At New Life Church Kelowna it is the power of forgiveness that we need. There are many people who are in pain. Leadership is in pain because they made a very difficult decision to terminate the working relationship with the founding pastors of the church, Wesley & Stacey Campbell. (see Joint Public Statement) The Campbell's are in pain because the decision came as a shock to them and dashed their hopes for an apostolic ministry (see Be a Hero) based out of the church. The congregation is in pain because the Campbell's were the vision carriers for the ministry of New Life over the past twenty years and it is a great loss to see them go.
I am feeling the pain not only in sympathy with the church, the leadership and the Campbell's but it reminds me of past wounds I have suffered when relationships failed and I had to part company with people and organizations.
My first ‘power’ position ended in dismissal when I was fired as the Executive Director of the Central Okanagan United Way in April, 1989. I had just returned from a two week vacation after twelve months of very hard work planning and conducting the fund raising campaign for the organization. I knew something was up when I heard a message on my answering machine summoning me to the office of the Director of Personnel. I was not to go to work. I had to go straight to that office. Once at the office I was told that the 21 member Board had taken an executive decision in an emergency board meeting and that my services as Executive Director were no longer needed. I was escorted to my office, handed a file box, asked to gather up my personal belongings as my escort watched and then escorted off the premises. I left my workplace in tears feeling completely undone and destroyed by the whole experience.
My feelings ranged the whole gamut. I was mad at myself for not seeing it coming. I was mad at the Board for the callous way they handled it. Most of all, I was mad at God for allowing me to experience such a painful event. In my pain I cried out to God, “What do I do now?” His answer was “You forgive them, Michael!”
What? How could I forgive such a huge bunch of hypocrites? After they had hurt me so badly? No, I was going to sue them to kingdom come! I was going to get justice! I was going to make them pay for their dastardly deed!
Then I realized that it was not the volunteer Board who would be paying damages to me but the United Way agencies I had just worked so hard to raise money for. No, I could not sue them. Yes, the really courageous thing to do was to forgive. So that is what I did. I wrote the Board a nice thank you letter for letting me serve with the organization. I included a cheque for the upcoming campaign. I even went as far as to voluntarily sit down with the new ED when he arrived and do an orientation for him for the campaign.
Forgiveness is not about pretending what happened was not wrong or hurtful or unfair. Forgiveness is a choice one makes to not hold it against the person, people or organizations through which that pain came. It is choice to take the hurt, the bitterness, the offence, the evil out of circulation. It is a choice to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile. It is a choice to drink the cup of pain and bear it in love.
I wish I could say that, like Job in the Bible, God restored to me everything that I lost through that experience. But to be honest I have really struggled with disappointment with God over it. This was partly because I felt I was answering his call to go to the United Way and serve there. How could God have set me up like it seemed He did?
The answer to that question is found in a very difficult place. It is found in the pain. For it is in the pain that I learned the power of forgiveness. Yes, it was a difficult time, but as I walked in that forgiveness and released my emotions to God, I was saved from anger and bitterness and I was able to bless my former employer and get on with the rest of my life.
New Life Church Kelowna including Wesley and Stacey Campbell were a big part of helping me make the transition. Their prayers and ministry sustained me through that difficult time. In fact, it was a course on leadership given by Wesley that I attended several years after my dismissal that inspired me to uproot my family and travel to Zambia for a missionary experience there. (See If Mission is What the Local Church is There For, New Life Church Kelowna Serves as a Model). From that experience, came a micro enterprise organization called The Christian Enterprise Trust of Zambia. CETZAM continues to operate and provide jobs and economic resources to hundreds and thousands of poor Zambians.
From my pain came empowerment for the poor in Zambia. There was a moral to my story and there is a moral to the ongoing saga at New Life. From my experience of pain at the
From the pain and grief of the loss of relationship at New Life, it is my hope, that there will come good fruit both for the
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24)
In conclusion, consider the tragic story of Atlanta Thrashers hockey player, Dan Synder who was killed in 2003 when his teammate Dany Heatley lost control of his car in an accident. At the funeral, the family released this statement.
"We are all human beings. We know we all can make mistakes. We want you all to know we do not lay any blame on Dany Heatley for the accident that took our son from us. Dany is a good person and no one feels more sorry for what happened than he does. Forgiveness is also a part of being human and we know there is nothing to gain from harbouring anger and resentment toward others. We are here to support him through this difficult time and know that he, too, is hurting so much."
For additional insight into the power there is in pain, the Henri Nouwen Society has just released a tenth anniversary edition of the book, Can You Drink the Cup? With a Foreword by Ron Hansen. Also, Henri Nouwen’s book The Wounded Healer is available for inspiring stories as to how to find healing power through personal woundedness.
For a great exposition on Mark 10:35-45 listen to N T Wright’s message on Jesus, the Cross and the Power of God.
One Blog that mentions the present situation at New Life:
Brother Maynard at http://www.subversiveinfluence.com/wordpress/?p=849
