Friday, July 29, 2005
Who (or What) Do You Follow?
Pyromaniac has been on a tear these past few weeks -- great post after great post in his dicussion of the fads that drive modern evangelicalism. His latest post is no exception. In this one he examines the question of why fad follwing is not a good thing.
I will never forget, years ago when PromiseKeepers was at its stadium filling zenith, being chastised by my then pastor for not joining the 200 men from our church that were going to fill the LA Coliseum. I asked him sincerely why I needed to join the latest fad? I predicted that within a few years PKers would fade into the obsurity from which it came, likely under a cloud of corruption. PKers was smarter than most and aborted the big time before it got completely out of control, but not without a scandal or two.
The pastor at that time remarkably admitted I was probably right, but that God was moving now - why worry about tomorrow? I told him I had serious doubts that God really was moving now. He never gave me the opportunity to defend the statement as he walked away in disgust, but I shall take the opportunity now. It seems most appropriate based on Pyro's post; Phil quotes Rick Warren, and he is seeing the first inklings of his own scandal.
Virtually all of these fads end in corruption. Think about it, as they grow, the money simply becomes too much and some sort of scandal emerges. Many of the movements are founded on very sincere and successful leaders who may avoid the scandal, but it is almost certain with the second generation. If we will indeed "know them by their fruits," can we really state that something that ends in scandal is where God is working now?
Now don't get me wrong, the more traditional and less faddish has had more than its fair share of scandal as well, but there is a qualitative difference. Those scandals do not result in a burn out of the ministry -- rather, they work to glorify God in the handling of it. This happens for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the lack of size among the less faddish, keeps the scandal from the headlines, which gives more manuevering room in addressing it. (Sheep's Crib had a post yesterday that supports this to some extent) Secondly, because the less faddish is more focused on glorifying God to begin with (than merely with growth and success) it is not so stultifyingly crippled by the appearance of the scandal. This is reflected the theological drift that Phil Johnson is addressing in his post linked above. The bottom line is this -- when God is really at work in a ministry, scandal is a sideline, not a ministry-busting disaster.
The other issue when it comes to deciding where God is moving now, lies precisely in the fruit that is being shown now. I am not aware of anywhere in scripture where "rapid growth," "large attendance," or "financial blessing" are linked as fruits of the Spirit. The movement of God is not measured in the number participating, but in the quality of lives leaving. While I have heard lots of men say really nice things about participating in PKers, and I have no doubt that some have had their lives much improved, I have not heard anyone tell me about the genuine encounter they had with the God of creation.
I am really grateful to Phil for this series, and while we are on the topic of this stuff, I have to present this link as an example of this stuff gone so, so wrong. It links to a web site that adds little or nothing to the glory of God, and gives my most passionate hobby a horrible black eye to boot. It is certainly the best reason to avoid the fad-driven church I have ever seen.
I will never forget, years ago when PromiseKeepers was at its stadium filling zenith, being chastised by my then pastor for not joining the 200 men from our church that were going to fill the LA Coliseum. I asked him sincerely why I needed to join the latest fad? I predicted that within a few years PKers would fade into the obsurity from which it came, likely under a cloud of corruption. PKers was smarter than most and aborted the big time before it got completely out of control, but not without a scandal or two.
The pastor at that time remarkably admitted I was probably right, but that God was moving now - why worry about tomorrow? I told him I had serious doubts that God really was moving now. He never gave me the opportunity to defend the statement as he walked away in disgust, but I shall take the opportunity now. It seems most appropriate based on Pyro's post; Phil quotes Rick Warren, and he is seeing the first inklings of his own scandal.
Virtually all of these fads end in corruption. Think about it, as they grow, the money simply becomes too much and some sort of scandal emerges. Many of the movements are founded on very sincere and successful leaders who may avoid the scandal, but it is almost certain with the second generation. If we will indeed "know them by their fruits," can we really state that something that ends in scandal is where God is working now?
Now don't get me wrong, the more traditional and less faddish has had more than its fair share of scandal as well, but there is a qualitative difference. Those scandals do not result in a burn out of the ministry -- rather, they work to glorify God in the handling of it. This happens for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the lack of size among the less faddish, keeps the scandal from the headlines, which gives more manuevering room in addressing it. (Sheep's Crib had a post yesterday that supports this to some extent) Secondly, because the less faddish is more focused on glorifying God to begin with (than merely with growth and success) it is not so stultifyingly crippled by the appearance of the scandal. This is reflected the theological drift that Phil Johnson is addressing in his post linked above. The bottom line is this -- when God is really at work in a ministry, scandal is a sideline, not a ministry-busting disaster.
The other issue when it comes to deciding where God is moving now, lies precisely in the fruit that is being shown now. I am not aware of anywhere in scripture where "rapid growth," "large attendance," or "financial blessing" are linked as fruits of the Spirit. The movement of God is not measured in the number participating, but in the quality of lives leaving. While I have heard lots of men say really nice things about participating in PKers, and I have no doubt that some have had their lives much improved, I have not heard anyone tell me about the genuine encounter they had with the God of creation.
I am really grateful to Phil for this series, and while we are on the topic of this stuff, I have to present this link as an example of this stuff gone so, so wrong. It links to a web site that adds little or nothing to the glory of God, and gives my most passionate hobby a horrible black eye to boot. It is certainly the best reason to avoid the fad-driven church I have ever seen.
