Churchianity: At the Crossroads

Churchianity:

At the Crossroads

(Act II)

Jesse Steele

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2012 Jesse Steele

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Jesse Steele on Smashwords

ISBN: 978-147-633-274-1

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For Dad

Here's to the questions you searched-out for answers, to the genre you suggested before your passing, and to the fruits you asked to have extra time for.

Table of Contents

For Dad

Scene 1: Paul

Scene 2: Don

Scene 3: Watchman

Scene 4: John

Scene 5: William

Scene 6: Michael

Conclusion

Epilogue

Theatrical Permissions

About the Author

Scene 1: Paul

Hank: I wonder what Paul would do about this.

Paul: Do about what?

Hank: Oh… my church…

Paul: What do you mean your church? Are you Jesus?

Hank: It’s not like I own it or anything. I just mean the church I preside over as pastor?

Paul: The church has a president?!

Hank: No, I said, PASTOR!

Paul: But you also said, preside over. Only a president presides over something… or a king…. But a king does more…

Hank: Why are you talking about government? I am having trouble with the board at my church that I’m responsible for and I don’t need a history lesson in politics of the State.

Paul: You just said that you were responsible for the church. What do you mean by that?

Hank: I mean that it’s part of my stewardship. When I given account to God, He will ask me how I managed things. He will look at the time I spent with the church, its leaders, its volunteers, the activities they had, the Christmas programs, the staffing decisions, and all the little details that don’t seem to matter in the big picture. He will expect me to give a good account, showing that all of it went well. That’s what I mean by responsible for what I do in the church. And that’s what I’m concerned about. It’s not going so well.

Paul: Why do you suppose that is?

Hank: That’s what I can’t figure out!! I was just sitting here, mumbling to myself and you were eavesdropping! Then, you even interrupted! Can’t a guy talk to himself!?

Paul: It seems you do a lot of that.

Hank: What do you mean by that!?

Paul: Where did you ever get the idea that you were responsible for what happens in a local fellowship of God’s people?

Hank: Huh? Are you crazy? The Apostle Paul said that some are called to be pastors. That’s what I am—a pastor.

Paul: Actually, I said, Shepherd-teachers. But that’s just a language issue. I don’t expect you to follow every cliché I used in Greek. Your native language is English, after all. It kinda’ makes me feel sorry for you.

Hank: Tell me about it.

Paul: But language isn’t the biggest issue here. Remember when I told Timothy—also a young leader like yourself—not to niggle over mere words…

Hank: Now you’re talking like the Apostle Paul himself.

Paul: You said you wondered what I would do about all of this.

Hank: Yeah, like that could ever happen… NO! Wait, you just said, I.

Paul: Paul is my name, after all… in Greek. My Hebrew name is Saul. One name for each culture I minister the gospel in. But, oh, what’s in a name…

Hank: Right… So, I’m supposed to believe that I’m actually talking to the Apostle Paul himself? As in, the guy who was beheaded in Rome two thousand years ago?

Paul: Well, not quite two thousand.

Hank: You’re crazy.

Paul: Fair enough.

Hank: Whether you’re actually the Apostle Paul or not, you were saying something about Timothy. See, I get yelled at for being too young…

Paul: It’s about the words.

Hank: Huh?

Paul: That’s why I always wanted Tim to understand this words issue. So many ignorant people argue all day about nothing. It creates constant friction and they think Godliness is all about trying to get ahead. You can get ahead, if you are content. But to do that, you need to understand, among other things, the issue with words…

Hank: …where there are many, sin abounds?

Paul: Sorta’. That was Solomon said, anyway. I always enjoyed his proverbial mind. A wise guy, that Solomon… But my point to Tim was that we must not merely think about the words themselves. Each word has so many meanings. If you want to understand people, you must look at the context of their words.

Hank: Context… That’s what I always try to explain to the board and my church. The Bible is so much easier to understand if we take everything in context.

Paul: And that’s also the key to ending arguments about nothing… or, arguments about mere words.

Hank: You’re losing me.

Paul: You’re probably going to accuse me of sounding like a philosopher, but try this idea on for size…

Hank: I’m all ears.

Paul: Think past the actual words. Don’t just think with vocabulary. Try to think only in terms of the definitions people mean by the words they use.

Hank: That doesn’t seem so easy. I usually talk to myself with words you know.

Paul: And that’s why you’re having trouble knowing what I would do in your situation. It may not seem easy to think outside the box, but it’s a lot easier to solve misunderstandings if you think with definitions of words rather than merely the words themselves.

