The Gospel reading for this Sunday begins with Jesus' warning, "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
Canadian blogger "Dr. Mabuse" applies this verse to traditional Christians in The Episcopal Church:
The sterile evil that now controls the Episcopal Church will never willingly allow Christian belief to remain unmolested. Conservatives who think that they can negotiate some sort of truce, or even a ghetto existence within the larger, demon-possessed church, are deluding themselves. As C.S. Lewis wrote, the sort of "agreement" these people come up with consists of saying "Oh, you can believe what you want, as long as you do it alone," and then they mutter under their breath, "and we'll see to it that you're NEVER alone." It's in their nature to try to eradicate every voice that answers their lies with the truth, because they rightly sense that it is the only way that they can survive.
Anglicanism has staked its entire 400-year existence on a dice game, and a bet that they CAN serve God and Mammon, they CAN build a church that is half-slave and half-free, and a house divided against itself CAN stand. Conservatives should not be putting themselves up as half of the stake.
4 comments:
Staying in Sodom wasn't a good idea for Lot and his family either.
None of the prophets left Israel to form a new, pure Israel. They stayed in an apostate country with apostate leadership and witnessed to the Truth.
I choose to do that too.
My slant on things
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
Alice and Phil, your posts point out the agony suffered by faithful people in an apostate church. Stay or go - which is the right approach? I think that a strong, Biblical case can be argued either way.
Phil, I think your position is strengthened because you (like Kendall Harmon at TitusOneNine) are in a manily orthodox diocese with a supportive Bishop and some healthy, common direction in mission and ministry.
Alice is an example of someone who was more isolated - she had an unfriendly Bishop and a conflicted, disorganized and declining diocesean mess all around her.
Among the prophets, Jeremiah is much like Deacon Phil, staying within the "nation" and to deliver his unpopular message.
Alice is perhaps more like Amos, an "outsider" from one nation delivering warning against another (albeit closely related) nation... or Nahum extolling the fall of a pagan empire.
May we all be blessed to see a day for Ezekiels and Haggais, a time to declare mercy and rebuilding.
We aren't speaking of forming a pure Israel, but about seeking God in Christ, in the Word, and in the Tradition of the Church. TEC's leadership teaches a false Christology, corrupts the Word, and ignores the Tradition.
May God be kind to these leaders in His judgment. Every day is a day to declare God's mercy.
The 2 priests who presented me for ordination in 1984 called me a Deborah. At the time, I thought it was a strange designation. Now I wonder. I've been called many things in my life, but never Amos! : )
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