Who Are You (Julie Cameron, 06/07/25)

I'd like to introduce our speaker this morning.

Most of you know who she is, but let's find out

a little bit more about Julie. We were at our

women's retreat last fall, and she came to me

and she said, I think I have a sermon for Women's

Ministries Day. And I go, Amen. So Julie, where

did you grow up? I grew up in a little town in

California called Willits, about an hour away

from the sea, and about two and a half hours

above San Francisco. Okay. On a 1 ,200 -acre

ranch. Wow. What did you do? What were your chores?

Chickens, goats, garden, picking berries, picking

berries, picking berries, picking berries. Okay.

Where did you go to school? Well, I was kind

of a hybrid. I went to our local church school,

and then I was homeschooled, and then I went

back to our local church school, then I was homeschooled,

and then I went away to academy. So I got the

best of both worlds. Okay. And college? College,

I hopscotched. I started off in California, took

a break, and went to work in Minnesota for a

year, then went to England, and then I came back

and finished at Southern and haven't left. Well,

we're glad you're here this morning. What's the

title of your sermon? Who Are You? It's about

our different personalities. Cool. Thank you

so much. I love you. So today, I want to introduce

you guys to the Tater family, which we are all

members of. And I've borrowed from different

stories and different... Different personalities

I've seen over the years that I've been in church,

and every one of the personalities I'm sharing

today in no way reaches every personality in

the church. Some people are a combination of

personalities. None of us are the same. All of

us, every single one of us, have good and bad

character traits. We try to hide the bad ones

and only show the good ones. But some of us are

more successful than others. Some of us, you

know, everybody knows everybody. But we are hash

browns, okay? All of us are shredded up into

a pot and browned nicely. And as a church, we

are a serving of hash browns. So when we're all

shredded up into the same pot, Hopefully, we

blend each other's good and bad traits, and the

good of others makes up for the harder traits

in others, and we make it a family. Today, I

want to share some of the personality traits

that make up this Tater family. As I said before,

we can be a combination of difference of these

traits. So what I want for you guys to consider

while I'm going through these is which traits

do you have? I don't think any of us have all

the traits of every personality I'm going to

show today. But which ones do you have, good

or bad? Which ones do you need to look at? Which

ones do you need to develop more? Where would

you like to grow? So without further ado, I'm

going to be introducing to you both the good

and the bad of the Tater family. And before I

do that, let's bow for a word of prayer. Dear

Heavenly Father, I just pray that you will help

this sermon reach someone here, if not everyone.

Just help me to say your words and not mine.

In thy name, amen. All right, we're going to

start off with our first personality, Tater,

and this is Dictator. Dictator is the self -appointed

ruler who feels like everything should be done

his way. He is not a team player. He doesn't

listen to others. He does whatever serves to

make him look good. He tries to boss everyone

when there's work to be done. He is so full of

himself. He doesn't see that people avoid him

and rarely want to work when he's in charge.

Spiritually speaking, Dick knows his Bible upside

and down and constantly quotes from it when trying

to make someone see his way. What he doesn't

see is that people don't want to be around him

and don't see Jesus in his actions. Jesus in

Matthew compared... The scribes and Pharisees,

to what I consider a dictator, he said, look

at what they say and what they do and learn.

And that's a synopsis of Matthew 23, the beginning

of that. They bind heavy burdens they're hard

to bear. They lay them on men's shoulders, but

they themselves don't act upon their own words.

So there's pros and cons of being a dictator.

One is it is real easy to make a decision. It's

his way or the highway, okay? So we're going

to do this, we're going to do it tomorrow, and

you're going to be here. Very efficient because

he's going to tell each of you where to be and

what time and you're going to be there and what

you're going to do. The con is... There's no

joint decisions. The rest of the hash browns

are not contributing to Dick's point of view.

He suppresses anybody that says, I don't agree

with that. He doesn't want to hear it. And should

he leave, the church is in shambles or the group

is in shambles because no one knows how to do

anything without his direction. This, we've seen

this in the world as well where dictator leaderships

rise and fall. And the same happens if one person

controls a congregation. So then we can move

on. There's the imitators. Emma. As the member

who follows all the latest fabs, she never really

discovered her own identity because she's so

busy trying to be somebody else. She doesn't

have her own beliefs because she wants to fit

in and be accommodating to others. She will agree

with whoever she's with. When put on the spot,

she can only repeat what she's heard. She doesn't

study for herself. And spiritually speaking,

Emma... doesn't know her Bible and relies on

others to tell her what to believe. Now, a prose

of Emma Tater. It's very efficient because she

doesn't disagree with anyone. So wherever the

flow is going, there she is. Reduce risk. She

doesn't have to step out and make a decision

and somebody disagree with her because she's

always the one agreeing with others. She could

learn and adapt. Some imitators do learn to do

that. But they lack originality. They follow

other people's ideas, so they rarely come up

with one of their own. Ethically, she's not an

example you want anyone to follow because she

goes with the flow. Because she doesn't study,

she has limited spiritual growth. sometimes decides

to follow right out the church doors. And she

depends on others to make decisions for herself.

