Promises Pt. 03

Chapter 7

Trial Day 5

Your ideology is not how you can use your church to serve God, but how you can use God to serve your church.

Janine emerged from the bedroom, bleary eyed and still half asleep to be greeted by freshly brewed coffee, toast and a choice of cereals. "Hmmm, this is nice. Thank you for last night, I just needed company, I'd almost forgotten what company without any sexual involvement was like, it was nice."

"It's I who should thank you, I'd forgotten what it is like to be close to someone like you and not feel that I have to perform, not that the thought didn't cross my mind for a second or several."

"And you did nothing about it, what strength. That's more than I can say for some people."

"Such as?"

"Pastor Fenton. When he found out about Matthew and my relationship he wanted the same attention from me. I wouldn't do it and he's not happy about that, but then he's besotted with Cynthia Mayotte so he's not game to push the issue in case I tell Matthew about his feelings for Cynthia. This leads me to another question, why are you being so nice to me, after all I am on the other side."

"That doesn't give me a reason not to be nice to you."

"You're not married are you?"

"I was, but that ended some time ago, not very well as it turned out."

"What went wrong, if you don't mind me asking?"

"That's okay, I can talk about it now. We had different spiritual beliefs, at least I didn't think we did but she was convinced of it. Hers were supposedly stronger than mine and she saw my lack of strength as a weakness in me. I, on the other hand, felt that she was being manipulated by her church and felt powerless to change that."

"That experience doesn't have anything to do with why you are so hard on Matthew would it?

"Don't let anyone try to convince you that you are a dumb blonde. You are pretty astute, as well as just plain pretty."

"If I didn't know better I would say that you were hitting on me."

"If you were available I would be, but you aren't and I won't do anything to jeopardize your future."

Janine looked at him with a sad, far-off look in her eyes, "What future?" She whispered.

*

The person seated in the vehicle a hundred meters from Henderson's house woke with a start. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Janine's car still parked outside the house and Henderson's still in the driveway. They hadn't left yet. His thoughts were racing; did she spend the night with him? If so did they make love? What did they talk about and how much had she told him?

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Henderson's front door open and Janine emerge. She walked briskly to her car and, as she unlocked it, her hand was raised slightly and an almost imperceptible finger wave was directed towards the man watching through the slightly parted curtains.

Paranoia set in; a traitor in the ranks. Could she ever be trusted again? A quick photograph, taken with a telephoto lens, for evidence, along with a general photograph of Henderson's house, and the driver left.

He stopped around the corner and was on his mobile phone. "I've got some good news, complete with photos. Janine spent the night with Henderson, and she was very friendly, if you get my drift, when she left. I'll get the photos to you ASAP."

Fenton smiled as the call ended. "Got you, you sanctimonious bastard." He said out loud to himself.

*

7:00am and the Shining Light Christian Church was a hive of activity. "We have a problem." Mayotte said.

"What sort of a problem?" CC Jones was leaning back in his chair drinking a paper cup of coffee that he had bought on the way from his hotel.

"My wife, Cynthia, somehow found out that Janine and I were, how can I put this, more than just friends."

"Ah knew it! I could tell just by looking at the two of you yesterday that you've been humpin' her. Hell man, don't worry about it! You ain't the first preacher man who let his pecker get him into trouble and we all survived."

"But I bet they weren't in the middle of a court case like this when it was discovered."

"You'd probably win that bet. Don't worry about a thing Buddy Boy, that's why CC Jones is here, to paper over the cracks."

There was a steady stream of people coming and going from the church, some stopped to wish Mayotte well, but the majority of them went into the auditorium where the prayer vigil was in full swing. The 'prayer warriors' were in full cry and the auditorium echoed to the loud sound of 'tongues' and the responses from the small but vocal crowd of 'Awesome prayer Brother!' and 'Praise the Lord!'

Meanwhile in Michael's temporary office he had some interesting news. "You know that young lady that the owner of the restaurant mentioned last night, well, as we already know she is his Personal Assistant, and that's not all, she has a past! Before she started work at the Shining Light Christian Church she was 'on the game'. She worked as a stripper and table top dancer at a popular male 'restaurant' and, it seems as if Mayotte was a regular, and it also seems that she provided extra services for him!"

"What? How did you find all this out?"

"I asked Bill to check her out and he had already recognized her from the TV news. He also frequents those types of establishments, and as soon as I asked him to check her out he told me all. Apart from that, she told me."

"Wow! Yesterday when you were going through all the 'Woes' you seemed to emphasize the word 'hypocrite' more than necessary. Are you psychic or what?"

"Down boy. This sort of information has to be used with discretion, if we use it at the wrong time it could blow up in our faces. We also have something of a problem involving her, Janine was sent to my place to seduce me so that we could be caught at it and blackmailed into backing off."

"What? What happened?"

"The troops arrived to find Janine and me fully clothed and having a pleasant cup of coffee. I sent them crawling back to CC Jones with the message that we're not that stupid. Janine did however spend the rest of the night with me, and before you ask, we did not make love, but we did have an interesting conversation."

