Reformers Who Failed in Reform

The Color-Changers (7)

Many participated in movements of reform and failed, because they did not walk in reform along a sound spiritual path. Among these are: the color-changers.

Among the reformers who failed in reform is the group of the color-changers.
Their opinions change color in every era, with a different color that suits their psychological state,
and the extent of their satisfaction or anger.

They choose from the verses of the Scripture, and from the church canons, what suits the feelings of their hearts.
Or rather, they interpret the verses of the Scripture, and select from the texts of the canon without its spirit, what they see as suitable to their current policy.

The matter for them is not a matter of truth or principle, but rather a matter of the policy of support or opposition.
And this policy must be served by the verses and the stories. Therefore it is very easy for such people to fall into contradiction.

And they say in one generation the opposite of what they said in a previous generation.

They resemble the chameleon,
which changes its color according to the nature of the environment in which it lives. It is on the branch with a green color, and on the flower with a red color, and on the ground with a black color… without restraint.

Therefore their dealings also differ. With some they strain out the gnat, and with others they swallow the camel.

Sometimes they become enthusiastic as if they were a flame of fire to fight trivialities, while at the same time they remain in complete silence regarding very serious matters. Their zeal constantly rests upon a psychological factor…

In many decisive situations, people see no presence for them, nor hear a voice from them. And in other situations that no one cares about, you see them raising the banners of heroism,
and trying to alert people to what they did not see. Therefore these people failed, for they have no fixed principle.

And because it is not the truth that leads them, but rather personal considerations.

The color-changers rely greatly on the forgetting of their previous actions and sayings, and on people forgetting them.
But people often remember, and they wonder, and realize that the words of these color-changers are not based on principle,
so their value decreases, and the color-changers fail.

An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Year Eight (Issue Four) – 28-1-1977

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