Hypocritical Oath for Pastors
Part 2
Steve McCutchan
He recognized Ethan from a class on church government that Mark had taught as an adjunct professor a couple of years back. He remembered the six-foot-two student with the shock of tightly curled, bright red hair as a very vocal idealist in class discussions. Now, a couple of years later, Ethan had gained about forty pounds. His face looked puffy, and his shoulders hunched up as if carrying a great weight.
“Is this your version of posting your 95 theses against the church, Ethan?”
Ethan swung his rifle around to face Mark. “What are you doing here, professor?”
“I thought I was coming to the campus for a break from church work, but your rather dramatic statement caught my attention, so I thought I’d come up and see what you were trying to say.” He remembered from watching TV that you were supposed to establish a relationship with the shooter. “By the way, you can call me Mark.” He edged towards Ethan as he spoke. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but that was the way he remembered it from the movies.
“Stay back, profess . . . or Mark. You’re a decent guy, but you’ve bought into all this malarkey, and I’m fed up with it. It is all a sham. Full of lies.”
Keep him in conversation, Mark thought. Surely someone has called the police by now. All I have to do is staff a little longer.
“Are you talking about the church, the Christian faith, or this seminary that is full of shit?” Mark didn’t normally use crude language, but he wanted to sound bold enough to focus Ethan’s attention. The sun slipped behind a cloud, and the chill increased significantly. Mark wished he had on a heavier jacket, but he wasn’t sure that was what was causing him to shiver.
“How long have you been a minister, Mark, twenty years?”
“Close to twenty-five now,” Mark said.
“How’d you do it?” Mark could hear the stress in his voice. “Didn’t you ever realize that resurrection is biologically impossible, forgiveness is for wimps who can’t win, and all the church is interested in is sucking the money out of gullible members to protect a failing institution?” His speech increased in pace with a manic like quality.
The story continues on Feb 25. If you miss an installment, you can always find all parts published so far in the blog list on the right. Take time during this busy season to reflect on Lent’s meaning for you. May God bless you this season.
