Hot Questions With Ice-Cold Answers

Antonio R. Ebangelista (A.E.) published a Q & A article with the title HOT QUESTIONS WITH ICE-COLD ANSWERS. In his attempt to justify his action that led to the current spectacle in the world of social media, where the image of the Church and its Administration have been tainted with malicious lies and baseless accusations, where INC haters have joined the INC Destroyer’s bandwagon bashing the Iglesia Ni Cristo members, left and right, here and there, and where some opportunistic news reporters and journalists have been using anonymous emails and unconfirmed reports to stir up controversy for their own fame and profit, A.E. presented this story.

Let me tell you a short story to answer that, there was a big storm and flood ensued, a man was stranded at his house. A rescuer passed by and told the man to leave his house while the water is just waist-deep so that he will not perish. The man answered and said that he has faith in God and that God will not forsake him and He will save him.

Then the water rose up to the second floor and a rescuer came with a boat and told the man that he was there to save him. The man again said that he has a mighty God who will save him. The water rose up to the ceiling, the man was already on the roof.

A helicopter arrived and dropped a harness to rescue him, he shouted with all his might that he has faith that God will save him. The man drowned to death.

A.E. presented this story to answer the question, “why don’t you just let God handle this problem?” This question arose when he opted to use the SOCIAL MEDIA in airing his allegations against the Sanggunian instead of reporting directly to the present Executive Minister of the Church, Bro. Eduardo V. Manalo. He claims that the “INTERNAL PROTOCOL” (which was, if there is a problem, you report it, the administration investigates and corrects the problem) has been desecrated by the same Ministers who swore to uphold it. Of course, that remains an allegation.

A.E. either did not know or perhaps knew but chose to ignore what loyal Ministers usually do when confronted with the same experience that is as if their voices do not reach the ears of the person who has the authority and power to justly decide on their case. Loyal ministers pray to God and it is to God that they cast their feelings of grief and cry out in anguish. They believe in the words uttered by David when he said “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread” (Ps. 37:25 NIV).

Having this firm belief, they commit everything to the Lord because they trust in Him. If they are really without fault and therefore do not really deserve the discipline that was imposed upon them, they believe that God will vindicate them someday so that their innocence will be revealed to everyone. It is the same trust in God that motivates them to wait patiently for the Lord to act.

“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it, and he will. Your innocence will be clear to everyone. He will vindicate you with the blazing light of justice shining down as from the noonday sun. Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him to act. Don’t be envious of evil men who prosper” (Ps. 37:5-7 The Living Bible).

This is what A.E. failed to do. Instead of waiting patiently for the Lord to act, he was so anxious in taking matters into his own hands, if we were to believe in his claim that no conspiracy was hatched early on when he started writing his blogs.

So what about the story that A.E. presented to justify his actions? First of all, that story did not originally come from A.E. Either he forgot to mention it or he intentionally did not mention it so as to attribute the source of the story to himself. Who knows, the story could have come from a person who does not even believe in God and yet, A.E. was quoting it to serve his purpose of defense. Anyway, even if the story comes from a person who believes in God but that story cannot match the story of Daniel. I know A.E. is well-versed with the story of Daniel for he claims to be a Minister of the gospel.

Daniel was wrongly accused by those who were jealous of him and so he did not deserve to be thrown into the lions’ den. Nevertheless, Daniel trusted in God and at the end, he was vindicated by God. God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions and so when he was lifted from the den, not even a wound was found in him (read Daniel, Chapter 6). Notice the action of deliverance and vindication came from God and not from Daniel himself. Daniel’s part was to trust in God and wait patiently for Him to act.

Remember the story of the three Hebrews namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were thrown into the blazing furnace? Notice their conviction and firm trust in God who will save them even if they are thrown into the blazing furnace because of standing their ground on what is right. And even if God does not save them, still they would not do something that is wrong and against His will. 

Again, notice the action of deliverance and vindication came from God and not from the three Hebrews. Their part was to trust in God and wait patiently for Him to act. So that when they came out from the blazing furnace, the fire had not harmed their bodies nor was a hair of their heads singed. Their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them (read Daniel, Chapter 3).

The point is, A.E. should have based his decision on these wonderful stories from the Bible about Daniel and the three Hebrews instead of a story he might have just picked up from the internet. If I may give an annotation to the short story presented by A.E., I would say that the man refused the help offered by the three rescuers because they were persuading him to go against God in exchange for a lifeline. The man chose to die while embracing his faith in God rather than live by going against His will. That is not an act of foolishness. That is called “faith” in God which A.E. chose ignore by taking matters into his own hands.  

A.E. further stated that “God works in different ways” and I agree to that. He also said, “let us not demand and expect God to come down on earth and literally fix these one by one.” Waiting for the Lord to act is not the same as demanding Him to come down on earth to literally fix the things that needed to be fixed. Just like in the case of Daniel and the three Hebrews, God sent an angel to rescue His people. But notice that the action of deliverance and vindication came from God and not from the persons themselves.

In the case of A.E., the action only came from him. But he might claim that God is just using him as an instrument like the angel sent to Daniel and the three Hebrews. Perhaps, that is exactly how his co-destroyers (not co-defenders) think of him but that is not the case. You may ask why. It is because the action of A.E. does not conform to God’s ways. What A.E. calls as “INTERNAL PROTOCOL” is not a mere PROTOCOL formulated by men but a PROTOCOL based on God’s teachings taught by Christ (Matt. 18:15-17) and the Apostles (1 Cor. 6:4-6).

But shouldn’t we appreciate A.E.’s concern for the whole Church regardless of his actions? Granting his concerns are pure and are really for the welfare of the Church, but they will never justify his actions. “The end does not justify the means,” so to say. Again, let me present to you a story, not from an anonymous source but from the Bible and I know that A.E. is well aware of it.

And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God (2 Samuel 6:6-7).

Uzzah had a concern for the ark of God (also called as ark of covenant). Out of his concern, he put his hand to the ark and took hold of it to prevent it from dropping to the ground. If that were to happen in our time and the story would be posted in A.E.’s Facebook page, perhaps many people (unaware of the what really happened to Uzzah) would be clicking the LIKE button and would share the story to many friends as possible. 

But wait! What happened to Uzzah despite his concern for the ark of God so that it might not drop to the ground and break? The Bible says, “Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error.” What was Uzzah’s error? Was it his concern for the ark of God? No. His error was when he disobeyed the strict instruction of God not to touch the things of the sanctuary which include the ark of God (Numbers 4:15). 

This is the same kind of error that A.E. has committed. He disobeyed the will of God and through his actions, if I may borrow his words, this well-respected Church of Christ, a global phenomenon of 101 years, has now been reduced, into a global laughing stock and made it into an object of resentment and contempt.

Lastly, I agree that we ought not to question God’s ways of cleansing His church to be worthy of Salvation, and we must not reject His ways JUST BECAUSE IT DOES NOT CONFORM TO OUR EXPECTATIONS. But A.E.’s way is certainly not God’s ways. And I totally question and even reject A.E.’s ways. Just like what happened to Uzzah, the Lord will strike him for his error.

Lowell Menorca: Ang Sagot

“We didn’t try to BURY you, because we know that you are WEEDS.”