None Among the Gods

Copyright © 2005 by Tom Taylor

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Contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

AFTERWORD

Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. (Psalm 86: 8-9 NIV)

PREFACE 

Did the Lord arrange this-or the devil?

The heart of Pastor David Campbell churns with this question when, standing in the misty rain on a jungle airstrip in Paraguay, he sees her-from his years past. What was she doing here? He had never dreamed he would ever see her again.

David had just come from America where, normally, a life of devotion to Jesus Christ would bring fulfillment and peace. But he has discovered living such a life in today’s America can instead bring tragic legal and personal consequences.

It is a crushed and discouraged pastor who finds himself on a strangely wondrous trip to an exotic land. How could he know that here he would find healing and heroism; and a love he thought he would never know again?

"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.

—Mark Twain

CHAPTER 1 

Throughout a bright afternoon in 1986 an Eastern Airlines Boeing made its way down the mountainous backbone of South America, soaring at an altitude of 35,000 feet, a sunlit speck of silver over the vastness of the Andes Mountain range. High altitude sunlight shone directly through the fuselage window. Its brightness awoke David Campbell from a brief nap. Squinting, he looked out at where, uncomfortably close below him, there drifted a vast expanse of barren, convoluted stone ridges. Razor-backed serpents, they snaked to the cobalt-blue horizon. Partially hidden by the left wing, and seeming to soar almost to the plane’s level was a massive, snow-covered peak moving slowly across the expanse. David watched its deadly presence in amazement and looked away below. The plane floated over the crumpled ridges with their barren sides falling away into gorges and valleys so far below it seemed a person could fall into them forever. Lord! the young pastor murmured reverently as he shook off the stupor of his nap. He must be on the far side of the moon. He was certainly not on Earth.

But unfortunately that’s indeed where he was. Sighing, he glanced at his watch. The plane would be arriving in La Paz soon-the highest commercial airport in the world. He was getting far away from home, very far indeed. I still can’t believe I’m doing this, he thought. And yet, wasn’t that precisely what he wanted? Yes. For a time, at least, to be very, very far away from home. Far away from his church, and the news media, and the courtroom, and, possibly, the jail. And from Mary who was gone from him when he needed her more than he ever had in his life.

Etched against the snow-capped peak, brilliant in the bright sun, David’s sun-lit reflection stared back at him from the fuselage window. A square face, a good face he thought, with short hair and aviator style wire rimmed glasses that gave him a slightly military appearance. It was not the face of a preacher. He grinned. It seemed people were always telling him that. You just don’t look like a reverend, they’d say. Well, what was a reverend supposed to look like?

Any way, a preacher he was, and of a very large and prestigious church for such a young and inexperienced cleric. He had been the assistant pastor for youth ministries until the sudden sickness and death of the church’s senior pastor had thrust him into a temporary leadership position-which had quickly become permanent. So David Campbell, at age 28, found himself the pastor and administrative head of a church with 3,000 members with its own private Christian academy, a ten-acre campus, seven hundred academy students and eighty-six employees. It was a ministry he and his wife, Mary, had very much enjoyed-that is until the nightmare had begun: the lawsuit, the depositions, the trial, the appeals. Then he wished very much he had never come to Monument Baptist Church.

As he stared out over the Andes Mountains, David saw again the courtroom packed with members of the church. He heard the foreman of the jury read the verdict, and saw the shocked faces of his church. They could not believe this was happening in America, the land of the free. Others of them, probably, were shocked because of simple embarrassment for their church.

Then, in his reverie, David went back to that cold February day only several weeks ago-but which now seemed an eternity past.

Gathered with him in the pastor’s study in the old remodeled farm house which served as the Church’s office complex were the Chairman and Vice Chairman of his Board of Deacons along with the church’s attorney. David, at his desk, was preparing to write a check from the church’s bank account, made payable to himself. He would use the money to pay a court judgment.

After more than a year of depositions, a jury trial, and numerous appeals, it had finally come to this. The State Supreme Court had refused to even hear the Church’s final appeal, and so it was the end of the line, legally speaking. David, as Director of Monument Christian Academy, must pay $20,000 in damages to a local Buddhist Vietnamese family: compensation, the court said, for emotional stress and damage inflicted upon the Tranh family caused by a counseling session David had given their son at Monument Christian Academy. The court, in deference to what it admitted were Reverend Campbell’s sincere religious convictions had given David two months to raise the money. It was an unnecessary grace period because the church intended to simply give their Pastor the money. David would pay the judgment; and that would be the unhappy end of it.

The scene in his office that day reminded David of those photos of the President as he prepares to sign some pork-barrel legislation while the surrounding congressmen are all smiles. But nobody was smiling in David’s office that day. Twenty thousand dollars was a lot of money, even for a church the size of Monument Baptist. David sighed, proofed the check, lifted his pen to sign it-and stopped. Something fraying in his soul broke at that moment. He laid the pen down.

What’s wrong, David? Tim Ashford, the attorney, asked.