The media was full of the news that a person had been held over the firebombing of Henderson's office and particular emphasis was placed on the allegations that the person was connected with the Shining Light Christian Church.

Mayotte was smuggled into the court house through a rear entrance and avoided the inevitable confrontation with the media. His lawyer issued a statement to the effect that Pastor Mayotte decried the use of violence in any form and expressed the view that he could not be held responsible for his followers taking the law into their own hands in order to protect him from the unjust accusations before the court.

Henderson, in his confrontation with the media, stated that he could understand the level of support for his opponent and that this could lead to irrational acts, but the law is there to protect lives and property, and the law must be prosecuted fully or anarchy would prevail.

"Where were you this morning?" A concerned Mayotte asked Janine as she sat in her usual seat behind him.

"I slept in and didn't have enough time to get to the church before you would have left so I came straight here."

"But those people who went to Henderson's place to close the trap told us that you were there with him having coffee as if you were the best of friends. Tell me that wasn't so."

"It was so. Henderson is a lot smarter than you give him credit for, he saw right through the plan straight away. We were just discussing the case and what was likely to happen, that's all."

The court was called to order and Mayotte took the stand again, but this time he was thinking not about the trial, but about Janine and Henderson. Could he trust her not to betray them. His attention was abruptly brought back to the matter at hand.

"Pastor Mayotte, yesterday we explored the way that Jesus criticized the church of his time and the apparent close parallels between that church and yours. We touched briefly on the problems that Jeremiah faced when he stood up to the leaders of his time. Today we will examine Pentecostal ideology. What is the basis of that ideology?"

"To preach the word of God and spread the great news of Jesus Christ to the unchurched."

"I think not! The ideology is to use the Christian faith as a method of making a great deal of money for your church. Your ideology is not how you can use your church to serve God, but how you can use God to serve your church."

"How dare you! How dare you make such an evil accusation! I am not here to be constantly abused by your criticism of my faith, my obedience to God and Jesus Christ! I am here to do His work! Not be subjected to your abuse!"

Henderson was taken aback by the vehemence of his outburst. Someone was behind this, he looked around the courtroom and caught sight of CC Jones seated a couple of rows back with a self-satisfied look on his face. So the big guns had been coaching their man, let the battle be joined. Henderson quickly scribbled a note for Bill to check up on CC Jones, "Pastor Mayotte, you claim that your ideology, your raison d'être, is to do the work of God, do you not?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

"Yes you did, I just wanted to hear you say it again because it will be the last time it will be believed. Tell me Pastor Mayotte, you insist on your followers paying a tithe, is this not true?"

"Of course! It is Scriptural, therefore we insist on it."

"I think that it is time for another lesson in Theology, Pastor Mayotte. Now you claim that the precedent was set way back in the time of Abraham when he gave a tenth of the spoils of war to the priest king Melchizedek, is that not correct?'

"Yes."

"Now this mysterious king doesn't make another appearance until the New Testament, in Hebrews. Why, if he was so important, would you think that is the case?"

"I don't know."

"Let me enlighten you, Pastor Mayotte. Melchizedek was a priest king, and one that Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim churches, looked up to. He was positioned at a higher order than Abraham because he had no father or mother, no genealogy, and would remain a priest for all days like the son of God, or so we are told in Hebrews. He was above Abraham who was the patriarch of the physical order of Israel. And there was a good reason for this, and that was the Levites, the priestly tribe of the Old Testament, and descendants of Abraham, were there to administer to the physical needs of the children of Israel. They were in charge of the temple where sacrifices were made for the physical benefit of the people, they collected a tithe, not of money, but of the fruits of their labour, from the children of Israel that allowed them to care for the widows and orphans, the lame and infirm, those that couldn't look after themselves."

"So, when Abraham gave to Melchizedek he was giving directly to the spiritual God and for God, not to the physical church of God, for the church of God."

"Now we come to Jesus, the Messiah, the spiritual Messiah, come to care for our spiritual needs. He is likened in Hebrews to Melchizedek because of his status as a priest of a higher order than the Levites. If Jesus, our spiritual leader, is here to minister to our spiritual needs, we no longer need to collect a tithe to care for the physical, because that is being administered by the authorities."

"This spiritual, not physical aspect of our relationship with God is further emphasized in Hebrews where we are told that the old laws, the old covenant, failed because the children of Israel did not remain faithful to it. Because of this God proposed a new covenant that will be an internal one with each of us, not an all encompassing external covenant. We are told; 'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.' What we are being told here is that the church was disobedient so God had now decided to do away with the church and that the relationship between himself and us was to be a personal rather than an institutional one."

"Similarly he tells us that the rituals of the church had little effect on us as individuals, 'This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the consciences of the worshipper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings - external regulations applying until the time of the new order.' They were external shows that had little effect on cleansing the heart and soul of the individual. The liturgy of the church is, according to this Scripture and you are obedient to all Scripture, is redundant, un-necessary, an entertainment with no spiritual benefit. The cleansing of the heart and soul of Christians is through Jesus not the church. According to this Scripture Pastor Mayotte, you are out of a job, you are not needed by God to talk to us, or by us to talk to God."

