While I never use this blog as a post to speak on certain events, I do feel compelled after having read a man who is far more intelligent than I, and his comments on the infamous quote given by none other than the Sunday morning Crystal Cathedral Hour of Power man himself, Pat Robertson. There probably wasn't one Sunday morning that went by in our house, while we all got ready for church growing up, that the Hour of Power didn't debut itself. I feel like if I time warped back to 1998, or maybe even earlier, I could walk blindfolded through a Sunday morning, and remember how many clicks the remote had to do to get to the channel, usually because the night before was some form of nickelodeon. Keenan and Kel, All That, etc. Am I aging myself? Probably.
Anyway, the comment that the reason behind all this earthquaking, according to Pat, is due to the people of Haiti giving their souls to the devil back in the day. The comment by itself, or aided with some reason, should throw anyone into a panic. A man with as much experience as he has, should not readily have such a comment in his forefront, but let us take into consideration the "old school" that he holds his attendance with.
Perhaps he could sit alongside the preachers that would rather yell and scream and rhyme words in their sermons, rather than sitting down in a local coffee shop and explain the deep truths of our theology. When I was a child, the preachers who yelled and screamed kept my attention - to the fullest. Rightfully so - a child loves to be entertained. However, as I got older, and was able to search the Scriptures out on my own, and then attending Bible college, where my love for exegesis grew and grew, and I realized that author's opinions and commentary on Scripture, when taken in stride and careful consideration, are amazing tools that we have been given.
It is here that I realized it is a matter of the heart that we deal with as Christians, and ultimately, we are not God so only He knows the human heart. I guess we have a little in on it, because the Bible explains that the human heart is ultimately wicked. Anything good in us is from Him, and apart from Him, we have nothing. Throughout Paul's writings, he explains in great detail, and in more ways than one, that all his knowledge, experience, etc. is considered worthless when in comparison to who Christ is. His main goal was to know Christ, and Christ crucified.
Pat Robertson may have had speech that was quite eloquent in his prime, and we like to think the same of ourselves. Paul is clear that, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." (1 Corinthians 13:1 NASB)
Our first reaction is to go crazy, I understand. Especially because our name is somehow, on the line, when such a comment is made, because obviously, we are all the same thinkers and hold the same opinions with those who are in the Pastoral TV Hall-o-fame. That was sarcastic.
Rather than us rally our troops and fight hate with ignorance (because that has never worked), let us realize that we are not God. Any misfortunate, if any, is not in our hands. That whole, "let he who is without sin, cast the first stone" thing really is true. We are well on our way to sounding like a drum kit that is being played by an inexperienced five year old if we continue harsh comments towards Pat. Haiti has met crisis face to face. Even if for a twenty-four hour period, the devil would be stoked if we turned our attention off praying for these people, to being tenacious in our "disgust" for Pat Robertson. It's a win/win for the devil if this is the case.
I'm an extreme passivist, so I never mean to come across as not caring, but demeaning words coming from people of faith never sits well with me.
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