The Violence of Rumors

A few years back I was part of a group that took some gigantic steps to establish a home for men coming from prison. It was designed as a “transition house” and finally named “New Beginnings”. Men were having great difficulty finding lodging as they left prison and tried to make their way in this community. The group is Peterborough Community Chaplaincy.

We believed in what we were doing. The miraculous way that the house came into our ministry confirmed the good idea was being assisted by God – no not assisted – completely guided by God. The results have been amazing.

This however was not without great difficulty. Within a day of the announcement that the house would be used for helping men from prison – a sign appeared on the front lawn of the neighbor. The sign was a 4 foot by 8 foot piece of plywood with red paint sprayed on the surface declaring that “Ex-Cons coming next door”. To say the least it was unkind and horrible.

If you lived in Peterborough you will remember the weeks following being filled with rumors and stories that raged. The stories and rumors arrived at our city hall and even our politicians became involved debating things that they did not understand.

Sadly it hurt people deeply.

Rumors do that easily. They are like knives that are not sharp but do great damage. Imagine your surgeon doing a fine operation on your body with a rusty old jack knife that can hardly cut a stick – let alone your skin. The healing and pain afterwards will be long and difficult to say the least. It is a wound not an operation.

Coffee Shops are filled with rumors in our area. It is a regular meeting place for local people. Without reservation or hesitation you can share a recently heard rumor. The rumor you are sharing need not be verified or substantiated. If it is repeated by a “friend” – it just has to be true.

In recent weeks new rumors have started to fly. The rumors involve our church and its death. People in coffee shops and places of great power are talking of the complete closing and destruction of Northview church. We are now two weeks after our announcement of a cut back in staffing and also the early retirement of the Senior Pastor(me).

At this point I assure everyone that the church is not closing – nor was that ever considered! It is another “Peterborough Rumor” shared in Coffee Shops and over telephone conversation.

As a pastor I had heard of the rumors as much as 4 months ago. A fellow pastor had come to my office to tell me he had heard the church was for sale. That was February or March. He was attending a conference in Hamilton, Ontario and some fellow ministers had told him they had heard and that they knew the Northview Church would soon be for sale. His church needed new facilities and maybe they should make the approach before someone else did.

Rumors. Wow. They scare the stuffing out of you. They can make you do some really silly things – even illegal things! They make people act weird and even make decisions that will affect their relationships for years to come. Worse yet – when the rumors are about you and you start to believe them – you are in real trouble.

The very best example for this kind of thing happened to the Children of Israel as they left the country of Egypt under Moses leadership. Moses had chosen 12 men to head into the Land of Promise and take look at what they were going to see and take over. The 12 men returned with two reports. 10 men had frightening reports of Giants and very strong cities and opposition and horrible possibilities. 2 men had a completely different report. There was some truth in what the 10 had said – yes…but this truth was mixed with their personal fears of the worst case scenarios their little minds could brew on the way home.

The end result of that adventure can be read in the whole book of Exodus. Because they listened to rumors and then believed them, they walked for 40 years in a Wilderness Experience…until all the people that believed the rumor died along with the 10 men that had started it.

God is not impressed with rumors. Rumors with him are lies. And lies started by even the best people are dealt with harshly. They die in the Old Testament…and even in the New one.

In our city it is usually the Newspaper that gets the ideas confused and mixed up. They tend to follow rumors and then report what they feel would be good press… and good rumors sell newspapers.

A few years ago with the “New Beginnings” house episode we saw the crisis that the community felt tear the heart out of people. What isn’t widely known about that episode was that it was a large number of “church people” that kept sharing the rumors…half truths…silly stories…and downright lies!

Yes all of these rumors nearly scared the daylights out of our caring community. None of the rumors were true – but they were great Coffee Talk!

Just after we had to make our decision to cut back at our church I took a step to help the Christian Community and the Pastors of the churches to know what was going on at our church. Carefully and resolutely I worded a letter to my fellow ministers so they would know the truth.

Just as I suspected the rumors are flying among the church people now. Our church is closing. We are dead. The Northview Day School that uses our facilities is also closing on the horrific day of June 22nd! Parents are calling the Day School asking why they have not been informed of this terrible decision. Whatever will happen to their children without the day care they get?

As recent as this past Sunday(the day the all Christians “share” stuff)…we had a rumor passed on to us that it has been confirmed by our head office of our church that Northview is closing. If it came from that source it HAS TO BE TRUE! WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS GOING ON? (read that last line with a scream!).

The one rumor that has not surfaced yet has two parts… one is that Murray Lincoln is dieing and two that the Lincolns are in terrible trouble personally. Ooops – I just started another one….darn.

The fact that the Lincolns are healthy and happy – looking forward to retirement with some hesitation of any couple our age and our limited resources… isn’t considered yet. But that isn’t as good as a rich rumor full of “GOOD CHRISTIAN “*&%$” RUMOR”.

Yes I get a little perturbed with some of my delightful Christian friends. But then Joshua and Caleb must have wanted to scream too.

The Newspaper hasn’t called yet…maybe this week. The St. Alphonsus church is losing their Priest, Father Paul Massel as well. The Bishop has sent him packing to Cobourg. He is highly loved and greatly respected here. The Bishop must need his head read. Are they in financial trouble too….? Maybe there is a problem with relationships? Darn rumors never stop in Peterborough….

Did you hear that Pastor Frank is taking a lot of trips to other parts of the world? Their church has financial problems greater than ours. One person thought that Pastor Frank and Maureen may be going to an African Country to teach.

Did you hear that Pastor Karl is in trouble too. Retirement is coming for him too. He doesn’t know if he will stay in Peterborough or not…after all he is an American and he will likely head home too. Is that this year or next? I will have to ask about that one….

And the best one is about Pastor Lloyd… he has been here in Peterborough the longest now. It is rumored that he has run out of sermons – nothing new and nothing fresh. He has refused to go to Sermon Central on the Internet and get any new sermons. Rumors are his people are tired of the same old Bible Based sermons each week. Rumors are he may retire too.

That is only three rumors about three guys I know a little bit about. Now you should hear about the Presbyterians, the Salvation Army and the Anglicans…Holy Mackerel you wouldn’t believe what is happening in those denominations…! But then did you know that in Peterborough there are no Holy Mackerel – only Wormy Cod – but that is a rumor too.

Oh – by the way… the dude that put up the signs in front of his house telling about the “Ex cons coming next door” – is now a supporter of the New Beginnings house… and he is doing what he can to help the guys next door.

Retirement looks good….. I am starting a rumor today. Murray Lincoln is having the time of his life. It is better today than it was years ago when he started. And rumors are he is going to tell all about the real truth on June 22nd. Don’t miss it! He will be telling it all…rumors are he will talk about many of you….!

And….if you pass on one of these rumors – God will likely be visiting you to ask why?

(With Thanks to Norman Rockwell)

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~