Dear Bill

Chapter thirty-one

My memory tells me, chronologically speaking, my next assignment was 333 WORDS…. exactly! (I have written several series of articles that I post on facebook, etcetera.) 333 WORDS is exactly that…. 333 words. (Yes, Bill, I counted them.)

I want to share one 333 WORDS article that I was thinking of this morning. I suppose many christian writers are the same…. we get thoughts and then try to discern if they are Jesus-thoughts or me-thoughts. (I think this was a Jesus-thought.)

Poor Horse.

Head drooped over the gate of his stall, Horse could see the heads of the other horses lined neatly in two opposite rows. Life in the stalls was looking around, though nothing interesting to see, perhaps staring longingly into their yesterdays.

Yesterday. The days when earth shook from the wild herd racing the wind to nowhere in particular, great manes flagging defiance to the elements. Days of devouring grasses of the wild and drinking its waters. Finding their own shade and shelter. An abundance of fresh air and freedom and zest.

Yesterday. No steel bit in their mouths, no harness or rider, no squeaky wagons to pull. No smelly barn or cramped stall, no walking in their own manure.

Poor Horse. Didn’t listen to that inner voice warning him to resist the yummy grain and apples the man had placed just inside the corral. Didn’t notice that every day this feast was placed deeper into the corral, further from the wide-open gate. Too busy munching to detect the man sneaking to the gate. In an instant Horse lost his freedom and became another’s subordinate.

Poor Horse. He panicked, kicked, cried and snorted. He could see the herd, his beloved family, so close yet unreachable. The herd must and did leave him, distancing themselves from Horse’s distress and the man’s cunning.

The man talked soothing words…. good boy…. nobody’s gonna’ hurt you…. everything’s gonna be okay. Soon there was a noose around poor Horse, and under the spell of the man’s calming words allowed himself to be led to the stable. In time, he was tamed and saddled and submissive.

One day the corral gate was ajar. The man’s mistake was Horse’s opportunity. He froze. The other horses froze. All stared at the gate, but only a few dared escape and rejoin the herd.

It was then that Horse realized his spirit had been irrevocably tamed. He was now a dependent, less than half what he once was.

Poor Horse.

Poor evangelical.

This is my perspective….

Horse and evangelical have much in common. Both have lost their freedom. Both were victims – careless victims, it must be said – of an entrapment. Man is now master of both. Both are submissive subjects of the way it is.

I sense a prevailing fear hanging over the evangelical. This is not “fear of the Lord” but rather “fear of man”…. afraid to speak, afraid to do, afraid to not do, afraid to step out of step. He instinctively knows independence threatens acceptance of the bunch. In this low-lying cloud of anxiety the unusual (the Holy Spirit is Lord of the unusual) draws scoffs. Either go with the flow or don’t go.

In this religion…. sameness is holiness…. much is said, little accomplished…. much activity, a sparsity of fruit…. “We can do more together” is its deceptive mantra…. “It is better to be united in error than divided over truth”…. we do together or not at all…. the judgement seat is a wispy uncertainty.

In this religion there is a palpable divide between the ‘ministerial’ and the ‘laity’, the credentialed and non-credentialed, the special and not-so-special. In this religion sheep are regularly fleeced by salaried shepherds, “tradition[s] of men” often trump the bible, the Jesus-and-us rule and the Jesus-and-us are ruled.

The evangelical is where he is, spiritually speaking, because this is where he has been stationed. There are perimeters around this placement, never to be traversed. Spiritual officers of the way it is are alert to pounce on anyone foolish enough to stray from groupthink.

Yes, my brother, this is my perspective. But is it the perspective of our Lord Jesus? Do I see what He sees, hear what He hears? What else matters? It’s so tempting to get our perspective by looking around, rather than peering into God’s bible. We think so many can’t be wrong though every other religion proves otherwise. Even the ‘generals’ within evangelicalism espouse the way it is, after minor adjustments to fit their individual personalities.

From my perspective, the evangelical desperately needs a “voice of one crying in the wilderness” to draw him back to “first love”, someone more than a Martin Luther satisfied to renovate his evangelical cage, someone more than a grumbler who sees the waste and injustice but is frozen in fear. (“The fear of man brings a snare.”)

Evangelical needs a Paul. Yes, a “Paul, an apostle (not from men or through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father.)”

I like Paul. Years ago I determined if I couldn’t imagine Paul doing it – ‘it’ being whatever – neither would I. And if I could imagine Paul doing it, than I can also.

I simply cannot imagine Paul advocating church membership. In my perception of the man, formed over almost five decades, it is not something he would ever do, or condone. (“Is Christ divided?”) Frankly, I think he would find the church membership thing revolting. But not near as repulsive as….

The awful evangelical tithe, an illicit invention of evangelicals to finance an illicit religion.

The awful evangelical tithe aside, would Paul endorse the practice of collecting donations? Let’s look at it….

The New Testament offers only one example of a collection, and that was for the benefit of outsiders, hurting saints of Jerusalem. I repeat, there is only one example, and that was for the benefit of others. So how are we to apply this bible reality to our christianity? Do we simply ignore it and still claim the bible as our only standard?

Jesus said, (NLT): “You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” To this the pharisees objected because “they were lovers of money”. Actually they were lovers of all the things money can buy. Are Pastor Whoever and those who stationed him likewise “enslaved to money”? What else can one conclude of religionists that never miss an opportunity to take an offering?

Do you think Paul would approve of our two-tiered system of ministerial (or clergy) and laity (pew-people)? Of a board of elders? Of leadership conferences? Of an unshared pulpit? Of mega churches?

However, I have no problem imagining this man endorsing every christian making it his/her determination to abide in Christ…. to lean on Him and Him alone.

And I think Paul would encourage every and all to be individually lead by the Holy Spirit.

Horse needs a man, a good man, to give him the freedom he once had. But it has been so long and Horse is afraid. This good man must assure him there is a better life for the taking. The stall is no place for a horse. Freedom is much better than captivity. Life is meant to be more than looking around, anticipating the next drab meal of hay.

Evangelical needs a Paul, a good man, to give him the freedom he once had. But it has been so long and evangelical is afraid. This good man must assure him there is a better life for the taking. The pew is no place for an evangelical. Freedom is much better than captivity. Christianity is meant to be more than looking around, anticipating the next drab sermon.

The Galatians were no more bewitched than today’s evangelical. (“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth?”) Both have lost the freedom in Christ they once had. Both have “been entangled again with a yoke of bondage”. There is a life in the Spirit for those courageous enough to walk away, just walk away, from their religious stalls and embrace, once more, the lordship of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who represents Him. (“Whatever He hears He will speak.”)