We have all witnessed over the last few years the deep seated anger that Rod Meredith has towards certain members of his church. This anger is so deep that entire families have been disfellowshipped and publicly marked from the pulpit. In his decades in the Worldwide Church of God that anger was manifested over and over in his actions towards ministers he was over and to the membership.
We saw that anger again as he bad mouthed the WCG as he was starting up his own church, the Global Church of God. We then witnesses his anger towards Raymond McNair and others in Global as he rebelled against them and apostatizing to form yet another group. That anger also led to him taking all of Global's money with him an essentially bankrupting Global. That in turn sent Raymond and Eve McNair to get on their knees in front of Meredith begging his forgiveness "with trembling lips."
That anger was also manifested a couple of weeks ago when Meredith stood up and kicked out the remaining Scarborough's from LCG - and - warned his members to NOT read this blog.
An LCG member sent me this today from the Pastor's Manual for LCG.
Apparently Meredith and Rod McNair have not paid too much attention to this section of the manual as they continue to lash out at members and employees seeking to find out who is leaking information.
Pastoral Manual
Chapter 1: Pastoral Ethics Being Qualified pg 1-5
A Pastor Must Be Self-Controlled—Not Quick To Get Angry
“…A bishop then must be… not violent…but gentle, not quarrelsome…” (1 Timothy 3:2-3)Pastors sometimes have to deal with frustrating and exasperating situations. A Pastor must have the character—and LOVE for others—to control his own spirit, even in the midst of difficult situations, and even with people who are irrational or belligerent. In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he said:
2 Timothy 2:24-26 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
When a problem arises, imagine that you are arriving at the scene of a fire. The fire is the problem you are facing. Imagine that you have two buckets in your hands—one is filled with water, and the other is filled with gasoline. Which one you use upon arriving at the scene has a lot to do with the outcome of the situation. Can you defuse the situation by using a calm but firm hand? Or do you react with anger in kind, further exacerbating an already bad situation?
A Pastor must exhibit emotional control to successfully function in his capacity. He must be able to bear insult without retaliation. Jesus set that example. He did not lash out or take revenge on those who ridiculed Him. As Peter wrote:
1 Peter 2:21-25 “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
This does not mean that a Pastor must not defend the members or the office of the ministry or must not occasionally act with decisive action. But he must keep his own personal feelings out of it, as much as possible, with God’s help. He must not fall into a “siege mentality” where he begins to see everyone as either for him or against him. He must strive to minimize controversy and polarization wherever possible. He must deal squarely and decisively on the facts, based on sound biblical principles, with all due patience and long-suffering and without personal antagonism or anger.
This takes careful self-examination of motives and intentions. It takes deep reflection to examine one’s own personal motives—and the humility to admit to oneself when one is acting on pride Proverbs 16:32 “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
Proverbs 14:29 “He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.”
Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”