Escaping the Velvet Glove

[noeticknight]

It was once said in the pulpit by another speaker regarding my former minister, “He rules with an iron fist…but he wears a velvet glove.” The comment was meant as praise if I recall. However, when you ponder the meaning, this was rather an indictment against his Christianity!

I have observed a technique that is often used by these types. Whether the intent is noble or not is irrelevant. By design, it has power to manipulate one’s mental state and blur the focus of balanced decision-making. I call it the “velvet glove” approach.

Here is an example: Take a person, living in an environment or community that has become unstable, unhealthy, or even abusive. Intuitively-speaking, the simplest mind should sense something wrong. Rational thought, if allowed to operate, will usually begin to make preparations for an out at some point. After all, self-preservation is only natural. When departure becomes a real option, and the glue begins to dissolve, it is the clever who know that they must don the velvet glove.

1.“Bloom where you’re planted,” they say. If one accepts the premise, they have fallen for an old trap. The trap that implies God is responsible for their past and their current state of confusion, and He desires them to accept it as it is. In other words, “Do the best you can in your situation, just don’t consider moving out of it.” If you latch onto this philosophy, you may end up pot-bound and crippled.

2.“God's favor is in this place.” Maybe, maybe not. God's favor has a very personal touch. THIS JUST IN--God is not limited by organizations or church houses, and in fact, moves and works wherever faith calls to Him! That includes the sincere crying out from among the phony baloney and the quacks. I’m bold enough to believe that God will hold all of us accountable to concepts such as justice and faith, not personality and peer pressure. Everybody wants to believe that they have arrived, that they have a corner on the Almighty. It’s a comforting thought, albeit a naïve one.

3.“Just let the Spirit guide you.” This may pass for spiritual wisdom to some. However, taken at face value, this can lead a person into the realm of mysticism. Some never make it back out. Folks with visions and dreams can only go so far. At the end of the day they eat, sit on porcelain, and sleep like the rest of us. We are creatures of flesh and spirit, subject to the laws of both worlds. Praying might get you into favor with God, but you still have to study to earn an A on that exam. It’s possible to jeopardize your life’s balance by circumventing the tools God has provided in order to properly discern, adapt, and even resist some forces if need be. Yes, pray, cry, and seek God for direction and wisdom. It may come from places you never thought it would. Parsimony is good too.

Let me finish with this. Not all men live selfish lives, and not all communities are evil empires. However, no matter how precious and sweet your world is, failure lurks just below for one simple reason…people. Only God is perfect, the rest of us are just wannabes. Bottom line: occasional mistakes are forgivable, patterns are unacceptable. My walk is priority, and if that means I have to float on a lifeboat with the Good Lord, then so be it. Because it’s like Paul said, “...but I will not be enslaved by anything.”