Prologue Common to the Five Posts of Letters Written to My Church 2012-2019:

          I trust and hope that these five postings of the letters I have written to my church answer to a sufficient degree the concerns and view that my letter of September 2020, withdrawing my membership from the Evangelical church I attended for more than forty years, was a response on my part without understanding or thought based on scripture, without prayer, and without the leading of the Holy Spirit.  However, I think, all these letters as a whole, from 2012-2019, demonstrate a consistent loyalty to my church and pastor amid my growing concern for the spiritual misdirection and confusion, and the diminished focus upon Christ, His gospel, and prayer, that the multiple and cascading political pronouncements and preaching were engendering within the congregation and the church organization as a whole.  I further hope that apparent within the letters on my part, is also a consistent witness of Christ and of the centrality of His gospel and Kingdom, a display of the leading of the Holy Spirit, and a deepening commitment to the two great commandments of love of God and of neighbor, so essential and central to our Christian faith.

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Introduction to the First Letter of this Post

I wrote the first letter in this post to my pastor concerning a specific sermon – How God Restrains Evil in the World – Selected Scriptures February 22, 2015 80-419.  In my letter, I addressed the pastor’s assertion that the police possess the right of capital punishment. I also addressed the insertion, in the middle of this sermon, of a political campaign message supporting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reelection, a message designed to be broadcast on GTY in anticipation of the prime minister soon addressing the US Congress.  This portion of the sermon was deleted eventually from the video of this sermon and is also not part of the sermon’s published written text.  I did ask the church for a written acknowledgement of this letter, and I received a handwritten note from the pastor’s secretary acknowledging receipt.  

First Letter of this Post

April 10, 2015

Dear John,

I’ve attended Grace Community Church since 1974 and you have been my teaching pastor for all these years causing much growth and joy of the word within me. And over the years, I believe I have only written you twice before, no more than three times, expressing concerns about your ministry in the direction it was leading the church.  Again, after much prayer and thought I write for the same reason.

My immediate concerns center on your sermon when the church honored the local police.  I believe our police should be honored as they have a very difficult job within our nation.  And yet that very honoring carried messages covering political issues way beyond our local police and also contained what I believe is a very dangerous error in seeming to confirm upon the police the duty and power of capital punishment.  And this issue, of course, is the same central issue that is at the core of the lawful public protests against certain police actions; protests that you do not believe have a place in the political process in our nation or among believers, as stated by you, I believe, in a Q&A format in front of the church.

In the sermon on How God Restrains Evil in Society, when you spoke of the role of civil authority, you used 1 Peter 1:14 and focused on the word “governors” stating that these were leaders, used as a device of hegemony – influence or control of one nation over another – and then went on to name the US is having this over other nations but, also by referring to Prime Minister Netanyahu, included Israel, thus seeming to legitimize Israel’s continued control over the Palestinians.  The Prime Minister came to strongly espouse this view in his final campaign statements, which was actually a change of positions from statements in prior years, and then he repudiated and basically denied his campaign statements after he won reelection.

In your commentary on 1 Peter and in the Study Bible notes, this word hegemony was not used and so now, on the surface of it, your use of this word seems to be introducing a rather new application of the passage from 1 Peter.  And also, in your sermon, you seemed to deliberately leave the word morally neutral, thus basically endorsing hegemony without restraints, responsibilities, or limits.  And basically then, your support of Mr. Netanyahu’s reelection coupled with the practical implications of Mr. Netanyahu’s reelection campaign statements would have been to legitimize marginalizing the Palestinians (and Arab Israeli citizens) and depriving them of any hope of real economic, political, and social advancement.  Is this truly a righteous position before the Lord?  Politically even, is this the best way to ensure the security of Israel? 

