A story on Facebook about a woman who told her pastor she's leaving his church has gone viral as social media users said they realized the lesson in the the pastor's response.
The post surfaced on Pastor Andy Harris' Facebook page, which was shared at least 220,000 times before it was removed, according to Faith Hit. The pastor from Louisiana did not state whether the story was based on a real-life experience but it resonated with a lot of people.
The story started with a woman who told her pastor that she would no longer go to his church. She reasoned that she could not stand how members gossiped about each other, or checked their mobile phones during service, or did wrong things when outside of the church walls.
The pastor was not surprised about her frustrations but he asked the woman to do one final thing before she left for good. He said: "Take a full glass of water and walk around the church three times without spilling a drop on the ground. Afterward, leave the church if you desire."
The woman obliged and did as asked. When she came back to the pastor with her glass of water still full, he asked her a few questions. She confirmed that she did not see anyone gossiping or checking their mobile phones. She also did not encounter any hypocrites.
"You were focused on the glass, to make sure you didn't stumble and spill any water," the pastor told the woman. "When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we don't have time to see the mistakes of others," he added. "We will reach out a helping hand to them and concentrate on our own walk with the Lord."
God Updates also shared the same story and cited that people have much to complain about other church members because nobody is perfect.
A Facebook page called Church Funnies shared the story in July 2017 as well. A few said that they were indeed distracted by the things happening in the church and needed to reconsider how they worshiped.
"If we watch others we are not concentrating on our own soul," one commenter wrote.
