BETRAYED BY A BRICK

But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh, and be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32:23

The Shaker religion gave us some great inventions, like rocking chairs, flat brooms, and pegs to hang things on the wall. They also had the cleanest inns in the country.

But, like every other cult, they also had some strange and unbiblical theology. They believed that their leader in America, Ann Lee (Mother Ann), was the incarnation of Christ. That meant to them that Christ had returned and started His kingdom, and that there should be no more marital relations, because everyone would now live forever without having a husband and wife union (that kind of explains why you don’t see Shakers today!).

 Something else the Shakers believed in was common property: that everyone owned everything, and that no one should take credit for anything they’ve done. However, when I visited a historical Shaker site in Kentucky, there was on display a handmade brick from one of their buildings that had been torn down. On the brick was written the name of the mason who had built the building. The man had put his name on the brick but turned it inside the wall so that others would not see that he took credit for building the structure.

No cult, however sneaky, will put anything past the Lord’s eyes! I guess that includes you and me, too.

Davy L. Troxel