Punctum Saliens

I was taught that I needed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. To this day I am not sure what that means. Growing up, I thought it meant reading the Bible, praying (of course, first confessing all my sins so that God would hear me), memorizing scripture, and generally “growing in the Word.” That’s another one I didn’t, and don’t, understand.

The thing is, all that personal relationship stuff is pretty easy to fake. It’s easy to memorize scripture. It’s easy to say you read the Bible and pray. It’s easy to appear like you and God are close. All you have to do is say the right words and do the right things in church. After all, who could possible know the truth about your personal relationship with God?

No one got very personal about my personl relationship with God. No one held me accountable in any way; not even my parents. We rarely read the Bible as a family. We prayed before eating but rarely any other time. There were no family devotions. It was a personal relationship which meant that is was, well, personal and not open for discussion.

The rub is works versus faith. Everyone knows that faith — believing in Jesus Christ — is what is important. (More ambiguous terminology to befuddle the mind.) Works don’t save you. But James says that there’s no better proof of your faith than works; without works your faith is dead (James 2:14-26). So, works don’t save you but without works you can’t be saved. So, it didn’t take me long to figure out that works could cover up a lot of unbelief and doubt and make my lack of faith look big.

And if a 12 year old can figure that out then I’m sure just about anyone can including the church deacon, the church pastor, the high-profile spiritual “leader”. So it should be pretty obvious that this opens up a huge can o’ worms. A personal relationship with God is intangible. Works are very tangible. Works “prove” the relationship. So, anyone — and I mean anyone — who wants to appear godly can appear godly.

The word pastor comes from the Latin word for shepherd. There are a lot of shepherds in the Bible. Jesus called himself “The Good Shepherd” and told a parable about a shepherd. Shepherds were there when Jesus was born. The 23rd Psalm says that “The Lord is my shepherd” and God calls himself a shepherd in Ezekiel. David was a shepherd before he killed Goliath and Abel (the “good” son) was a shepherd.

A shepherd takes care of the sheep. He leads them here and there to find food and water. He looks for the lost sheep and returns them to the fold. He puts his own life on the line for the sheep; defending them from the lion and the wolf. The shepherd knows his sheep; the sheep know their shepherd and will follow only him. The shepherd keeps his sheep and the goats separate; the sheep on the right, goats on the left.

The job of the pastor is, as you might expect from the etymology of the word, similar to that of the shepherd. He takes care of his sheep — i.e. his congregation. He leads them through the Bible to find nourishment and refreshment. He puts his metaphorical life on the line to protect them from the evil predators Satan, the humanist, and the religious pluralist. The pastor knows his sheep and they whole-heartedly — one may dare say blindly — follow him. He religiously affirms and reaffirms his congregation’s sheep-ness while pointing out the world’s goat-ness.

But there is another aspect which is often overlooked and which, I think, makes the metaphor that much more apt. Sheep are dumb. The Bible always describes sheep without a shepherd in a most negative way. They are “scattered” and “food for every beast” (Ezekiel 34:5), “wandering” and “afflicted” (Zechariah 10:2), “distressed and downcast” (Matthew 9:36). The sheep cannot survive on their own. They absolutely need a shepherd and are absolutely dependent on him. For he, and he alone, can feed them and save them from getting eaten alive. Now this dependence (dare I say addiction?) gives the pastor/shepherd a tremendous amount of authority over what his flock does and thinks. He decides what they eat and drink; he decides where they can go and can’t go; he is responsible for their complete wellbeing. They know his voice and follow no other. The shepherd basically has absolute power over his flock and we all know what absolute power does. If this sounds like I’m talking about Waco or Jonestown, I’m not — although these were extreme examples of what I am talking about. But the Koreshes and Joneses of the cult world aside, there is more coercion and manipulation in Sunday church in Anytown, USA, than one may think.

Ok, before you get all upset, I’m not talking about every pastor and every church and every congregation member. But, how often do you really think about what your pastor says? How often do you disagree with him/her? If you never do, let me suggest you think about this a little harder. Do you agree simply because you always agree with your pastor? Do you think it’s possible to always agree with someone — especially when it comes to religion? My wife and I have a lot in common but we don’t agree on everything.

I think a lot of people think they are thinking for themselves. They read the Bible and try to figure out what God is telling them. But many times they come up with exactly the same result as what their pastor preaches from the pulpit. Now, this may be construed as confirmation that they agree with their pastor. It may also be construed as “leading the witness”, coercion, or worse.

Yup, it says so in the Bible. I’m not talking about the well-known “Judge not lest ye be judged”. I’m talking about a direct statement that the Church should only judge the Church and not the World.

I Corinthians 5:12,13

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

Hmmm. Very interesting. So, the church really should not be concerning themselves with anyone outside the church. And if anyone is found to be wicked within the church then he/she is to be kicked out (ex-communicated, if you may) and then pretty much ignored.

So, people should not, in the name of God, picket abortion clinics or protest the Gay Pride parade or rail against homosexuals because of Sep 11. No, they shouldn’t. If the people going to or working at the abortion clinic are part of the church and they are wicked (and they must be if the abortion clinic is being picketed in the first place) then those people should be “removed” from the church. If they are not part of the church then they should be ignored because God will judge them.

Some people really seem to think God is crippled or is bed-ridden with a slipped disc or is away on vacation or something and needs help picking up around the house. If God says that “vengeance is Mine” and St. Paul says that God will judge the wicked, why don’t they believe it? Why do they think God needs help judging?

That’s a weak God they are worshipping.

I have long hair. Even though my father denies that it’s an issue … it is. It’s obvious to me that it is. Even my niece, when she was five or six, told me “my Mom says that it’s a sin for a man to have long hair.” Out of the mouths of babes! So, I looked it up in the Bible.

She was right. Sort of.

I Corinthians 11:14

Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him

So, it’s not an outright sin; it’s just a dishonor. Not sure what “the wages of dishonor” are. Anyone know? But anyway, it’s right there in black and white. Paul wrote it. Men should not have long hair.

But two things bother me. First, what’s this about nature teaching us? I mean, if we look at nature, we see that the male of many species is the more colorful and has the bigger plummage or longer hair. So, how does that teach us about a man having long hair?

Second, let’s look at the context. What else does Paul say? It’s a little hard for me to understand since I think he asks several rhetorical questions but I’m pretty sure he says that if a woman does not have long hair then she should cover her head while praying or prophesying. And this is because the woman is the glory of man and originated from man and was created for the man’s sake. Hey, that’s Paul talking not me.

So, how can my Dad complain about my long hair while my Mom has short hair and does not cover her head when she prays? My sister used to cover her head but I guess it’s not in fashion any more.

Hopefully, while I’m burning in hell for all eternity God will be kind enough to answer these questions for me.