This is a post I don’t really want to write – but in the interest of being as transparent as possible, I will.\u00a0I don’t want to write it because it necessitates a confession, and it’s bad enough that I said what I said in front of a table full of family members.\u00a0 Now I am about to repeat it online for all who care to read.\u00a0\u00a0 And I am seriously embarrassed by what came out of my mouth and I am reminded of Jesus teaching the religious\u00a0folks of his day that “it’s what comes out of the mouth that makes us unclean.”\u00a0But I risk sharing this because it was another “vuja de” moment for me. (Vuja De = seeing something familiar with new eyes, as if for the first time.\u00a0 The opposite of deja vu.)\u00a0Also, it (kind of) gives me a chance to apologize to those at the table. (Sorry!)\u00a0What I said followed a couple of stories regarding a pastor I used to know.\u00a0 They were meant to paint him in\u00a0a very negative light – all while we sat around the Thanksgiving meal, for heaven’s sake!\u00a0 Now, to be sure, this man was extremely ill-suited for the ministry.\u00a0 He was mean as a snake, rude and sneaky.\u00a0 But this was 20+ years ago and I am almost certain he has passed away, so it should all be water under the bridge, right?\u00a0Anyway, I told these stories about this man and then someone asked, “Where is he now?”\u00a0 And I blurted out, “I don’t know … burning in hell, I think.”\u00a0 \u00a0This elicited nervous, shocked laughter from some around the table … \u00a0… And a rebuke in my spirit.\u00a0 Instant regret!\u00a0 But I had no time to analyze it in the moment (or to apologize) as the conversation continued on in a different direction.\u00a0 \u00a0So here’s why I call it “vuja de” – I have often told stories about this pastor over the last two decades and have often been asked “where is he now?’\u00a0 And my stock answer became: “I think he moved to a warmer climate.”\u00a0 That was my “funny” way to state two propositions and a conclusion. Prop 1 – he was not really a believer.\u00a0 Prop 2 – he has probably passed into eternity.\u00a0 Conclusion – he is currently separated from God for eternity.\u00a0 For some reason, yesterday I was much more blunt, but in essence I was saying the same thing I had said for years.\u00a0The sting I felt in my spirit wasn’t so much about me ‘judging’ his destiny (though that\u00a0can obviously be\u00a0shaky ground).\u00a0 After all, Jesus did say that there would be false teachers and you would know them by their fruit.\u00a0 I don’t know that\u00a0many church members around this country\u00a0would argue that, in general, there are a lot of people in a lot of pulpits who have no business being there.\u00a0 And\u00a0I’m not talking about the ones who are well-meaning but incompetent; I mean the ones who\u00a0don’t even seem to believe – or practice – an ounce of what they preach.\u00a0 And the Apostle Paul warns us that “teachers” within the church need to be extra careful because they will be judged more harshly in the End.\u00a0 \u00a0No, the sting of the rebuke was more along these lines: “Hell is a real place of real torment.\u00a0 It is\u00a0NOT something you would ever wish on your worst enemy.\u00a0 And it is\u00a0NOT something to be flippant about.”\u00a0In a way, this experience of vuja de is an extension of the one I wrote of the other day – about doing the will of God.\u00a0 Because if Jesus leaves us with The Great Commission, urging us to “go” and to “make disciples”, then we have to grapple with the reality of what happens if we DON’T go and if we DON’T make disciples.\u00a0Eternal destinies hang in the balance.\u00a0 And that is serious business. \u00a0So here’s my new and improved answer just 24 hours later,\u00a0in lieu of what God is\u00a0(patiently) teaching me:”I don’t know where\u00a0this man\u00a0is.\u00a0 I believe he has passed away.\u00a0 I sincerely hope he had the opportunity to repent and truly trust in Christ before he slipped into eternity.”\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0P.S.\u00a0 Whoops!\u00a0 It just occurred to me to Google his name … and it appears he is still among the living.\u00a0 (He must have been much younger than he looked back when I knew him!)\u00a0 I believe God is telling me\u00a0it is high time to let go of any remaining bitterness on my part and forgive the man, right?\u00a0 I feel like I have a reprieve.\u00a0 I’m praying for you, Rev! (And I really mean that.)\u00a0 I want for you what none of us deserve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is a post I don’t really want to write – but in the interest of being as transparent as possible, I will.\u00a0I don’t want to write it because it necessitates a confession, and it’s bad enough that I said what I said in front of a table full of family members.\u00a0 Now I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3596,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3595\/revisions\/3596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}