How to Fix Christian Leadership

Subtitle: It's Worse Than You Think

When Love Grows Cold

Another Christian "leader" walks away from the faith.

I skimmed this article: https://cogentchristianity.com/2019/08/13/skillets-john-cooper-on-apostasy-among-young-christian-leaders/

I don't want to read the whole thing because of the pain it will cause me. Even knowing that John Cooper's post has gone viral in Christian circles is disconcerting to me (though I appreciate what I read).

Why?!

God has given us everything we need to know to live and grow in godliness. These reports are a black eye to a Church which is not holding fast to what it has been given by the apostles. I can hear it now, "We hold fast!" Yes, you do. You have been passed down a faith which has been subject to incrementalism, specifically syncretism.

My message is as old as the faith. Prophets always call for renewal. Is this wrong? No. The apostle Paul said that he wished that all of his original hearers would prophesy. I take this injunction as still active. We should all prophesy, which means speak the scriptures into our local (i.e., time and place) contexts. We must judge, but with righteous judgement.

Do we need to be careful who we choose as Christian leaders? Yes, of course! Is there a biblical guideline? Yes, there is. Are we rigorously following this guideline?

Why We Are Smarter Than God

God has given us guidelines. Many disagree. "The bible can be used how we like." Uh...No. You may use it how you like, then you will answer to the author how you used it! If you are okay with the prospect that you might misunderstand the author, move on. This blog post is not for you.

I was raised in fundamentalist Christian circles. I suppose I haven't shaken off the basic fundamentalist approach, but I have shaken off many of the "conclusions" that fundamentalists have drawn. I largely disavow Christian fundamentalism.

I will say one thing as positive. If you start and end with the bible, you can reason to all of the positions to which the "integrationists" also reason. This is the strength of the fundamentalist approach. Now to their weakness. They are infected with intellectual hubris as much as anyone.

They hold to their conclusions as if they are the "very word of God." They may be right, they may be wrong. There should be a humility that says, "I will obey God, as I understand him, being open to his correction of my understanding." I walk this road, Join me. I need accountability and so do you.

Obedience is Better Than Sacrifice

When we draw conclusions about what "we should believe," we are more likely to look around for people who don't believe the same thing. Once we find them, we spend the rest of our time trying to convince them and almost no time implementing those beliefs in our own lives. This is a problem.

We implicitly believe that obedience is less important than the "sacrifice" of fighting "for truth." But if you read scripture, this is not so. I believed in fundamentalism for a time. I stopped believing over a period of time. I did what they told me to do: read your bible. I read it. The bible doesn't command us to "read your bible everyday."

It does instruct us to pray everyday, multiple times a day, even without ceasing. But it doesn't say, "read your bibles." You see, the bible is less concerned with the "sacrifice" it takes to read it than it is in obedience to the words on its pages. (Now all the conservatives are mad at me; the liberals are nodding.)

What is Truth?

We are not good readers. We are not good readers because we are not good listeners. (Arguments over education are pointless in this post. In the West, we have likely been operating at an "eighth-grade level of education" for over a century. Character has more importance to the building of society than education. Let's argue about that at another time. For now, understand I am writing from that perspective.)

We also do not read literature well. No one knows sarcasm when they read it. See what I did there? I used a universal "no one," which I try never to do.

We also bring our assumptions to scripture. This is where we get philosophical for a moment. Everyone has assumptions. They color everything we experience through our senses. But we can acknowledge them. In math, you acknowledge them so that they can be scrutinized.

You may have done the math problem correctly but started out with poor assumptions. You can get most of the credit in engineering school if you show your assumptions, then show your work. "Great job! You did the problem right, but you transposed these two numbers. Watch out for it next time!"

Of course we will interpret based on assumptions. Let's be honest though, how many people start out with great assumptions? The beauty of scripture is that if you read it everyday (as I was taught), your assumptions will be challenged. Mine were. I found out that many of the fundamentalist "conclusions" could not be sustained by a close reading of scripture.

Narrow is The Way

So I started to walk a lonely road. I upset fundamentalists and theological liberals. I upset "Calvinists" and Pelagians (or the less consistent semi-Pelagian Arminians). I upset Republicans and Democrats. I upset intellectuals and non-intellectuals.

But it's not me, is it? It's the gospel that's upsetting. Sometimes I get in the way and do a terrible job of representing Christ. It's apparent when that happens. But other times, I represent the pure, unadulterated message and it stings the heart of the hearer. The sword drops. It's not me.

