Shaun Groves
It never fails. A day or two into a blogger trip that e-mail arrives in a blogger’s inbox.
It calls motives into question: You just want everyone to think you’re so perfect.
It plucks scripture out of context and refashions it as a weapon: Jesus said we’ll always have the poor.
It belittles: You’re just a tourist taking pictures of poor people like they’re animals in a zoo.
It waters worries: I’m glad you’re there and not me. No way! It’s too dangerous. I couldn’t do it.
It creates anxieties: What if something happens to you? What about your children?
It makes accusations: You’re just thinking about yourself. Your family is suffering back home so you can take a vacation??
When that e-mail arrived in Angie‘s inbox I got mad. She wasn’t taking it seriously. She laughed it off. But I got mad. Not only do I consider Angie a friend now – and you best not mess with my friends – but I have a theory about what these e-mails really are.
There’s a little known story in the Old Testament about a priest named Joshua and a prophet named Zechariah that e-mails like these bring to mind. One day Zechariah is given the ability to see the unseen. He sees Joshua the priest standing in conversation with God. But Joshua and God aren’t the only ones in the room. Beside Joshua – on his right side – stands Satan speaking into Joshua’s ear.
Into Joshua’s mind is coming truth from God and lies from Satan. More specifically, Satan is accusing Joshua. The word used for Satan in Zechariah 3:1 means accuser.
Why accuse Joshua? Maybe because Satan knew what Joshua was standing there for. He was standing there to hear an important message from God. And whenever a message of importance is coming in from God, Satan, I think, likes to mix a little untruth with it, a little fear and reservation, a whisper of accusation and confusion.
I like Angie a lot. No one has ever made me laugh so hard – most of the time at myself. No one has captured better with words the power and purpose of what Compassion is doing in the lives of children. No one has ever made me feel more guilty about going to sleep before they did!
I like her a lot. But I’m not claiming she’s some sort of priest. What I am sure of is that God wanted to speak to her and through her last week in India – and that goes for the rest of us too – even those of you who read our words every day from the other side of the world. What we did last week was receive and send an important message from God: God so loves the world.
So the Accuser sent some e-mails.
That’s one theory.
Another theory is that some people are just mean and stupid.
You take your pick.
Jared Wilson says:
Can I vote (c), all of the above?
Lindsay says:
love it, love it, love it. that was fantastic, my friend. keep listening to the “right” ear!
Melissa Fitzpatrick says:
Grin.
Loved this post.
Michael says:
Satan at work, or just ignorance… doesn’t matter. We need only keep our eyes on our gracious God, and listen to Him alone for guidance.
I was inspired by all the bloggers, and am grateful for the time you gave to all of us away from your families!
Anna says:
Wow! That’s pretty powerful! I really liked this post.
Liz Reeves says:
I’m with the first commenter. I’ll take C–all of the above.
Tim Bailey says:
As a blogger who seems to receive my share of these kind of emails, I appreciate your sentiment. The last time someone gave me the “poor will always be with you” line, I reminded them of the context: Jesus was letting the people know that the poor would always be there TO FEED WITH THE MONEY FROM YOUR EXPENSIVE PERFUME. sheeesh.
Lisa Martin says:
C) All of the above!
Compassion dave says:
But God uses the mean and stupid: Joseph’s brothers (and me) come to mind.
Ron Woods says:
I choose to believe that the accuser chose to send emails through mean and stupid people. So I straddle the line.
But hear this clearly. Every time you step up to the plate in obedience to God you are going to get “shot” at. Count on it. 2 months ago it happened in a literal fashion to a good friend of mine. His name was (IS) Fred Winters and a mean and stupid person listened to the accuser and shot him dead in his pulpit. THAT, friends, is what can happen when a mean and stupid person listens to the whispers of the accuser too long and too diligently. I trust your mean and stupid person will never do that. But every person gets to choose. Do you listen to the whisper of the Holy Spirit who clearly tells us to “Go…” or to the whisper of the accuser who clearly says to do whatever you can to destroy those who are going. Sometimes physically and sometimes emotionally. So Shaun … don’t ever stop calling mean and stupid by it’s first name. I’ve never met Angie or, for that matter, you. But I know a brother when I e-meet one and I know “stupid” when I hear it. You are a brother … and you have been attacked by stupid.
