Amy and I were flipping through channels the other day and we were caught by Dateline or 20/20 or 60 Minutes or whatever. I usually try to get my news from 'The Daily Show' and my cultural reference from 'The Soup' (time saver + it's funny), but we happened to come across a series of interviews with pastors who had become atheists. But so what... we've heard this a million times. However, this group was different. They were still 'leading' their church. A variety of interviews showed how these pastors became intrigued by and then began to doubt the Bible, doubting the Old Testament, even doubting even the birth and resurrection of Jesus, yet they are still 'shepherding' people. Amy and I were stunned!
The reason they wouldn't step down from their role as pastor? The economy. They are concerned about finding another job.
It was another sign of evidence that today's Church is in a downward spiral. We don't talk about sin. We try to woo people into the church with smoke and mirrors. We are more concerned with achieving converts instead of growing disciples (which was actually the point of the church according to the Great Commission of Matthew 28). We blatantly look over obvious sin so we don't have to 'confront' each other, and dance around topics that church attenders don't want to talk about because we don't want to offend them, while balancing their involvement in tithing to the church so we can pay the mortgage of our oversized and under-utilized building.
I don't mean to beat a dead horse here, but this is what we started to tackled with the BASIC series with Francis Chan. And I have to admit that over time I've become so tired of this, that my own faith in the concept of Church has started to wane. Especially living in Grand Rapids which I've come to realize is a very 'religious' city, yet where most people really aren't affected by the Gospel.
I was just talking to a friend who attends a "Christian" college in town. He signed up for a 'Gender Studies' class where the professor was not teaching, not showing case studies, but was ranting on a soapbox about how gender roles in the bible mean nothing, how we've misinterpreted the Bible and all we need is "love" no matter from who it comes from or how we get it. My friend was interested in the class to learn about this topic but realized it was not a class about information, but to bash anyone who believes otherwise. I completely understand the need for classes about difficult topics are needed to teach students about culture, trends in history, etc... but this sound less like an education and more like a reprogramming class that blatantly flies in the face of what the college set out to accomplish.
Ok. I feel I've gotten off topic. The real issue I am trying to discuss is...
There's this guy, Matt Chandler. He's a pastor from Dallas who I randomly met via email the day after Thanksgiving, nearly a year ago. He wrote to tell me he also was diagnosed with a similar brain tumor to mine. Needless to say our friendship had a common platform that united us in a strange way. I feel kind silly now, admitting that I did not know about Matt till that point. After all my job with Dot&Cross was to be aware of people who have strong message and equally strong talents for communicating them. Matt is, without a doubt, one of those people.
When we first met I determined I didn't want to listen to any of his podcasts. I didn't want to be swayed by his theology (whatever it was) or be impressed by the size of his church (whatever it was), etc... I just wanted a friend who was going to walk this same road with me. We can talk about treatments, life, family and obviously, since we are both believers, talk about how God plays into these issues of sickness and healing.
Well, this was all a big mistake.
After quite a few months, I got curious. What does Matt believe? I mean, he's a nice guy on the phone and I could imagine a few things about his theology from our conversations, but I really became interested in his church. So I started listening to his podcasts...
I was floored. I was so impressed, not with his intellect or his humor, but by his bold and unmovable stance on the Bible, to the degree that I started listening to all of his past podcasts. He was laying down the truth that I've been so desperate for in my own life recently. I've never been so tempted to move to Dallas.
Matt is the type of guy who goes into a Southern Baptists Convention and actually preaches the Gospel to other pastors in attendance because he's blown away by the intellectual nebulous teachings coming from their very lips. And this is the Southern Baptist Convention! I wish at the end he would have played verses 1, 2, and 4 of "I have decided" and invited pastors to come down front to get their heads on straight!
To be honest, I'm not a big fan of podcasting. I think we run the risk of learning individually and not in community. And no, you and two earbuds don't make a community, but sometimes when you are thirsty... you gotta find a place to get a drink. That's where I'm at and this is what Matt Chandler and his church are providing for me. So I still encourage you to get involved in a Church where they preach the Bible, where they actually confront sin, where they give the role of the Holy Spirit more than a undeterminable head nod and where the pastor is not giving interviews as a secret atheist.
In the meantime, I recommend you listening to Matt's "Ultimate Authority" podcast series he's in the middle of right now. You can find the link to iTunes here or find it on the church's website. In fact I'll make it easy on you. Just click here to start listening to Part 1.
Matt is doing well as he fights against the recurrence of the brain tumor he had taken out last year. In fact, today (11/11) he is having another MRI done to check in on the tumor. You can see a recent interview by local news here, keep up with him easily on Twitter by following @mattchandler74 and keep up with his video health updates on the Village Church Blog.
Please continue to pray with me that Matt will receive a good report from his doctors today and that his health will be restored so he can keep laying down the truth of the Gospel for many many years to come.
