>>>"It's All Just a Game."

[Fiyahstarter]

Originally Posted by dizzyde

Just chiming in with the rest, but these are powerful thoughts that you are presenting. I admire the courage that you have, and have had, in challenging the status quo and expecting that proclaimed "truth" should be able to handle discussion and scrutiny. I know without a doubt that there have been lonely moments on your journey, I for one, thank you for taking it.

I, for two...

[CC1]

Originally Posted by EA

Good point.

Realizing this makes one a bit more tolerant, and a lot less apt to pronounce judgement too quickly.

In my youth, I was very legalistic. I wouldn't even let my infant daughter wear pants or shorts at home. I felt like that was an inconsistency I couldn't live with. In my mind, if pants were an abomination, age and geography shouldn't matter.

While I still believe consistency is important, I now have the benefit of years of hindsight. In short, I was truly ignorant.

It wasn't just that I expected my own family to live that way - I judged others, who didn't live like us - very harshly.

During that time, two ministers tried to help me see how faulty my theology and logic was. I rejected their efforts and wrote them off. I was sure they were soft on the message.

Look at me now. While I live much the same way, my view of God, and my attude, have changed dramatically.

I was a jerk to them. I was wrong. But there is nothing they could have done to help me because I was convinced of my "rightness." Only the gentle passage of time, combined with the love of a merciful and forgiving God, could change me.

I see so many young men zealously defending traditions they know nothing of, and it makes me cringe. I see myself in them, and I want to help.

But I have found that most are unwilling to receive what I have to say. They will have to learn the same way so many of us learned - through time, study and spiritual enlightenment.

I appreciate your transparency. You never know who might read this and be helped by it.

EDIT NOTE: I just realized this is a year old but it is still good and my comment remains the same.

[*AQuietPlace*]

Originally Posted by EA

Good point.

Realizing this makes one a bit more tolerant, and a lot less apt to pronounce judgement too quickly.

In my youth, I was very legalistic. I wouldn't even let my infant daughter wear pants or shorts at home. I felt like that was an inconsistency I couldn't live with. In my mind, if pants were an abomination, age and geography shouldn't matter.

While I still believe consistency is important, I now have the benefit of years of hindsight. In short, I was truly ignorant.

It wasn't just that I expected my own family to live that way - I judged others, who didn't live like us - very harshly.

During that time, two ministers tried to help me see how faulty my theology and logic was. I rejected their efforts and wrote them off. I was sure they were soft on the message.

Look at me now. While I live much the same way, my view of God, and my attude, have changed dramatically.

I was a jerk to them. I was wrong. But there is nothing they could have done to help me because I was convinced of my "rightness." Only the gentle passage of time, combined with the love of a merciful and forgiving God, could change me.

I see so many young men zealously defending traditions they know nothing of, and it makes me cringe. I see myself in them, and I want to help.

But I have found that most are unwilling to receive what I have to say. They will have to learn the same way so many of us learned - through time, study and spiritual enlightenment.

This is the story of many of us.

I blush and cringe when I think of how judgmental I used to be. I was so arrogant at times.....I'm so thankful for God's mercy.

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by Edward Anglin

"It's all just a game."

That's what a preacher told me, fifteen years ago, immediately after turning in his license with the UPC, and walking away from Oneness Pentecostalism for good.

At the time I thought he must just be bitter over something, and that maybe he was looking to justify a desire to "go Charismatic." After all, why would someone just up and walk away, after being raised in this his whole life, pastoring for decades, and raising his kids in this way? It just didn't seem right, and I was sure he was just plain bitter and backslidden.

Over time, I watched him sever all ties with this way, walking away from every friend and association he previously held dear. It bothered me. After all, if a seasoned minister was succeptible to this sort of radical change, could I fall prey to the pull of gradualism, as well?

As a twenty-something, I listened as my contemporaries spoke of him with contempt.

"Compromiser."

"Backslider."

"Charismatic."

"Liberal."

To my knowledge, not one of them had ever spoken with him about his decision, what led him to leave, and why he considered this way a game. Still, I listened to them, and assumed their assessment must be right.
__________________________________________________

Years passed, and I didn't see or hear from the fallen minister at all. You know how it works. Over time, he was forgotten. Written off. It was as if he had fallen off the face of the earth. Not even worthy of discussion unless someone was preaching a "Trophies of Hell" message.

And as fifteen years have flown by, I've watched the guys who viciously maligned this man follow the same road he travelled.

The reasons they walked away were varied, but all who left spoke with one voice. "It's just a game!"

And now I have been around long enough to understand what they meant.

When a man is serious about his relationship with God, and is passionate about knowing Truth, he searches everything out, questioning everything he's been taught with the goal of defending, strengthening and teaching that which he has been given.

Along the way, in Oneness Pentecostalism, he is apt to find numerous inconsistencies and hypocricies. This is the case in most every religion, and I understand well that we are not alone in duplicity.

However, at a certain age, men start to realize that there is probably less life ahead of them than behind them. The scale of life starts to tip, and eternity comes into full view. At this point, Truth becomes paramount, and ministries are reconfigured to reveal "necessary things" with no regard for fluff.

