Preachers just don't preach
about the sins that really matter
I honestly do not know what to believe anymore. When I get one doctrine firmly established
in my mind, along comes a preacher to tell me that my puny little
faith statement is not a central religious doctrine in this postmodern
age. For instance, I once believed the Ten Commandments
were extremely important guides to moral behavior. But recently
it has been brought to my attention the church does not believe
in the Ten Commandments, or at least the church does not believe
they are as important as they once were. For instance, how long has it been since
you heard a good sermon about bearing false witness - about not
lying and refraining from gossip? Why, I wonder how many people
even know what bearing false witness really means. Do you think
there might be some people who would just shrug if you accused
them of bearing false witness? It's true, we don't know what it
means because we don't talk about this sin in our present society. We also don't talk about greed, coveting,
stealing, murdering and a host of other sins that have formed
the basis of the Judeo-Christian moral code for centuries. And we don't talk about these dismal acts
because our preachers have stopped talking about them. If you
asked preachers why they don't talk about the Ten Commandments
they will smile piously and say, "It never occurs to me to
preach the law." Then what are they preaching? Some are really
into pablum, baby food for the soul. Some are into mush, talk
that can't be understood. And some are into pulp, talk that appears
nourishing but isn't. As a result, we don't know what we believe.
Doctrine is gone and certainly no longer a balm for the sin-sick
soul. In fact, I think most preachers are totally
unable to talk about God's law, and even if they could, they are
afraid of offending a generous donor in their midst. Therefore, our culture has proclaimed there
are now only two sins we will talk about in the Christian church
and they are ABORTION and HOMOSEXUALITY. These two sins are sustained by the culture
and the church because they don't touch many people sitting in
the pews. Sure we have people in our churches who were party to
an abortion, but they aren't admitting it. And we have members
of our churches who are gay men or lesbians, but many of them
are also not talking. Therefore, it is easy for clergy to point
a bony finger at people who have aborted a fetus or at people
who are homosexual. The insinuation is they are the only sinners
around. And that leaves everyone sitting in the pews feeling superior
and washed in the blood of the Lamb. I remember a woman who was interviewing
for a job as the pastor of a church. She was on the final interview
and had kept everyone happy through three previous interviews.
She was beginning to get a little upset over the amount of time
she had spent interviewing for a job that paid less than the salary
for an assistant trash hauler. Then she blew it at the end of the final
interview when one of the more annoying members of the search
committee asked her a sensitive question: "Reverend Jones,
would you please tell us how you feel about homosexuals?" Pastor Jones, a married woman with children,
said, "Why are you asking me about homosexuals? Do you have
big problems with homosexuals here at St. Bob's by the Body Shop?
Are homosexuals stealing your money, beating people to death or
blocking roads with their protests? Why do you want to know how
I FEEL about homosexuals? Why don't you want to know how I FEEL
about the poor, about children going without meals, about people
who can't find work or about bad educational systems. Why don't
you ask me a question that matters to your community?" Rev. Jones was not hired by St. Bob's by
the Body Shop. In fact, the search committee didn't even get around
to asking the next prepared question, which was how she felt about
abortion. All I want is for someone to talk about
all the sins bending our culture nearly out of shape. Is that
too much to ask?
Clark D. Morphew
Posted For March 11, 2000