Let me explain. At the area-wide worship we not only got to sing together but our coming together was personified in the communion as brothers and sisters throughout the Sacramento area were privileged to share in the Lord’s Supper as one body. When the bread was passed the usual chrome plate was filled with individual portions of tiny pillow shaped unleavened bread. I immediately thought to myself that I was being cut off from “breaking bread” and denied the symbol of the one body! After all, the words spoken before we received the bread, underscored that though we were many congregations we were one body in Christ and now before me was a scattered precut loafette. I must admit that as almost as quick as those thoughts came so did this horrible rumble in the pit of my being that gasped, “O no, I’ve become a one cupper!” You see, suddenly, I realized that I had no problem with individual cups and not for a moment felt cheated when they were passed. O, I still like one loaf and it’s visual but I never want to be a nitpicker that swallows camels and chokes on gnats!

Now don’t get me wrong… I think it is important to pay attention to details. However, the greatest detail to get right is the why we do what we do! I want to be led by the Spirit, inspired by the Word of God and under the Lordship of my Savior. Such requires an open heart and mind not a guarded nitpicking myopia. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm… (Galatians 5:1).” -DAN