By Robert Hancock

Who would have ever thought that The Episcopal Church could have arrived at the place it now finds itself? Other Christian churches are finding themselves in similar straits, but maybe not quite so publicly.

It is my opinion that Christians the world over are in great jeopardy because church leaders have become totally lost and, despite the obvious markings on the path of righteousness, are leading us astray. We must decide if that is true and, if so, get ourselves back on the right track.

At this point, our bishops are not declaring themselves in opposition to scriptural truth, just spinning scripture to accommodate their message so as to claim a remote scriptural validity. You and I, far removed from theological rhetoric and biblical exegesis (critical interpretation), find it difficult to separate truth from fiction. I am personally convinced that we have been set on a strategic path to reject biblical teaching altogether, a la Jack Spong. Like any chess game, it may take several moves.

So what do we do? We sink our taproot deeper and refuse to budge.

“Nobody is going to take my church away from me.”

“My grandaddy is buried in the church cemetery, and that’s where I’m headed too.”

“My family practically built this church and I’m not leaving it.”

Be careful. You are dangling on a spider web over a deep, dark abyss and facing the “night of the long knives.” You have heard Bishop V. Gene Robinson say, “The Holy Spirit is leading me in a new way.” But, do you recall Jesus saying, “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin” (Mark 4:29, Matt. 12:32)? Bishop Robinson had better be right about what he thinks the Holy Spirit is doing here, or he is in for a dark future. And, it seems to me, so are all those who follow him over the falls.

The Presiding Bishop-elect, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, said, “I don’t believe that homosexuality is a sin.” Since the Episcopal Church is putting its imprimatur on homosexual behavior, and that is what is going on here, we can include her among those who are leading the church astray. For her own sake, she had better be right. Read Matthew 12:37, “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Are you going along with her?

“But what about my granddaddy...” Your granddaddy has nothing to do with it.

When Jesus sent the twelve out to the lost sheep of Israel, he directed them, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town” (Matt. 10:14).

The biblical references above are to the words of Jesus. Yes, they can probably be spun, but they are pure, direct quotes from the NIV Bible. It wouldn’t hurt any of us to get down with our Bibles and see what each one of us is up against. Very few of us would get very far into the gospels before seeing clearly that we are being spoken to directly, and there is a clear choice in front of us.

If you believe the Bible is out of date and irrelevant because of cultural change over the years, you can probably make some kind of case for sitting tight and hoping that roar you hear is not Niagara Falls just around the next bend. I believe the second coming of Jesus Christ could happen in the next nanosecond, and there will be no time to reconsider.

In fact, the apocalypse could happen right now, while I am writ...

Robert Hancock, a member of St. Alban’s Church, Richmond, Va.

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