Thanks to anon for pointing me to this article in today's Washington Post, which reports that Shiloh members filed a lawsuit yesterday seeking to remove their pastor, the Rev. Wallace Charles Smith.
Interestingly, the article quotes Smith as saying "The New Testament prohibits Christians from taking other Christians before secular magistrates . . . Bible-believing Christians know and understand this. Our attorneys are reviewing this suit, and we will not comment further until we meet with our legal counsel." I have serious doubts about his understanding of the New Testament if he thinks that it forbids Christians from ever utilizing the court system to hold other Christians accountable. While I think the dissident group is probably not a neighborhood-enhanging sect (seeing as Sammie Ellis is associated with it), Smith's apparent use of the Bible to condemn actions against him which are rooted in accountability makes me think that maybe he does have something to hide.
5 comments:
I don't agree with their interpretation of the New Testament, but the passage I think they're referring to is from Matthew 18:
If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Thanks for the scriptural context, Brian!
Granted I'm an outsider looking in, but it seems that the folks bringing the lawsuit have tried to avoid the courts and have attempted direct, internal confrontation to no avail.
Speaking of those hypoctites at Shiloh, what's the latest with the QOS liquor license battle? I heard there was some recent developments over on offseventh blog, but no follow up with details.
If I were the judge on this case I would throw it out. How much more of people's valuable time does Shiloh want to waste? ABC hearings/protests, chiming in on the Sunday double parking issue, and now after all of that the same base group of instigators who had Rev. Smith up on a pedestal are trying to have him removed? Can any court, media outlet or blog actually take this crap seriously?
Where does Rev. Bowen stand on the lawsuit issue I wonder.
The pending QoS liquor license protest is not Shiloh's: Shiloh was unable to get seated to protest formally (Rev. Bowen argued before the ABRA for Shiloh to be able to protest QoS, but the ABRA rejected his argument and refused to seat Shiloh for want of standing). I think the hearing is coming up soon; fingers crossed for the Queen!
smith has turned out to be a big disappointment. under his leadership there has been no change in the neighborhood around shiloh. the EarlyBird Barbershop's roof caved and forced the closure while wallace smith was leading the church.
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