Turn the light on it and let it go, bro.
Stretch Mark Mama says:
I like Angie too.
Although I wish she would color-code her posts in my reader–“green” for “be prepared to laugh” and “red” for “be prepared to ugly cry.”
That is all.
pendy says:
I have to agree that the correct answer would be (c) all of the above. Also, I admire what all of you did last week but at the same time I know you are human with human weaknesses, just like the rest of us. That makes me appreciate your time in India even more. Thank you.
Amanda says:
Even Elisabeth Elliot talked about this after her husband Jim was killed and she wanted to go back to work with the Auca’s. She talks about it in The Liberty of Obedience. People questioned her motives, her intelligence (for wanting to take a 3 year old into the jungles of Ecuador), etc.
The story is not new. What always surprises me is the way Christians like to “eat their own.”
Robyn (3GirlsMom) says:
Mean and Stupid.
And apparently REALLY STUPID for attacking Angie. I mean, I’ve never met her, but from what I can gather, she’s the NICEST PERSON EVER.
That is all.
Christine says:
Absolutely unbelievable…how anyone could read any of the bloggers’ posts from India and still manage to come up with tripe like that is unfathomable to me. The only explanation I can come up with is Satan. Satan helping mean and stupid to thrive. Something tells me that little Mohit thinks Angie is perfect and that he was delighted to have his picture taken with her. I would imagine his opinion is the one that matters most.
Albert says:
First off, cool Twitter message linking to this post. =)
But for either of your two theories, my answer is—yes.
There is a good mix of both Satan and mean/stupid people in this world. And one can definitely pose as the other.
Kristie Wooten says:
I pick yes, and yes!
It’s dangerous to have children’s ministry people following you on your blog & twitter…In the words of the Donut Man,
“….Forty years went by,
And everyone who doubted died.
The Promised Land is shut to those afraid.
With Jericho in sight,
God will show us how to fight!
Joshua and Caleb lead the way!
Ten said, “No! There are giants in the land!”
Two said, “Go! God will lead us by the hand!”
Ten said, “No, we’re afraid as we can be!”
Two said, “Go! God will give us victory!”
Thank you for going, Joshua, Caleb,
Angie, Shaun, and crew!
Profbaugh says:
Angie ROCKS!!!!!
Mean people and satan SUCK!
And before you take offense at my comment, hey at least I’m praying for the mean people.
Satan on the other hand. . . . . just sucks.
~Cheryl
TransitionGirl says:
probably the writer is jealous. and afraid.
MamasBoy says:
It sounds like somebody is feeling guilty and convicted, and sadly isn’t dealing with it in a healthy way. I feel sorry for the author. Such bitterness must be a terrible burden.
deirdre says:
right on Shaun. and I am so very glad that Angie was able to laugh it off. good for her.
Kacie says:
Shaun, I so appreciate you and this post. I appreciate that you are passionate and unapolegetic, and I don’t get the feeling that you are at all trying to be cool and trendy.
And then – you are unafraid to fight when something is worth fighting about.
And this is. Because… what that person said is untrue. And Angie is amazing and how she followed the call of God to India for His glory and the love of His children is awesome… and anything that discourages those goals is hindrance.
Kelly @ Love Well says:
I sometimes wonder how miserable you have to be to write an e-mail like that. Pretty miserable, I would guess. And angry.
It’s such a stark contrast to the joy we see on the teams’ faces.
pete wilson says:
I vote mean and stupid and I don’t even really like Angie.
Pete/Sparkle of Nature says:
Something very similar happened to David Kuo after Compassion’s 2008 Uganda trip. He told about it in his July 21, 2008 “J-Walking” blog, titled “I’m not the devil.”
A few excerpts: “Several months ago someone accused me of being the devil [or certainly one of his minions.] The accusation was that I was using [the plight of the Uganda children] as a way of getting more people to read my blog – that my selfishness knew no ends.”
That comment gave David a lot of trouble. He stopped writing for a while. It took him a long time to think it through, and to finally decide “I’ve got to write…I will.”
Keep writing, Angie. And Shaun. And everyone who gets comments like that.