The Living Dead
By
Lonnie Hendrix/Miller Jones
Those who leave the Armstrong Churches of God (or are disfellowshipped) are often regarded by those who remain as the living dead. It is like the two hunters who shoot a deer and watch it continue to run for a few more feet. “He’s already dead,” one hunter comments. “Yep, he just doesn’t know it yet,” the other agrees.
A person who was formerly regarded as a friend and brother suddenly becomes persona non grata. Last Sabbath, he was one of God’s saints; and, today, he is the servant of Satan. Oh sure, some of the saints have convinced themselves that it is an act of love to reject the person. They tell themselves that they have rejected this person for their own good, so that they will repent and come back into the fold. Never mind, that that almost never happens.
“I still believe in Jesus Christ,” is not accepted. “I haven’t left God’s Church,” doesn’t work either. “No man has the authority to remove me from God’s Church or rescind my salvation,” falls on deaf ears.
It’s like the farmer who happens up on an overturned car full of used car salesmen and proceeds to dig a hole and bury vehicle and all. “Were any of them still alive?” an incredulous bystander asks him. “Well,” the farmer replies, “a couple of them said they were still alive, but you know you can’t believe a word those people say!”
And it’s especially wrenching when one leaves behind family members – when the person doing the shunning is a parent, spouse, child or sibling. To say that it is hurtful or soul-destroying to come to the realization that you aren’t as important to your loved one as the Church, doesn’t seem to do justice to the emotion that the one who has been abandoned is feeling. On the other side, the thinking is something like this: “I might as well get used to doing without them – After all, they’re NOT going to be in God’s Kingdom!”
If it wasn’t so heartbreaking, one would be tempted to laugh at the twisted reasoning, and the perversion of love. But it is sad - extremely sad. And too many people have experienced this pain.
