Preachers who dont believe!

[franklyn4]

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/o...e_pastors.html

The above link is to an article in Newsweek's religion section. The article deals with Clergymen who are secretly atheist, but the overall spirit of the article is about men in the pulpit who dont believe in what they are preaching and teaching but refuse to speak out and inform their congregations and denominations about their true views.

While reading i saw some of the parallels in my own life as i was in that boat as well. So yes, while i was reading i really saw myself a few years back, not on the atheist track but just questioning many things inwardly that i have been taught from a child and reinforced in bible college.

While i was teaching and preaching the "company line," inwardly I was frustrated because in studying the bible for myself, the contradictions and conflicts became obvious. There were certain beliefs and convictions that i couldnt reconcile with scripture. I was between a rock and a hard place. Either preach and teach what i was indoctrinated with or teach and preach what the Bible says knowing the fall out that would ensue. So for about two years there were some subjects i didnt speak on or teach about all together and there were some activities i didnt get involved in.

A few times when i tried to talk about my concerns i saw then and there that the blow back would be fierce, so in the end i just walked away from ministry all together for a while until i figured things out in my own mind.

[I dont want this post to be misconstrued as taking a shot at any one denomination. Its just that while reading the article it brought back to my mind those days when, i too, was in a similar position and wanted a safe place to air out my thoughts and questions without being labeled as this or that.]

It is a long article, but its a good read. Here are two paragraphs that i hope will wet your appetite and spur you to read the entire article.

The ambiguity about who is a believer and who is an unbeliever follows inexorably from the pluralism that has been assiduously fostered by many religious leaders for a century and more: God is many different things to different people, and since we can't know if one of these conceptions is the right one, we should honor them all. This counsel of tolerance creates a gentle fog that shrouds the question of belief in God in so much indeterminacy that if asked whether they believed in God, many people could sincerely say that they don't know what they are being asked.

In other words, some theologians and denominations have embraced a theology so fluid and indeterminate that even an atheist cannot tell the believers and unbelievers apart.

[pelathais]

I hear ya, Frank. Human beings learn, grow and develop. Religious institutions all to often make their bread and butter by insiting that they've had it right all along; so when humans within those institutions do what humans do - grow and learn - the institutions can't handle it.

It's like when Galileo decided to stop looking for incoming ships through his telescope and turn it toward the heavens. He learned that Jupiter had moons. The earth wasn't the center of it all! But, there was no place for such a notion or such a man.

[NotforSale]

Originally Posted by pelathais

I hear ya, Frank. Human beings learn, grow and develop. Religious institutions all to often make their bread and butter by insiting that they've had it right all along; so when humans within those institutions do what humans do - grow and learn - the institutions can't handle it.

It's like when Galileo decided to stop looking for incoming ships through his telescope and turn it toward the heavens. He learned that Jupiter had moons. The earth wasn't the center of it all! But, there was no place for such a notion or such a man.

Well said. Fear keeps people "At Bay", mentally, physically, and spiritually. Discovering knowledge and truth that may undermine a lifetime of tradition that helped us to conceive God, can be a horrific experience. We can feel violated or tricked by Human reasoning that breeds in the "Unseen".

Once the bridge is crossed though, looking back is even more horrifying, watching so many still walking in Religious darkness, where hate, abuse, and manipulation continue to bind under the banner of "We've Got IT!!"

I've thought of Galileo many times, as the "Wrench" of Religion squeezed tighter and tighter upon a man who simply wouldn't buckle. This remains an embarrasment to the "Godly Order" of that day, but thank the True and Living God, the Truth is soaring for all of us to see!

Are Galileo's amongst us??

[berkeley]

Originally Posted by NotforSale

Are Galileo's amongst us??

That is Pel's middle name...

[franklyn4]

Originally Posted by NotforSale

Well said. Fear keeps people "At Bay", mentally, physically, and spiritually. Discovering knowledge and truth that may undermine a lifetime of tradition that helped us to conceive God, can be a horrific experience. We can feel violated or tricked by Human reasoning that breeds in the "Unseen".

I often think about Nicodemus. When he heard Jesus' message of being born again, i can only imagine what was going through his mind because Jesus' message totally contradicted everything he was taught and believed. But when he was confronted with truth, he recognized it as such and took the leap.

Religion binds, Christ sets free!

[PastorDaniel]

I've had this problem for years. But I'm quite open with it. It started as a licensed UPC preacher. I served as youth pastor, asst. pastor, and even pastored two UPC churches and never quite agreed with all the standard issues and also discovered myself to be what this forum calls a "one-stepper" but fully committed Acts 2:38 believer. I finally turned in my UPC license in 2004 and joined the Global Network of Christian Ministries.
However, we had a huge problem finding an Apostolic church that would accept us without the outward standards. We went 8 months without going to church at all. I would preach upon invitation only and there were not very many of those. My uncle pastored a local Church of God of Prophecy, which is the church that I grew up in. I had converted to UPC while in the Marines. He kept trying to get me to be his youth pastor. I kept telling him that I was oneness and he truthfully didn't care and neither did the church. So we became his youth pastor. After a while I was asked to pastor a COGOP. I had to meet their board of Bishops. I told them that I was oneness...and they didn't care either...they ordained me. So I pastored a COGOP and currently serve as youth pastor at a local COGOP and I am very much oneness..but the church is part of an organization that would be considered Trinitarian. I'm about to baptize 10 of my youth group and I will definitly call the name of Jesus over them as they go in the water. So I remain in this category of being in a church where I don't agree or accept the doctrine that is listed as the "official" belief.

[franklyn4]

Its a good feeling to know that your not alone in this struggle. I think every minister goes through this experience at some point in ministry.