Gentlemen, I’ve been dreading this moment since the day we lost our appeal. David, with pain etched on his face, looked at the three men. This judgment against me…this fine…It’s for no other reason than I told Luc Sinh Tranh the truth! I counseled him from the very central truth of Christianity! And I did it within the walls of our Church Christian school!

Pastor, Ashford said gently, we’ve been through this how many times in court…

I know, said David. That’s what I’ve told myself, wrestling with this thing every sleepless night since we lost. We’ve fought this as far as we can. We’ve done all we can do. That’s what I’ve told myself. But, men, we can’t deny…if a court assumes the power to fine a preacher for telling the Biblical truth, it’s assuming the power to stop him from telling the truth. We simply cannot give up the freedom to tell the truth in our own Christian school. This verdict is atrocious! It strikes at the very heart of religious liberty!

They were all silent, no one seeming to know what to say.

David went on. I think of those heroes over the last two hundred years who died to purchase this liberty I’m about to let slip through my fingers. And my conscience condemns me! I have resisted this thing in court. But I haven’t resisted to the point of blood.to the point of facing lions in the arena.

Pastor! Hugh Johnson, the deacon Vice Chairman, sat erect in his chair. What are you saying?

I’m saying. David looked to the attorney, Tim, what do you think would happen if I refused to obey the court order-refused to pay this judgment?

Oh for Heaven’s sake! Johnson rasped. Hasn’t our church been dragged through the mud enough already? What do you think the newspapers would do with that!

I asked Tim a question, David smiled weakly. Tim, what would happen?

Well, the exasperated attorney shook his head. The judge would probably seize your assets.

Like what? I’ve got $5,000 dollars in a savings account and one beat up Volkswagen. The church owns my other car and the parsonage, and everything else.

The men grinned at the mention of the Volkswagen-the Pastor’s Gospel go kart.

Okay, Ashford said. Then there’s the possibility you’d be jailed for contempt of court.

For Heaven’s sake! Johnson erupted again.

For how long? David asked.

Possibly…till you obeyed the court order. Or till we could appeal on the federal level…It’s hard to say, Pastor.

Johnson, so agitated that white showed around his drawn lips, grabbed the attorney’s arm. Forget this! The church will pay the fine!

No, said David. Not without my permission and signature-unless you change the bylaws of the church.

We could do that, Pastor. A majority of the Deacons could do that.

Now wait a minute, Hugh. The deep voice of Deacon Chairman George Evans rumbled in the office as his rugged old farmer’s face scanned the group. Don’t be too sure of that majority. To tell you the truth.I’ve been having the same struggle and thoughts about this as the Pastor…Been wrestling with my conscience too. I Just haven’t been willing to say it. Now that the Pastor has come out and said it…I sure don’t want to see Pastor David in jail. But…how can we possibly give in to this and betray the freedom the Lord’s given us.

George! said Johnson. I can’t believe what my ears are hearing! After what this church has been through for almost two years.I can just imagine what the news media will do.

The news media can go where most of them are going anyway, said George Evans. The Pastor is right. We have this priceless liberty. Are we going to let it slip away?

Doesn’t the Bible say Christians should obey the law? The court hasn’t said the Pastor can’t preach!

We’re not talking about preaching! We’re talking about the freedom to tell the truth in our own Christian school!

Well I can tell you right now, most of the church isn’t going to agree with any…crazy plan to disobey the court!

Gentlemen, gentlemen. David’s face was drawn as he gestured for his Deacons’ attention. Gentlemen, please. I don’t know at this point what I’m going to do. I. he sighed deeply. I wish Mary was still here. The Lord knows I could use her insight right now, and her courage.

David spoke of his wife who, nearly a year before, had been killed in an automobile accident, leaving him the most desolate of men. The office fell silent.

When Hugh Johnson spoke again, his voice was softer. Pastor, if Mary was alive, I don’t believe she would want to see you in jail, would she?

No, no she surely wouldn’t. But neither would she want me to go against my conscience, which might be a worse thing, you know? Martin Luther said ‘to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.’ A smile flickered briefly on David’s face. Mary showed me that quote back when this all started. And she urged me to fight the lawsuit all the way, even though it got pretty tough for her in court. Some of those trial sessions were brutal.

She was a rare woman, said Evans.

Yes. David sighed deeply once again. Well, gentlemen, there is one thing I know for certain. I am not going to sign this check today. I feel like my hand would wither if I did such a thing.

Johnson groaned. So now what will we tell the deacon board and our church members?

No need to announce anything, said David. We have a little over seven weeks before the deadline for my payment.

Nonsense! snapped Johnson. The whole church is expecting you to pay the judgment today and.and put this episode behind us-at last!-and move on! And now we’re supposed to tell them you might not pay it?

Pastor, Evans cut in, Hugh has a point. If you sound an uncertain trumpet, who will follow you into battle? This isn’t the kind of thing you can leave hanging.

So sign it and let’s be done with it! rasped Johnson.

