Promises Pt. 02

"It's easy for you to be critical, I bet you don't do all that much for these people."

"Again, Pastor Mayotte, it is not me who is on trial here, but if you must know more about what I do for the less fortunate then I suggest you ask someone who knows. I am not going to shout it to the roof tops. In Matthew it tells us that we shouldn't draw attention to our 'good deeds' such as the attention that you draw to your missionary deeds. If you are interested, contact my secretary and she will provide you with a list of what I do for these people. Now we move on to the next one. 'Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self indulgence. Blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.' That must hit close to home, mustn't it Pastor Mayotte?"

"Are you suggesting that I and my church are in some way corrupt?"

"Far be it for me, Pastor Mayotte, to suggest that you, or your church, are in any way corrupt. Heaven forefend that I should suggest that you or your church would in any way be greedy, self-indulgent and egoistic. Far be it for me to suggest that to you, and your organization, the appearance is more important than the fact, that spin is more important than substance, that you would be willing to compromise your faith to ensure that you maintain the right appearance. But the basic ideology of Pentecostalism seems to me to be just that, greed and self indulgence, the quest for wealth and power with little regard for the damage done in the process is fine as long as it looks good in the end. To paraphrase Gordon Gecko in the film 'Wall Street', 'Greed is God'! Clean the inside. 'Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside, are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.' Doesn't seem fair does it, Pastor Mayotte, that Jesus is having another bash at the teachers and Pharisees for paying more attention to the outward show of piety, does it?"

"We are a church of God! We obey the 'Word of God'! We obey the teachings of Jesus! How dare you come in here and suggest that we are in any way disobedient to God and our Lord Jesus Christ!"

"It would appear timely that I should remind you that it was Adolph Hitler who once said something like, 'A lie told often enough will be accepted as the truth.'? Now before you accuse me of calling you a liar, or a Nazi, I am not, although I believe that you have a very tenuous grasp of the truth, but having accepted the false teaching and told yourself often enough that it must be right, you are perpetuating an ideological falsehood."

"One more 'woe' to go, 'Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and desecrate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you testify that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue them from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell the truth, all this will come upon this generation.' You say that you wouldn't have joined with your ancestors in killing the prophets of the past, yet when someone speaks a righteous word that you do not agree with, you will persecute him in the temple, you will attempt to endanger his livelihood. In doing these things you will join your ancestors who you have condemned."

"Jesus condemned the church of his time for doing the very things that your church does. Everything that is done in a Pentecostal church is about appearance, it doesn't matter to you that what you do doesn't agree with Scripture, as long as it looks good. You speak in tongues. Not Scriptural, but it looks good. You require your people to be baptized by full immersion and emerge speaking in tongues, not Scriptural but it looks good. Your buildings are spectacular, your sound and lighting systems are state of the art, the money used to buy these things should have been used to do God's work, not Scriptural but it looks good. Even down to the 'concert' at the start of your meeting, that is all part of the show called church. Your church is pitched to the 'unchurched', those with no experience of the spiritual event that Paul encouraged in Corinth, an orderly church. To attract their attention you have to entertain them, forget about the fact that there is little scriptural relevance or validity to what you are doing, the 'God Show' you call church is nothing more than an entertainment, a spectacular event to make people feel good about themselves. Entertain the individual, boost the ego of the individual and then bleed the individual."

"If you were to look honestly at your church and compare it with the 'woes' mentioned in Matthew 23, you will see that you are doing just about everything that Jesus was critical of. That being the case, how can you call yourselves a Christian denomination when you are disobeying the very person you claim to obey?"

"The reason that Jesus died was not that he claimed to be the Son of God, or that he claimed to be the Messiah, there were others making that particular claim at the time. It was because he was critical of the church and its leaders. For that reason he was crucified, as a heretic, and you and your church are doing the very same thing that the church did in Jesus' time, if someone challenges you in any way they are convicted of heresy, they, if they are from your church, are ostracized, cast out, to you they are dead, in much the same way that Jesus was dead to the church of his time."

"The whole ideology of your church is not about altruism, as Jesus taught, but about egoism. It is not inclusive as Jesus taught but exclusive, you set yourselves apart from the rest of the world, from the rest of Christianity, by claiming that your fundamental ideals are the only ones to find favour with God. It is not about unconditional love as Jesus taught, no, if you were true to yourself you would see that it was about obedience to the rules of man, rules that you seem to make up as you go along just as the church leaders did in the time of the Prophet Jeremiah. And if anyone reveals to you the perfidy of your false teachings, instead of heeding that revelation and accepting it, you would kill, metaphorically speaking, the messenger, as those of old killed the Prophets who were doing the same thing."