"The role of the church in society has changed. It no longer has the primary responsibility of caring for the widows and orphans, the lame and infirm, that role has fallen to the government, the authorities put in place by God according to Paul's letter to the Romans, and they collect the tithe in the form of taxes that enable them to administer that role. So the reason that the tithe was collected in the Old Testament no longer exists in the life of the church."

"That is not to say that the church doesn't have a role in that area, it does, or at least it should, because that is a demonstration of the unconditional love that Jesus asks us to show, but what it does mean is that there is no scriptural validity, for the continued use by the church, of citing Old Testament Scripture on tithing to justify the collection of money, unless of course that social welfare agenda exists as a primary motivation in the life of the church."

"Much more appropriate would be for the church to take up a collection on the basis of monies needed to administer the church and its works, and to set out, so that everyone understands its purpose, what those works are and how much money goes to them. Transparency in all things is what is necessary, so that the church doesn't find itself in a situation similar to the one that we find ourselves in now. For a church to do otherwise, to insist that it has the right given by God to collect a tithe is nothing more or less than a deception against God and a deception against the people of God."

"Now back to the matter in hand. What about those among your followers who struggle to meet that commitment, do you allow them to pay less?"

"No, the endurance of hardship only strengthens their love of God."

"Of course you, in your luxurious house, and your above average salary would know all about hardship, wouldn't you? Do you tithe Pastor Mayotte?"

"Of course."

"What percentage of your available income do you spend on life's luxuries like food, for instance?"

"What are you getting at?"

"I would like you to consider an example. A person whose only source of income is Welfare payments and who is living in rental accommodation has an excess on his disposable income of about ten dollars per week. His tithing is calculated at twenty five dollars per week. If he paid a tithe, as you request, he has a negative disposable income. Do you think that is fair?"

"We all have to make sacrifices."

"But some have to sacrifice more than others eh? And you are totally obedient to the tithe laws?"

"Yes, it is God's law and I obey God's law."

"Even if you were told that you don't have to?"

"By whom?"

"Well Paul tells us that, as we aren't Jews we are not bound by Judaic law."

"Where does he say that?"

"You obviously haven't read, or at least absorbed, Paul's letter to the Galatians. But then the Pentecostal Church would not highlight any Scripture that doesn't agree with their selective ideology, their instant coffee theology. What would you say if I were to tell you that several times in the Bible we are told that if a person could not afford to pay the full tithe they should pay what they could afford?"

"I know of no such Scripture."

"Of course not! The Pentecostal movement, while espousing strict Scriptural adherence, is guilty of very selective adherence indeed, they totally ignore any Scripture that doesn't agree with their ideology. Pastor Mayotte, as an example of your strict adherence to the tithe laws can you produce figures, can you produce your church accounts, that can demonstrate to this court that ninety percent of the money you receive in tithes goes to the welfare of the widows and orphans, the lame and infirm, the homeless and deprived of our society?"

"No. Our money is spent in the service of God! We are good stewards of his finances. Not one cent of His money is spent on personal gain! How dare you question the Shining Light Christian Church's handling of the finances given to us to do God's work!"

"But according to the Scriptures that you hold so dear to your heart, only ten percent of the monies collected is supposed to go towards the running of the church. No, I am not critical of the money that you use to do God's work, because there isn't anything to be critical about."

"Almost all of the money given to your church is spent on the pursuit of power and wealth, the maintenance of your luxurious lifestyle, the glorification of greed. It is used for the continued pursuit of the latest technology so that you can entice more poor flies into the spider web of your greed. Would it surprise you to know that one of the most influential organizations in your part of the small 'c' christian world, which has an annual income of around $170,000,000, spends some 60% on the maintenance of infrastructure, keeps some 33% as net profit, yet only spends around 3% on caring for the less fortunate in its sphere of influence. That hardly seems fair, does it Pastor Mayotte." Henderson didn't wait for an answer.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain at a gnat but swallow the camel.' Pastor Mayotte, I put it to you that you do not obey the tithe laws, your church has no social welfare agenda, no commitment to help the helpless, clothe the poor, to provide housing for the homeless. You are disobeying the God of the Christian in favour of obedience to the God of the world, greed."

"That is not true! Some of our members are involved in the School Breakfast Program, some help out in a Soup Kitchen."

"Your members volunteer their time, big deal! It costs your church nothing! Not one red cent of your church's massive income is spent on these initiatives! Your church, as an organization, has no formal social welfare agenda, does it Pastor Mayotte?"

"No."

"Tell me Pastor Mayotte, the suit that you are wearing, how much did it cost you?"

"I'm not sure exactly, around five hundred dollars I think."

"Was that wholesale or retail?"

"Wholesale." Mayotte mumbled indistinctly.

"You bought your suit wholesale for five hundred dollars or thereabouts." Henderson spoke with a clarity that made Mayotte squirm in his seat. "Now if the retail mark-up is around one hundred percent, let's see, Pastor Mayotte your suit cost more than a week's wages for many of your followers, those on welfare get around a quarter of that, and you feel that you are not ripping them off! Get real! And when you bought that suit, and the many others that you own, did you factor your saving into your tithe?"