David paused and for a moment there was only the soft clanking from the radiator and pecking of sleet on the window behind his desk. Then the three men saw his face harden and his back straighten. George is right. He said softly. "This isn’t the kind of thing I can

play around with. So I’ll have to make it clear. No! No, I won’t obey

this court order. Now or ever."

Pastor.! Johnson began.

You listen to me, Hugh! When I arrive in Heaven I don’t want to face the men who died for my freedom and tell them I let it slip away! When I meet those Christians who were thrown to the lions because they wouldn’t worship Caesar, what would I ever say to them?

Johnson’s hand came down hard on the arm of his chair. Then I warn you, I am going to call for a change in the by-laws, and we will pay this judgment over your objection! I also am going to call for your dismissal! This church has been shamed enough these past two years.

Now Hugh, Evan’s voice rumbled gently. I don’t think the church has been shamed. Why should we be ashamed of defending the truth? I imagine there’s a good number of us deacons and church members who will support the Pastor in this.

I don’t think the members of Monument Baptist are that crazy!

As he drove home through the slushy streets that evening, the emotions swirled in David’s soul. Soon the whole church would know what their Pastor had just decided to do. And, oh Savior, what will be the reaction of most members? The disagreement between his two head deacons that afternoon could be a foretaste of things to come. Or maybe not. Except for Hugh Johnson and a few others, the members had been remarkably strong and united behind him all through the trials and appeals. But civil disobedience? Well, that might be a new ball game. As he drove, he began to plan a sermon for Sunday morning. Yes, it must be one to unite and encourage the church and clearly explain why it was so essential he disobey the court.

The parsonage was, as usual, cold and unwelcome without Mary. Sighing, he sorted through the days’ mail and prepared mentally for the phone calls he knew would be coming. There were several blue airmail letters in the stack. David smiled briefly as he saw that one of them was from his cousin, Whitt Campbell, a missionary bush pilot with All Tribes Mission in South America. He tore the envelope open.

Whitt wrote letters the same way he lived-always brash and to the point. Brother cousin, I can tell from your letters you’re getting pretty tired of all the courtroom hassle and the news media tontos.Why don’t you come down and visit us in Paraguay for a few weeks of spiritual R and R? We’ll fly together.get the cobwebs out of your brain.get your head screwed on straight again.

David grinned and was surprised at the surge of excitement those words gave him. He had earned a private pilot’s license himself some eight years ago; although he had made no use of it for quite some time. But.flying over miles of jungle.yeah, that would clear the cobwebs all right. For a moment he entertained the prospect, then laid the letter aside. Sorry, brother cousin, he murmured. No can do. Now was hardly the time to be going to the other end of the hemisphere.

That Sunday morning the atmosphere in the huge, columned auditorium seemed electric. Civil disobedience? The Pastor possibly going to jail? It could have been frightening stuff for a typical, comfortable American church. But Monument Baptist, David liked to tell himself, was not your average church. The congregation had determined years ago to take their children out of the evolutionary, humanistic public schools; and had bucked community opinion to start Madeon’s first private Christian school. The members raised a missionary support budget every year of over $600,000. They personally knew most of their missionaries. Some had come from the congregation itself. They specialized in putting missionaries in the hard, dangerous parts of the world; and the church had known its’ martyrs. This was the kind of church to which David spoke that morning.

He addressed first the Constitutional issues. If a government assumed the power to fine a minister for telling the Biblical truth, then it was assuming the power to stop him, David said. This was a clear violation of the religious freedom upon which America had been founded. David then went through the Bible, pointing out whenever the law of man violates the law of God, man’s law must be disobeyed. There were the Jewish men who refused to obey the law of Babylon and would not bow down to the golden idol of Nebuchadnezzar. Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. Daniel deliberately broke the law of Persia by praying to Jehovah. And the early disciples disobeyed the Sanhedrin in order to spread the good news of Jesus; and they went to jail and even death because of it.

David addressed the practical legal implications if he should let the government get away with such a verdict. Sometime in the future, he said, a Christian psychologist might terribly upset one of his patients by telling him Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and eternal life, and there is no other. The patient might sue. Will his lawyer refer back to the case of Tranh vs. Campbell as a precedent? How about a prison or hospital chaplain, or another Christian School administrator like me who causes someone mental anguish because Jesus said in John 14:6 ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to God the Father except through me?’ Will the plaintiff s lawyer refer the court to Tranh vs. Campbell as the great legal precedent which establishes, yes, his client is due monetary damages from this chaplain or this minister? Will teachers in private Christian schools become afraid to teach Christian truth in their classrooms? Well.if this case should be used as a precedent in the future, I hope the defense attorney will be able to rise and say ‘Yes, the court indeed awarded damages to Mr. Tranh in that case. But the damages were never paid! Reverend David Campbell and Monument Baptist Church defended their religious liberty to the extreme. They defended their right to tell the truth to the end. They never submitted to that verdict.’ Will I.will we, have the courage to make that the reality of this case?

He