Words Spoken in Anger
In my previous post I discussed a recent scandal involving a Reformed pastor. My intention was not to be harsh or judgmental. I was, and still am, fairly upset at the sheer hypocrisy and pettiness going on in the Church. I need anyone reading this to understand exactly what sort of background I’m writing from.
In my home state of Florida, we are dealing with the dual hurricanes, Helene and Milton. Understand that Hurricane Michael hit two years ago, and we still haven’t cleaned up the destruction. In other words, we have years of work ahead of us. Florida and North Carolina both are in dire need of help. Even worse, the very organizations that are supposed to help in these situations, are nowhere to be found. When I saw people bickering over the moral failings of a pastor, I was flabbergasted and pretty upset.
On a deeper level I view this as a much more serious issue than what it seems on the surface. I believe that this is an opportunity for self-reflection. We are witnessing unprecedented societal decay, we’re talking record numbers of addiction, new records are regularly being set for suicide rates, it seems there is a school shooting every other week, and yet we’ve become callused to it all. Myself included. I do feel bad, but I am nowhere near as concerned as I should be.
I Cannot Throw Stones
In my own life I’ve become caught up in the Presidential election. I can honestly say I’ve never been more concerned about the fate of the nation. I found myself caught behind two choices that to be frank, aren’t exactly ideal. Yet here we are, essentially forced to choose between two candidates that certainly do not represent the best of America, not by a long shot. The point I am making is that I myself was willing to overlook one candidates lack of moral integrity, just to ‘beat the other side’. I was willing to compromise for ‘the greater good’. This is a slippery slope. If I am willing to tolerate this level of moral failure, then what does this say about my personal integrity? If I am willing to tolerate this now, then what will happen in ten-twenty years from now? John 3:16
The last thing I ever want to do is point the finger at someone else, without admitting my own faults. Jesus himself warned us of this sort of hypocrisy by telling us of the man who tried to criticize his brother for the speck that was in his eye, while ignoring the beam in his own eye. The implication being quite clear.
I Left Reformed Theology for Jesus
In many ways I think the controversy involving Mr. Lawson has to do with something deeper than merely a lack of moral integrity. As mentioned earlier, years ago I listened to a fair amount of Steve Lawsons teaching. At this point in my life, I’ve completely rejected Reformed teaching, Calvinism, the whole deal. In my opinion, Reformed teachings have done far more damage than good. I had come to the realization that as nice as it feel to read and contemplate Augustine, Martin Luther, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, and John Calvin, they were just men. They had some good ideas, but studying out their ideas as gospel truth is a mistake. I came to the sad realization, that unfortunately, there are certain sects that care entirely too much about matching the historical beliefs of certain theologians, and not caring enough about the here and now.
As mentioned with hurricane relief, I was astounded at the people offering prayers for Mr. Lawson, while not displaying the same concern for those affected by the recent trifecta of hurricanes. There is a real need for the church to get involved with serious issues such as child trafficking, poverty (it’s worse than ever before), inner city crime, and the list just keeps going on. Instead we have no issues approving millions of dollars for new ‘sanctuaries’. A sanctuary for what I wonder? A sanctuary to buffer us from the problems outside?
Beyond Evangelicalism…
Here’s the simple and sad reality. Far too often we care too much for our ‘theology’, and not enough about how our theology impacts the world around us. When Jesus sent out the disciples, the injunction was not to go and create the most orthodox seminaries. He really wasn’t interested in creeds, or whether the disciples were well versed in the teachings of the respected rabbis. Jesus was more interested in preaching His message, that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Wherever He walked, the hungry were fed, and the sick were healed. Sadly our churches bear very little resemblance to our Great Teacher.
Obviously I’m taking the long way to go over a fairly simple point. Our faith today is deeply flawed. What good does it do to believe the kingdom is at hand, if people in our immediate community starve and die, while we sit in our multimillion dollar ‘sanctuaries’? What I’m getting at is that the failure of Mr. Lawson, was not necessarily a moral one. I believe that the issue of scandals in the church will sadly continue, unless we return to the actual message of Jesus. Until we return to the original mission. There has been a spiritual cancer that has invaded our churches for a long time. Purging this cancer will not be easy, nor will it be quick. The Church will have to acquire a newfound compassion for the suffering and hurting. We will have to start being as concerned with children dying in the Middle East as we are with parsing the words of John Calvin (or the US presidential election for that matter).
We are living in an age of ‘celebrity pastors’ (a word foreign to the New Testament by the way). We have placed men on pedestals for far too long. I truly believe we could learn something from the churches suffering persecution in the Middle East. They are simple communities made up of ordinary believers banding together. They live, and pray together. If there is a need, then these communities will band together and take care of each other. Western believers could learn a lesson from these believers. Ultimately the failure of Mr. Lawson was to see himself as some sort of spiritual authority and not as a guide. Lawson forgot that he was as much as a follower as he is a man following God.
Ultimately the point I am making here is that there is something missing in our faith today. We must recover the missing pieces of our faith. I truly hope that we can all humble ourselves (I need this probably more than you). There is a hurting world in desperate need of hope. The time to rise is now. The time for believers to make our voices heard is now. The time for action is now.
