I've been around a while now. I've seen about all there is to see. Unfortunately, I haven't been around long enough, to have figured out what to do with all the things I've seen. Maybe that part comes in the next dozen years of pastoring.

There is one thing, which I have seen over and over, in these years of ministry, which really frosts my dome. I haven't figured it out, and I suppose I won't have it answered in the next dozen years either. Oh, I do know all the theological responses to my dilemma. I have heard the comforting, and heart touching analogies which might be offered, but I still find that the answers are not sufficient to thaw this cold furrowed brow.

Thus, I am trapped in life's absurd theater, and as the play plays on, I find myself crying out in occasional agony, "Why do the wicked prosper?"

I'm not talking about the rich people of this world who have benefited off the oppression of others. I'm actually referring to people who are my brethren in the faith. No, I don't really think that they are wicked. Well, not wholly wicked at least, but I do wonder why they prosper.

If you are a leader in a small church, you may have already figured out who I am talking about. I know that you have probably had the same feelings that I have had.

I am talking about those who have been blessed with large, and influential ministries. Yet, who have lived with much less integrity, than is necessary for even basic Christian living.

There is a dilemma in life. Good things do happen to bad people, and bad things do happen to good people.

When I speak of good and bad, I am not referring to business skills, or personal charisma. That, of course, is one of the reasons for this dilemma. There are bad people with great business acumen, and personal charisma. There are also good people, who have little business sense, or "people power." Resultantly, large ministries have been developed out of human savvy.

Many of these sharp ministry builders are accepted in the community of church leadership, and thereby continue to grow in reputation. They have substituted the anointing for personal charisma, and they have gotten away with it, even among those who should have known better.

To compound the confusion, there are leaders who have started off well, and after building a large ministry, they have fallen into sin. Sometimes, they continue for years in sin, still being "blessed." All the while, faithful pastors continue to work in relative obscurity.

Does every large church have such a leader? Of course not, but the picture is not as rosy as we might desire either. I know leaders of large ministries, who have fallen to the same serious moral lapses repeatedly. All the while, they seem to be outwardly blessed, despite the spiritual dearth within their souls.

I have seen people leave our church, to begin fellowship in large ministries in such moral decay, and these departing saints have been "blessed." It is at times like these, I cry out to God, "Why do the wicked prosper?" O, the absurdity of this production we call life!

Of course, I am also reminded of my own handicaps. So it is, that I find this production growing stranger by the day. On one hand, the degree of our moral improvement matters greatly to the Lord, but on the other hand, he always has His finger pointed at me. He is always calling me to my own personal improvement. He cares little that I am unhappy with someone else's life.

Dear saint, who continues to faithfully labor in apparent obscurity, God hears your cry, and He cares. I have enough faith to believe (even, if you do not), that the time is coming, when you shall reap the benefits of your faithful care over God's flock. I am convinced that you will see that time, before you pass away. I believe that you will be honored - you will be blessed. And even if I should be wrong, you will be honored in the day of judgment.

When this absurd theater begins to wear you down, remember, God is your vindicator. God is your Rewarder. When the curtain call is made, you will be there. You will be honored, in this absurd theater.