Hank: You’re right. You do sound like a babbling, pie-in-the-sky philosopher.

Paul: It’s practical. Trust me. Words are a reflection of our ideas—ideas we have in our minds. If you only think with the words rather than trying to see through the words to the meaning behind them… well, it’s all a waste. Understanding is the goal of speech.

Hank: Well, that’s a thought. What’s this got to do with the problems I have as pastor?

Paul: The problem comes down to what you mean when you say, pastor, as opposed to what I meant.

Hank: A pastor is a leader, isn’t he? You have a board of elders and a pastor helps lead their meetings, cast the vision, as well as oversee day-to-day operations of the congregation.

Paul: You just defined a president.

Hank: No, I just defined a pastor.

Paul: No, you just defined your version of a pastor’s duties as being that of a president. Tell me, who in my day ever had the title Pastor and did what you just described?

Hank: Timothy did!

Paul: What Scripture do you get that from?

Hank: I don’t remember the exact reference. I’m not a walking concordance, after all…

Paul: That’s because there is no such Scripture passage. I worked very close to Tim and that’s not how he did things.

Hank: Wait. What are you saying?

Paul: Where do you get the word pastor from?

Hank: It’s actually Greek for shepherd.

Paul: Good, that’s a start. Actually, it’s an English word for the Greek word, but this isn’t a lesson in Greeklish. What about connotation?

Hank: You mean the vibe we get from using the word?

Paul: Yeah. How much do you remember John’s memoirs about Jesus’s life?

Hank: The Gospel of John says Jesus was the Good Shepherd.

Paul: Okay.

Hank: So, I suppose that, when you, or any other Christian from those days, says, Shepherd, there is a strong memory of that Socratic teaching style Jesus used.

Paul: Yes and no. Socrates was Socratic. Jesus was a shepherd-teacher. But you are right, that style Jesus used is the fond memory that all of us have of Him.

Hank: But you never saw Jesus.

Paul: His presence blinded me on the road to Damascus, so, yes, technically I never saw Him, but, come on, man… I was in Jerusalem through His ministry. I saw his disciples. I saw Jesus’s impact on the men you know of as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. We in the Sanhedrin knew His style well. He was a better teacher than any of us could have hoped to be. We couldn’t even argue with the guy in public! It’s one of the reasons we hated Him so much. His method was way beyond the quality of Socrates’s style—and you know what they did to Socrates. We never wanted to admit it to ourselves, but He wasn’t just a Rabbi, He was a Shepherd. Even after He left, His disciples still talked about it and many even seemed to pick up His style after that one Pentecost prayer meeting they had upstairs. His shepherd-like style left an impression on all of us—even His enemies.

Hank: I always thought Jesus was a great leader, but I never knew His manner meant so much to you.

Paul: That’s because Greek is not your native language and I explained this using Greek. But, now you know.

Hank: I do remember you mentioning it in Ephesians 4.

Paul: Ephesus was quite a long journey from Jerusalem, so I had to spell it out for them.

Hank: What?

Paul: That’s my point exactly. The very point that I want to explain to you…

Hank: So, tell me, tell me. I wondered what you… er… the Apostle Paul… or whatever…

Paul: Function.

Hank: FUNCTION!?

Paul: Ephesus was so drenched in the Artemis Cult, and believe me, they even closed a business day to vote on lynching me… The Christians there kept thinking in terms of their own man-made hierarchy of administration. They just couldn’t get past the idea that they needed one person to be the MC of that meeting—and this guy having a vote—and his office—and that title—and the priests over there who are the only ones with the great and marvelous direct phone line to divine wisdom… It was a mess. And they were carrying that system into their Christian fellowship.

Hank: Well, I sure am glad I wasn’t part of that.

Paul: Um, hate to break it to you, but you think a lot like they did.

Hank: What do you mean by that!?

Paul: What you mean when your working definition of a pastor, being found nowhere in the Bible, is completely inherited from your culture. My words to Ephesus were meant to clarify how God’s kingdom actually works and you superimposed your own assumptions. You saw pastor, imagined leader, and assumed behaves like a president. That was all in your mind and you didn’t know you were doing it because you think about life in terms of words rather than the meaning behind them.

Hank: But culture is what I have to think with. I can’t think completely without it.

Paul: Don’t conform your thinking to the pattern of culture. Instead, be transformed by renewing your mind according to Scripture. Then—and only then—you will know what God’s plan is for your life. And, believe me, it’s good. So don’t