I just got off the phone with one of the elders, and I wanted to set a few things straight.
There are problems getting in the way of reconciliation on both sides of this issue, no matter who is in the wrong or in the right. In fact, the whole issue is much more complicated than good guys and bad guys. We're witnessing a disagreement between multiple good guys that has gotten way out of hand because even the most righteous of the Children of Light is broken and vulnerable to failing to live up to what kind of person he will be when sin is dealt with by our Righteous Judge and Loving Father.
We all want Karius back, and its difficult for us to see good intent on the behalf of the leadership without access to all the information they have. It's also difficult to assume the best because the situation was handled by imperfect people imperfectly, and we only see the outcome, not the intent.
As a former bomb-thrower, I hope my words have weight when I say that if we want to get Karius back (or at least to reach a satisfying resolution to this situation), the roadmap to that outcome is not to voice our rancor on these boards, which Rob Anderson (a great man of God) so generously provides free to an often ungrateful fan base. The path to a Godly outcome is the same in this situation as in every other troubling situation within the Church:
1. We search our own hearts for what we may be doing that contributes to the problem and ask the Holy Spirit to help us deal with our own sin.
2. We assume good intentions in the hearts of our Brothers in Christ.
3. We recognize that when a Brother is behaving in a fashion that does not reflect our Savior, it is because there is pain or spiritual attack at work in his life.
4. We allow our hearts to be broken for what This World is like while the Enemy is its Prince.
5. We pray for the Kingdom to come in the life of our hurting or afflicted Brother as a foreshadowing of when Jesus returns to earth to take back the Throne he allowed Himself to be deposed of because of his love for the rebels.
6. We give thanks that the Lord Most High is in the business of fixing things and leaving them better than they were before they were broken and is inexplicably interested in our individual lives.
7. We trust our Master to deal with his other servants in the way he sees fit, because it is a better way than how we would do it if we were in charge.
8. We ask the Great Physician if there is anything we can do to participate in the family business (see 6). If so, commit to do it to the best of our abilities. If not, to be fine with that.
I appreciate your outpouring of encouragement for a good friend of mine. I would prefer that future expressions of support not be cheapened and tainted by being mixed with attacks against other friends of mine. If I've blessed you in any way through our interactions facilitated by this incredible game and community we all love, I ask you to do this as a favor to me.
We'll get through this and come out better on the other side if we yield to the Spirit that is of God rather than our own spirits which he is not yet finished perfecting.
