But Jesus said to them, �A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.�
Mark 6:4
I have preached at a handful of congregations in the past. Notably twice in Scottsville. I’ve given devotionals, taught classes, among many other duties. The place that I do get the most anxious about is doing so at my own congregation. I would never think of giving a short devotional at my home congregation. In some sense, I am even apprehensive about teaching a Sunday school class at my home congregation. As the verse states above, even Jesus was rejected in his hometown.
It’s the same concept when you go back for your high school reunion. You always try to highlight your successes. But somehow you always see yourself being pigeonholed into the same label you were given in high school. Which is probably why I skipped my 10 year reunion.
Now imagine being at your high school reunion every Sunday. People who have watched you grow up are there. Whether they view you in a negative or positive light is not really upto you. Instead they judge you from what you did 20 years ago.
Sure, the church family tends to have a turnover of such every five years or so. I experienced this phenomenon when I came home from college and found I really didn’t know anybody there anymore. However there are still people there who knew you as a child or teenager. People there who are willing to unfairly judge you.
I think people who have grown up in their church, and still attend their church well into adulthood face some diffculty in asserting themselves socially. Older members will tend to unfairly put one up on a pedestal. Being an elder’s son, I consciously seem to think that people put me up on an even higher pedestal, expecting more out of me than I can produce. Still others don’t give me the benefit of the doubt, choosing instead to treat me like the child which grew up there.
So in a sense, I feel more comfortable being a visitor at a small rural congregation in Sumner County or Kentucky, rather than being a member in my own home congregation. Psychologically it can be draining.