Someone Needs an Attitude Adjustment

I've been a bit absent from blogging lately, because my wife has been in the hospital after having gallbladder surgery -- and not the laproscopic kind, either. Nice, big scar across her belly right now. She's home resting right now, and I have a chance to get caught up on some posting.

I have been reading -- thanks to my RSS reader I didn't have to spend a lot of time roaming the 'net, but I still was able to keep up to date. And, unfortunately, someone linked to this idiot. Specifically, his loving tribute to a brother in Christ who was tragically killed. {For those who don't get it, that was sarcasm.}

Paul Proctor has written what can only be described as an incredibly unfeeling, uncaring, and unChristian article about the death of Kyle Lake, who was electrocuted in the baptistery of his church. Here's a taste, so you don't have to go to the link (don't want the jerk to get any more traffic out of this than he already has):

"His eye is on the sparrow" but evidently not on a prominent Emerging Church leader standing in a baptistery full of water holding an electronically charged microphone before a crowd of 800 on Sunday morning following a prayer where he petitioned the Almighty to "surprise me." Apparently the Ancient of Days only numbers the hairs of your head when you're properly grounded.

Not only is Proctor's behavior un-Christlike, it is inexcusable, especially considering that Lake's family has probably read something about his hatchet-job, if not the actual article. His mis-informed opinions concerning the Emerging Church are not unique, but his particular brand of invective is. Proctor seems to possess an almost God-like ability to evaluate the motivations and intentions of others, as witnessed by his (mis)characterization of Kyle Lake as a modern-day Ananias. Seems to.

Perhaps Proctor should reflect on the fact that God doesn't let us know why people die, and we only have tomorrow at His pleasure. Maybe Proctor should think about the fact that if God killed everyone who said or did something that was Scripturally incorrect, we'd be living in a thinly populated world.

I'm not a fan of all things Emergent. I've had problems with things being done by folks who label themselves Emergent. But I've learned that there are many different ideas about what the EC actually is, and that they are all bringing up discussions that are valuable for the church as a whole. God didn't off the Roman Catholic Church when they strayed. He didn't off the Reformers, even though they all weren't right. He hasn't offed Pat Robertson yet, though Pat's said some things that have been detremental to the cause of Christ -- and if you doubt that, as New Tribes Missions how their outreach programs in Venezuela are doing. God does sometimes kill those who are doing wrong, but not always. But when He does it, He lets people know. Peter knew it when Ananias and Sapphira were killed, and he announced it. Unless Paul Proctor is claiming some sort of inspiration for his columns, he doesn't have the assurance that Peter had.

Posted by Warren Kelly at November 17, 2005 07:55 PM | TrackBack