An open letter to those who have taken over
what used to be Grace Ministry Center

5-26-18

When I first learned of what had happened at the Grace Ministry Center annual meeting, I was angered at the brazenness of an interim pastor manipulating a takeover by stuffing a meeting with people he unilaterally decided were members. This goes completely against the procedure laid out in the church’s Constitution.  He then used his platform and the people he brought in to throw out the elected board that had hired him. However, after more reflection on the situation, it is no longer anger I feel, but rather sadness and pity for those who were complicit in it.

It always saddens and amazes me when leaders who profess a relationship in Christ refuse to trust God to raise them up. Instead, they take matters into their own hands and attempt to do it themselves. Such a person may give lip-service to believing in the sovereignty of God, but their actions demonstrate that they have no real trust in him to accomplish what they—through their own self-will—have decided must happen.  I can only surmise that it is pride and ego that blind them to what they are doing when they willingly choose to believe a lie—albeit a lie that they have wrapped in glowing religious terms and justifications—but still a lie. The lie being, “The end justifies the means.”

In this case, I’m sure the deliberate lies, half-truths, and the manipulation of the people and events used to obtain the power and control the temporary pastor obviously coveted, has been fully justified in his mind. I’m sure that someone so blinded by the desire for control easily rationalizes the damage to people and relationships he has authored—seeing it simply as collateral damage and unavoidable in the pursuit of what he desired. By the complete takeover that this temporary pastor orchestrated, he obviously believes that everything he did was needed and justified so he could effectively do God’s work. Such narcissistic actions speak to an obvious belief that the end justifies the means—as long as the motives can be somehow rationalized as holy.

The sad part about this lie that has been embraced by all the participants, is that it goes against biblical principles and God’s expectations for his people. When leaders in the church fall into this satanic trap and, worse, willfully lead others into it, they are really embracing the delusion that sin is no longer defined by God—but by them. However, God takes a different view when it comes to sin when he says, “…be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he shall also reap.” This is why I now feel only sadness and pity for those who took part in this.

The deeper part of this lie, that the end will somehow justify the means, is that it stands in total disregard for God’s sovereignty. God’s sovereignty simply means God is the one who is in control of how things end—not us. If this connived ‘end’ was what God really wanted, does the pastor not believe God is powerful enough to accomplish it without having to resort to sin to achieve it? God has never subscribed to the belief that 'the ends justify the means' because he is sovereign. He is always in control of how things end. We are not responsible to ‘make’ his will happen—that’s his job—not ours. Our responsibility is in the ‘means’, defined as how we operate as Christians in our daily walk. In other words, do our actions reflect his? This is the true test as to whether the ends we pursue are God’s –or just ours dressed up in religious trappings. It is by the means they used that this new "church" will be judged—not by the fact that they have been able to take control of it. With the biblical knowledge this pastor takes so much pride in, why doesn't he know the simple truth that God does not judge his people by the ends they achieve—but by the means they use to achieve them?

To instigate an annual meeting where fists were raised, people were shouted down, and lies were told about good people—is this what they believe demonstrates God’s Spirit in this new "church" they now control? What fruit do they expect to grow from this type of soil? My prayer for them today is, “Now that they have gained the desires of their heart, may God have mercy on them for what they have created.”  

With much sadness,
David Squires