Time to eat some crow.
I don't know how long it will take but one of these days I'm going to get past all the things in the days before I let my curious nature have a longer leash. As for today, I'll just see if I can make this dead scavenger bird taste a little better.
A few years back, in more closed minded and intolerant times, there arose a stink in this town over a church with a new "pastoral team" a husband and wife that had taken the task of leading a local church together. It wasn't "the pastor and his wife" it was a "co-pastor" situation.
Heretics.
This was right in the middle of the "Baptist Faith and Message 2000" which was essentially designed to be the proverbial straw breaking the liberal camel's back. It was the knockout punch that the conservative branch of the Southern Baptist Convention had been hoping for. The conservatives played the good guy role in that they were "supporting Scripture" and that they were not running anyone off "if they leave on their own, that is too bad". The liberals were arguing that they were not breaking any Scriptural rules and that they could not in good conscience stay under an umbrella that had drawn such a decree against them. And looking back, who could blame them?
There was this young, naive, blond-headed kid standing over there with the cons. Yeah, I wish I could go back and shake some sense into that kid. Maybe I wouldn't be here plucking a nasty crow.
Enough background.
I opened up the website of our local newspaper today looking for a particularly pertinent news story and instead found a story about the very church that sparked the controversy in the above paragraphs. Turns out that they are the new recipients of a grant from their new found denomination. The money is going to go to serving the distressed neighborhood that surrounds the church. They are going to offer GED training (complete with childcare for the pupils), SAT and ACT training, medical and counseling services, they are going to be providing access to prescription medication for HIV/AIDS patients in their neighborhood and starting a support group for area children that have lost a parent.
Not bad for a bunch of heathens that need to be run out of town, huh?
I'm not in agreement with a lot of what goes on at this particular Baptist church or any Baptist church for that matter. However, when I see a group that I had been convinced were wrong, wrong, wrong loving their neighbors in such a way, I am reminded of another anathema, one from Scripture. I am reminded of a Samaritan, scum of the Earth that he was, that stopped and helped a wounded man and didn't leave his side until he was sure the man was in a good place. This story reminds me also that there were others, the conservatives, that were too busy being conservatives, being holy and being right to stop and do what the teachings of Jesus Christ compel us to do. What a testimony. Thank God for the Samaritan churches in this world!
Umm, ummm, this sure is a tasty crow!
Sam - awesome entry. What's cool to me is about the growth and change you talk about. This calls for fatted calf, not crow. My first week in Dallas going to a school that birthed much of the conservative SBC takeover back in the 80's, I went to a Christian rock concert (David & the Giants) which was held at a local non-Baptist church. In my journal that night I wrote about how thankful I was that I didn't go to a crazy church like that. A few years later when God started doing some very un-Baptist things in my life, where do you think God sent me? The crazy church - which ironically had a husband and wife co-pastors. God has a sense of humor. And I know what crow tastes like. Sorry so long. Love you bro!
ReplyDeleteAllan, no worries on long comments. Long is fine - especially when they are good!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing some of your story here.
Strange how God leads us into new areas that we thought we wouldn't go. It has happened many times to me. I'm sure it will happen again.
And I must admit that a lot of this growth came when an old friend stuck an Os Guinness book in my hand and said "read this, I think you'll like it". Thanks for the tip, Allan!