Using scripture to preach these views from the pulpit in uncritical support of Israel – or more accurate, just in uncritical support of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reelection – damages any and all attempts to critically help the millions of Palestinians economically disadvantaged and politically and socially oppressed.  And, even more importantly for the church – or it should be – these views, which seem to support the continued oppression of the Palestinian people, diminish the church’s ability to preach in good faith the gospel to them and reach them for Christ.  Is the church trying to preach that the only or the best way to support the continued existence of Israel is to create a Christian theology justifying the oppression of the Palestinians?  The mandate to the church is to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”.  This all includes the Palestinians.  I strongly support the existence of the State of Israel, but I believe a much better, and definitely more Christian, approach to this issue must absolutely include a continuing economic, educational, and social growth, and the political stability of the Palestinian people.  It seems many Israelis also support and prefer this approach.

Now, I place no blame on Netanyahu for this particular political intrusion on his part into the church; he is an unbeliever and the consummate politician who knows how to use many for his personal advantage, and who is even demonstrably capable of playing even the U.S. Congress for a willing fool for his own political purposes.  It doesn’t get much better than that for any politician.  But why, and how, does he, as a politician, have such influence in the Evangelical church at large and at Grace specifically to the extent that he seems almost to have been able to order a sermon on demand to bolster his reelection?  I don’t know what this influence is, or where the true and primary source of all the political bewitchment at Grace is coming from, but something has, and is, going wrong within the church because of and through all of this influence and the willing compliance to its directives and suggestions.

In your comments directed towards the police gathered in the worship center, you said they were ministers of God and then went on to seemingly strongly imply that they wielded the God-given power of “capital punishment”.  This is a dangerous interpretation in terms of police, especially in light of all the problems and protests going on nationwide. The police in our nation, and in our state and city, have not been given and do not possess the power of capital punishment.  Their guns are for our and their protection.  They do not have the authority to execute.  The continuing view and opinion that some police by their actions have and are unlawfully executing is the generating issue behind the protests and legitimate national concerns.  The protests are against individual police acting as if they have this authority and then wielding it specifically against our fellow citizens who are black, from other minorities, or those individuals who are socially marginalized.  Our laws reserve the sword, the power of capital punishment, to the state and the courts – not the police.  Do you and the elders of the church consciously wish to teach that the police in our city have the right and duty of capital punishment?  Is this the message and practical interpretation you and the church’s leadership believe is so biblically based that it should go out from Grace church?  This is the message that went out that Sunday from the pulpit; should this message also go out on Grace To You?

And John, I know that nothing is done by accident at Grace, and so just based on the facts of the timing of the Sunday to honor the police and the various component messages in the sermon, it just seems that there was more to this event and the sermon than just honoring the police.  Obviously, the sermon date was great timing to get Netanyahu’s campaign message out, but also, it seems the sermon structure was designed to be able to be broken into Grace To You-size segments, thus being able to be used to target different audiences at different times for different purposes all within the context of honoring the police.  And thus, another even deep concern I have is that if all of this was designed to dovetail together, then was that Sunday really just designed to honor the police?  If all of that Sunday was designed together, then that seems to imply that the various messages were framed to fit within the context of honoring the police, thus all messages receiving greater credibility and authority because of the police presence.  I hope this was not the conscious original design of the sermon or even an opportunistic add-on for that Sunday, for if it was, then the church’s “honoring” then shades into a “using” of the police for other purposes – political purposes – and that, to me, is not honoring and not worthy of the ministry of Grace church.