When this sort of rebirth occurs, one can find oneself on the outside looking in, a pariah to those with whom he found comfort and sanctuary in times past. At this point, he is confronted with a harsh reality. He is forced to prove what he values most - friendships, or Truth.

If he is honest with himself and God, and relinquishes doctrines of men, he will lose everything familiar. If he squelches inner truth, he will survive in his organization, and maintain acceptance within his social circle - at the expense of a good conscience.

And all the while he struggles inwardly, he is confronted with published doctrines that many trumpet, but few live by. He is faced with the glaring inconsistencies of decades-old standards that are loosely maintained through peer pressure and legalistic control. He begins to realize that his life is more about presentation than relationship, conformity than Truth and acceptance than Christ-following.

At this point, he realizes that this way can become a game, the goal of which is to restrain oneself, swallowing all of the inconsistencies and denying much of what you have discovered in the Word that turns previously held beliefs on their head.

All to maintain peace with, and respect amongst, peers.

Well said EA. Thanks for posting this.

[Jeffrey]

Originally Posted by Edward Anglin

"It's all just a game."

That's what a preacher told me, fifteen years ago, immediately after turning in his license with the UPC, and walking away from Oneness Pentecostalism for good.

At the time I thought he must just be bitter over something, and that maybe he was looking to justify a desire to "go Charismatic." After all, why would someone just up and walk away, after being raised in this his whole life, pastoring for decades, and raising his kids in this way? It just didn't seem right, and I was sure he was just plain bitter and backslidden.

Over time, I watched him sever all ties with this way, walking away from every friend and association he previously held dear. It bothered me. After all, if a seasoned minister was succeptible to this sort of radical change, could I fall prey to the pull of gradualism, as well?

As a twenty-something, I listened as my contemporaries spoke of him with contempt.

"Compromiser."

"Backslider."

"Charismatic."

"Liberal."

To my knowledge, not one of them had ever spoken with him about his decision, what led him to leave, and why he considered this way a game. Still, I listened to them, and assumed their assessment must be right.
__________________________________________________

Years passed, and I didn't see or hear from the fallen minister at all. You know how it works. Over time, he was forgotten. Written off. It was as if he had fallen off the face of the earth. Not even worthy of discussion unless someone was preaching a "Trophies of Hell" message.

And as fifteen years have flown by, I've watched the guys who viciously maligned this man follow the same road he travelled.

The reasons they walked away were varied, but all who left spoke with one voice. "It's just a game!"

And now I have been around long enough to understand what they meant.

When a man is serious about his relationship with God, and is passionate about knowing Truth, he searches everything out, questioning everything he's been taught with the goal of defending, strengthening and teaching that which he has been given.

Along the way, in Oneness Pentecostalism, he is apt to find numerous inconsistencies and hypocricies. This is the case in most every religion, and I understand well that we are not alone in duplicity.

However, at a certain age, men start to realize that there is probably less life ahead of them than behind them. The scale of life starts to tip, and eternity comes into full view. At this point, Truth becomes paramount, and ministries are reconfigured to reveal "necessary things" with no regard for fluff.

When this sort of rebirth occurs, one can find oneself on the outside looking in, a pariah to those with whom he found comfort and sanctuary in times past. At this point, he is confronted with a harsh reality. He is forced to prove what he values most - friendships, or Truth.

If he is honest with himself and God, and relinquishes doctrines of men, he will lose everything familiar. If he squelches inner truth, he will survive in his organization, and maintain acceptance within his social circle - at the expense of a good conscience.

And all the while he struggles inwardly, he is confronted with published doctrines that many trumpet, but few live by. He is faced with the glaring inconsistencies of decades-old standards that are loosely maintained through peer pressure and legalistic control. He begins to realize that his life is more about presentation than relationship, conformity than Truth and acceptance than Christ-following.

At this point, he realizes that this way can become a game, the goal of which is to restrain oneself, swallowing all of the inconsistencies and denying much of what you have discovered in the Word that turns previously held beliefs on their head.

All to maintain peace with, and respect amongst, peers.

Best post of 2010.
I found myself in these words.

[NotforSale]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

Best post of 2010.
I found myself in these words.

Jeff, my feelings exactly! ED, you're words flowed and hit strait to the heart! Thanks for taking the time to share what so many feel, but might be afraid to say!

NFS

[The Mrs]

Excellent & thought-provoking EA!

[drummerboy_dave]

Good thread. You are usually on target. Our relationship with God must outweigh our religious ambitions.

[RevDWW]

Originally Posted by drummerboy_dave

Our relationship with God must outweigh our religious ambitions.

Good thought!

It's supposed to be Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.....not My Kingdom Come, My will be done..........

[DeepThinker]

A lot of men leave the ministry because they've "tried" to live it. While they preach against sin in the pulpit they are doing what they preach against in secret. His position and his secret life become too unbearable and he can't take it any longer. He either confesses to a confidant, is found out, or he quits before he is humiliated. No one leaves the ministry because things are going well, they leave because something is going on in their lives that they are not admitting to. The "excuse" of pointing the finger at God and saying, "It's just a game", will not stand up at the judgment.

There are genuine ministers who do pass in their resignation because they see the hypocrisies and they step away only to start up their own "Independent" Oneness Church. Which is a good thing because that means the door is open for people like myself that too sees the hypocrisies and I go to that Church. Hooray for me!