Ok, I tried.
I really did!
But how can anyone stay silent when such injustice is perpetrated - celebrated even - in the 'church'?
Of course, you've probably guessed by now who I'm talking about.
A certain pastor who resigned his position rather than face the consequences of his actions. Who couldn't "man up" enough to actually face the mountain of bloody bodies under his bus. Who just parked in the middle of the road and walked away...
…and turned up next, being lauded and applauded at a 'pastors' conference!
And there is call after call for us to feel sorry for this man and treat him gently
like this:
I want to honor a great apostle a great man of God. He is a trendsetter, pioneer and my prayer goes out to Him. I cannot imagine what He is going through right now but one thing i know that truly hurts is friendly fire.
Morris introduced Driscoll, who was sitting in the front row of the audience, reminding attendees that "not everything you read on the Internet is true" and encouraging them to "restore [Driscoll] with a spirit of gentleness considering ourselves, lest we are also tempted." He then asked Driscoll to say a few words. As Driscoll approached the mic, the audience gave him a standing ovation.
The institutional church seems to side with those in power. It circles the wagons and shoots at anyone who questions this ethos. We must protect our own!
I just can't help wondering if it's because of a secret fear, "It might be me next!"
But God help those who've been run over by the MD bus, or any other, if they ask for justice.
They are bitter, unforgiving, ungodly, unrighteous, slanderous, gossiping, lacking grace, angry, bigoted, self-righteous…
I think you get the picture.
And yet…
it was Jesus himself who championed the "least of these". The downtrodden, the vulnerable, the powerless, the sinners, the outcasts.
You wrote: I just can't help wondering if it's because of a secret fear, "It might be me next!"
ReplyDeleteYeah - I get the same ethos. It's like an unspoken pact between those who derive their identities and salaries from celebrity status within their churches. I'm sure many of them know intuitively that it isn't a healthy ecology they are facilitating, but they also know they would be shunned by the club if they ventured down the rabbit hole of biblical eccesiology. While there can be safety in numbers, numbers also perpetuate error and unjustice.
The victims under the Mars Hill bus aren't celebrity. They aren't making headlines. Out of sight, out of mind.
James, it makes me so angry that the 'nobodies' are viewed as expendable and treated accordingly - while the celebrities can do no wrong. We've made a lucrative industry out of something which was meant to be an lifestyle of love.
Delete(Probably just my inner Thor(a) coming out!)