The sword has dropped many times within my mind and heart (and I pray it continues to do so, "Oh Lord, show me where I separate myself from your love!"). It has divided between the thoughts and intentions of my heart. I am left bare before God Almighty with no excuse. I only have two witnesses: the word of God and the spirit He put in me. Fortunately, these two witnesses are all that is initially needed.

The Call to Humility

I do not say this to vaunt myself. If you think I boast, I boast only in what Christ has done in me. I could not do this on my own. Often people think about the egregious sins like murder, theft, and adultery. Some may think about the "seed sins" of anger, envy, and lust. Few think about intellectual pride.

In my teens, I heard the fundamentalist call to [anti-intellectual] intellectualism. It appealed to me. I started to read dense theological works. It was labor-intensive to do this as a teen. I had to have a dictionary in hand to do this. I began to adopt the "high falutin" language of the writers.

I experienced negative reactions to my use of formal English in colloquial contexts. I read critiques of high falutin language users by, presumably, envious non-academics. Regardless of the source, it stuck with me. I repented of hubris. It would not be the last time, it was merely one of the first times.

I recognized pride and arrogance among intellectuals. I dove deeper into non-intellectual circles and associated with the pain they felt from the poor treatment they had experienced from pseudo-intellectuals from every hierarchical level and in every area of their lives. There is a latent suspicion of intellectuals by "common" people. I love common people.

The Detour

I also suffered from these common people. "You ask too many questions. You are over analyzing." I got a respite when I joined an advanced academic program in the Navy. But I saw intellectual pride and arrogance in full force. It was promoted without shame. I slipped back into intellectual pride.

I have been in recovery ever since. It pains me when I see it in others. Does a fish know it is in water? How do I warn them of intellectual pride? I do not know how to talk to people. That's hyperbole, I'm learning how to talk to people. I have not done well in the past. I hope to do better in the future.

The Truth

The bible is not an easy book. It is simple and profound but it's not complex. Some writers are confusing and complicated but the bible is not complicated. We are complicated. When we stare simple truth in the face, we squirm. We writhe intellectually. Our stomach "flips." We do not believe what we read.

We do not obey it. We "figure" out what the bible really means. We reject the clear teachings in favor of focusing on interpretations of the unclear portions. Then we take those methodological approaches and foist it on the "clear" passages in order to make them of null effect in our lives.

We should not do this.

Obedience

We should obey the clear portions without "doing violence" to the text. We should realize that this may not work out. But if we have the humility to follow what "we know" won't work, we have the opportunity to learn what actually does work.

I have done this over and over. I do not like doing it. Let me be clear. Denying yourself is not fun, but it brings peace beyond understanding and joy unspeakable. It is in obedience that we learn. Eat first from the tree of Life and the giver of life will feed you from the tree of knowledge only what you need.

What Are the Qualifications for Ordained Ministry?

In this way, I commend to you, dear reader, the qualifications for ministry as proposed by the Apostles and first elders of our faith. It's there in scripture. Do I need to give you citations?

I feel no need. We would devolve to fruitless arguments in a hurry, but I suggest we actually attempt to impose God's order on ourselves and see how it fits. I suggest that we test God's election and make it sure. I'm suggesting that we will only learn "in the doing." You cannot learn how to fish only by reading a book on fishing.

You must put what you know into practice. If it doesn't work, ask God to change your mind and heart. Cultivate affections for what God has called "good." If it still doesn't work, pray for wisdom in applying scripture. If it still doesn't work, consult the people of God. If it still doesn't work, look again to the Word and see what you misunderstood.

Conclusion: Hold Fast to the Faith

We are subject to many false teachers. There are qualifications for teachers as well. Do we follow them? Though I am citing no scripture in this blog post, readers who are conversant in scripture will note where I have scattered the Word through my writing.

However, I will not leave you without a guide. Look for character. Lift up the lowly. Do not look for abilities and charm. Look for someone who will place himself under authority. You will have to look hard. People who are working do not spend as much time promoting. People who are promoting do not spend as much time working.

Test your people for leadership. Place them into apprenticeships. If you do not have a leader who will take on an apprentice, you are in a tough position.

Review the qualifications. Review the lives of your leaders. Do not be afraid to hold your leadership accountable. Revoke their orders as necessary. Raise up qualified leadership. Is this not the goal of Christian parenting? That is a topic for another post.

8/18/2019 Update: I was re-watching Dr. Matthew Stevenson, of All Nations Chicago, talk about witchcraft and he talked about people manipulating their way into positions of influence (it's good for me to check my own motives). For the pertinent portion on how to not give influence, watch from 51:40-58:30 (it's all pretty good, if you can spare the time!).

https://youtu.be/lh-fjPICaXM?t=3100