Mormon Bishop Posing as Homeless Man Gets Shunned By His Own Congregation (Video)
by Bob Cull
David
Musselman, a bishop in the Mormon church, had an idea for an object
lesson for his congregation recently. He thought he would bring in a
disheveled homeless man and see how they would react to him. The
"homeless" man was the bishop himself. He enlisted the aid of a
professional make-up artist who did such a good job of making him "down"
that even his own wife and family failed to recognize him.
Last
Sunday, in his disguise, he attended the service in his church and was
surprised and disappointed to find that many in the congregation did not
practice what he had been preaching to them.
"Many actually went out of their way to purposefully ignore me, and they wouldn't even make eye contact. I'd approach them and say, 'Happy Thanksgiving.' Many of them I wouldn't ask for any food or any kind of money, and their inability to even acknowledge me being there was very surprising."
It
is truly sad that in this country today the reaction experienced by
Bishop Musselman is not an isolated incident, many who profess to be
Christians do not follow the teachings of the founder of their religion,
too often when they ask themselves "what would Jesus do" the answer
they give back to themselves is not the answer he would have given them
if they asked him what to do.
He taught that we should care for the less fortunate, not avoid them. They forget that he told them, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you
did for me." (Matthew 25:40). To them an unwashed and unkempt
homeless man is someone whose own moral failings are the cause of his
condition and he is therefore not worthy of their compassion.
While
his reception in general was saddening, what he found most distressing
of all was the fact that five members of the church actually went so far
as to request that he leave. What happened to the days when churches
posted signs outside saying that it doesn't matter what you are wearing
as long as you come?
Watch:
h/t: Daily Kos
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