And this is very, very dangerous because who

knows who comes and who she's following. Like

I said, she could follow that opinion right out

the door. Now our next part of the hash browns

is Hezzy. Hezzy Tater. He's often asked to help

at church, knows that he should, always puts

it off. He'll get around to service to God someday.

But it's more fun to do what he wants in the

moment. Spiritually speaking, Hezzy knows that

he should commit his life to God, but he knows

he'll have to give something up, something he

likes to do. So he hesitates to commit. When

hard times come, he's one of the first ones to

draw away from his church and family because

it's easier to leave than depend on God for a

result. Now, pros, they can be thoughtful. They

just don't go very deep. They avoid risk at all

costs. They might help with strategic planning.

But don't expect them, they'll give an opinion,

but don't expect them to actually execute. And

emotionally, they're pretty shut off because

they're hesitant to get involved. The cons is

they miss a lot of opportunities. Most of us,

when there's something going on, we want to be

involved because it brings the family closer

together. They're indecisive because they can't

make up their mind what they want to do. They're

not committing to something, and I don't know

about any of you, but when I'm mulling something

over and I'm hesitant, it causes a lot of anxiety

within me because I haven't made up my mind.

And they tend to procrastinate. Now, our next

tater is common tater, or common. Common has

an opinion about everything. You never need to

know what they think because they are the first

one to tell you. It doesn't matter whether they

are a subject matter expert. They have an opinion.

They don't like others to disagree with them.

Spiritually speaking, Carmen wants God to do

everything she asks. God's will is often not

relevant, nor is truth. She can easily... or

he or she can easily sway others who are just

learning to their side. So the pros of commentators.

They are engaged. They want to talk to you. They're

an expert on everything. Not, but sometimes.

Entertainment value. A lot of times they're pretty

funny to listen to. Real -time updates. They're

right in with another tater that we'll bring

up, and they know the latest gossip in town.

And it really can be a pro and a con. Bias. A

commentator wants their opinion. Sometimes they're

misinformed. They rarely listen. They like to

talk over others, and they love to stir the pot.

If there's drama going on, they have something

to talk about. And in 2 Corinthians 12 .20 it

says, For I fear lest when I come I shall not

find you such as I wish, and that I be found

with you as you do not wish, lest there be contentions,

jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions,

backbitings, whisperings, conceits, and tumults.

A lot of times the commentator, Carmen, is involved

in any kind of drama. Now, our next tater is

the spectator. Spectator, his favorite phrase,

I love work. I can watch others do it all day.

He doesn't get involved because he is a great

observer. He shows up, but he looks on, sometimes

joins in. but is great also about giving his

opinion of what needs to be done. When asked

to help, there's always an excuse that will prevent

him from providing assistance. Spiritually speaking,

Speck is at church because that's where he's

always been. He doesn't study for himself and

is asked what he believes. He can only give a

small amount of information before struggling

for more. Pros of saying as a spectator on the

sidelines. If they choose, they can observe and

learn. Reduce pressure because all you're doing

is giving opinion. You're not helping with anything.

It's safety and risk avoidance because you can't

offend anybody if you're not doing something

that they don't want you to do. And they're great

at a supportive role. The cons are they miss

opportunities, just like our last tater. They

miss out because they don't participate. They

have limited social connections because they're

always observing. And I don't know if you work

with somebody, if you guys have experienced it,

when you work with somebody in a church or a

work setting, you get to know them as a person.

But if you're sitting off to the sidelines all

the time. All you're doing is watching someone

else work. They have regret and self -doubt,

and they lack personal development. They don't

want to study for themselves. Now I have a duplicate

side, which I'm going to skip. Our next tater

is Aggie Tater. Aggie, when she was in school,

got poor marks on plays well with others. And

he's continually in conflict with others. always

seems to be involved in strife and division.

No matter what the pastor of the church does,

it is never good enough in Aggie's mind. She

loves to stir the pot. She loves it when people

are arguing and disagreeing. Spiritually speaking,

Aggie loves to point out the faults in others.

