Schisms and an Invisible Man: Part 2 of a Testimony and a Challenge

 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Matthew 5:31-33

Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 5:1-4

How did I come to believe there was a God and what led me to salvation?
After the lost of six children, it was listening to the heartbeat of the seventh struggling to live that convinced me there had to be a God. It was the despair and depression of that seventh baby's death which brought me to a Bible preaching church where a sermon brought me to my knees before the Lord.  In a sense, the death of that child was the resurrection of me. That was in 1975 and I was 34 years old.
That was more than half my lifetime ago. I am 76 as I write this.

Life became quite different from what it had been. Much of my life had revolved around attacking churches, now it revolved around involvement within The Church. I don't want to list what all, but it ranged from simple chores to youth ministry to door-to-door evangelism. 

In 1977, my wife was pregnant again (she being a very stubborn and determined woman). No doctor would take her case, calling her foolish and saying it was guarenteed impossible for her to have a baby. It would end wit the same result. She was insane to do this, insanity being doing something over and over and expecting a different result.
A Christian doctor came forward to tend to her and the church formed a prayer group. They prayed and they brought us meals, because my wife was confined to bed for her term. And yes, once again that term ended in the fifth month, yet this time the outcome was different.

In 1978, my first daughter was born. (We were to have two more children, another daughter and a son. Perhaps to medical science these were impossibilities, but to God anything is possible. )

Yet, also in 1978, I had to change jobs and this necessitated us moving. Several serious events happened over the next few years. In 1982, with two young girls and a newborn son, we moved to where we live today and I joined a church in the area.

In the course of the next twenty-plus years I remained active in church work at my new church, although to a lesser extent. Growing children and a more demanding job took up much of my time. I (and my wife) were involved in doing many things revolving around the activities of our children and in the community. We even attended another church for a couple years in the early 'nineties, where I taught Sunday School to teenagers, but we came back to that first church again.

Then in 2006 I found myself thrown off the rolls of that church, branded a "goat".
How did this happen?

A bit of background is necessary.  The minister who had built that church and pastured it for 45 years retired and a new younger man took over the pulpit. I had been away from this particular church for a period because of something that had happened, but I began attending regular worship service there again and also joined a small Bible study group associated with the church. Things were fine for about a year, but then this new minister proposed radical changes that split the congregation.

I don't want to say what the difference was other than a matter of Scriptural misinterpretation. It did not involve any of the core beliefs of Christianity, only church organization. I had my doubts about the minister's stand when I went to the Congressional meeting where a vote was suppose to be taken on the changes. 

The vote was never taken that night.  Instead the meeting turned very ugly, angry and unchristian-like. I, frankly, stayed out of the fray. I was already stunned to have discovered I had been removed from the church rolls unknowingly. 

Before the arguments started, before it got mean, a vote was taken on a procedural matter. It was done by roll call, and my name was skipped. I though it was an oversight, but others I knew were also skipped, people of long-standing and deep involvement in the ministries of the church. When one of these questioned why they were skipped, they were informed they had been removed from the membership rolls and had no right to vote. I was one of these. Those others removed were all members known to oppose the proposed change.  When some of us protested, the pastor got up and said we were "goats" that needed to be separated from the "sheep". We were booed and attacked by newer members to the church at this point.

They justified my removal on the claim that I had failed to be in attendance and contact with the church, thus had failed to honor my commitment. Whether this was said of the others, I can't say, but it certainly wasn't true of me. I had been attending worship service each Sunday and the Bible study each Tuesday for the whole year. I also had not publicly made my views on the proposal known or actively campaigned for or against it.
How did I happen to be excommunicated?

Partially because I practiced Matthew 4. "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."

Jesus said: But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you -- But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen -- But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.

Isn't it funny how the world and the church make it difficult to practice such acts?  Oh, I suppose fasting secretly isn't much of a problem. You really don't have to tell anyone and I can't say anyone has ever asked me about my eating or not eating. I suppose if a person did a long fast they may get inquiries about their health, or more likely, asked if they were on a diet.

The world certainly doesn't care if you aren't praying publicly. The world would prefer you kept your prayers and the rest of your Christianity hidden away in a closet. The world doesn't want a show of prayer, they don't want prayer period. In the churches I have attended there are prayer meetings and prayer times when it is open to anyone to say an audible prayer. I haven't been to any Christian Church that criticize you for only praying silently.  
I have been in secular places where you were banned from praying audibly and silently. No, the world would be perfectly happy to never see you praying.

Ah, but giving, money, that is the world's meat. Oh, you are supposed to flaunt your wealth in the world. Even if you prefer not to be a flaunter, the world doesn't make it easy to hide your giving. You have United Way drives in your places of business where you are asked to pledge some amount from your pay.  You are assailed constantly by many charities for donations. You have a deduction on your income tax for what you give. But you have to have some proof you actually gave. This may be cancelled checks or receipts. Your church may provide giving envelopes and then a statement at tax time of what you gave the past year.

And if you don't show your giving, people think you are cheap and stingy. You may be chided by some for this. Everything is designed to make you want to scream, “I gave, I gave, I gave.”

But I try to give very anonymously. I don't give by check or envelop. I give cash, hidden away from all eyes as to the source. I don't claim donations on my tax form. My giving is between God and me. 

Thus I was attending this church every week and I was putting into the collection plate each time, but there was no record.  I was attending a Bible study every week, but no roll call was taken to be turned over to the church.  I was there, but there was no official record to prove it. 

