BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… SEASON’S ENDS. One week ago, I was told to resign as Sunday School director, music leader, and deacon, of Smyrna Baptist Church by my fellow deacons after 16 years of Smyrna being my church home. The accusation (which was news to me) was occultism, heresy, and witchcraft. Appropriate for the Halloween season, I suppose, but I have not done any of those things.

Further, my friend, mentor, and pastor, Dale Grubaugh, was told to resign the same morning, under the accusation that he “knew I was committing heresy and did not stop me.”

I did not resign but — at the close of the meeting — stated I would take a break and they were welcome to replace my positions if they chose to do so. Examples of my “heresy” that were introduced at the meeting were my cosplaying with Celtic antlers at StateoftheOzarks Fest, my being friends with members of the metaphysical community, and the fact that a handful of paid StateoftheOzarks members are involved in metaphysical practices and post about their businesses on our paid business platforms. All of this has been public for many years.

I am a Christian. I have been a Christian since a decision I made when I was nine years old. I have taught with respect for my fellow Christians and have given service to the church I believe God had led me to for well over a decade. During all this time, no one from the church has come to me with any concerns about how I have been conducting my business, within or without the walls of Smyrna Baptist Church. They have always been welcome to do so and I have made that clear many times.

Worse, last Sunday, Dale was instructed by the remaining deacons to go before the congregation and lie. “Tell them this is a retirement and this is your idea. Tell them we had nothing to do with this decision.” The deacons told this to a man who was their friend, their pastor, and a man who has worked tirelessly to recover from what could have been a fatal stroke just a little over a year and a half ago, not to mention that this was just one week after they had been celebrating his 30 years of preaching and being a pastor for Smyrna. Rural churches have a long history of keeping their pastors and their families, if you will pardon the expression, “barefoot and pregnant.” “Preachers come and go, but deacons are forever,” is the unspoken sentiment, unspoken but not un-acted upon.

Since 2009, I have served the church with love and care, even while my non-Christian friends rolled their eyes and warned me of the hypocrisy of Christians’ “love,” which, they noted, was just code for conformity. “Not at Smyrna,” I would say, and I believed it. Through it all, Dale’s preaching never wavered. “Christ called us to love others,” he would teach over and again, “Not because they look like me, talk like me, smell like me, but because Christ loves them.”

While the Sunday School class I taught for many years covered all sorts of weird topics (I rarely used curriculum), I made it clear to everyone in my class they could ask me anything, challenge me on anything, text or message or call me afterwards and ask me questions. Not once did anyone come to me (prior to the surprise meeting last Sunday morning) or challenge me on my teachings even as as our conversations would occasionally veer off into the weird on topics like Bigfoot or Dogman or other things hypothesized to be in the dark Ozark woods.

Our Christian community has many choices to make as we move into the future. We may bow to the whims of the world and lose our salt. We may simply hole up in our own corners and create cliques where we feel comfortable and unchallenged, but no light of Christ may shine to the outside world.

Or we may ask the Lord to pour out His love through us, to those with whom we agree, to those with whom we disagree, and pray for His love to change things. My faith and my message remain the same today as it was a week ago, as it was a year ago, and I choose to remain unafraid of those around me, even as I choose to remain un-judged for my circle of friends. As the wheel of the year again turns, expect to see many positive things from StateoftheOzarks, as we continue to preserve and also celebrate our culture.

May God bless us all this Halloween.

“For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.” — Luke 8:17

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” — Matthew 18:15-17

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” — Exodus 20:16

— Joshua Heston, editor-in-chief, StateoftheOzarks

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