And, so, my overall concerns are intensified by my lack of understanding, a deep puzzlement really, as to biblically why and how these political sermons can be preached being Spirit-led.  Now, I am, of course, aware of the loose and largely unwritten alliances between the conservative American evangelical church, conservative news and media sources, the Republican Party and various conservative political funds, but what I truly do not understand – and here, John, is my greatest concern for you personally – is why you seem so involved and bent towards this way as evidenced by other sermons and Grace to You efforts in support of various political campaigns and issues.  I don’t know who or what is captivating or influencing you – or even if you are being influenced as opposed to leading – but I do sense that if there is a source of influence, that source seems to be actively playing on and feeding on various religious, political, and social fears – some perhaps legitimate – and that then it is a very potent source of influence and control indeed.  I don’t know if you are a national religious leader behind much of this, or if you are, as I truly fear for you at times, being used by base and truly godless men for their own political and ideological purposes.  But whatever way it is, John, these political sermons and forays, in my opinion, have and will continue to taint your legacy of purely teaching God’s word.  These sermons do not further the gospel but, rather, they muddle and diminish the authority in your preaching and attack your credibility in trying to reach all of those who are lost.  I really struggle in my thinking, but I confess I am at a complete loss, in understanding what is the profit for you and your ministry, for the church, and much more pointedly for Christ and the gospel, in all of this.

I remember long ago you spoke from the pulpit of how Jerry Falwell had used on his TV show without your permission or knowledge a speech/sermon you had delivered, perhaps at Master’s College or at his church, and it seemed to me that you were grieved and taken back that he would so presumptuously do that. You were disappointed with his treatment and use of you.  And with this incident in mind, I am now I’m expressing my fears for you that you do not follow or allow yourself to be lead down Rev. Falwell’s path further into the political realm and thus further tainting your ministry and legacy.  Rev. Falwell is not remembered for the furtherance of the gospel, he is remembered for his political stances. Let your legacy remain as a preacher purely teaching God’s word and your continuing race only ran with a goal further stretching towards a fervent and pure love of God and His people.  Let not any debates or questioning from the world or from within the church be political debates, but rather let all debates only be to defend and further the gospel.  In my opinion, all this political nonsense is in every way only what Paul in Philippians describes as “rubbish”.

 In the deepest of my hearts, I do not and cannot believe that all the political agitation and falderal over the last six years at Grace church has been Spirit-led.  The Lord has not blessed these efforts; they have just led to further agitation and fretting and have caused some to stumble.  And I also do not know if there are those who are influencing you or encouraging you in this way, but if there are, I urge you to leave their presence and stop listening to them.  And also, I wonder at times, if there are others who speak into your life and heart with similar concerns as I have.  Are there friends, or some of the elders, or other companions in ministry who raise similar concerns with you?  Do you have in your life those who speak what they believe to be true without fear?  Do you have friends or associates who truly care for you in this way at this level?  I have no way of knowing the answers to these concerns and questions and, thus, I just continually pray and turn these concerns over to the Lord.

And, now, finally, I again want to reiterate my tremendous respect and appreciation for your teaching ministry in my life and again I renew my commitment to pray for you.  You have been an absolute blessing in my life; I pray that I may be at least a small blessing in yours.

Sincerely,

Chris Orozco

PS. I do not expect or need a response from you, John, but I request, and would greatly appreciate, receiving an acknowledgment that you have received this letter.  For you or your staff’s convenience, a quick acknowledgement can be sent to my email at email address.  Thank you.

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Last Two Letters of this Post

I wrote these next two letters to the pastor of a fellowship group.  In the first letter, I share some thoughts on a far-ranging discussion in class on praying for Christians under persecution.  With the second letter, I offer a different approach to a situation brought up that Sunday of someone holding a gun killing those who admit they are Christians.  On the second letter, the pastor verbally told me he liked my approach better.  

Letter on Praying for Christians Under Persecution

April 13, 2015

Pastor,

            Thank you for sending this information out.  I think it will be helpful for many with in our fellowship.

I did not have any questions to ask for the Q&A, but thinking about the questions later and then reading your teaching on the email, I did have one thought and this had to do with the question of praying for Christians under persecution and just praying for others.