"You would do well to look at the book of Jeremiah and compare it with your church. Here was a prophet of God who dared to tell the people of Judea that they had chosen false Gods, in your case the God of greed for money and power. Their leaders had shown themselves to be false, their laws were not the laws of God as they claimed, but their own. In your case you have chosen to teach a false doctrine. They had become corrupt, in your case you use deceptive methods to get people to give you money. They had indulged in apostasy, in your case you have abandoned the teachings of Jesus on unconditional love, justice and mercy, and inclusion, for one of conditional obedience to your rules, injustice, egoism, xenophobia and exclusion. That they had succumbed to self-deception, in your case you continue to believe that you are in obedience to the word of God when in fact you are not, you are in obedience to a distorted, mis-interpreted and false ideology. And what happened to Jeremiah? He was imprisoned for his troubles, and you Pastor Mayotte would do the same thing rather than face the truth of your wrongdoing."

Henderson turned to Judge Foley. "If it please your Honour, I request that we should adjourn at this juncture and continue this line of question in the morning. Tomorrow we will explore that false Pentecostal ideology in greater detail."

"I agree. Court is adjourned."

The court cleared in three distinct waves. The first to leave were the media, with deadlines to meet, copy to write, the print media almost ran for the exit. The television media were a little more sedate, there were lines to learn, makeup to apply, locations to find. The public gallery cleared in a much more sedate manner, its members deep in conversation. Some shook their heads in disbelief at the way that Henderson had hammered Mayotte all day, not letting go for one moment, giving him no chance to defend himself.

The third wave was the protagonists. On one side a level of confidence was evident by the animated way that Frank, Joan and Michael discussed the day's proceedings and the strategy for the next day. The other team was in a much more sombre mood, realizing that answers to the barrage of questions, the constant criticism, were few and far between and that Mayotte needed coaching, fast. Johansson, Mayotte and Janine left to face the media barrage that they knew was waiting for them.

"Pastor Mayotte, do you feel confident now that you will win?"

"I have God on my side, of course I will win! It will be a long and hard fight and battles may be lost along the way but God will triumph!"

"By God you mean you?"

"Don't doubt it for one minute!"

"What are your views on the criticism of Pentecostal ideology?"

"My opponent has only a superficial knowledge of the workings of God, what would you expect from an Atheist?"

"He was highly critical of your church in particular and the Pentecostal church as a whole, you don't think that there may be some truth in what he has said?"

"There is only one truth and that is the truth of God. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The word of God defines these truths and is in itself the truth! For any person, man, to question God and His Holy Word is to commit heresy on a huge scale, and the perpetrator will forever burn in the fiery furnaces of Hell!"

"So you are rejecting all of his assertions?"

"His assertions are those of a man who doesn't know God and, unless he gets to know God, and acknowledges Jesus Christ as his Saviour, he will not experience God's mercy and not find everlasting life." Mayotte had lost sight of the fact that this statement was exactly the stance that Henderson was critical of.

They eventually extricated themselves from the media scrum and headed for the Shining Light Christian Church for a review of the day's events. On the fringe of the scrum Frank and Michael observed Mayotte's media interview. "Do you know he almost started to make up lost ground until the showman took over. To brand me an Atheist just because I question his ideology was going a little far. Actually I don't mind it when he calls me an Atheist, in fact if he is an example of a good Christian then 'Atheist' is a badge I would wear with pride."

"But you're not one. You're a Christian and we should show a little charity towards him."

"We will. We'll toss him a life belt just before he goes down for the third time, but he must be made to suffer for the damage he has done to Christians and Christianity."

Mayotte had some good news waiting for him at the church. He had been looking forward to some relief with Janine but that would have to wait. "Pastor Mayotte, I'd like you to meet Pastor Calvin Coolidge Jones, the Senior Pastor at the Shining Light Centre and Religious Retreat in Georgia. Pastor Jones, this is our Senior Pastor Matthew Mayotte."

Jones thrust out his hand and grabbed Mayotte's tentatively proffered hand and shook it violently. "Pleased to meet you at long last Brother! I've heard some good things about the work that you've been doin' here and I came to thank ya for it. Brother Fenton here has brought me up to speed on how you all have been having a spot of bother lately. Well son, CC Jones is here ta help, and if'n we all can light a firecracker under a few tails, then we just might save the day for y'all. Now tell me all about it, from the beginning."

Mayotte began at the beginning as he knew it and when he got to the bit about the amount that the church was being sued for it drew a loud response from their guest. "Hooeee! That's a hell of a lot of green! You must have riled him something fierce. What is he suing you for?"

"He is claiming that we promised him that if he paid his tithing diligently his finances would increase seven fold. He has taken the amount that he claims to have paid us and multiplied it by the power of seven."

"Where did he get that idea from?"

"From us."

"And where in hell did you get that idea?"

"From you. I was in the States about ten years ago and went to a meeting at your church and heard you say it."

"It sounded good so you thought you'd use it, that right?"

"That's right, shouldn't I have?"

"Hell boy we were saying a lot of things back then that weren't exactly true!"

"How untrue was that?"

"You mean about finances increasing seven fold? Well at a stretch we could say it was meant to be true. If you take that passage from Malachi, about God's blessing pouring through the floodgates that is so dear to my heart, and combine that with seven being a great number in the scheme of things, and bingo! You have a seven-fold increase. I gotta admit it's a stretch, but like a lot of things it sounded good, like counting the number of times 'tongue' or 'tongues' appeared in the concordance and using that as a justifying statistic. It weren't true but it sounded great!"

