Opal’s Warning

Opal Covey is the cuckoo lady (and self-proclaimed prophetess) who believes God chose her to be the mayor of Toledo. Her campaign slogans? “Remove the curse” and “Opal Covey for mayor – a miracle worker.” She’s run for office 5 times now – and the election results are in for her most recent attempt…

She came in dead last with 1% of the vote.

Prior to the election, she was interviewed by the local news station. During the interview, she claimed that she actually won a previous election, but votes were stolen from her. Then she gave a warning:

“Great destruction will come upon… (speaking in tongues for quite a while) …Thank you, Jesus. That was a confirmation. If people don’t give me what I earned in 2013 back, and I’m not on that seat in November, then you’ll see God come and visit in the city in the greatest destruction you’ve ever seen.”

In a post-election interview yesterday, Opal said, “God has already told me if I wasn’t on that seat this time, that destruction is gonna come. And I’m standing back and I’m gonna let it happen.”

It seems rather obvious that she is conflating her own agenda with God’s. And it seems as if she’s going back and forth between speaking as Opal and speaking as God.

Now, I’m not wanting to bash on Opal. I feel sorry for her. She seems confused and simple – kind of like a child who has been told a bunch of lies for so long that their own sense of reality is broken beyond repair.

But I do think Opal can warn us about a real danger…

I think her nutty ranting isn’t that far off from something we Christians do on a regular basis. We use the same formula, but do it with more sophistication and polish. 

And what is the formula? It goes like this:

“God and I, we’re tight. I know him well. I know what he wants too. So listen up – because I’m speaking for him right now. Unless this thing changes/happens… judgment is coming.”

It doesn’t sound quite as wacko when some well-known pastor says, “Unless the church changes X, Y, and Z, it will die within a generation.” But it is just as wacko! I mean, think about it. The church has been around for 2,000+ years and Jesus said, “I will build my church and all the powers of hell will not overcome it.” Hmmmmm. Maybe Opal just wants to be mayor and it’s not about God and his agenda in the world. Maybe the church shifts and changes and evolves over the generations and God isn’t freaking out about it.

It doesn’t sound as kooky when a Christian says, “Unless America repents of abortion and/or homosexuality, judgment is coming.” But it is kooky. Think about it. Where was God’s judgment when native Americans were slaughtered? Where was God’s judgment when slaves were being shipped, whipped, bought, sold, used, abused, and killed? Wasn’t America prospering during these times?

And one more example – a real one.. last month, a pastor tweeted this: “It’s dangerous to use the tithe to buy your kids shoes, because then their steps will be cursed. #Tithes” This is just wackadoodle.

I think Opal’s warning is of great value to us. Not about the destruction of Toledo, but about not using the manipulative trump-card formula of threatening judgment over the things we don’t like.

In fact, Jesus warned his disciples of the same thing. In Luke chapter 9, when a Samaritan village rejected Jesus because they found out he wasn’t going to stay with them, James and John started talking like Opal Covey…

“Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

But Jesus turned and rebuked them, saying, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you are of—I didn’t come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9.54-56)

This is Opal’s warning to us: when we start threatening judgment, we are looking and sounding and believing just like Opal Covey.

I don’t know about you, but I believe there is a better and more beautiful way.

The way of Jesus is better and more beautiful.

When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he said to them:

“The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4.16-21)

Interestingly, when you look up the Isaiah passage Jesus was quoting from (Isaiah 61), you’ll notice that Jesus stopped mid-sentence. He left something out. He rolled up the scroll without mentioning the rest of Isaiah 61.2.

What did he leave out?

“…and the day of the vengeance of our God.”

Jesus left out Opal’s favorite verse.

Fascinating.

Here’s Opal’s interview:

Opal’s post-election interview can be seen here.