Disobedience frustrates me...
So last night we had a meeting for the retreat I'm staffing... We have two deacons on staff... one of the deacons and the Retreat leader was informing us of a decision made by our Pastor, who is also the founder of this Texas wide retreat program (there are also some retreats held in alaska and other states). Fr. Pat had said that we will make a very particular change to one of the parts of the retreat... well much selfish questioning came about that basically amounted to "well that doesn't apply to me" at which point the deacon would say "I think Father has made it very clear" and he would say the statement making it clear that there were no exceptions... after a few rounds of attacks against father's mandate, and after the deacon began to be viewed as unauthoritative, I took the floor and began by saying "I'm going to piss alot of you off... but suck it up..." I went on to say that we are men and we need to be virtuous, true, and need to be obedient, disobedience is a mortal sin according to Thomas Aquinas, its breaking one of the ten commandments, that the reason why so many young men loose their faith is because the men they look up to are hypocrites choosing when to and when not to obey... when it is something they desire, and when it is not... (at this point I was getting really impassioned because of the complete injustice that the generations of men who are not virtuous have done to my generation and the one behind me...) I ended by saying, be men of truth, of virtue and love... suck it up and obey.
Then the next person said the now imfamous (to me) phrase from the Charasmatics at my church... we need to pray about it, and see what God is calling each to... and it could be that we obey or disobey.
I hate that philosophy... yes pray, but pray for obedience, and strength to bear your cross... if a rightful autority has given a mandate or command, you must oblige... the philosophy that God would ever call you to disobedience against a just mandate is insane... is it any wonder that I am routinely struggling against this philosophy...
Charasmatics at my church, and various other sources I've been in contact with, all have the same fatal flaw... that they personally recieve messages from God which can trump everything else. (I have met some who believe in proper obedience).
I'm sorry... but that simply is not the case (even in some of the writtings of the founders of the Charasmatic movement) Disobedience to proper authority in the proper realm of their authority is always disobedience to God's plan. And thinking yourself special and above authority reminds me of one once great angel... Lucifer. And we all know that he can come in the garments of a radiant angel, fooling those who are proud, and leading them slowly against God.
I think I'm done... need to study for a psych test on tuesday.
4 comments:
A little catharsis before studying psych, eh?
Your discussion about obedience reminded me of the 68th chapter of Benedict's Rule:
If, perchance, any difficult or impossible tasks be enjoined on a brother, let him nevertheless receive the order of him who commandeth with all meekness and obedience. If, however, he see that the gravity of the task is altogether beyond his strength, let him quietly and seasonably submit the reasons for his inability to his Superior, without pride, protest, or dissent. If, however, after his explanation the Superior still insisteth on his command, let the younger be convinced that so it is good for him; and let him obey from love, relying on the help of God.Of course, the monk has bound himself to the community and its superiors in a very special way (and made a vow of obedience), but there is a real spirituality there.
That is not to say that the Church should be run like the Third Reich, but the "everyone for him/herself" model doesn't work either.
Those who exercise authority in the Church (and those who support that authority) always do better to employ patience and love first and foremost in all their dealings with the flock (holding back the brimstone until absolutely necessary).
Yeah... I know... I've been wondering if my chastising of the dissidents was appropriate... I'm still working on it (to learn from it for the future)... but I believe thats what was appropriate in that situation...
Then again, I know how blind I can be at times... and how disobedient to God I am many times... so perhaps I'm not seeing the injustice in my own action... I'll keep praying for God to reveal Himself, and to shine his light on my action, so I can grow for the future... either in Humility and Patience or in Courage and Boldness.
I have always admired people who are obedient...I know someone who was once obedient even to the point of ignoring his own health. God bless you. I will pray for everyone one the committee.
Hmm, committes aren't always the greatest thing. There are important examples of agruements that seperated God's people to go different directions (and without meaning to) spreading the Word farther then imagined. Paul and Barnabas; Acts 15:36-41. I usually think of that passage when there is a disagreement and I have to have peace that God is incharge -- no matter what. So no matter what people do or think and even if we may be wrong, God's work comes out on top everytime.
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