Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
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Scratching
the Surface of Isaiah
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Only now am I
older than most of the elders on the board that I moderate as undershepherd.
I haven't decided
if that's a relief or reality.
But I know being
a rookie pastor is like being a buck on the first day of hunting season.
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While everybody
makes mistakes and everybody really learns how to do the job only after being
on it no matter how long they read books and take tests that allow 'em to
start, I'm old enough to know churches can be very, very, very unkind to cruel
to rookies.
I'm not sure I
know why that is - some suggest it's because lots of people are mad at God for something
and transfer it to their pastors or because pastors are paid to be abused or
something else equally dim to diabolical - but it is and God knows America
knows all about people who try to define what is is.
So I'll let God handle
that; which He does sooner or later and usually sooner than later and
definitely in the end when some dimwitted to diabolical religious poser picks
on someone drafted by Him into service.
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I'd rather talk
about folks like Alma and Fred Roll who were elders in the church that called
me to be their pastor while I was still green and only 27.
They're both in
heaven now; but they kept my life as well as ministry from turning into hell
back then by protecting me from the wolves while trying to align my heart which
was O.K. with my head that could be very short-circuited to stiff-necked at
times.
Isn't it strange
how young folks think they know it all but older folks know they don't even if
they pretend sometimes?
Fred was a
commercial artist who illustrated my doctoral dissertation and sang the Lord's
Prayer with persuasive passion over professional precision which is always a
better formula for convincing people about the content.
Alma was my
"mom away from home" and proved there are women who are called to be
elders; and back in those days, that meant she was head and, uh, heels above
most.
But her most stirring,
challenging, convicting, and even bewildering assessment of my call was this:
"You're a little Isaiah. They break your heart because you know
they're breaking His. You keep urging and warning and even begging; and
you don't know why people flirt with the consequences of denying the truth.'
I've always shied
away from any comparison to any of the good guys in the Bible; except for Paul:
"I am the chief among sinners...I don't do the good that I want to do...I
do the bad that I don't want to do...I am always reminded of my need for Jesus
as my Savior and Lord."
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Buuuuuuut with those
rookie years long behind me, I'm learning to step up to the plate for Jesus no
matter who's pitching; for it's finally hit me, as He said, paraphrasing a bit
here, "Whoever saves his life by trying to get along with everyone at the
expense of getting along with God is gonna lose it in the end; and whoever
loses his life by getting along with God at the expense of getting along with
people who don't especially pay attention to Him is gonna gain it in the
end. Why sacrifice God's eternal banquet for a few crumbs that go in one
end and out the other?"
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Getting back to
Isaiah, there's not too much about him in the book; which is God's way of
saying it's more about Him than him.
What we do know
is kinda cool. He lived in Jerusalem, was married, and had at least two
sons; who he named with strange names in a prophetic kinda way: Shear-jashub
which means "a remnant shall return" because there's always a remnant
of faithful upon which the Church can rebuild and Maher-shalal-hash-baz which
means "speed the spoil" because God planned a "speedy doom for
Judah's enemies."
He had three big
messages: (1) God will allow the bad guys (in this case, Babylon) to destroy
the good guys (in this case, Judah) for not loving God by loving like God and
take away their homeland; (2) God will allow them to return because He always
does that; and (3) the future with Him will be greater as long as fidelity goes
both ways.
He was stern in
warning and saving in general; for God had revealed the Messianic plan to him
in the clearest and most compelling way ever as a quick reading of Isaiah 7, 9,
11, and 40 confirm.
God breathed
through Isaiah with a saving sigh; knowing it would take more than Isaiah to
convince people that life without God isn't homeward bound.
That's why there
were/remain so many prophets; or faithful folks telling people that it's
truth or consequences sooner or later, usually sooner than later, and
definitely in the end.
Of course, God
knew even the Messiah Himself would be disrespected; as the agonizing to read
chapter 53 so graphically predicted what Jesus incarnated.
So while I still
have a hard time with Alma's assertion about the Isaiah in me, she understood
any prophet's dilemma as defined by Frederick Buechner: "A prophet's
quarrel with the world is deep-down a lover's quarrel. If they didn't
love the world, they probably wouldn't bother to tell it that it's going to
hell. They'd just let it go."
Despite the foul
balls, balks, and errors, even rookies can relate to that.
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...to be continued...
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Blessings and Love!
2 comments:
I was deeply loved by half the people in my first church, and nearly destroyed by the others (or at least the ring leaders who had half the church cowed). And it was years before another church would touch me except as an interim or stated supply temp. I have been in my little pair of churches (Presbyterian and Methodist) for about 20 years. I am blessed where I am, but the past has taught me to never take anything for granted in this world. It is one of my great quests in life to just be thankful, and often I am. Thank you for sharing your story.
Dennis,
I praise the Lord that you have survived, my brother; and we have a responsibility to intercede for others anointed for such service! To borrow a line, "As we do it for..."
Watch for the next KD!
I praise the Lord for your continuing witness!
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