"If It Is Not Broken, Do Not Fix It!"

Have you ever heard the expression, “If it is not broken, do not fix it?” I know you have and we all understand what that means, right? Simply put, if something is working well there is no need to tinker with it and risk the possibility of messing it up! Years ago, Linda and I purchased our first colored television from an individual. It was an older model, but it had a good picture and great sound, so we enjoyed it. At some point, I decided that I could improve the picture quality by “fine tuning” the horizontal, vertical, color contrast and some other items. When I finished “fixing it,” the picture was hardly recognizable. We would have been much better off, if I had never tried to fix something that was not broken.

A lot of things are like that. Sometimes a person hears Dr. Phil make some claim that a little adjusting of a relationship will make it much richer. A tweak here and a nip there is supposed to make a good marriage great! Remember the theme of this article? Messing with a good marriage to make it better sometimes has catastrophic affects. There is nothing wrong with trying to improve a relationship, but it is often best left alone if it is working for those involved.

I have found the same thing is true with a church! If a church is at peace, happy and loving on each other, why mess with it? If that same church is reaching out to the lost in the community with reasonably good success, why risk ruining that ministry? The list could go on, but you get the idea, right? “If it is not broken, do not fix it!” When we start tinkering with the church, we can find ourselves much worse in the end than we were in the beginning! Then, the question can be asked, “how’s that working for you?”

Many peaceful, growing, and loving churches have become frustrated, cold, and lifeless because someone thought they knew something about “church growth” when the truth is that the church belongs to Jesus and He said, “I will build my church!”

"Range Wars & Church Leadership!"

I know you have read about the “wars” that were fought between the cattlemen and sheep herders in the wild, wild West. These “wars” were very prevalent in west Texas and other places where pasture was at a premium. Do you know why the two groups could not get along?

The problem was that sheep graze differently that cattle. Cattle will usually only eat the tops of the grass and not get down close to the ground. It has something to do with the physical structure of their mouths, etc. Sheep, however, can (and will) graze to the point of eating the grass right down to ground level, therefore, making it impossible for cattle to graze on the same land. Obviously, this produced a huge problem for the cattle ranchers as they drove their cattle to the market. Many of them, if they did not die from hunger, had lost so much weight their value decreased dramatically.

Also, remember that one would “drive” cattle, but “lead” sheep! The sheep would just keep on eating until there was nothing left unless those in charge led them to a different area. Occasionally, a sheep would wander off by itself in search of food and fall prey to a hungry beast or become trapped in a vine, but others would die in the field from a lack of food. The problem was not with the sheep nor cattle, but with those whose job it was to lead them to greener pastures.

It is not unlike the responsibilities of tending to the flock of God today! God’s people have to be led, not driven! They will stay in the same spot forever unless someone leads them to greener spiritual pastures. Now, that is risky! God’s sheep may resist being led away from a barren, life-threatening area, but that resistance does not lessen the responsibility of those gifted with leadership.

However, if they are not led to greener pastures where life is, they will die in a barren wasteland. Some will wander off in search of food for their souls, but others will remain stagnant and die spiritually. The result is the same regardless!

--- Bill Butterfield
January 27,2012

Always Someone's Son!

I grew up in the Ohio River valley known as "Billy" Butterfield, the younger son of Tom and Martha Butterfield. When I began preaching, I was always introduced as "Tom Butterfield's son, Bill." It was like I had no personal identity and it seemed that I would always be known as someone else's son, brother, friend or whatever. I must admit when I became a teen, I resented that a bit...no, a lot! It was never: president of his senior class; student body president at Ohio Valley College (University, now); member of OVC chorus, etc...I was always attached to someone else!


Now, fifty years later, it still happens, but not nearly as much. I have had the unique privilege of preaching in (Colonial) Williamsburg, Virginia for the past fifteen years. It is unique for a lot of reasons, but one is that we have tons of tourists every year. We always have a few folk at every Sunday service from somewhere else. Among those who visit our area are families from Ohio and West Virginia who know the "Butterfield" name.


I still have folk who tell me, "Your Dad baptized me up in Monroe County, Ohio back in the 1950s," or, "Are you related to Tom W. Butterfield?" After such comments and questions, I know that I am in for a ten minute conversation about something that happened decades ago. But, something is different now! I enjoy all of those stories!


It is so refreshing to hear folk speak so kindly of Dad and Mom. To hear them share with me stories about the work that my parents did in various locations within a hundred miles of "the Valley." Baptisms. Marriages. Funerals. Revivals. The list goes on and on! All of those stories are a part of the heritage from my parents and each of them brings joy to my heart.


I can only pray that my sons will have similar experiences in their lifetime. Maybe they will hear about their Grandpa Butterfield's preaching or Grandma Butterfield's sweetness. I hope so! I guess there would be no greater joy than for them to complain about hearing stories about their Dad and Mom's efforts, too!


Yes, I was raised as a "preacher's kid" and have no regrets sharing my identity with those who loved me!



