Last week I wrote about the sermon that our so-far only candidate for assistant pastor preached and how he spent a great deal of time explaining why another popular pastor was wrong on his interpretation of a matter that I doubt that very few people outside of seminary really give a hoot about: was Noah righteous or not? His explanation, when I asked him about it afterwards, was that it was a matter of truth. Meanwhile in the background I heard someone else say that they were going to tweet the pastor in question and tell him what this guy said.
This all came to mind later this week when I heard about a pastor down South (I want to say North Carolina) who has made the news because he preached a sermon encouraging fathers to beat their sons for displaying effeminate behavior. And of course you know where THAT ended up! Oh, he's backed down a bit now, but not much.
Now how much do you want to bet that what this guy said is going to be a hot topic come Sunday morning at my church or any other church--or is it simply going to be business as usual? It seems we have a problem here, when a preacher can have no problem calling out Rob Bell or any other preacher on a matter of "theology" but when it comes to actually advocating violence against one's children because of their perceived sexual orientation, the silence from the pulpit is deafening. And then they wonder why outsiders dislike Christians so much or why wearing a Christian T-shirt to a public school is such a controversial act. It's because of what that T-shirt stands for--and it ain't Jesus, folks. At least not the Jesus I know.
Lest you think this is an isolated statement by an isolated preacher, I have a gay friend who told me of growing up in a conservative Christian community not far from my own where parents would lock their college-age children into their bedrooms and hold exorcisms over them in order to change their sexual orientation. We are not talking 50-60 years ago. We are talking fairly recently that this was going on and probably still is. These parents believe that their children are gay because of demonic possession or influence. God only knows what they think of autism spectrum disorders. But you never ever hear about this aspect of Christianity when people are out evangelizing. It's the church's dirty little secret. But dirty little secrets have a way of leaking out.
Why are pastors so afraid to speak out on this issue--the abuse of children in the name of God--but have no problem condemning one of their own for doctrinal errors? It's the same thing in the Catholic church where priestly pederasty has been covered up for decades without a peep. But let someone deviate from doctrine and see how quick the Vatican moves to silence them! Jesus told the Pharisees that they were straining at gnats and swallowing camels, that in their zeal for the Law they were missing the big picture and concentrating on trivialities. So it's an old, old story.
The big difference is that now with easy access to social media these things aren't local any more. When I was younger there was a book called "A Man Spoke, A World Listened." It was about a Lutheran pastor with a radio ministry. Now, with tweets and twitter and i-this and i-that, every one who stands behind a pulpit is just as public as that pastor, maybe even more so. As I am typing these words, I know that they are not confined just to one small area, that they are going out all over the world and maybe even being repeated. Any time you say anything in public now you do not know where it is going to end up. So when a pastor makes irresponsible and inflammatory statements and then tries to backpedal it only reveals his ignorance and naivety. In today's world there is no room for ambiguity, for "what I really meant." You have to say what you mean and get it right the first time. And that means sometimes sitting down and thinking about what you really are saying and how it could be interpreted.
This all came to mind later this week when I heard about a pastor down South (I want to say North Carolina) who has made the news because he preached a sermon encouraging fathers to beat their sons for displaying effeminate behavior. And of course you know where THAT ended up! Oh, he's backed down a bit now, but not much.
Now how much do you want to bet that what this guy said is going to be a hot topic come Sunday morning at my church or any other church--or is it simply going to be business as usual? It seems we have a problem here, when a preacher can have no problem calling out Rob Bell or any other preacher on a matter of "theology" but when it comes to actually advocating violence against one's children because of their perceived sexual orientation, the silence from the pulpit is deafening. And then they wonder why outsiders dislike Christians so much or why wearing a Christian T-shirt to a public school is such a controversial act. It's because of what that T-shirt stands for--and it ain't Jesus, folks. At least not the Jesus I know.
Lest you think this is an isolated statement by an isolated preacher, I have a gay friend who told me of growing up in a conservative Christian community not far from my own where parents would lock their college-age children into their bedrooms and hold exorcisms over them in order to change their sexual orientation. We are not talking 50-60 years ago. We are talking fairly recently that this was going on and probably still is. These parents believe that their children are gay because of demonic possession or influence. God only knows what they think of autism spectrum disorders. But you never ever hear about this aspect of Christianity when people are out evangelizing. It's the church's dirty little secret. But dirty little secrets have a way of leaking out.
Why are pastors so afraid to speak out on this issue--the abuse of children in the name of God--but have no problem condemning one of their own for doctrinal errors? It's the same thing in the Catholic church where priestly pederasty has been covered up for decades without a peep. But let someone deviate from doctrine and see how quick the Vatican moves to silence them! Jesus told the Pharisees that they were straining at gnats and swallowing camels, that in their zeal for the Law they were missing the big picture and concentrating on trivialities. So it's an old, old story.
The big difference is that now with easy access to social media these things aren't local any more. When I was younger there was a book called "A Man Spoke, A World Listened." It was about a Lutheran pastor with a radio ministry. Now, with tweets and twitter and i-this and i-that, every one who stands behind a pulpit is just as public as that pastor, maybe even more so. As I am typing these words, I know that they are not confined just to one small area, that they are going out all over the world and maybe even being repeated. Any time you say anything in public now you do not know where it is going to end up. So when a pastor makes irresponsible and inflammatory statements and then tries to backpedal it only reveals his ignorance and naivety. In today's world there is no room for ambiguity, for "what I really meant." You have to say what you mean and get it right the first time. And that means sometimes sitting down and thinking about what you really are saying and how it could be interpreted.