She can make everyone around her feel as though

they're the worst sinners in the world, but she

doesn't take time to look in the mirror and reflect

where she currently stands. You know, Aggie can

be motivated to change because she's stirring

that pot and something's going to happen, good

or bad, when she's stirring that pot. Encourage

action. People may agree with her and move forward.

Keeps things interesting. There's always drama

going on. And stands firm for what they believe,

right or wrong. The cons are... She's very confrontational.

She always causes conflict, can be a bit overbearing,

and can drain the life out of a congregation

because they're always dealing with drama. And

drama sometimes is good, but when you have drama

all the time, it is not good. In 1 Timothy 5

.13, it says, And besides, they learn to be idle,

wandering about house to house, not only idle,

but gossips, busybodies, and saying everything

they shouldn't say. Now, we've seen some negative

taters, and we probably have put faces in place

of these potato heads. But there are the good

ones, too. We have the sweet taters. And sweet

taters are lovely and cordial and cooperative

members of the tater's church family. They're

one of the most loved members of the church,

have a great attitude, faithful, committed, supported,

involved. She doesn't dictate, imitate, hesitate,

commentate, spectate, or agitate. Spiritually

speaking, Sweet Tater is an example for everyone.

She is the first to tell you she isn't perfect,

but if anyone is suffering, they head straight

to Sweet Tater as she loves everyone, offers

to pray for those who are struggling. She truly

sees the good in everyone. She's also very involved

in Bible study. And in Matthew 5, 16, it says,

Let your light shine before men, that they may

see your good works and glorify your Father in

heaven. When everyone comes in proximity of Sweet

Tater, she shows them Jesus. Now, the pros are

it's a welcoming atmosphere, encourages compassion,

promotes unity, offers support and encouragement,

reflects Christ's love. The cons are... Sweet

taters normally struggle with confrontation.

They want to love everyone, but they don't want

to be the one that confronts anything that's

going on. They are often taken advantage of because,

oh, sweet tater will do it, sweetie will do it.

And they might overlook tough truths about different

fellow members because they want to love everyone.

It's hard for them to make a really hard decision.

Say we have to ask someone that they please not

share that opinion that conflicts with our belief.

Sweet tater doesn't like confrontation, so it's

hard to be that strong person. And people take

advantage of the sweet potatoes. They can feel

very drained, they get tired, and nobody seems

to notice because they're so used to that congeniality.

Now our next one is a Martha tater. Now Martha

is always busy. She sees a need and promptly

helps with it. She's caring. kind, but tends

to neglect her own needs when helping others.

Martha can get burned out or upset when others

don't see the same priorities or needs as she

sees that need to be done. Spiritually speaking,

Martha knows her Bible, but is often too busy

to spend quality time for God. So her Bible knowledge

is real, but her heart can often be in the wrong

place. She has trouble surrendering and listening.

On the other hand, people can always count on

her to be there if needed. But she needs to be

reminded often to take time for herself and her

relationship with God so she doesn't burn out.

Now, the pros of Martha's is they're reliable,

they're hardworking, they support church growth.

They lead by example. They make ministry possible.

Many times it's the Marthas behind the scenes

that makes the ministry possible. And they help

strengthen community bonds. The cons are when

they get burned out, they're burnt out. And so

sometimes they'll just sit down and say, I quit.

I can't do it anymore. Sometimes they can overshadow

others. They're so used to being the driving

force behind the scenes, they don't take a step

back and let someone else come and fill the role

alongside them. And they may struggle with delegation

because they can take traits from a dictator

of wanting it done their own way if they start

something. They have less time for spiritual

growth, unrecognized efforts, and so balance

is key. Workers are essential, but they need

support, encouragement, and rest. Now we have

a preacher -tater. Preachers are scholars of

the word. They're constantly learning and wanting

to share with others. They have a knowledge of

many different subjects and bringing facts into

conversations. They have a constant desire to

learn and share. Spiritually speaking, preachers

have a strong relationship with God and desire

to share that relationship with others. They

attract those who desire to learn more. Sometimes

they have to dumb it down for the average listener

so they can understand it. Now, here I've got

a story. And it may go right along with VBS because

I'm positive this is similar to the same story

that is going to be done for VBS. But it's a

story about a missionary that we're going to

call John. And he went into native New Guinea.

to preach about Jesus. The village he was sent

to was a village that was a bunch of thieves.