Still, even if I had been absent from services, my blotting out of the church rolls was illegal under the church constitution. It stated any member who does not attend or have contact with the church for one year might be removed from membership. However, before such removal, a deacon, elder or the pastor must visit the member to inquire why they have stopped coming and attempt to bring them back into the fold. If after this, they still do not attend, they will be notified they have been removed from membership.

None of this happened. No one from the church visited or contacted me. I received no notification of my removal. Besides, I was not absent or out of contact with the church for a year.

Many of those discovering they were non-persons that night choose to appeal. Many also continued to fight the proposed changes. I wasn't among them. A schism had occurred. It was sad. There was no happy ending, no way back. Whichever side finally won this (and it was to be the pastor's); the other side would harbor hurt feelings and resentment. It was better to forgive and forget and move on than stay and be unwelcome or non-accepting of the new doctrine.

I won't, as I said, say what caused the schism, but I will tell you one thing I didn't agree with this pastor about it. There are Scripture passages that argue against his view.
There was something else.  He didn't believe any non-believers should be in the church (with a small c, that is his church building and service). He taught church was an exclusive club for believers only. He didn't believe the church should waste a moment on evangelism. He taught that allowing the lost to come to church was detrimental to the saved Christians there.

Once upon a time I was lost and went into a church. If they had made me unwelcome in their house because I was lost, who knows, perhaps I would still be lost. I believe one of the purposes of the church (with a small c) is to be a bridge to the lost, to help them learn the truth and to come to know the Lord and join the Church (with a capital C). When the time comes, the Lord will separate the sheep from the goats, not I or you or some minister. I believe our duty as believers is to try to gather more sheep.

I admit to being angry after that night when I found myself cast aside and labeled a goat. But then I realized it was a good thing. Not for that church, because a year later that minister and his associate minister were gone and that church went without a pastor for almost two years, its numbers shrinking and its former members flung far and wide in other churches.

But why was this a good thing for me?
Because I realized I was becoming an invisible man. I was fading away as a "salty" Christian as much as the photograph accompanying this post. It was a wake up call that I needed to heed or I was in danger of becoming a goat after all. 

Flocked Together Feeding...: Part 1 of a Testimony and a Challenge

I am an older man with ALS. What of my age doesn't slow me down, the disease does. Physically I am somewhat limited and will grow worse. This may seem the time to kick back and rest on the sidelines, but truth be told, I'm in a race and this is part of what I can still do. I can tell my story and stories of Jesus and challenge you to stay in the race. If you haven't yet, don't hesitate to strap on your running shoes and join in, for the hour is getting late, I believe.  This then is part one of three about sheep and goats.

(On the left, Goats in Ethiopia, 2006)

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 5:31-40

 (My daughter doing for the least of these in Kenya, 2006)

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' Matthew 5:41-43

Jesus was the "Good Shepherd".  He knew the difference between sheep and goats, but many people outside of farmers don't. Driving through the countryside and seeing these animals, often mingled together, Urbanites might lump them together as one and the same. They have some similarities, but in fact are two distinct species. Both can be beneficial. Goats provide food and milk and sheep provide food and clothing.

A common expression is "they are just a herd of sheep".  People say this derisively meaning people who blindly follow something with no mind of their own. Jesus often referred to His followers as sheep. Does this mean we Christians are a mindless flock? 

Researchers at Babraham Institute in Cambridge have done testing on these animals. They found sheep to be very intelligent. Sheep, like humans, can recognize each other individually. "Sheep have highly developed social awareness and interactions." They can become agitated when separated from the flock, with good reason. The reason the sheep will follow their leader anywhere is protection from the predators waiting to devour them (much like Satan, that hungry lion, wishing to devour the Christian). The predators of the world will hone in on the individual sheep that strays from the flock.

The goat has some different characteristics. The goat is "very curious, intelligent, extroverted, flamboyant, and playful". The play of young kids develops their ability to escape predators, abilities to dodge, duck, leap, run and whirl. They don't think they need a leader or the flock, they can do it all on their own.

Goats have a characteristic that gives us another saying: "butting heads". If sheep will follow a trusted leader for their own protection, goats will compete for leadership by butting heads. They do this to establish dominance and the hierarchy of the herd. They get very aggressive during mating season. They may follow a dominate ram, but their individual will is to be that ram. A good shepherd will separate his sheep and goats during these aggressive times so the goats don't harm the sheep.

There is another interesting difference between sheep and goats, their eating choices. It is often said a goat will eat anything. This is a myth, still goats aren't overly selective either.  Sheep are grazers and picky. According to North Carolina State University studies ("Production and Utilization of Pastures and Forages" - Technical Bulletin 305
 North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. 1998) sheep "are selective grazers, choosing plant parts which are of higher quality (and more digestible)."

Goats are browsers. Remember goats are very curious. "Because of their inquisitive nature and tolerance of 'bitter' or high tannin material goats may eat unpalatable weeds and wild shrubs that may be poisonous, such as cherry or milkweed." (N.C. State University, Ibid.)

So how do we apply this to the passage in Matthew about the separating of the sheep and goats, and why? Well, sheep and goats are often flocked together, like members of the church. They may look and behave similarly at times, but the sheep will be obedient to the leader, because this will protect them. The goat will try to usurp the leader if possible, or at least challenge and butt heads with each other. The goat will not choose the best food for its growth, (the Word of God), but will seek worldly ideas out of curiosity and devour them even when they are poisonous. The goat and the sheep may seem contented in the same pasture, but the goat will be eyeing the temptations elsewhere rather than keeping its eyes on the true leader.

And like the Urbanite driving through the countryside, we can't always tell the one from the other.

Tomorrow: Invisible Man