You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November, 2006.
My days of defending myspace as a way to track long distance friends are over! Read my sad story on Christians Behaving Badly.
Well I done got myself into some trouble here.
In my haste to generalize my perspective of the prevailing tone of blogs and articles regarding this subject I did not allow the readers to check them out themselves, and have been appropriately chastised for it. Thanks Sharla & Diana for the correction.
I suggest you read Sharla’s entry since it indeed has a redemptive tone to it which I did not mention in my post. If Sharla will pardon me for the breach of blog protocol and more importantly for the inference from the title which she specially chose to clash with the compassionate tone of her blog. I didn’t give the reader an opportunity to appreciate this, but it made for a great punch line.
Diana’s comment is correct because the point of this blog is to defy the contentious spirit to be found just about everywhere. I’m 0 for 2 on this one. This post was probably better suited for Christians Behaving Badly, the blog where I “redemptively” point out such gaffes which are more typically committed by professing celebrities on reality shows to our collective dismay!
Here’s the proverbial finger (lowercase although I may deserve Uppercase for this transgression) pointing back at me. Thanks for commenting and I’ll be responsible with future posts and sources.
[Regarding the latest church leadership scandal... continued from Part 1]
This individual was the head of a political wing of the church and had been becoming very high profile. However in no way would I lump him in with the profiteering TV pastors we all are cynical of. I’ve seen his fruit of his earlier work and values and have walked around in the prayer center on the campus. After what I’m writing on this blog, I’m gonna be extra careful about degrading the profiteering TV pastors and “christian” tv. It’s easy to do, but from this point on I need to shut up and let God figure it out!
…So when later that evening [November 2] the founder of New Life church was in the crosshairs I did the following:
- Was in pretty intense prayer for him, and especially for his integrity to “shine like the noonday sun” according to Psalms
- Sent him an email saying that I appreciated his ministry, commitment to citywide unity, and to 24 hour prayer
- Mentioned something about if any of these allegations turned out to be true that I still believe in God’s purpose for him and will pray for restoration regardless
Turned out, enough of it is true. No noonday sunshine here… The double speak and damage control was awful to behold. I don’t think I would have done much better in his place though… anyone who has spent any time as a leader flirting with compromise I hope would be able to relate to this sentiment.
So anyhow, the reaction on the christian blogosphere is rough. People talking about it without any hint of brokenness or sorrow at what has been lost. People speaking with some apology, but no real compassion underneath in many cases.
One prominent Christian magazine had an article from a pastor who fell 20 years ago in a high-profile ministry to sexual sin. He claimed in his letter to grieve for the current man’s situation and family, but his tone was slightly bitter, and his stated compassions for those involved seemed hollow.
Another blog with a similar conciliatory ending also began with shock value, calling the man and other fallen pastors “screw ups out there”.
I want to make it clear that this sort of thing is not unexpected. I propose that if we want God to get any possible redemptive glory out of any of this, then we need to watch how we blog about this stuff. All of my above gripes are with a few “christian” perspective blogs. The secular community is capable of voicing the less edifying stuff! PrayerSpot proposes we admit the facts, refrain from speculations and from looking the other way, and just support the church.
…Rather, PrayerSpot’s response to the blogdom’s overall response to the latest leadership scandal.
At this point I am becoming more disillusioned with many of my fellow bloggers/blog readers than I am with the latest scandal. Mind you, the morning everything went south in Colorado I was impressed in my heart about how easy it is to criticize our leaders in the church, especially those of a more self-proclaimed type. These ones especially are most prone to say, own TV networks and make bold statements that might not be too palatable even within its intended context!
The situation for me is that I live in a city that has legalized gambling, and work across the river where the courts have decided to alter God’s original intent for marriage, without even holding it up for the people to vote on (as if it were for people to decide). When I hear the likes of Robertson on tv, I am more inclined than ever before to agree with some or many of his statements, because the culture around me is increasingly hostile to what I know to be true and right.
Therefore I was thinking about this idea of just holding my tongue the next time some TV preacher says something offbeat and is pounced upon by the media.
