Legalism at it's finest...
I am moving back to Colorado Springs, as many of you already know.My wife has been looking for ministry positions. She found one she really wanted, was flown out for an interview, and it went very well.
And then they had a problem. Not with Shayna. They wanted to hire her. But with me. Not with me as a person, but what I do.
Based solely on my current temporary profession of playing poker to make a living, they denied her application for assistant youth director.
I even had two phone interviews myself with the committee's involved, and informed them that this is a temporary thing - that my heart, dreams and visions still lie in the ministry.
apparently this wasn't good enough. They interviewed her. They loved her. They denied her because of my source of income. Forget the fact that I have connections within their church. Forget the fact that I have served in a church of the same denomination in the same town. Forget the fact that I have served with an outdoor ministry in the same town. Or that I was at a major church of the same denomination in LA. Or that I worked at Forest Home, which they are familiar with and fond of.
I play poker to pay my bills. Somehow that makes my wife, who has been a youth pastor for over eight years, unqualified to serve in an assistant role.
I don't do anything illegal. I don't even work in a bar or any industry that has specific biblical references against. I play poker. There are ZERO anti-gambling references in the Bible. There are references about being good stewards of your money and references against the desire to get rich quickly, but poker is a job, an investment process much like the stock market.
But that's beside the point. They denied her because of me. And for a crappy reason.
And you know how they told her? Human resources called her. Some lady that she had never talked to during this entire two month process. Reading a scripted monologue about how she was very qualified but they are continuing their search.
How insulting.
It further reminded me of how frustrated I am with the modern mindset of today's church. Whenever I am sitting around a poker table and I tell people that my wife is a youth pastor, the responses are ALWAYS positive! There is never any comment like, "Oh, those snooty church people are so bad." NEVER! What is wrong with this picture? When the postmodern gambling culture is accepting of churchgoers but the church leadership is not accepting of those in the gambling culture?
This same point can be transposed onto so many other arenas. Homeless guy walks into a church Sunday morning? Everybody freaks out. Drug dealer. Drug user. Prostitute. Convict. Biker dude. High schooler with green hair and a black NOFX shirt. College student in shorts, Hawaiian shirt, and sandals. Hippie. Or insert any other American sub-culture here.
Who did Jesus hang out with? Who did he get pissed off at? Who the hell do we think we are as members of this body of Christ, as leaders and representatives of this faith that transcends this world, to ever not accept anybody for any reason? Christ accepted us even though our own sinful nature is what drove the nails into his body two thousand years ago!
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Now, as I sit here and reflect on that rant, I can see the comments that are soon to be coming. Something along the lines of how "it's different when you're looking at a position of leadership within the church."
I agree. However, several key points are different in this case, and my overall point about church non-acceptance is not affected by the case study of my wife's rejection by the church.
1) They were hiring her, not me. One flesh? Sure - but she was going to be in the office 40 hrs/week, not me. I would have loved to be a volunteer, but I also would have been invisible if that was desired. Furthermore, I have quite the resume in ministry - they were getting twice the bang for their buck.
2) She was not applying for a lead position. It was an assistant's role.
3) The poor way it was handled at the end. Left a bitter taste in both of our mouths.
4) My overall point was inspired by this event, but is not based on this event.
That is all. Let the "you're a harlot" bashing begin.
posted by Devo @ 5:42 PM
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