Kairos humor and Sacramento Presbytery

After having posted the summary of the Sacramento Presbytery meeting in the posting below, as I was putting it on Twitter I saw something on Twitter that really surprised me—because it was on Twitter. This is how Sacramento Presbytery too often functions—this is the pain that is growing in our Presbytery, perhaps across our denomination. This is the statement I saw:

“Ivan Herman ‏@ivanherman [he is a pastor in Sacramento Presbytery]

Lunch with today with a lesbian pastor. At the table next to us sat the 2nd loudest anti-gay elder in the presbytery. #kairoshumor”

There really are no anti-gay people in our Presbytery; rather there are those who understand same gender sex to be sin. And we believe biblically,  as Christianity has for 2000 years, that it is improper for those who call sin 'okay' to be pastors or ruling elders. Not sure who the loudest elder is—but the person Herman is referring to as the 2nd loudest is a friend of mine. I know that because I know he had lunch there that day, since a former pastor of Fremont was also having lunch with Herman.

I am aware that many in Sacramento presbytery do not understood that homosexuality is a part of humanity’s broken condition which Christ wants to forgive and heal. Although I will not be with them—I believe it is a good thing that Fremont Presbyterian Church is moving to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. They still will not have peace in this world but they will have peace in their new denomination as they worship Christ and serve their community for his sake.

Notice, using what is called a hash-tag (#), Herman puts “Kairos humor” with his tweet. But it is certainly not Kairos humor if one is thinking of the Christian understanding of Kairos. That would tend to be God's appointed humor. Perhaps he intends the original Greek meaning. Wikipedia, speaking of Aristotle’s rhetoric, states this:

Kairos is, for Aristotle, the time and space context in which the proof will be delivered. Kairos stands alongside other contextual elements of rhetoric: The Audience, which is the psychological and emotional makeup of those who will receive the proof; and To Prepon, which is the style with which the orator clothes their proof.

Then perhaps the psychological and emotional make-up of those who will receive Herman’s humor, their Audience, would undoubtedly be anti-orthodox—and, of course, the style that Herman uses, the To Prepon, is absolutely not Christian, (since it insults another person). 

Believe me, one cannot stand for biblical truth in this presbytery and not be slandered and even hated. Please pray for us. Pray for everyone here that Jesus Christ and his authority as Lord will have sway in our hearts and life.