Be Kind, Tenderhearted, and Forgiving

Thanks for being a friend of Saint James Community e-Church. This ministry without walls is currently reaching hundreds of people on four continents and after more than 40 years as a pastor, this is the work I choose to do as a statement of my commitment to Christ and His church.

Unlike many charismatic clergy who make themselves the central figure in the church, SJCC pastors see themselves as Bodhisattvas (teachers-learners). SJCC pastors are not big on buildings, membership rules, or conventional worship services. We think everyone needs to have a personal relationship with the God of their understanding; a faithful commitment to do no harm, and to be worthy stewards of God’s generous gifts to us. We believe our behavior paints the true image of our values and attitudes and we know it isn’t what you say or pray that endears you to the Everlasting God but rather the things you do during our brief journey through this world.

We are certain God loves joy and laughter far more than anger and sorrow and must be devastated at the current state of worldwide religion. Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ wrote the following words to the believers in Ephesus. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32)

The churches teaching worshippers to be accusatory toward their brothers and sisters are just too mean spirited to be true faith. Church members who assemble and denigrate the last rites of mothers; fathers; sisters and brothers; heroes and hobos; saints and sinners; straights and gays; or whomever else they choose to demean as a proof of their religious fervor and self righteousness are committing the worst of sins against the ministry of the Lamb of God.

Members of a Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas protest at the funerals of slain soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the crowd of protesters recently were small children holding signs that read, “Thank God for dead soldiers”; “Semper Fi Fags”; and “Thank God for I.E.D.s”(the improvised explosive devices that have killed and maimed so many in roadside bombings during the war). The protesters also came to Ohio to shout slogans and hold signs reading, “God hates your tears” at the funeral services for a mother and four of her children ranging in age from 10 years to two months old. This family was killed by a drunk driver going the wrong way on an interstate highway and their deaths (according to the pastor from Topeka) represent “God’s retribution against humanity for allowing an eleven million dollar lawsuit to be filed” against him and his church.

These religious fanatics planned protests at the funeral services for the students murdered at Virginia Tech; victims killed when the I-35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis; and at the simple funeral of the Amish children shot to death in their schoolhouse in rural Pennsylvania. When asked on talk radio why they would be so heartless and judgmental against the children, the pastor's daughter said the deaths were the result of God’s hatred and vengeance against America! The deepest horror was her accusation that the Amish children deserved to die because of the nature of their faith.

The church members from Topeka participating in these demonstrations feel their actions are not unreasonable and in fact, are the work and will of God. But they are misguided by their pastor and acting out of a twisted and perverted view of God’s intentions. They reek of the same stench that drove the devotees of Charlie Manson to slaughter and kill random victims to fulfill a convoluted apocalypse that never materialized. The great irony and the link between the Topeka church and Charlie Manson is this; the activists following Manson also believed and continue to suggest that their actions were both necessary and desirable. I ask you, how can any organization, so calloused by hate and loathing, consider itself righteous? Religions promising life after death rewards for zealots willing to commit ghastly atrocities against innocents are not worthy to be considered as religions at all.

Consider one more time Paul’s words to the Ephesians. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32)

SJCC is far more concerned with individuals than with a large congregation. If you return once again to the four key tenets of our path you will immediately recognize the need for your action as a person and not our actions as a congregation. There is an old gospel hymn with the lyric, “You must walk this lonesome valley. You have to walk it by yourself. Nobody else can walk it for you."

You must make your own decisions about so many things in life. What will you become as you grow up? How will you earn a living for you and your family? What will you teach your children? What will be your commitment to the institutions of your life? Where will you seek happiness? However, the most important question is “What sort of person will you be?”  These are the truths you must discover. 

SJCC has no money for church programming or for member support; but then again, we will not ask for nor accept donations.  We do provide all of the usual and customary sacraments at no charge for people needing those services. So basically, the six of us who pastor for SJCC are indeed itinerant clergy working at secular jobs to support our commitment to ministry.

Again, I thank you for reading the epistles we send and if you know others who would willingly receive the quarterly e-letter from us, just send me their e-mail address.  We are always reaching out to others who, like us, feel a sense of disenfranchisement by friends, families, churches, or governments in singularity or in a variety of combinations. God bless us, everyone!

Pastor Paul Reed