Bill Butterfield
Williamsburg, Virginia
December 30, 2011

"Wondering In Williamsburg" Returns!

After an absence of more than a year, Wondering In Williamsburg is back again! There were a number of reasons why Wondering.... has not been active, but I hope that time restraints, etc. will not interfere again and allow for it to be worthwhile and regular from this point forward. Many of you contacted me regarding Wondering... and I am humbled and gratified by your concern.


I hope that Wondering... can take a bit of a turn from the past by it being used as a means to challenge you to greater spiritual heights. It is so easy to become lax in our exercising of our mind and when this happens we cease to grow! I know it is comforting to read about how "right" one is, but my goal is not to make the comfortable more comfortable, but to challenge each reader to think...really think!


I remind you that anything appearing in Wondering... is the result of my own study, thoughts, and discretion. It is not my aim to be a spokesperson for anyone else, but me! You may not agree with everything you read in Wondering... and for that matter, I would probably be ashamed of you if you did. Sometimes I don't even agree with what I write because I am still a "work in process" and my thoughts can change regularly. I hold no one to what they believed and taught 20 years, weeks, days or minutes ago IF they are still studying and working through the intellectual process. I feel the same way about myself as long as I am studying and growing!

So, with the above re-introduction to Wondering In Williamsburg, I begin again!

Not "bad" kids...

I have had the privilege during the past few months to serve as leader of young people who needed to do some "community service." None of these young folk were in any serious trouble with the local departments, but had been careless in maintaining acceptable behavior. Things like staying out past the local curfew and misbehaving more than once in the classroom. During the course of time that I have spent with these young people, I have grown to appreciate each of them and to understand a little about their lives and situations, neither of which I will go into in this blog.




The reason I mention the above is because there are two young ladies cleaning our chapel area right now and they are here for the very first time. I wonder what it is that causes folk to behave in a manner that they know will cause them to serve "community service" time. No, it is not because they do not know what is in store for them because these are "repeat offenders!" [Written a bit in jest!]




I surmise that several things contribute to this form of misbehavior. In my humble opinion, one of the most frequent causes is lack of parental supervision and direction. In the cases this Summer, none had a solid family circle. In many of the families, one of the parents was completely absent due to abdicating his/her responsibility or completing their own "debt to society." With such an absence it falls on the single parent to provide a family income, therefore, absent from the home for hours at a time. We all know what happens when children are left unsurpervised!




Boredom! As I write this, school is just beginning for some, but not for all! Children have finished all of their Summer sports programs, vacations have long since been forgotten, and there is little to do except wait for the first school bell in the Fall. Never are the words, "idle hands are the devil's workshop," truer than at the end of Summer! I have some of those that I work with saying, "I am bored out of my mind! I can't just sit at home alone and do nothing!" Guess what? I understand...I really do!




Well, you get the idea! Rather than being super-critical of those who find themselves in some type of "trouble," we should be working to help them survive the lonely days of Summer! It would not take much for you to supervise some "community service" projects or, better yet, provide some type of adventure so that "community service" would not be necessary!




Any ideas? Please, share them with me.

If I Could Do It All Over Again...

I wonder what it would be like to begin life over again, but with the knowledge one currently possesses! Oh, I know that it is not possible, but I just wonder. What would I do differently since I know how it is going to turn out? Who would I have on my list of friends? What things would I get involved in knowing the headaches that some of them caused? I wonder...


For instance, would I have made friends with "Butchy" Boggess knowing that nearly sixty years later I would always wonder what happened to him? He and I were the best of friends in the first and second grades, but my family moved and I never saw him again! Does he still live in our hometown? Is he married? Did he follow his father's example and become a mechanic? I don't know...I will never know! If I had known that Laura Lytton did not even know that I existed, would I have walked home behind her everyday in the third and fourth grades? Probably not...but maybe!


Would I have run for senior class president in a school that I attended only two years? What about being student body president in the small junior college from which I graduated, would I do that again? If I knew then what I know then, would I have dressed like an African native in an Afro wig and mini-skirt for my senior class play? Would Dave Jordan and I have tried to get into every club in high school during our senior year (and we would have made it if the Future Nurses Of America would have been more open-minded)?


After junior college, would I have gotten married to the bride that has been by my side for the past forty-five years if I had known then what I know now? Would that bride and I have sought two young boys to adopt and love like we do? If I had known the difficult times we would have living in the "fish bowl" of being a preacher's family, would I have put my family through that experience? I wonder...


There are a few things that are certain! I would have done some things differently, especially in those youthful years, but I don't think I would have excluded any of those people who blessed my life during those days. I would have waited a little while to marry, but I would have married the same bride that has blessed my life over and over again. Those two boys would have been included in my life as my two best friends and the joys of my life.


Another thing that is certain is that I would not have made some of the mistakes that I made through ignorance or in rebellion. Most of those things will be taken to my grave forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ and certainly that would not have changed!


I guess if I could do it all again, it would be with the same people, but with some needed changes! I would, also, like to know if you ever wonder about doing things differently. Leave me a comment!