They came to listen to his stories, but they

continued to live as they were because they didn't

see any need to change their life. John decided

he needed a way to get income and decided to

plant a grove of pineapples. He nurtured these

trees for the next few years while he preached

and served the people of this village. Finally,

the year came. The trees were going to put out

fruit. John got so excited he was going to be

able to have some pineapples. But as the fruit

got bigger, it started to disappear before it

was even ripe. He discovered that the villagers

were stealing his fruit. He got upset and told

them to stop, but they wouldn't listen. He prayed

about it, but God didn't stop them from stealing.

He tried to teach them about God, but he was

angry about his pineapples. And one day he was

praying, and God said, Okay, God, I'm tired of

being angry. I'm giving you the pineapple grove.

If you can keep the natives from stealing your

pineapples, have at it. So he gave his anger

to God and the pineapple grove. And once again,

pineapples began to grow on the trees. And once

again, the stealing started, but he didn't get

angry. He just said, God, they're stealing your

pineapples. One day the villagers said, Teacher,

why are you not angry about us stealing your

pineapples anymore? And John said, Well, I gave

the grove away. And they're like, Oh, who have

we been stealing pineapples from? And they said,

Well, who did you give it to? And he said, Oh,

I gave it to God, so I don't have to worry about

it anymore. You can have the pineapples. Well,

word quickly got around that the pineapples no

longer belonged to John, but they belonged to

his unseen God. And everyone was afraid to steal

the pineapples. And so as the pineapples got

ripe, they would come to Mr. John. You need the

pineapples ripe. You need to harvest your pineapples.

And his reply was always, God will tell me when

they're ready. And so John noticed, as he gave

his anger to God and resubmitted his will to

him, he became a better person. The villagers

noticed, too. One day he was asked, Mr. John,

have you become a Christian? And he was shocked.

He asked them what he meant. I've always been

a Christian. They said, no, you used to be an

angry man, but you talked about a God of love,

and we couldn't see it. Now we see a man who

can love. Did you become a Christian? John suddenly

realized that while he had come to tell people

about a God of love, he had not shown that love.

And until he gave God his pineapple grove, he

was always angry. After this, the villagers wanted

to know about the God who could change the teacher

and soon stopped stealing as they all began to

believe in a God of love. All it took was for

the missionary to become a Christian and show

God's love to the people he was trying to reach.

Preachers and teachers should be the hands and

feet of Jesus. All of us are teachers, but what

type of teacher are you? And so I've got both

a preacher and a teacher. They both go along

in the same. You can have preachers, strong spiritual

guidance, community leadership, provide stability

to a church, offers emotional support. But the

cons is preachers have a tendency to burn out

as well. There's a potential for conflict because

a preacher should always stand up for what's

right, and those who don't want to do what's

right will cause conflict. Preachers have a pressure

to meet expectations. All of us have an expectation

of what our preacher should do, and sometimes

it conflicts with what we see. Limited personal

time. out there working all the time. So their

personal times can sometimes be eaten up with

church business. And sometimes preachers are

resistant to change when something new comes

in. Teachers are kind of the same thing. They

have a deep spiritual knowledge. They provide

spiritual guidance. They encourage faith and

development. They foster community and discussion.

and equip others for ministries, they're often

working right alongside with the preacher. The

cons can be a risk of misinterpretation. How

many of you guys have known a solid Christian

who has gone to a seminar, read a book, and completely

switched the gears of their faith? I've seen

it with multiple of the friends I went to college

with. I have friends that have stayed staunch.

bible believing adventist and i have seen friends

who've stayed adventist but gone the way of the

world and so if you have a teacher that switches

they become a bad teacher for god not a good

teacher for god teachers have a potential for

bias also in the same thing they can face resistance

because not everybody wants to be taught what's

right Every single one of us has something we'd

prefer the other person not know. And if they

hear something that they don't want to hear,

then they tend to kind of resist that. So they

face resistance. They have a pressure to be perfect.

And if a teacher is too rigid or academic, they

may not resonate with the learners. Know your

audience. Teachers need to speak on the level

of the audience. I've heard some people say,

well, I went to this meeting, but all they talked

about was all this academic stuff up here, not

something I could understand, and I didn't get

a thing out of the sermon. Preachers and teachers

are essential in shaping faith communities, but

they also need support, accountability, and continue

to learn to be effective. Now we have a meditator.

Many doesn't like conflict and often works with

others to resolve their conflict. She often works

to resolve conflicts that Dick, Aggie, and Calum

started. She and Sweet are good friends and often

work together. Maddie is also actively praying

for the church, especially those involved in

conflict. She prays for her neighbors and herself.

