Hypocritical Oath for Pastors
Part 4
Who’s Responsible for Evil
“Here’s the deal, officer. I’m going to say my piece. You won’t even have to waste a sniper’s bullet. All you’ll have to do is clean up the mess after I fall.”
Mark felt the rough concrete of the ledge under his sweaty hand as he turned back toward Ethan. He forced his voice to keep a calm tone. “Talk to me, Ethan. What’s happened that brought you to such despair?”
“I’ll tell you what happened,” said Ethan. “I’m forty thousand in debt from having studied at this seminary that taught me there is a loving God for whom I should devote my life to serving, but, as far as I can tell, this invisible god has gone AWOL.” He realized that his voice was carrying down to the crowd below, and he turned to face them.
“You want to know the truth, people?” His voice vibrated with righteous anger. “We work for a church that’s collapsing from within because it is so self-serving and full of hypocrisy that no one under thirty will darken its doors.” The pitch of his voice raised, “Even the older generation is beginning to abandon it because their beach house offers more comfort on the weekend. They would rather spend their money on pleasure than on sharing with those in need as the Gospel commands.”
“So the church is full of hypocrites, and you’re going to commit suicide to teach them a lesson. Is that it?” Mark asked. The irony is, I share some of his anger only I’ve learned to survive. Maybe I’m the crazy one.
“Face it, Mark. Don’t you feel like a hypocrite, getting up Sunday after Sunday, and telling people that they should love a neighbor who is willing to betray them to make a few more dollars. I’ll bet you tell them that they should trust your absentee God—a god who is willing to allow untold innocent children to starve in this world while Christians support governments who waste billions of dollars building weapons to destroy each other.”
“You hold God responsible for the evil of humanity?”
“According to our glorious faith, God created humanity.” He held up his other hand to stop Mark’s response.”Oh, I know, you are going to remind me that God provided us with free will, and we choose to do evil or not on our own.” He continued to address both Mark and the crowd below. “Isn’t God supposed to be all knowing? Didn’t the Almighty One know from the beginning that he was creating a universe in which such cruelty would continue to exist? A child with tinker toys could make a better creation than that.” His voice took on a mocking quality. “You pay all that money, and your professors can’t even answer a basic question like that. They ought to refund your tuition.”
Part 5 released on March 11
If you were to carry one verse of Scripture around this week to nurture your spirit, what would it be. See if you can choose a verse, write it on a card, and carry it with you for the week. Let God’s word nurture you.
