Things I Think…
1. The Southern Baptist Convention held a big conference on church abuse last week. Prominent victim advocates spoke and Boz Tchividjian thundered like an Old Testament prophet. What will change now? Nothing. Abusive churches know they can do nothing because there were still lots of backsides in the seats on Sunday morn. Until the pews empty, conferences are just vacations to them…
2. Let me say that again for those in the back…until the pews empty, nothing changes. Period…
3. Victim advocates have naturally tried to expose abusive leaders in the church. In reality, abuse in the church is perpetuated by the people who financially and physically (by showing up) continue to support those churches. They are the ones you have to convince of the problem…
4. St. Paul assumed and taught the interconnectedness and interdependence of the Body of Christ. We assume and teach neither now…we’re all independent contractors who care little about what happens to each other. That may be a greater sin than abuse…
5. When someone defends an abusive or corrupt pastor with “he’s such a good teacher”, you know the name of their deity…
6. I suspect we’ll all have to answer for defending our “autonomy”…
7. Jesus consistently demonstrated the worth of individual people. Somehow, I don’t think the idea of some saints being “collateral damage” is going to work well at the judgment…
8. I’ve pretty much said the same things for 18 years…now a lot of other people are saying them too. Still, the structural changes have been minimal…most people have the church they want, if they want one at all…
9. The two unanswerable questions I get asked the most…”why does Jesus allow this to continue?” and “doesn’t (abusive leader) have the conviction of the Holy Spirit?”
10. I won’t mention how strange I find it that so many Christians want to clean up the government when our house looks like a bomb hit it…
phoenixpreacher@gmail.com
Thought 2, 100%.
Thought 9, coming from the guy that saw god act not, with folded arms, for years and years, I wish I could tell you it is because god has long since left the church, and deals with people directly, but that isn’t even true. For a child of god to cry out in unparalleled pain, and to seemingly continue to get the folded arm treatment, is an unparalleled evil, and I will never miss the opportunity to point it out. I was dedicated unto death to serve the church as rightly as I could, being a servant that perpetually pointed to Jesus, and in the process, I ruined my family. There is no winning if you aim to do it with some semblance of morals. You get exploited. It ruins your entire life.
As you eluded to, like general contractors to sub-contractors, you get the ugly end of the stick all day, but they always want more, for less, or maybe even nothing, until you being there is a major liability, and I would seriously encourage people to test that one. They need you there so you pay to be there, and do the actual work for free. This is why Capitalism is so strongly linked to the church, and the church to Capitalism. They are hand in hand, because it is the ultimate fruition of greed.
Reuben,
It is a painful mystery why it’s always this way.
It’s led to a deconstruction process for me…that is still in process.
Oddly enough, my faith in Jesus grows while everything else seems to be falling apart.
Michael–All of this is so on point.
Two things stood out to me:
“When someone defends an abusive or corrupt pastor with “he’s such a good teacher”, you know the name of their deity…” YES!!! (Dealing with CC for too many years taught me that.)
“I won’t mention how strange I find it that so many Christians want to clean up the government when our house looks like a bomb hit it…” also–YES!!! (While the “clean up” might seem noble-intentioned–our savior does not reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The church-at-large needs to examine itself in light of God’s holiness and repent from the top down.)
The Church lacks God respecting/fearing qualified teachers, period.
A good gift of gab doth not a teacher make. ?
But a good teacher doesn’t usually tickle ears and funny bones… sigh
It is no wonder there is a resurgence of liturgies and icons. At least they focus one on God…
Or so it seems to me…
The sun was out today and it was raining, has me wondering where the idea that that meant the devil was beating his grandmother came from ? ? ?
SBC is in deep ka-ka and is years behind in addressing current issues. The SBC boat is taking on water and the captains are derelict.
Given the context, the “he’s such a good teacher” argument is more of a damning indictment of how poor at listening his congregants are.
Ending tacit church support for the biggest mess-maker in Washington for re-election might be a great first step toward ironing out some of the glaring issues within the church. We need to regain our identity, credibility, and voice before attempting to influence anything, anyone, or anything else.
4.” St. Paul assumed and taught the interconnectedness and interdependence of the Body of Christ. We assume and teach neither now…we’re all independent contractors who care little about what happens to each other. That may be a greater sin than abuse…“
My life doesn’t reflect this.
Weekly I fellowship, pray and have quality discussions with believers and ministers from other church and ministries. And most ministers I know do too.
I would think your life and ministry is similar, Michael.
Are we the exceptions, Michael?
Are my anecdotes irrelevant because they aren’t structural, as in involvement in a denomination with authority over local congregations?
Reuben,
“until you being there is a major liability, and I would seriously encourage people to test that one. They need you there so you pay to be there, and do the actual work for free. This is why Capitalism is so strongly linked to the church, and the church to Capitalism. They are hand in hand, because it is the ultimate fruition of greed.“
1
How can one test these things?
2
Is there a better economic system for churches?
JTK,
I have no relationships locally.
Most pastors only communicate with me in secret.