When this story first popped 10 days ago, I had mixed feelings. I still do.
The basic story line, an LDS bishop went undercover as a homeless man and greeted people to give a lesson in kindness and acceptance of others. It's not so much the reactions of his congregants, that I consider the norm, I think what bothers me is that he "had" to do this to prove a point: "The main thing I was trying to get across was we don’t need to be so quick to judge." Musselman said he wasn't trying to embarrass anyone or make them feel ashamed of themselves, he just wanted to remind them to be kind to people from all walks of life every day and not just the holidays. But how pathetic is it that he needed to dupe his church in order to teach a lesson. It makes me wonder what he is teaching that this was necessary, or is it a matter of his parishioners hearing vs listening.
A second issue I have, if "we" were to re-visit Musselman and his congregation in 12 months, how much of change would we see? Christ was pretty clear in his message: "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matt 25:44-46, NIV) So why is this a "lesson" that had to be learned?
If we are a so-called Christian country there would be no homeless, no orphanages and free hospitals/clinics. Conservative Christianity is incompatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ, this bishop has taught his congregation an important lesson. But I wonder if their shame comes from the fact that their indifference was exposed for all to see, or if they woke up and were forced to look deep inside their hearts
I wont go far as to say that Mussleman played dress up and used the reality of other human beings pain and suffering to further his own interests or the agenda of his church. But I do struggle with his dressing up as a homeless person as being an offensive stunt. I would like to know what he will be doing to combat the issues of poverty and homelessness.
Mormon Bishop Goes Undercover as Homeless Man to Teach about Compassion and Gratitude | KUTV.com
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