Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday

"If you build it, I will stay"

Everything was going great for Pastor Rick. His church had almost doubled in the last few years, and they were ready to launch a new building program. One problem: the board wondered if all this growth was mostly built on pastor Rick's leadership. What if he left the church? The people were excited but they were wary of launching into a major construction project if Pastor Rick might leave their church in the lurch. The board had warned Pastor Rick of how the people were thinking before the vote on the building program. Pastor Rick was ready for them. Just before the vote he went on record. "If you vote to build, I will not be leaving here in the next five years -- in fact I'd like to stay here the rest of my life." That settled it: they voted to launch the new program immediately.

About a year later pastor Rick was somehow led to a better opportunity and left the church mid-stream. Their building plans faltered. The members mumbled, "he just plain lied to us." Others complained, "It was pure manipulation -- he was lying all the time."

Did pastor Rick lie? Or pastors Jim, John, Ray, Luke, or Pete? Did these pastors lie to their churches in order to persuade them to "do the right thing?"

I don't think so. I suspect each of these pastors meant it when they said they'd stay. At the time they really did intend to stay. They really planned to stick there through the entire building effort. So Pastor Rick's wrong was not that he lied -- it was that he was unfaithful. He made a promise and didn't keep it. At the moment he "meant it with all his heart." But a new opportunity changed things. Pastor Rick didn't lie; he was unfaithful to his vow.

Which brings us to another vow. Pastor Rick stood in front of another congregation and said; "forsaking all others… till death do us part." At the time he "meant it with all his heart." But for Pastor Rick, a new opportunity changed things. Had Pastor Rick lied on his wedding day? Not at all. His sin was not lying, but unfaithfulness -- betrayal of his marriage promise.

Some say it is better to never make such promises, than to have made them, then become unfaithful. But the bigger question may be, "Are these two incidents in Rick's life related in some way?"

To contribute to the thinking on this issue e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu