The Rogue "pastoral" Team: Act Ten - To Disagree is Grounds for Dismissal

Start from Act One
Incongruous Circumspection was threatened by Mark and Annah's Henchman! 
Aww...the Henchman Apologizes...Sort of 
Mark Reid Tries to Preach Out of a Jam

In Act Nine we saw Mark and Annah Reid set themselves up as the mouthpiece...er...the hammer and chisel of Jesus Christ.  Obviously, the hammer and chisel are the most natural manifestations of Christ and they exemplify it to the hilt.  (Sarcasm anyone?)


Now, let's listen in and watch as Zach tries to ask some pointed questions.

*****

Zach: God gave gifts of pastor-teacher, okay, so that means you can shepherd, but little "s", you know, there's "the Shepherd", and if I don't hear the Shepherd's voice, then I'm going to talk against it.

Annah: You're going to talk against the leaders of the church?

Zach: Well, what's wrong with that if they're not speaking what God wants them to speak?

Annah: Um, you wouldn't be here. Because it says, "Mark those that cause division..."

One thing Annah has going for her here is that she is most definitely NOT prooftexting.  While she is only using a small snippet of the passage, she basically has the correct premise.  But she is applying it wrong.  The passage is speaking to ALL Christians.  The author of Romans is NOT talking to the leaders of a god club to tell them to make sure that there aren't a few people that disagree with them.
 

Annah Reid is being very smooth here.  Verse 18 says:

"For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive."

If you have read all the other Acts, wouldn't you agree that Annah is the subject of this passage?

Zach: Well, I'm not causing division, all I'm doing is disagreeing.

Sorry, Zach.  You lose.  To these control freaks, those two words have no distinct definitions.

Annah: No, that would be causing division to come against your leaders.

Annah.  That's NOT what Roman's 16 says at all.  Nothing of the sort.  It is NOT addressing followers of overbearing leaders.  Even if the leaders are not overbearing, to pretend this passage is implying that your way is the only way in your god club is like calling a pig a goat.  It's a lie.  I have to point that out because you're probably so accustomed to taking Scripture out of context to prove a point that you don't really know what it truly says anymore.

Zach: No, it's not.

Annah: Yeah...

Zach: Well, that's what it looks like, coming against leaders, but all I'm doing is disagreeing, you can take it that way...

Annah: No, you don't get to do that...

Zach: You can take it that way

Annah: That's not a culture of honor.

Huh?  A culture of honor? 

Translation:  Annah Reid can squish people like a bug and make them do anything she wants them to do.  She can yell them up and down and criticize them for the smallest infraction.  She can become embittered against them when they don't kneel down and kiss her hand when they see her in a restaurant.  And yet, if they put up a fuss, it isn't a culture of honor.

Hypocrite.

Mark: Are you talking of speaking to others or talking to to them about disagreeing about something?

Wait.  Who's Mark?  Hehe!!!

Zach: If we're talking about protocol here, and we're all trying to come to a decision on one thing, and I don't agree with it...

Annah: Okay, just say a 'for instance'...

Zach: Just the matter of who's on the team, and what their role is.

Annah: Who's on what team?

Zach: The worship team, and what their role is.

Annah: Who is the overseer of the worship team?

Zach: Well, ultimately I guess you guys are, so I really don't have a say in anything.

Mark & Annah: You have a say, but you don't get to make the final decision.

Does anyone remember Mark and Annah trying as hard as they could to tell Zach that HE was in charge of the worship team?  Then they tried to use some sort of jargonic pretzel definition of servant leadership to prove...well...nothing really, except to say that Zach was horrible at playing the part so wasn't ready to lead yet.  After it is all said and done, we're back to where they really want Zach - completely subservient, having no leadership abilities whatsoever.

Zach: Well then my say is nothing.

Annah: No...

Mark: That's not true.

Zach: ...'cause it rarely, if ever, influences your decision if I don't get any part in the final decision.

Warning!  Annah is about to speak out of the OTHER side of her mouth.

Annah: Well, and that might be your role (Zach: for 2 years, people... my role for 2 years!)

Zach: I mean, I'm seeing this hierarchy as something dangerous...

Annah: Zach! Did you just hear what I said?

Zach: ...if you guys don't agree with, like, a body of people.

Annah: Zach! Did you just hear what I said?

Zach: ...at your level!

Annah: Did you just hear what I said? That will be your role.

Zach: What?

Annah: You will do what we ask you and we will make the final decisions.

So, how exactly is Zach in charge of the worship team?  Why is Zach even necessary?  These "pastors" can get any monkey to run their show if that is what they believe.

Zach: You can say that, but there's going to be circumstance upon circumstance that comes up in the future, and that might not be a perfect, idealistic world for that.

Mark: Do you think we have a hierarchy here?

Uh....where's he going with that?  I fear a pretzel definition coming on.

Zach: Of course! It's very evident with the protocol.

Mark: Do you think there's something wrong with that?

Zach: Yeah, I wasn't able to minister where I thought would be an okay place to minister...

(Zach: I'm referring to an invitation I had received from a guest to Freedom Christian Center to go lead the singing at a gathering on a Friday a couple months earlier)

...And you had your input, and I had my input, and at the time, I was like, Okay, I'm going to submit, 'cause he's saying no.

So Zach was forbidden to go to a gathering of other Christians - on his own time - to lead the singing?  Does this not sound a bit concerning?  Maybe Jim Jones, Joseph Smith, David Koresh-like?

Annah: Barbara (Zach: the guest speaker who invited me) wouldn't have allowed you to minister had she known that somebody came in this door and asked you guys before she did, because she wouldn't come against our authority.

In Annah's world, everyone believes in this authority crap.  I bet Barbara would have gladly allowed Zach to minister to her gathering over the other one because Zach is just that awesome.  But, Zach's awesome-ness is of no concern to Mark and Annah Reid.  They only care about themselves.  Exactly what Romans 16 was warning against.

Zach: Well, anything, I'm talking about any way that I use my "gift" (gesturing quotes).

Annah: So you can't minister because people go like, "No!" They're honoring our authority. They're not going to let you minister because they don't want that spirit operating in their ministry (Zach: not sure which spirit she was talking about?)

Ok.  We'll just go ahead and ignore the tween language.  But, the question is asinine!  Annah Reid is asking Zach if he would shove his way into a gig when the person who requested his presence at the gig would receive an authoritative negative answer from Zach's "authority"?  What?????  If the idiot who asked Annah (keep in mind, nobody ever did) believed she needed to ask Annah, then OF COURSE ZACH WOULDN'T do it!!!!   Think about it.  What a stupid question.

Zach: That's not the purpose of it, though.

Annah: The purpose is submission, Zach.

Zach: I'm going to do things that I feel that I should do, and...

Annah: Well then maybe you're not supposed to be here.

*****

And we'll call that a wrap for Act 10.  As you can see, if someone even dares to think outside of what Annah wants, they shouldn't be a part of the "ministry".

Since I began this series, I have received letters and emails detailing the many times that Mark and Annah Reid (Annah mostly, as Mark is really just her puppet whipping boy) have excommunicated members from their "church" for merely asking questions.  People have asked for meetings with the "pastors" to talk about "issues" and are summarily dismissed before the meeting.  These two can do no wrong and wield the little power they have to much damage.

In Act Eleven, we will see Zach's response to Annah and watch Annah twist up another pretzel.  She may even teach us about how a business is supposed to be run.  THAT should be a juicy morsel!