Spiritually speaking, Maddie works hard to have

a good relationship with God, who gives her guidance

and strength to help others resolve their conflicts.

I have another story here about an elderly lady

who prayed on her porch every day. Her neighbor

was an atheist, and he hated to hear her prayers.

She prayed for her family and her church and

her neighbors. He constantly, her neighbor constantly

mocked her faith in God. Then one day, he heard

her praying for food. Her budget had not stretched

far enough that month. Her neighbor said, all

right, I'm going to get her the food and prove

there is no God. And he went out and got the

groceries and put it on her porch and then sat

around the corner and waited. She came out, saw

the groceries, and started praising the Lord

for the groceries. And he jumped out and said,

ha, it was me who got the groceries. God had

nothing to do with it. She looked at him and

then up at the sky and said, thank you, Lord,

for the groceries and making the devil pay for

it. Realizing that he was being used by God and

gotten the groceries, but was unable to convince

the woman that he had provided them and God hadn't.

God always answers in mysterious ways. So are

you like the atheist or are you like the elder

lady that can see God providing in everything?

And so in 1 Timothy 2, 1, it says, Therefore

I exhort first of all the supplications, prayers,

and intercessions in giving of thanks that be

made for all men, for kings and authorities,

that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in

all godliness and reverence. So, you know, meditators,

their prose, they encourage peaceful reverence.

A lot of times they can help resolve things faster,

but they may not be able to resolve all conflicts.

They have a potential for bias, and they are

not guaranteed the result of a resolution. So

meditators are very valuable in many situations,

but their effectiveness depends on the nature

of the dispute and the willingness of those involved

to do that. Our next one is Theotator. Now, Theo

is a Bible scholar. He can sometimes be considered

unsociable because he studies so much. He loves

to study the Bible with others, to lead Bible

studies. His danger is making sure he studies

the right materials. Sometimes he can learn error

and share it with others. He prays for guidance.

Spiritually speaking, Theo is a strong Christian

and loves to share with others. He loves to study,

and with the prayer studies, the right materials.

He is a strong influence on the rest of the church.

So theology. They have deep Bible knowledge.

If they are doing it right, they're preserving

biblical accuracy. They encourage people to think.

They support church leadership, and they bridge

faith and knowledge. Cons are they can get very

over -analytical. A lot of our PhDs have studied

themselves right out of the church. When you

have to study for a broad subject, sometimes

the study materials can make you doubt what God

can do. They're very likely to disagree with

someone who doesn't believe the same way. They

can be detached from the hands and feet of Jesus,

the practical aspects of faith. And they use

complex language, influence, and personal bio.

And I know I'm running late. And so I want to

skip down a couple to the learning taters. Like

I said, there's a lot of taters. So learning

taters can come in many forms. Children, are

we showing our children Jesus? Learners. Our

visitors, our children, our community, what do

they see? Do they see Jesus in us every day?

The children learn by watching us. Children learn

more by watching us than they do by reading the

Bible. We, as a church, are responsible for our

children. I have seen more children leave the

church as a result of actions within the church,

and they never come back. I want, for adults,

I want you guys to lay that heavy on your heart.

What would Jesus do? Lay it on your heart because

it's so important for our learners to see Jesus

in us. um our visitors do we greet them at the

door do we invite them to lunch do we you know

if if we're having potluck do are we showing

jesus to our visitors and our community i know

we do 1890s days and a few other events but do

does our community see jesus in us if we're walking

down the street do they go oh i recognize you

from 1890s days you're with that that seventh

day advent is something or the other Be the hands

and feet of Jesus so the people that are learning

can come to us. So, you know, the pros of learners,

you can help them grow spiritually, community,

morally, interactive learning, and encouraging

family involvement. Cons can, if you're limiting

your perspectives, the learners only see a certain

point of view, and they may see it as not attractive.

Potential for pressure. Witnesses can be both

good and bad. And balancing learning and fun.

So creating a welcoming and engaging environment

is key to helping our learners. So my question

to you is what kind of tater do you want to be

today? What kind of tater do you want to be moving

forward? You have viewed some of the positives

and negatives of different personalities. Have

you decided who God wants you to be? Can you

take the positive traits of some of the negative

characters and become a spiritual leader within

your church? That's my prayer for each and every

one of you today, is that we can become leader

-taters. And we can become a wonderful church

of hash browns. So let's bow our heads. Dear

Heavenly Father, we thank you and we praise you

for your love and care. I just pray that you'll

be with each and every one of us as we decide

who we want to be for you. And I just pray that

we choose to be you. In Jesus' name, amen.