When Did Evil Become Stronger Than Us?

I have long enjoyed the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. I first read the Lord of the Rings trilogy when I was twelve and soon after discovered his other works. They have kept me entertained many times throughout the years. You will understand my mixture of excitement and apprehension when I learned that the Rings trilogy would be made into full-length feature movies. On the whole I felt that Peter Jackson did a great job adapting the story to film. I own all of the Rings movies and enjoy watching them when I have the time.

I recently purchased the second Hobbit movie; "The Desolation of Smaug." While watching it again I was struck a line of dialogue that occurs between Legolas and Tauriel; two elves who are pursuing the orcs that are hunting down a company of dwarves. Tauriel asks Legolas: "When did we allow evil to become stronger than us?" The first time I heard that line I was struck by how telling it was for our time.

It has become accepted practice in the church to ask how our culture has become what it is, and many in the church have begun to ask how it is that the church has come to be in the shape that it is in. We seem surprised that our churches are seemingly powerless in the face of our culture's slide into wickedness, but anything more than a cursory glance at the condition of our churches will provide the answer to our cultural decline. The cultural decline in America is tied directly to the health of our churches. A sick and dying church leads to a sick and dying culture.

And the church is sick because the church has chosen accommodation and acceptance over devotion and dedication. Since 1960 we have seen the dishonoring of Sunday as a day of rest and worship, the wholesale acceptance of death on demand for those in the womb, the resignation to the idea that "everybody's doing it," and innumerable other social sins. And throughout all of this "progress" (how is it that those who promote sinful, ungodly behavior have been allowed to label such behaviors as "progressive?") the church has grown more and more mute and more and more irrelevant less and less influential. If I might be so bold, I believe that the church has become this way because the pulpits of our churches have lost the power of God. I don't want to disparage pastors, I am one myself, but our pulpits have lost the power of God. Most of the pastors I know are good men who love God, but they struggle with and increasingly indifferent local body that doesn't want to heart the truth as much as they want to have their ears tickled, to be told that they are "special" and that God is all about their happiness and giving them all that they wanted. Whatever happened to dying to self, taking up your cross and following Jesus?

In short, we don't need more Joel Osteen's or Joyce Meyers'...we need more W.A. Criswell's and John MacArthur's. The American church public may not want it, but they need it. The Word of God contains the only answer to what ails America. Another program, another emphasis, another building or catchphrase or best selling book won't fix the church or our nation. The answer to what we need is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We all need to forsake the self-centered, materialistic, comfortable religion of our day and embrace the cross of Christ. 

Jesus, the Celebrity Culture and the Church

I have observed with some interest over the last few weeks the ongoing Mark Driscoll saga. Unless you are a pastor or some other church leader chances are that you are unaware of who Mark Driscoll is and why he is important. Driscoll is the pastor of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington.

The controversy surrounding Driscoll took a disturbing turn in the last two weeks when the Acts 29 network, a church planting organization that Driscoll himself helped found, asked Driscoll to step down from his position and removed Mars Hill from the membership of the organization. This is just the latest brouhaha involving Driscoll in the last few months. Accusations of plagarism, inappropriate speech and abusive behavior towards church staff have swirled around Driscoll and there seems to be no end in sight. Recently Driscoll announced that he would be taking a leave of absence as the charges against him are examined.

Driscoll represents, at least to me, part of a greater problem for North American Christianity. I am speaking of a celebrity culture that seems to have crept into every corner of our faith. Strong men with strong personalities have become the "stars" of the American version of the faith. The same problem is present in the world of Christian music. I am not saying that Driscoll or any  other "famous" pastor has actively pursued such a status. But the truth is that we are wired to worship, and in our fallen state we will worship just about anything. The early church was not immune to this struggle, as illustrated by Paul's comments about the controversy between followers of Paula and Apollos in 1 Corinthians 1. The problem that Paul deals with there, and that the current controversy surrounding Mark Driscoll illustrates so well is one of following men rather than God. The amount of heated emotion and vitriol on both sides of the Driscoll controversy demonstrates the dangers inherent in tying our faith to men, no matter how good (or even great) they may be.

The answer is not simple. Pastors need to make themselves accountable to God and seek, as Paul did, to take every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5). I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to take those thoughts captive. How difficult to let go of the praise that people want to give you, especially when praise and encouragement is so hard to come by. We need not only accountability before God but we also need to make ourselves transparent, willingly allowing God and others to have access to the far corners of our lives.

But mostly we/I need prayer. We don't need fawning fans or book deals. We need the fervent prayers of those who fill our pews, those who serve with us, those who serve around us. There are too many men who serve "alone," without the benefit of accountability and encouragement from fellow pastors and elder saints. Many of us don't have that, some by deliberate choice, but some by circumstance.

I have begun to pray for Mark Driscoll. I trust that God is not through with him yet, that there are still great things for him to accomplish for the kingdom. Will you join me in praying for him....and will you pray for me?

We both need it.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down....

(The Carpenters)

I'm generally a pretty positive person, there's not much that gets me down. But every once in a while I find myself in a funk. Many seem to think that pastors should never feel discouraged or lonely or have questions about their faith or the direction of their lives....Boy are those people wrong. 

I don't mean to burst your bubble...but pastors have the same struggles, the same concerns, and the same temptations as the rest of the members of their churches. I may be the only pastor to admit it, but on many Mondays I'm ready to write "I Quit" on my forehead and have even written out a letter of resignation more than once. Now before you panic (or celebrate) unnecessarily....I have never tendered a resignation (officially or unofficially) on a Monday. I love preaching and I love the church. The ministry is what I have been called to and all I have done since I was 19. I may not be very good at it, but it's who I am.

Then why the struggle on Mondays?

Very simply.....I'm human. I grow tired, distracted, discouraged and confused just like anyone else. The pedestal that pastors are placed on and the pressures and expectations we labor under can rob the joy from us on any day. Add to that the burden of caring for a congregation of any size and you have a recipe for difficulty. It is a simple truth that every minister can and will grow weary under the load. 

Then why do I keep coming back? 

Because I'm called. This is what God has called me to do. I can do nothing else and be in the center of His will for my life. Besides that, I love it. I believe in the church, that messy bunch of people who drive me crazy most Sundays and who wake me in the middle of the night to pray and weep over. I willingly accepted the task and the responsibility when I said yes to God's call all those years ago. I had an idea of what the life I was signing up for would be like, but I was unprepared for much than followed. Like many others, I have been tempted at times to walk away, but at the end of the day I cannot. I am called and I will serve until I die or until God calls me to another avenue of ministry. 

So why this post?

I want to encourage the 4 of you who might actually read this blog to commit yourselves to become champions for your pastor and other ministers. The ministry is a lonely profession, but it doesn't have to be. I want to encourage you to spend time in the days ahead to encourage, cheer on, and surprise your pastor. A kind phone call in the middle of the week. An encouraging note dropped in the mail or placed in an office door. A small monetary gift slipped into his pocket...any of these things will go a long way toward helping your pastor stay the course. 

I've gone on too long already. Some would say that I've said too much.  What I have done is speak my heart and managed to make it through an extremely difficult Monday without writing "I Quit" on my forehead...

At least until next Monday.