Matt Steen writes:
Perhaps you have heard the stories of the Pastor in Arizona who is being jailed for holding a bible study in his home. I typically try to avoid discussions on these kinds of things, but last week I was asked by my neighbor what I had thought about the situation. Our neighbors are Jewish, knowing my background, and what I do for a living, they were interested in my take on the whole situation. They were convinced that this was a terrible thing, and that it doesn’t bode well for religious freedom in United States. My neighbors are especially sensitive to hearing the word persecution linked to police raids, religion, and SWAT Teams as they remember the breaking news of the atrocities committed against those who share their faith.
I told my neighbors that I wasn’t exactly sure what the real story is… but I would see what I can find, and let them know what I think. As I started to poke around it would seem that the entire story hasn’t exactly come out. According to this article, it would seem that this is an issue that Michael Salman, and his neighbors, have been working through for over four years. The article discusses how Salman shared a plan with his neighbors for the church, and than wrote off their concerns about property values:
But then Salman announced that he was planning to build a church right there in his backyard. He talked about not just Sunday services, but weeknight Bible studies, a workout room and basketball court, even a Christian day care center.
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When neighbors complained about how his project would affect their property values, Woods says, Salman was dismissive.
“He gave us a lecture on the fact that all of us were going to make money on our property, and if we were true Christians, we ought to be willing to sacrifice a little bit,” Woods recalls. “You can imagine, a few guys in the audience were all over him for that.
“That meeting is where the real animosity started. He made no effort at being conciliatory or cooperative. That really united the neighbors against him,” Woods says. “He was his own worst enemy.”
The more I have read of this story, the more it has left me shaking my head… it really is a train wreck. Even though Fox News and the church seem to be leveraging the shock value of Pastor persecuted for leading private bible study, the story just doesn’t seem to hold up. After being dishonest in the initial paperwork (calling the church a game room), consistently ignoring city ordinances, and dancing around the truth with creative wording (it’s not a public service), it would seem that things are beginning to fall apart.
Is this persecution?
What do you think?
Well the Christian community loves a good story whether it’s factual or not. Like that old Texas proverb. “A story worth telling is worth exagerating.”
Thanks for this article and your blog. Really tells a lot about this story, because I was thinking more the lines the same thing.
I think sometimes as Christians God puts a desire or passion in our hearts but we, as humans, struggle with the ability to be patient, quiet and trust in God’s timing. When Jesus spoke and crowds gathered to hear him, he knew before hand that this would happen. However, he didn’t go before and tell everyone of his plan and envite them to his BIG event. He was patient and as he spoke curious people gathered to hear his word.
It is hard to be excited about something you feel God is going to do and hold it in. But sometimes that is the best choice. This man probably should have started with a small gathering, communicated the word God had given him and let it grow in God’s timing.