The Rest of the Story....Um...NO
Well actually there
rarely is the rest of the story in some of the more controversial accounts in
the New Testament of Church events.
I've recently been
reminded of the Apostle Paul's admission that he didn't always do the right
thing and in fact could not do the right things so he didn't. (Romans
7) He hems and haws around making up a convoluted explanation of how , no
matter, it is not really him that is doing it. It is sin in him and sin
that has a hold of him that does it. Really? Ok, great.
But that's where the story ends. We never hear if anyone asked him to
elaborate on just exactly what his sins and struggles were. Did no one
ask "So Paul, since you are the Apostle and we are to hang on your every
word and perspective, just what exactly is it that you do that you should not
do? And what is it that you should do that you can't do? We'd like
a list."
Of course, Paul just
ends with a big oh well...Jesus took care of all this so no more questions
please. I bet lots of people asked him or others just what exactly
he was getting at and it probably did affect their confidence in him. I
mean this is the same Paul that is bouncing people out of the congregation in I
Corinthians 5-7 and making up lots of rules for who you can and who you can't
hang around or even eat with. But Paul never went on to say, "And
you can't eat with me either because I can't do any better than they do."
It's a rather confusing
picture. After Paul turns the one poor soul over to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, we don't know if the guy died and if he did , did he
have any family that blamed Paul for being a bit too hard on the guy.
Later Paul lightens up a bit and encourages the Church (maybe after Paul got a
dressing down for being such a hard ass,) to not let this guy or someone
else be overtaken with too much sorrow, but hey, letting Satan take you out can
do that to a guy. Seems no one got to Judas in time for betraying the
Gospel Jesus but managed to get to Peter for denying him. Whew....gotta
save those Peters.
(aside: Darn....the
Mormon guys were headed right for my door and turned around...)
Paul had a way of
telling you stuff without really telling you stuff. Recall he went to the
third heaven but couldn't share the journey with us. He had a thorn in
the flesh, but could not tell us exactly what it was. Did bad things but
don't ask. Didn't do the right things, but again don't ask.
I bet lots of folk asked
Paul lots of questions but we don't know the end of the story save for Paul
evidently won out. We don't even know exactly when or why Paul was
executed in Rome. Well I bet lots knew but perhaps the real reason was
more embarrassing than inspiring. We'll never know. We didn't get
to write the story.
My favorite is the story
of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts . Simply stated. Two members said
they would give the money from the sale of their property to the
"Church." When it sold, they held back and gave less.
Peter the Great gets really angry and "zap" you're both dead.
Let that be a lesson to the church. Now...most of you realize I think
this fairytale was a story meant to tell Paul and Luke's followers to ignore
"Peter the Great." Just as these two said they would do one
thing and did another and thus died, so Peter said he'd do one thing, never
leave Jesus, and did another, denied him. Message: Don't follow
Peter.
But let's assume it's a
real story and Peter really did strike these generous folk dead for holding
back. Do Roman's let you kill church members and never ask what is going
on? Do relatives who notice that mother, father, uncle, aunt, niece ,
nephew, grandma or grandpa went to church but were never seen again ask
questions? I'd think so! Would not news get out of murder in the
Church? Would not some members leave because "well that was a bit
extreme!?" I'd think so! But alas, we'd never know. The
left over members just took the warning and probably turned in all their stuff
to the church as requested.
In Acts 15 Mark and Paul
have a falling out. Paul won't have anything to do with him for past
offenses or perhaps common senses that Paul didn't like. You know..like
trying to tell Dave Pack maybe it's not a good idea to reinvent Ambassador
College in the Winter spending millions we don't have on a place few will come
to. Other places say the problem was so bad that Paul didn't ever
want anything to do with Mark, well at least not until Paul needed him for
something at the end of his life. But what was the problem?
Dunno!! That part is not included. It never is when someone has to
win and someone has to lose. Paul was not the kind who ever lost.
Saul/Paul says he
oversaw the death and persecution of people in Jerusalem. Did anyone ever
come after the man when they found out he was now one of them? Who didn't
believe it? What were the jokes about Paul the Apostle Now?
Dunno. The losers don't write the story.
You can take this
principle of there never being the rest or the other side of the story back to
the OT as well. Moses kills an Egyptian...so what. Hey, where
is my dad? So what. Isaac almost gets his throat cut
like a cow in sacrifice by DAD! How did that set with him over the
years? How did being saved just in the nick of time affect his religious
views of YHVH? Did he go on mountain vacations with DAD
anymore? Did he trust DAD when asked to take a little walk with me
son? How did, "your father did what!!!!?" affect Sarah the
mom?
Anyone get offended at
God for zapping Lot's wife for looking back at what was going on or how about
how she may have felt when old Lot offered up her daughters to the crowd to be
raped but please don't hurt my visitors? I'd think dinner that night
could have been a bit tense. We' don't know do we. Fairy tales are
like that.
I'm sure you can think
of dozens of stories where we know what happened but we don't know the fall out
and there had to be fall out big time.
And so it is
today. Humiliate someone just enough to look righteous but leave lots out
. Mark and embarrass people just enough to come out on top and show your
authority, but show no real love and cover the damn thing up with the love so
often professed. A man should talk about his own failings and not let
others dictate the terms.
People with normal human
failings can be pushed by Churches, scripture and the pristine leader types
over the edge in despair. Shunning or marking, disfellowshipping or
"making an example of" can get someone killed or make the terrible
person that is so different from the righteous ones end their lives in shame
and guilt. Guilt is "I did a bad thing," while shame is "I
am a bad person?" Both are fairly useless emotions and
tools.
I think I am finally
ready to break out and start my own Church of God. I have resisted for
years but I think I have found my niche.
I would like to announce
the beginning of a new Church of God. Church of God of the Exiled,
Marked, Shunned, Marginalized and Thrown Away.
COGEMSMTA for short.
Ok, that's not short.
Qualifications:
Your sins must be great
You must feel
defective.
However, Your spirit
must not be broken though tossed and torn a bit (I feel a song coming on)
Your experience must
have left you totally on the outs with the righteous and quite a bit with
yourself
You must have suffered
depression, anxiety and some mental disturbances for real wondering
or knowing you have been turned over to Satan and that God loves you with
a kind of hatred according to the minister, elders, deacons and loyal members
who wish you no ill will and hope you repent.
You must still be a
seeker of what's real and true.
No tithing, no church
services, no hymns, no gurus, no need to save the world or preach until the
incomes...I mean end comes.
You must be yourself
warts and all
You can only call me
Dennis and we only talk here DennisCDiehl@aol.com or by phone
if you want. :)
Send for the free
booklets...ok, we'll we can just talk..
"Being Authentic is
Good Mental Health"
"I Know You Are But
What Am I"
"Forgiving Oneself
First"
(with more to follow)
And I don't care how
badly you feel, how far you have "fallen", how thrown under a bus you
were or how creative a sinner you became. (All those guys that hurt you
think and do all the same things. http://ezinearticles.com/?Everyone-Wears-Masks---Your-Pastor-and-Priest,-Your-Mom,-Dad,-Family,-and-YOU!&id=168861
Let's finish the stories
and finish them well!
Welcome to the COGEMSMTA
Don't send nuttin' in!!!
:)