"So where does that leave me? This guy Henderson has obviously done his homework and he's got me jumping in all directions trying to justify our position and our ideology. How can I justify something that isn't true?"

"Hell, boy! The best defence is attack! Attack him in court! Question his questions, question his right to ask the questions and attack his interpretations of Scripture! The Bible was the truth, is the truth and always will be the truth, that's your line. You just keep saying that and eventually he'll give up. If that doesn't work we have to find a fallback position."

"Such as?"

"We have ta find his weakness, a vulnerability that we exploit the hell outa. Find out why he's so hell-fired out to get ya, he must have a motive, it can't just be the money, although he is a lawyer so I guess it could be. Find out if he's humping some woman he ain't meant to be, or better still some man. If we can't find one, we'll give him one, we'll send someone to see him who he can't resist, and all we have to do is walk in and catch him at it, simple and sweet. If that don't work then we attack those around him and then he'll see eye to eye and come begging for mercy."

"I hope you're right."

"Worked just fine for me in the past. Now where can we find a suitable young lady I wonder? How about your young lady P.A. here", Indicating Janine, "do you think she'd do it?"

"I wouldn't ask her."

"Really? Looking at her, and you, I bet it wouldn't be the first time she did something for you above and beyond the call etc. What do you say Honey, would you do that for your Boss?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know! If you don't you'll be out of a job, you'll all be out of a job!"

"I couldn't ask her to do this!" Shouted Mayotte.

"Shut up! I'm not asking you. What do you say Honey?"

"I suppose, if I really have to."

"You really have to. Now I'm going to my hotel and have me some room service and a think about your problem. By the morning I should have a clearer picture of what we are up against. And I want something on the opposition, if you get my drift." He picked up his attaché case and walked purposefully from the room leaving behind him a state of confusion. If what he had just told them was true they really didn't have a leg to stand on.

Soon the only two people in Mayotte's office were Mayotte and Janine. She was just about to assume her usual position in this situation when he lifted her to her feet and embraced her. "Janine, Darling, I can't let you do this for me, I have too much respect for you to let you do it."

"But you know that I'd do anything for you, even this."

Her voice trailed off and she buried her head on his chest, tears leaking from her eyes.

"It won't come to this. It will be very much the last resort."

"Before I came here, when I was, you know, selling my body, I wouldn't think twice about doing this, and I know that I owe you so much because without you, your kindness towards me, I would still be doing it. But since I came here I have seen a new way of life, I feel at home here, I feel wanted here, I feel loved here, I feel your love here and I love you in return. I know that nothing will ever come of my love for you because of Cynthia, but you have my word for it, my love is only for you, and because of that, if you ask me to offer myself to another man to save your life here, I will willingly do it."

Mayotte held her to him and they kissed. They did more than kiss and it wasn't the first time that their relationship had progressed beyond kissing and oral sex.

It was around 7:30pm when Mayotte arrived home to be met by Cynthia and a cold shoulder. "What has kept you so long?"

"The meeting has only just finished, I came home as soon as I could."

"Don't lie to me! The meeting finished nearly an hour ago!" She didn't tell him that the reason that she knew that it had finished some time ago was that Fenton had called in on his way home. He had mentioned that Mayotte was closeted in his office praying. What he hadn't said, but the tone of his voice carried the message, was that there was a flexible interpretation to be placed on 'praying', Cynthia got his meaning.

"If I was to hazard a guess I would say that you have been with your, how would you describe her, your harlot? Your lover? Your concubine?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't come the innocent with me! I know that you've been having sex with Janine! Don't worry I won't make a big deal of it, right now," there was a menace in her voice that Mayotte had never experienced, "but if you don't stop it immediately I will tell the world all about it! Then see how long your precious church will last!"

They ate their dinner in stony silence. After dinner they sat and watched a couple of forgettable programs on television, in stony silence, before the late news came on. "I'm going to bed." Cynthia announced and from the tone of her voice it was obvious, even to Matthew, that she was not willing to share her bed with him.

The late news covered the trial in a sensationalized, and not very flattering for him, manner. It was obvious from the attitude of the reporter, the presenter and the commentators that they were all enjoying his discomfort. He couldn't decide whether they were genuinely hoping that he would fall, or that it was the famous 'tall poppy syndrome' rearing its ugly Australian head.

Mayotte managed to get some sleep despite the discomfort of the sofa and despite the thought of having to give up either Janine or Cynthia. It was a decision that he was not looking forward to having to make.

Frank, Joan and Michael had a much more pleasant evening, dinner at a fine restaurant, where they were able to talk quietly about the happenings of the day just past without being disturbed. They had the Maitre 'D' to thank for that. He recognized the names on the reservation and allocated them to a private room. As they were leaving at 11:00pm he waved the proffered credit card away. "This evening is on the house, the owner and myself look on it as our contribution to your cause, a token of respect for what you are doing."