With the immense tragedies here in Southern CA with the fires, it has been amazing to watch as people immediately banded together within hours to start providing clothing, essentials, and housing for those displaced. Churches and Jewish centers were some of the first to start relief efforts. Local charities and companies started efforts down at the Rose Bowl and later moved to the Santa Anita Race track when the Bowl needed to be used for stationing firemen and electric company line repairmen.
“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (II Corinthians 9:6-7) is often read before taking up an offering, as if it applies to giving money to a corporate organization. But, when you read the context in II Corinthians 8, it is really about collecting an offering for another congregation (in Jerusalem) in need.
So beyond the misuse of the scriptures for something it’s not talking about, let’s stop and consider whether we have ever had a request to help another congregation in need. Have you seen a collective effort for food, water, money, supplies, etc., for example, for a congregation in an area that has been devastated by a tornado, a wildfire, or a hurricane? Have volunteers from the COG congregations poured into those communities to help out?
The short answer is “No.” The corporate COG groups diss “so-call Christians” for many things, and yet these are the very people who respond in a tangible way after a disaster. Want to make disciples and preach the gospel? Live it by helping and serving others, especially when their worlds have been turned upside down.
In fact, is this any different than what we will be doing when Jesus establishes God’s kingdom on the earth? Humans who are still alive are going to be shell-shocked and they will need the most basic of their needs met. Food, water, shelter, clothing.
Someone thumping on a Bible and “preaching” at them won’t help them a bit. Someone helping provide those basic necessities will. In the process, they will see the fruit of God’s spirit on display: agape, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That will make an impact, considering what they have just experienced, and that’s the first step.
One of the things that the COG groups imply is that we’ll have offices and ranks and we will sit on thrones and direct little underlings, but you and I won’t actually get in there and get our hands dirty laboring to help people. For me, that’s no better than the idea of going to heaven and playing a harp for eternity. Lifting Scriptures Out of Context
What we have witnessed here in Southern CA is the beauty of the people in the area and the kindness and goodness in their hearts. Their immediate thought was about "the other" and not themselves. In Armstrongism it was always about us first because we were special and set apart and never on "the other".
Can you imagine a Church of God doing what this church is doing this coming Sunday?
I will take that any day over the belching toads like Bob Thiel or Gerald Flurry and the adulterated filth they preach.
The churches of God are not fully Christian churches.
ReplyDeleteThe LA fires are tragic and frightening to watch. As is the disaster that befall Mayotte in the Indian Ocean and Vanuatu in the pacific. And the catastrophic civil war in the Sudan and Libya and Syria. The Gaza Israel conflict. The darkness that has fallen on Afghanistan, especially for women. The savage oppression in North Korea. Or for the homeless in the USA. A pattern of sadness and sorrow wherever we look. Time and chance happen to anyone. Jesus was moved to compassion when he looked at Israel there before Him, as sheep without a shepherd. In the light of this suffering around us I hope our hearts are moved with the same compassion as our Messiah. Many religious organisations have collection boxes in their churches synagogues for parishioners to collect funds , that are then forwarded onto various charities. The Armstrong movement could learn from this.
ReplyDeletePart of my early career education involved a couple of years spent as a life and disability insurance agent, and my territory was west Altadena, and northwest Pasadena. For those who have never been to California, that means that the majority of my policyholders were Black and Latino, and most of my daily working hours were spent with my policyholders. All socioeconomic classes were represented in this territory, and as one travelled northwards, the homes became nicer and more opulent. Altadena was advanced and forward-thinking in that redlining was not practiced there, either by the city, the banks, or realty firms. So a very unique community sprang up. Many of the kids were students at Pasadena City College. My experience in that time was most definitely good, as my lifelong practice has always been to make my customers my friends, and we had many wonderful discussions, certainly not just limited to insurance. Always having been into music, particularly rock and the blues, I especially enjoyed the insights gained from our musical discussions. Music is the universal language, after all, and some of my policyholders had had musical careers during the birth of rock n roll.
ReplyDeleteThat may have been many years ago, but I've just been completely devastated and depressed over the past week by what the fires have done to the community there. I remembered many of my friends/clients' names and faces, and different salient things that were said during my visits to their homes. Most of them would be at a very advanced age now, if indeed they were alive. Many of the homes which burned may have been passed down to the chidren and grandchildren. I'm certain there are predatory developers swooping down, as we speak, trying to get those properties for pennies on the dollar, and I've read comments by the fire victims expressing fear that the neighborhoods may be "gentrified", with the original residents being displaced or crowded out as a result of new development. WCG members certainly lived in that community back in the day, and its possible that some of our former brethren have lost everything, just as did their neighbors.
There have to be ways in which those who are able can help the ones whose lives were uprooted, and can be sure that the money gets to the right places. This whole thing is just so sad. It's bad enough for the people in Pacific Palisades, the Malibu colony, or places like Topanga Canyon, but the fact is many of the folks from those areas already have really good resources, and the basic tools for recovery.
I really enjoyed Treme, a TV series about New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. People are resilient, and just as was New Orleans, Altadena will be rebuilt. It's just hard to see the sun behind all of the smoke right now.
BB