Distracters – Stephen Harper and I have had them

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Today’s Blog Post


Distracters – Stephen Harper and I have had them

I learned a lesson in leadership a long time ago. It was valuable to say the least. You might need it – I hope you read on – especially if you are a Government Leader in Canada – and your name happens to be Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

For myself it has happened a number of times. It is usually the “distracters” that situate themselves around me that bring this valuable lesson to me. I was not always aware of them until it was too late. I did not know their message until after it was delivered – then it was too late.

Some will know that I have served a number of years as a Minister in churches and leadership positions across Canada and some parts of the World out there. And in that Leadership role you do not always have every one following you nor do all the people love you. Instead of naming them “enemies” – I call them “distracters”. Their purpose is not the same as yours. In fact if they were ever caught and enough evidence was drawn in… they are absolutely against what you are, what you do, and the fact that you are even still alive.

Now you may gasp at the fact that within good Christian Communities there are people that can Distract that well… or could be classified as enemies…. Well it is true.

The simple fact that they exist is kind of a “job security” for a Pastor. And if you don’t remember… the word Pastor in Spanish is Shepherd… and Shepherds guard their sheep – protecting them from Distracters.

I will point to one Distracter in Peterborough that came into my life in 1998. For some reason he was easily infected by attitudes. Notice I didn’t say effected or affected. It was infected. He easily took in the disease that others offered.

The key moment of realization happened in a Church Board meeting about 4 months into my new stint as Pastor. The agenda was on the table in front of the folk sitting in the Board. It was going to be a fairly light meeting and I was excited to have the group that was working with me.

We sailed through the meeting and were approaching the adjournment when it happened. It came completely out of the left field and hit me like a Ton of Bricks.

One dear brother carefully began his comment/question with well chosen words. “Pastor, I don’t know if you are aware of the rumour that is been circulating through the church? It is being said that you have been teaching the Youth from the Satanic Bible… and I wasn’t sure what to say to the person that told me that???”

Before I could respond and in my total shock to such a statement, another Board Member responded, “I have heard that too from about three very different people. I didn’t know what to say either.” Others in the room had heard it as well.

So the Board Meeting that we had sailed through was not over. For two more hours we went over and over the very silly statement – but the very damaging statement that was circulating like wild fire in our church.

For non church people this will look like a really big non issue for people that you have nothing to do with. But for a Church Person this is something that is terrible. How could a MINISTER in a CHURCH teach from the Enemy’s book!!!!? God help us… what has this man done!!???

Yep these were the thoughts of many dear folks that believed Brother Babble and Sister Squabble… they were married to each other.

Now to help you understand how wild this statement was to everyone in attendance… it was equivalent to telling us that the Fire Chief was playing with matches in the Fire Hall… and teaching the Teenagers how to burn it down!

You see the Pastor of a Christian church is not to teach from a Satanic Bible. But making that statement was tantamount to a heresy charge. I could have been burned at a stake in the old days with even a small suggestion that this “might have happened”. The desire for purity in the Body of the Church will do almost anything to keep it clean… including the burning and destruction of people deemed UnHoly!

A Pastor with that kind of label is as good as dead. I knew it. This was terrible and as it was questioned in that Board Meeting I nearly died.

At that point there was no way to trace it back to a source – or even begin to imagine why it was started.

I had spoken to the Youth Group one night about the power or control that the Enemy has over you if you are not careful. I shared a story or two that demonstrated how dangerous the Enemy can be… and in the meeting were two Youth that had been deeply involved in Satanic Worship.

Linking that all together and catching only some of the account, mixed together with a few nasty Adults that had made it known they were out to get the Pastor and have him removed from the church… and you have a problem.

I had entered the Church leadership role with a 97% confidence vote. Now 4 months later I was being grilled by people that were supporters but didn’t understand how bad this was. They were floored by the anger that had already surfaced. Now the new Pastor was faltering at about a 51% vote… or less… with all the questions generated by the Distracters.

Mr. Nasty had left the church in a big huff at the 3 month mark… with him went Ornery and Feisty along with Miserable – 4 people that had the power and the ability to infect others. Mr. Nasty had contacted Brother Babble and Sister Squabble and told them the basic story. B&S then bolted with it. Within days they had told 90% of the congregants what a rotten Pastor they had.

We didn’t know all that in the first very long Board Meeting dealing with this statement. It never came out until about three Board Meetings later when the truth was revealed about Mr. Nasty, Brother Babble and Sister Squabble together with Ornery and Feisty along with Miserable.

Was it over at the 7th Board Meeting? Nope. The same stupid rumour was still circulating 10 years later when I retired. In fact it was still there one year later just before Brother Babble died.

Distracters are there for one reason… to Distract whoever will listen.

I stated at the beginning of this piece that our Prime Minister Stephen Harper needed to hear this. Maybe he will or maybe he won’t. I don’t know.

This week one of his Distracters surfaced again asking for clarification of the Prime Ministers stand on his stand on Abortion and the women’s health issues in the developing world.

Now his Distracter, Michael Ignatieff, never used the word Abortion, but the Newspapers easily interpreted his words. Newspaper headlines blared the raw fact of Doubt for the Religious Freak of a Prime Minister and his weird followers….

Now no one ever said that… or those words… but the feeling was there.

The Distracter has worked well again. And for days to come the opposition can ride the rails on this one. They have an audience – and that is all that they really want.

In Canada we do abortions. We have fought over this fact and tried hard to settle how we deal with this – whether we are against it or for it. It is an unsettling issues when it rears it head again.

Michael Ignatieff, grabbed it by the hair and dragged it up again. Thanks Mikey… good job. In my mind you’re right up there with the best of the Mr. Nasty, Brother Babble and Sister Squabble together with Ornery and Feisty along with Miserable.

I almost believed in what you were saying… but now I simply avoid you. You are a Distracter that has one thing in mind – YOU!

I think that I am like a lot of other Canadians. We are tired of self serving and very stupid leaders that keep trying to be the best Distracter ever!


Come on – get your act together!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

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Source
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=2529719
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Ignatieff+step+with+there+consensus+abortion/2531333/story.html