Scripture is full of instructions on how we are to treat one another, praying for each other being one of them.  I believe we should fulfill Scripture in these injunctions and this would include praying for fellow Christians whether they are being persecuted or not.  However, embedded within the question on praying for persecuted Christians, is the even more basic question of whom we should pray for.  And here I think Scripture gives ample witness that we should be praying for all men – for all those created in the image and likeness of God without distinctions – and the how and what we pray depending on the circumstances and issues confronting any individual person or groups of people.  Our society is so riddled with an ungodly drive to make distinctions for political purposes, that, at times, I find this same thinking has also infiltrated within the church.  I have on more than one occasion heard others discussing whether to pray for a particular group identified as Christians by the world, but then deciding not to – and thus putting them out of heart and mind – because they concluded that a particular group were not “truly” or “really” Christians.  They thus made distinctions and a decision not to pray based on a judged imperfection of a Christian creed, as opposed to just praying for these persons and people out of a heart of compassion and concern.  And this decision not to pray for persons – men, women, and children – created in the image and likeness of God thus voids the possibility of prayer being offered for their safety, their lives, and their welfare and good, and then ultimately, prayer for their salvation.  With this type of thinking, with these types of decisions, one really has legitimate reasons to wonder whose faith is truly imperfect or deficient before the Lord.

It is the Lord’s stated will that all men be saved and there are no distinctions made as to persons in that will.  And thus, I believe that one of my Spirit-led roles in furthering God’s will in this area is praying for those created in the image and likeness of God without distinctions.  Covenanting before the Lord to pray for those created in His image literally opens up the entire world of mankind for prayer.  And then, instead of having to determine whether to pray or not for someone or some group, we just pray for those the Lord has brought into our path or view – and with modern communications, that path and view is broad indeed.  We should also just praise Him for the uniqueness of the opportunities He has given us in these times to both exercise our hearts in compassion and to pray always.

So, I just wanted to share this one thought with you.

                   Chris

Letter on Christians in Danger

October 20, 2015

Pastor,

I considered your comments on Sunday about the possibility of facing a gun and being asked if I was a Christian.  If I was in this situation and trapped, I know for myself that to answer and quietly wait to be shot would not be how I would want to respond with God’s grace.  If others were being shot and I was going to be shot – really regardless of the situation – my heart’s response would be to attack the gunman as viciously effective as I could, hoping and praying that my actions would either embolden others to also attack and/or provide at least a couple of seconds in which others created in the image and likeness of God could escape being murdered.  I want my testimony in this world as a Christian – and before the Lord – to be that I did not meekly submit to evil and that I went down fighting to save others and myself.  If I am killed, then I died sacrificing myself to try to save the lives of others.  I do not owe any crazed evil and murderous person anything, while on the other hand, I believe Scripture points me more towards doing everything I can to preserve life – including my own – and to do good – and in this scenario the good of trying to save lives – in the name of Christ towards those created in the image and likeness of God. 

I know this is a contrary response to the one you offered on Sunday, and I don’t know if others have also offered other responses, but I did want you to know that at least one other person – me – would hope not to respond as you outlined.

                         Chris

Footnote to Letter on Christians in Danger

In the background of this discussion in the fellowship group, and in the pastor’s response, was a building sense and expectation of a coming persecution of Christians – “true Christians” – that was spoken about from the pulpits and repeated among the congregation as a coming reality and as a rationale and motivation for action.   There also seemed to me a building desire among certain pastors for personal persecution by arrest and trial or some other means – the example of potentially being shot for claiming to be a Christian an extreme example.  The theoretically more attainable persecution was still glorious – public persecution and arrest for preaching and proclaiming, “God’s word”.  This rumor of persecution, basically viewed as a validation of righteousness and the truth of what was preached and promoted, was becoming a constant drumbeat at church and one that would continue to grow.

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Some of the Letters Written to My Church Subsequent to This Letter

Edit Post “Letters Written to My Church – 2017” ‹ Writing In The Shade Of Trees — WordPress

Edit Post “Letters Written to My Church – 2018” ‹ Writing In The Shade Of Trees — WordPress

Edit Post “Letters Written to My Church – 2019” ‹ Writing In The Shade Of Trees — WordPress