The Ewings: A Tragedy of Errors
What happened to Gary and Pamela Ewing within the first year of pastoring is lamentable enough, apart from the fact it could easily have been prevented more than once. Their story is a patent example of why the apostle Paul, in two different chapters of 1 Timothy, warned against granting ministry responsibility too soon. "Lay hands suddenly on no man," he wrote (5:22), especially "not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil" (3:6).
Growing up in the small Idaho town of Wendell, Gary and Pam were high school sweethearts who got married at the ages of eighteen and sixteen because a baby was on the way. The censure they felt from Pam's parents and the townspeople—especially church members—sealed off any spiritual inclinations, which were minimal to start with. Gary took a few night classes at a vo-tech school in nearby Twin Falls but soon found he was good at selling, and for the next six years money was his god. The young couple scrambled, acquired, moved often, had two more children, and lived like normal American pagans. Gary's natural leadership abilities and gregarious nature dominated the marriage, Pam sticking quietly to her kitchen and her babies.
The family darkened the door of a church only because Gary wanted to play on its softball team, for which attendance was a requirement. The Christ they met there was willing to accept and forgive them. They became Christians. The change in their lives was genuine. Says Gary:
I sort of lost my desire to get rich. I felt my life had been mostly a waste up to then. I didn't want to give up my lifestyle, but I wanted to be and do what God wanted me to do.
My "killer instinct" as a salesman seemed to escape me, and I wasn't sure what that ...
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