In the 1980’s the AIDs virus was
causing a great deal of fear in the world.
There was no cure for it, there was nothing that could hinder it once a
person was infected.
The Rajneesh were very much
concerned about it. On the ranch they
had spray bottles of disinfectant everywhere – they would spray a phone and wipe
it down before picking it up, and then spray and wipe down the receiver’s ear
and mouth pieces to insure they were sterilized. Door knobs, window latches, anything that a
person might touch, cough or even breathe on were sprayed and wiped.
When we visited we were advised
to use those precautions. I would watch
as every time they picked up the phone, opened a door – even if they were the
last person to use it – they would go through that cleansing ritual.
I am told Rajneesh often spoke
of the threat in his daily teachings to the followers.
How much of it was paranoia; one
of the allowances of the Rajneesh was to have sexual encounters with multiple
people so there was some danger of acquiring it.
And how much was a genuine fear
could be answered by Sheila’s attacks on some of the followers that were trying
to supplant her position with Rajneesh.
During the criminal
investigation we found a series of housing units which were separated from the
rest of the housing units on the ranch.
These structures were occupied by Rajneesh followers who had been told
they had the AIDs virus. These were
enemies of Sheila who were supporters of a faction trying to lessen her
influence on Rajneesh.
They submitted to the isolation,
even though they couldn’t be part of the commune’s communal activities, because
by being on the ranch they were close to the Bhagwan. They later found out that none of them had
the virus. Actually, when you think
about Sheila’s abhorrent behavior, it is a wonder they hadn’t been infected by
her.
Taking advantage of the fear of
the virus wasn’t limited to Sheila’s enemies at the ranch. She decided to create problems for the
remaining non-Rajneesh residents of Antelope.
Sheila and her gang had
purchased a number of dormitory type cabins from another cult in Montana. They were brought in and placed on property
within the City of Antelope.
Originally it was thought that
they would be placing the street people, who had been brought in to overload the
vote in November 1984, in them. But they
were not used for that purpose; instead they just dropped the homeless off in
Madras, The Dalles and Portland.
However, a more nefarious idea
was being concocted by Sheila and her minions.
While the city itself has a
small population, the property within the city limits is quite extensive. Knowing that and that the county couldn’t
interfere with the city (unless it was proven that the city officials were
corrupt – something I had begun working on) they decided they would have an
AID’s colony in Antelope.
The summer of 1985 they came up
with the idea that people with AIDs needed a place they could go, since most
citizens wanted them isolated to avoid being exposed to the virus.
Sheila made a big deal about how
they were going to set up medical facilities and invite anyone with AIDs to come
to Antelope and live there. The Rajneesh
would be providing free medical assistance to these patients – in Antelope.
It was a credible threat based
on Sheila’s past behavior. She was very
spiteful. This kind of false compassion
to help people, when in reality it was to intimidate and scare people, was a
favorite weapon of hers.
They never brought in
anyone. I am not sure they ever intended
to or if it was just another thing to provoke the local citizenry and get them
to move out.
There were still a few people
living in the town that were not Rajneesh and I was getting reports from them
that the Peace officers were harassing them by putting spotlights in their
windows late at night. They were
following them anytime they left their residence making them feel
uncomfortable.
If we could get enough evidence
we could charge them with official misconduct and I had a couple of citizens
keeping track of the dates and times of the incidents. We were going to try and make a case, but the
Rajneesh group disintegrated before we could do anything.
2 Kings 5:15-19 And he returned to
the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he
said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel:
now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy
servant.
16 But he said, As the
Lord liveth, before whom I
stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he
refused.
17 And Naaman said, Shall
there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth?
for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto
other gods, but unto the Lord.
18 In this thing the
Lord pardon thy servant,
that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he
leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down
myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in
this thing.
19 And he said unto him, Go
in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
Naaman was, of course, grateful
for his healing. While he acknowledged
that God was the reason for it he wanted to honor Elisha with money and
goods.
As I read this I believe that
Elisha knew that to accept the gifts would cheapen the healing. Naaman was genuine in his desire to honor God
by giving to Elisha.
However, there is danger in
giving something to a man of God – instead of to God. We may think it is the same, but there is a
difference.
I do not have a problem with the
‘Christian handshake’ where someone gives a minister a few dollars this
way. It is meant to assist them, to
build them up.
On the other hand if we start
rewarding our leaders with gifts of value, without going through the Church or
their organization (the Billy Graham Crusades come to mind) then there is a
danger they will believe their actions were the reason, that they deserve that
money.
It can hinder their
ministry.
The other danger is how their
‘organization’ works. We have seen too
many television evangelists, as well as others, who had control of money coming
in and misused it for their personal gain.
The organization should be set
up in such a manner that the leader is not the one to make the primary decision
in using money coming into to his organization when it comes to his
remuneration. There should be a board
made up of Christians who prayerfully make those decisions.
Why we give and how the person
receiving the gift perceives it is extremely important.
Are we giving it to the person,
or to the ministry – it may or may not be the same thing.
Is he accepting it for the
ministry, or for what he can attain for himself. It doesn’t have to be personal wealth per
say, it could be the pride of being able to point to the funds and in effect
saying ‘look how great I am.’
Ministers, evangelists or other
men of God are not the only ones that need to be sure their heart and motives
are pure before God.
The rest of us can fall into the
same kind of trap. We need to understand
why we volunteer for certain things. It
is to get the slap on the back and being told we are a wonderful person?
Is it to be used as a step-up to
something ‘bigger and better?’
Or is it because we feel we are
being led by the Holy Spirit and we are doing this without hope for recognition,
only results in the lives that we are working with?
Pride is a dangerously subtle
thing. We may start out for the right
reasons, but we find that doing so is good for our egos, it gives us the
recognition from others that we start craving.
We begin to think that we
deserve that recognition, we deserve the kudos for spending our time that way,
and before we know it we are serving for the wrong reasons – and we will talk
more about that tomorrow.
Elisha knew the danger of
accepting a gift based on what God had done and put God first. He could have told Naaman to give it to the
temple or some other organization, but I believe that in doing so he knew Naaman
would have somehow perceived it as paying for his healing instead of receiving
it as the gift of God that it was.
God’s gifts are not for
sale.
Mathew
10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise
the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely
give.
‘freely
ye have received, freely give.’
When man uses God’s gifts as a
showpiece to obtain recognition for his actions he is no longer serving God, he
is serving himself.
I have been there. Sometimes I find myself still there. It is
not a good place to be.
We need to search our hearts on
a regular basis. We need to re-commit
our life, daily, to God and serve Him, not ourselves.
Later, Art :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment