Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Follow the True Shepherd

"The word of the Lord came to me:  'Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.  So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.'" --Ezekiel 34:1-5 NIV

Another church has been in the news lately, due to scandal surrounding its pastor.  This sort of thing, tragically, crops up all too often.

The church is in a different denomination than ours, and it's way out in Seattle, Washington.  It's also one of those younger, seeker-sensitive churches with a very contemporary worship style.  For all those reasons, you may or may not have heard of it.  The church's name is Mars Hill Church, and the pastor's name is Mark Driscoll.  Unfamiliar, perhaps, but important because Driscoll is named in a recent listing of the 25 Most Influential Pastors of the Past 25 Years on www.preaching.com.  He has been a prolific author, sought-after speaker at national conferences, and an inescapable presence on the internet and social media.

Along with great celebrity, unfortunately, has come great controversy.  Driscoll is affectionately referred to as "Mark the Cussing Preacher" in Donald Miller's popular book, Blue Like Jazz.  Obviously, I can't identify with a church culture that would view cussing affectionately.  The nickname is somewhat justified, however.  Driscoll has employed language that would jeopardize many pastors' ministries--hopefully most.  Despite that, he has been lauded for his sophisticated theological formulation.  Driscoll is staunch proponent of Calvinism, of which I am decidedly not, but among prominent Calvinist preachers he has received rave reviews--until recently.

I know that a lot of people try to make light of profanity, and excoriate those of us who take it seriously, calling us self-righteous, judgmental Pharisees.  However, the reality of profanity is this: those words rise from undisciplined anger.  The Bible has warned us repeatedly to keep all obscene talk out of our mouths (Colossians 3:8; Ephesians 5:3-4), so obviously God takes it seriously Himself, and it isn't clever, cutting-edge, or cute.  The reason talk matters is that all talk is heart-talk.  Jesus Himself said that "the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." (Luke 6:45 NIV)  And so, when you hear a person who regularly employs angry, profane words, you are listening to a reflection of an undisciplined, angry heart.

The chief part of the controversy that has arisen has been about Driscoll's admitted anger issues.  Recently, a group of 21 former pastors and elders of Mars Hill have come forward with charges against Driscoll, claiming character deficits which have disqualified him as the pastor of the church.  They allege that Driscoll has a long pattern of spiritual abuse which has driven many leaders from the church, and a few parishioners claim they have even left behind the Christian faith as a result of the treatment they received.  Citing a culture of fear, the charges list many incidents during which Driscoll has allegedly met any questioning or opposition with explosive anger, firings, threats of firings, obscenity, slander against former pastors, threats to destroy their new churches, and a few other things which wouldn't be proper for me to even repeat here.  His accusers claim that he has also ordered the church to completely cut off a former elder from all social contact--just because the elder opposed some of the decisions being made.  Most recently are allegations of plagiarism and hiring a PR firm to artificially manipulate sales for his recent book release--and using church monies to do so.

Driscoll has recently stepped away from leadership at Mars Hill for a period of six weeks, to give the elders a chance to investigate the charges made against him.  Some of the accusations have been admitted to by him.  Some, he says, are issues which arose years ago, which he owned up to then and from which the church has moved on.  Some, he claims, are outright fabrications.  His opponents claim that, despite frequent apologies and claims of reform, Driscoll hasn't changed at all.

So, who is on the side of truth, Driscoll or his accusers?  More than likely, the truth is somewhere in between.  Since we didn't witness any of this, we've no ability to judge.  But whether true or no, the situation itself brings forward some strong cautions for churches everywhere.

First and foremost, church, never follow a man.  It's unavoidable that pastors end up being the public face of a church; he's the guy you see up there behind the pulpit every Sunday.  He's usually the big talker, and many pastors have charisma.  However, the pastor's job is to serve the Lord and the church by pointing past himself and directly toward Christ.  Understand that your pastor can't save you.  He's not Jesus.   Jesus, and only Jesus, is Lord, and He is the only one any of us should be following.  A pastor is only an under-shepherd, and he is only doing his job if he's following Jesus, not his own agenda.  The way he follows Jesus is by loving you, serving you, and doing everything he can to step back and boost you closer to Christ. 

Second, it's all about the fruit.  Every time a story like this pops up, I'm reminded it's time to take a hard look at myself, and then give myself a swift kick.  I don't have any books to sell.  I'm not flown around the country to speak at conferences, and I don't have nationally-known preachers speaking my name, good or bad.  Still, the exact same expectations are on me from Christ as any of those other bigwigs.  Those expectations have nothing to do with how well I can speak, or sing.  I could be the greatest preacher around (I have no such illusions), or sing like an angel, or have really exceptional theological understanding.  But remember this: content and delivery skill do not make a pastor.  It makes a good preacher or singer, but that's it.  As the Bible pictures it, God is not looking so much for pastors who are good at speechmaking as He is interested in those who will convey something of the character of Jesus to his congregation by the way he lives.  His character should be marked by the fruits of the Holy Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-23.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, all qualities which Jesus personified, should be growing in the pastor's character. Please note I said "growing;" perfection in these qualities will only be found in Christ himself. 

That list of fruits excludes the kinds of responses to people that Driscoll is accused of having.  But more importantly, it puts me and other pastors on notice that Jesus will not have the kinds of power politics and arrogance that are often practiced in secular relationships and businesses.  The Church is not a business; it is a community called to be an embassy of the Kingdom of God.  In this Kingdom, the rules, ethics and relationships are pretty much opposite of worldly communities.  That Christ's Church is part of His Kingdom, not a corporation, is a truth that I wish more churches would come to understand and expect.  Along with that shift would come a realization that pastors are to be shepherds, not CEO's.  A shepherd deals with his flock much differently than a CEO would treat his underlings.  2 Timothy 2:24-26 lays out how pastors should respond to people--even those who would bring criticism:

"And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.  Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." (NIV)

Again, a pastor's relationships with his parishioners should carry something of the fragrance of Christ.  Far from anger and defensiveness, he should be known as a person who doesn't want to quarrel.  Instead, he should be kind, gentle, and respectful.  When a criticism is brought, he should be humble enough to take heed and consider it carefully.  It may be that the critique carries the truth with it, even in part, and if so he should admit it and seek forgiveness.  Even if the criticism is unfair or ungodly, he must instruct the person gently and respectfully, teaching instead of arguing.  This is because a pastor must truly love the erring individual, and seek to bring them out of the devil's trap and into a right relationship with God.  If the pastor is seeking to just be right and protect his turf, he is showing little of the love that Jesus has for his straying sheep. 

One more thing I'd like to point out is that it's all about the Church, not the individual.  I can understand how that might be a difficult thing to keep in mind for some of the more famous preachers out there who planted churches and watched them grow under their leadership.  After all, if they're the ones who set the tone, thought up the strategy, cast the vision and did the pioneering work with a local area, it would seem reasonable to feel a sense of ownership for the work.  They're the ones whose blood, sweat and tears went into the place, right?  I'd be the first to agree that they did, in fact make great sacrifices and invest great passion into the work.  I really do respect those risk-takers who are willing to take on such an enormous task.  There's only one problem.  Even if a pastor planted a local church, the moment it becomes a church, it's not his.  Every church is under the headship of Jesus Christ.  Each one is a part of the Bride of Christ.  Every church is under the complete and total ownership of Jesus, who paid with His blood to redeem and sanctify His church.  We pastors are only under-shepherds whom Jesus has called to love their churches like He does, and to faithfully feed those churches with the Word of God.  Stewards, that's all we are.

Since I've entered the ministry, I've served established churches.  I'm thankful for that in many ways, but one of the biggest is that when you come to serve an established church, you instantly know that this church isn't yours.  It was around a long time before you got there, and it will be around long after you've gone.  You know that you're part of something much bigger than you.  The church isn't mine; the head and sole owner of this church is Jesus.  Of course, it's important to remind you all of the same thing; no matter how many years you've gone to this church, and no matter how many generations of your family have gone here, it's not your church either.  It's far bigger than you, and bigger than all of us.  My agenda for this church is unimportant, ultimately.  So is yours.  All that matters is what the Head of this church, Jesus, wants for us.

When I realize who the church really belongs to, it completely changes my ideas about why I am here, what I'm supposed to do, and who I'm doing it for.  The first passage I shared from Ezekiel 34 is a solemn warning of impending judgment for the shepherds of the nation of Israel.  They lost sight of the fact that the one and only job they had was to see to the well-being of their flock.  They were to feed, serve and protect.  Instead, they decided to make themselves richer and fatter at the expense of their flock.  They "fleeced" the flock, clothing themselves with the wool, and they slaughtered the choice sheep to feed themselves.  Instead, God says, they had been put there to seek out the sheep that were lost, to heal the sick and bandage the injured. Because they served their own interests instead, the judgment of God was coming.

I worry for many churches who are following mere men instead of following Jesus.  There are wolves out there in sheep's clothing, false shepherds who will serve their own interests and amplify their own power at the expense of the church.  By God's grace, I am growing to love this church more and more, just like its True Shepherd does. I want to do a better and better job of loving and serving you.   But God forbid, if I would ever fall into sin and begin seeking my own good at the expense of the church family, you should replace me as quick as you can.  Don't let me, or anyone, damage the flock to serve their own interests, or set the sheep against each other.  Follow Christ, and Him alone.

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