James_CA
01-12-2009, 04:34 AM
Recently l have been in contact with a great friend of mine and someone with a true love for God. It was a pleasure.What I want to talk about today is a memorable topic that was ever-present in the church. Who could forget the pastors talking about "familiarality breeds comtempt?"CFCMI has evolved over the years. The first leader was , LR Davis, a sexual deviant leading and preaching the "Word of God." Now, the organization of CFCMI is headed by two average minded individuals claiming that God speaks to them. I am not fooled in the least. More so, I am appalled at their level of ascendancy that they feel they have attained. The real gap, the only gap between the people that feel they lead the organization and what transpires in the real world exists only in the minds of the two people in charge. When I was a parishoner, Ed would often preach about keeping a distance. One of getting to know one another - to a point. His big thing was to be at arms length with the church lest anyone get to know you too closely. I've got to stop here because this mind set is not of God. Read the bible for yourselves and tell me of when God's leaders were above the fray - in so that they established themselves above the ministry. It does not exist.Church pastors can become self-absorbed individuals who feel that they are above the rest. In fact they are below the average. Jesus, Paul, and so many others were shepards of the flock seeing to it that they sheep were not destroyed. Ask yourselves whether or not your leaders have been leaders at all in the struggle of salvation. The phrase familiarity breeds contempt is just another way of the "pastors" gaining a level of control over you. It certainly sounds clever and of pure wisdom doesn't it? But who declared it and who maintained that narcissistic way of thinking? Look it up and you will, like me, understand the kind of religious sect you are dealing with.Familiarity Breeds Contempt. It sure sounds smart. I was delighted in my initial findings. Independence, solitude, and so on. I decided to apply this logic to my own personal life. Face it, in God's word the man is the head of the household. So I instructed my wife. Keep her at an arms length. Put up a partition in between the queen sized bed. It wasn't pretty. I tried this tactic with my brothers. I was laughed to scorn. I tried it with mom and dad. While they are aging, they are no fools and called me out on it.At work, forget it! These people need to know me, and I need to know them. All of them. The differenece in business is that we, as managers, choose the people who will work for us, with us, and in representation with the company. With CFCMI, you have two people trying to make the most of it. They try and prop themselves up as the real deal when, in fact, they are straw men. I have seen objections to Ed, Pete, Dan and a few guys having motorcycles. I never had a problem with it. The only problem I had with it is if the very people (primarily single men) who give of themselves extensively cannot also participate in this luxury. Guys, if you donate everything so that you scrape by - ask yourselves if it's even possible for you to also to get a motorcylce? I'm serious. Don't try and be obscure and shy in the shadows of God's calling. Look at your Pastors. They are using your money to buy these vehicles. Can you buy one too? Can you borrow those bikes for a night or even a private ride? I am talking a foreign language to you at this point. But am I really? Suppose you decided to tithe and offer as the bible recommends. Okay, do it. But this time, take you balance and invest it for yourselves. For something extra. Just like Ed, Pete, Dan etc. What's the differerence? It's your hard earned money after all.You have good mom and dads. Well, most of you. Did they give their monies to some organization so that you could survive at the whims of a church?For many of you, almost all of you, the answer is "no". They took care of your family like any parent should. Check out "myspace" about the pastor's kids. They live the lives you wished you could. Why should you be deprived of the wealth earnings that you generated? Why should you not get a college degree? Why not take a hold of your life and do something special with it? Consider all of the men and women that have come before you and left after you. Their lives mean nothing to Pete and Ed and Dan and Bruce. People like me have been completely discounted and forgotten. You will be forgotten too. Familiarity Breeds Contempt. For the pastors - that is one costly mistake my friends. One costly mistake.JimPS - in the real world, anytime you get to know people you will find faults with one another. It is just as simple as that. You will find, however, that far above anyone's faults you will find a sincere personality, acknowledgement, and understanding of how unique and valuable these same people are. In our short lives we need and count on each other for individual contributions and endearments. We live and survive due to the influence of so many great people who make up our community.