More in Part 2…
(again, thanks to Brent for sort of letting me borrow my comment to his blog even thought I haven’t asked him yet)
Regarding the failure of South Dakotans to pass the bill eliminating all non-essential pregnancy terminations last week:
If abortion had been banned in SD and ultimately in USA at *this* point, [evangelical] people would have a big sigh of relief and would have rolled over back to sleep again. I believe God is calling mainstream evangelicals, even mainline churches and religious people to the kind of prayer, fasting, and crying out that some of us are entering into. The esther fasts*, 40 day fasts, and daniel fasts** of a few bands of noble, brave, and obedient people was not meant to pacify the vast majority of nominal believers who haven’t taken any firm action yet. God I think has restrained – delayed the power to enact relatively painless change.
* an esther fast is 3 days without water (as hard-core as it gets)
** a daniel fast is a fast from any rich or fancy/flavorful food
(With apologies to Brent for double-dipping my comment to his blog)
After the events of a week ago I was thinking about the carnal “weapons of warfare” Paul talks about. I think a vote is such a weapon. There are Divine weapons that will accomplish more than a vote for the pulling down of strongholds. The church has got to learn how to utilize these weapons as well as the political process.
Votes in America are accomplishing (or not accomplishing) about the same thing as our military overseas. They are carnal weapons that have a certain amount of effect in the world. But not nearly enough. When God shakes the world his bride lives in enough to get her attention, that is when we will see God’s kingdom coming. It will not matter who is in elected office in that day – because God will have his way in the hearts of all men and women willing to yield. The others may well also be swept up in the currents as well.
#
Anybody see “End of the Spear?” It was a recent movie about missionaries that moved and lived among native tribes in South America before being martyred. Nate Saint was one of them and I recently found out that he went to church a block away from where I’m currently living in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighborhood.
Bethany Baptist Church is a large building and when I visited I found out Nate’s sister apparently still goes to church there. As a surprise bonus I was able to score a piano to work on a couple times a week, a Steinway with ivory keys. Very Cool.
I just saw a web trailer for Jesus Camp movie. I’ve heard a buzz about this on the web – didn’t realize it would hit so close to home for me (even though the closest showing to Philly is in Baltimore or NYC).
The point of the film seems to be to depict the more extreme elements of charismatic circles – the ones that actually take a stand on the hot-button moral issues. The surprise for me was that some of the most esteemed leaders are featured on this movie – I guess they are movie stars! Of course this is supposed to be bad – to look up to people that would use their influence to shape the minds of kids, but the culture is rather blind to how this is happening every day in the schools, boob tube, and media from a secular perspective.
This is starting to sound a bit polarizing, I realize. I grew up in such a religious bubble and I’ve weathered the scars from it. In my early 30’s I compare my scars to the scars of other people my age from a different background and am glad I don’t have to swap them!
Whenever I go to DC, I drive by the Supreme Court to see if my JHOP friends are there, and I often get to stand with them. They are now movie stars – albeit the only stars with duct tape on their mouths. My point is that now more than ever before they / we are “extremists” and may be subject to persecution of a more extreme type in the days ahead. Part of me is tempted to be excited by this, part of me soberly wonders if I can hold up to real persecution.
If you belong to Jesus but are not yet of similar conviction to do this, I encourage you to guard against being influenced by media to accuse or be antagonized by someone else’s depiction of people that stand for their values. Guard against it. Ask God to show you His perspective.
A momentary break from prophetic philly prayer spots here -
Was praying on the way to work today and thinking about how easy it is for the average believer in Jesus to criticize a more prominent one – say Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson – especially if they are prone to making inappropriate sounding statements.
Was resolving personally NOT to fall into this trap – of condemning the person instead of the comment. God is able to judge and discipline the leader, but when we join up with voices of accusation we are on dangerous ground.
Am I advocating blind obedience here? Anybody recently get on their knees instead of condemning someone and pray for their well-being? I rarely do this, but I’m changing that as of now. I don’t want to be an accuser instead of an intercessor. Intercession builds up or facilitates God’s discipline: going along with accusation is destructive. (I’m not talking about overlooking a crime or serious offense – go to the cops if something is illegal)
By the end of the day I read a web header “Evangelical Pastor Accused of Affair” on a news site. It’s easy to accuse – but I am praying instead that this man would be swiftly vindicated from this accusation, and that truth would shine like the sun in this situation. In the event the accusations are true, I will continue to pray for restoration and for things to work out for the best. It is possible that these accusations could be true, but I will be influenced against a leader. I’m praying for him either way.
Recent Comments