Friday, August 22, 2003
Friday, August 22, 2003 |
| It's
my job not to keep my mouth shut
By DAVID EPPS It continues to amaze me how many people think that ministers have an obligation to keep their mouths shut, keep their opinions to themselves, and be, simply, "nice guys." Usually, when someone disagrees with me, over an opinion stated in this column, for example, they will say something like, "I can't believe that a 'man of the cloth' would say such a thing." When I have expressed a viewpoint on subjects such as the evil of the scourge of abortion, the necessity of capital punishment, the election of the homosexual Episcopal bishop, the immorality of Bill Clinton or Newt Gingrich, or even the failure of President Bush to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, I received a few letters of rebuke and disagreement, with most of them chastising me for taking such a stand as a "man of the cloth." I often wonder, "Have these people never read their Bibles? Have these people no knowledge of the work of ministers throughout history?" Certainly, in the Old Testament, the prophets took strong public stands against idolatry, immorality, injustice, and corruption. They called the political and religious leaders to account and led the nation in repentance and in seeking God. Then, as now, there were attempts to silence and marginalize them. A number of them even wound up dead. In the New Testament, Jesus confronted corrupt religious leaders quite bluntly and John the Baptist met his death because he dared to challenge the morals of a king. Both the Roman and religious leaders vainly attempted to silence the apostles as they preached the Gospel of Christ. More than once, the apostles were arrested, jailed, beaten, and told to keep silent. They refused, choosing to "obey God rather than man" (Acts 5:28-30). As a result of the faithfulness of these "men of the cloth" to speak boldly, there are now over a billion and a half Christians in the world, some of whom actually believe the Bible, hold to the tradition passed on to them, and work to make the world a better place. It is due to the influence of ministers those "men of the cloth" that women are no longer treated as property (in those areas of the world dominated by Christianity), schools and orphanages have been built, prison reform has occurred, child labor laws have been passed, and slavery has been abolished. Because they chose not to remain silent, changes occurred in society. Wherever there are "food lines" in urban areas, almost always they are operated by churches. In many communities, the battered women's shelters and the crisis pregnancy centers are operated by or funded by churches. It is a sad truth that, in this modern day, a parody of the cleric has emerged. Many people now believe that the modern minister should be a bit like the good Father on "M*A*S*H*" who is a "nice guy" but, most of the time is absolutely useless and is in the way. The "important people," the doctors and nurses, do the "real work" while the priest stands haplessly by wondering what his life is all about. It is also true that, especially in churches with congregational governments, ministers have been silenced by the fear of offending their parishioners and losing their jobs. Years ago, as a very young minister, I dared to state publicly that church members who failed to come to church should not be allowed to hold elected office in the congregation. Sounds like a no-brainer, doesn't it? At the annual meeting, all the non-attendees, who still had the power to vote, showed up at the meeting and successfully voted to cut my meager salary by 20 percent. The message was sent: "We control you, so 'shut up!'" Such a threat has produced a generation of ministerial cowards who, in contrast to the apostles, have chosen to fear man rather than obey God. Such men will privately hold strong convictions on subjects such as abortion, "gay" marriages, the corruption of political leaders, or the immorality of leaders in their own church, but they will never, ever give voice to their convictions. How very sad. There are, of course, thousands of clergy who boldly preach the Gospel of Christ, who work for justice, who confront the sin of their parishioners, who speak the biblical truth in love, who passionately hate the sin and just as passionately love the sinner, and have not given in to the temptation to be "nice guys" in the false and vain hope that everyone will like and respect them. As one "man of the cloth" once said to another, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:2 KJV). To do otherwise is to choose to be a "nice guy." A coward, perhaps, but a nice guy. And, certainly, such a choice is to not be a true "man of the cloth." [David Epps is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church, which meets at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Sundays on Ga. Highway 34 between Peachtree City and Newnan. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.CTKCEC.org.]
|