The Bishop and the Stolen Bling

 

                                         Bishop Whitehead reenacts the Sunday morning robbery

 Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.” 

The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.

Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”

                                                Mark 10:21-25 The Message

Through the years I wondered more than once what would transpire if someone had entered the worship space during a service and was aggressive, or demanded money. In the States there are congregations which have armed security on Sunday mornings, which is such a sad commentary on a gun-crazed society. 

A few weeks ago a flashy Brooklyn New York pastor was robbed, mid-service by three armed gunmen: 

Bishop Lamor Miller-Whitehead was live-streaming his Sunday sermon at the Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches in Brooklyn when he asked his congregation: “How many of you have lost your faith because you saw somebody else die?” 

Moments later, three masked people armed with guns entered the church, according to police. “All right, all right, all right,” Miller-Whitehead said as he got down on the ground and lay on flat on his stomach, according to clips of the incident, which was captured on the live stream. One of the intruders stood over Miller-Whitehead, appeared to take objects from the pastor and walked off with them.

Okay, the dramatic theft is a big-time story, but the next part is the shocker. The thieves stole jewelry from the "bishop" and his wife valued at a million dollars, US. How is that for bizarre? I wear an old Seiko watch and a couple of rings, but that's it -- hardly a big haul. What pastor/priest and spouse are wearing a fortune in bling. 

It turns out that the bishop has a suspect history which includes a theft conviction and lawsuits for money owing on construction projects. Some have wondered whether the holy heist was staged for an insurance pay-out. His response is that the devil didn't want him in the pulpit so sent the robbers. Plausible? 

All I can say is that Jesus may love this dude but he may find it a challenge to get into God's kingdom, especially if he's behind bars. I do feel a Netflix series in the making.