From The Top Down
a.k.a.... It Rolls Downhill
By GrizzlyOf course all you fine feathered Worldwide Church of God survivors remember the non-stop reiterating of ”God's government is from the top down” And ”Disrespect to authority is rebellion against God”, in other words, a fetish for following any orders from a superior, no matter how ridiculous, because his office was ”God ordained” ....and woe to the sap who ”Usurped” the authority chain, no matter how inconsequential the action was.
Well....the dance band I was in in the 80s had one pastor rank and two deacon rank men in it, along with about 10 of us cannon fodder flunkies. Anyway, we were having weekly rehearsals on Wed. night at 7:00 P.M. I'd get there, and people would show up at 7:10, 7:30, even 8:00, a complete lack of discipline.
I was not thrilled at having to leave work and drive across town to these rehearsals, but I was always on time. So once at a break in rehearsal, I stood up and asked for everybody's attention. My spiel went something like this : “Guys, I know it's tough to do, but if we're ever gonna get this band in tight, professional shape, we've GOTTA try to be here on time. Let's try to approach it professionally. If we all get here by 7, we can get a lot more accomplished, AND get home earlier. So whattya say we try and give this band a shot in the arm by being punctual?”
That Sabbath, a deacon came up to me. “Rick, Mr._________ wants to talk to you”. I went back to the anointing room, and the Pastor goes ”Rick, you're going to be suspended from Church for two weeks”. I said ”Ummm...you mind telling me what for? ". He said that by standing up in front of the band and talking to them about the punctuality issue, that I was guilty of rebellion and sin....because with a minister and two deacons in the band, THEY should have given the pep talk after I told them what I was going to say. So it would look like their idea! AND he told me that if the deacons did not already give a speech like mine, that it obviously was not a legitimate topic to bring up on my own, and therefore REBELLION!. Then he magnanimously told me I would not be suspended if I apologized to the deacons and minister!
So I did......and another lesson in ”God's Government” was complete !
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