Questioning Kris (Touch Not God's Anointed)

There seems to be an incredible amount of drama coming from certain christian circles these days. Not so long ago, a group of church-goers almost broke the internet over the 'scandal' of a woman breast-feeding in church.

Now a new catastrophe has been unleashed, with the publication of an open letter from a graduate of Bethel's School of Supernatural Ministry. This graduate has had the temerity to challenge the church over its behaviour and attitude towards LGBT christians in its midst. It would appear that some people can't deal with the outrage of the words of their idols celebrity pastors being questioned. Touch not God's anointed and all that...

I noticed that one Bethel "pastor" posted this in response (making me wonder if he actually read the original letter):

Although one of his followers described it as "bold, clever and uncompromised" I, in fact, don't believe it stands up to much scrutiny.

"I cannot believe the arrogance of 2 Lgbt women who say they are Christian, who just wrote an article against Bethel." [emphasis added]

Disregarding the accusations of arrogance... isn't implying you believe someone else isn't a "real" christian just a bit... well... arrogant?

Regardless, it seems to me that the real cause of Ben's anger is the fact that someone has dared to challenge Bethel and its leaders - thus touching the sacred cow.

"It's absolutely shameful to even challenge people who love and honor so well."  [emphasis added]

Hmmm... if they "love and honor so well" why is this woman saying she feels unloved and dishonoured? "What I see coming from Bethel in this area is not respectful or honoring."

"Who are you to question the God of the universe and His words that have been there from the ages."

Is the issue really about questioning God? Or is it questioning the "man of God" that really gets Ben riled? Because the God I know has never been afraid of being questioned.

"I had a period in my teens where I had a same sex attraction, but God delivered me from it, and I never struggled again."

Simple as that. Magic. And everyone should be like Ben, because his experience trumps their's!

"And as for bethel, my life was changed there. I had huge issues and was nothing but embraced and I know for a fact you both were too."

Again, Ben's experience trumps that of others. Furthermore, he gets to tell them what their experience actually was (that's called gas-lighting girls and boys...) Perhaps, in his haste to react, Ben missed the parts where the writer speaks positively about Bethel, acknowledging her gratitude for the good things she found there?

"Your just upset cause they wont bend and make your feelings more valuable then Gods standards."

More accusations, and more outrage that the leaders at Bethel should have to consider the feelings of others. I do wonder if he's confusing Bethel's standards, with God's...

"If you don't want to change however, and want to live by emotion, feeling and sensuality..."

As this is exactly the type of judgement the writer was lamenting in her letter "[Kris Vallotton] also said homosexuals are simply people whose character has atrophied to the point where we no longer have the moral fortitude to hold ourselves back from our lusts", I'd say Ben has learned well from his leaders.

"...I won't sit back while my friends get accused"

Maybe it's time we learned the difference between accusation and disagreement. Disagreeing with a brother, even if he's a leader at Bethel, is not a sin.

"Ps: they wrote against Bethel and were praised for standing up!" [emphasis added]

Despite his repeated accusation that the author "wrote against Bethel", it's actually not true. She was simply voicing her concerns about one aspect of Bethel's teaching. And she was praised - very appropriately IMO - for the grace she displayed even in her disagreement with the church. "Bethel is a beautiful place. Thank you for the 6 years of community and equipping. I hope Bethel is able to have a positive impact on people for years to come."

"I will keep this post up for a short time - because it's not my heart to divide, but rather to lay a firm ground for truth."

This looks to me more like a desire to enforce conformity, not present the truth. The not-so-subtle message here is: comply with the dictates of the church or you will be accused of creating division.

But as the letter pointed out, "You told us over and over, both in school and in church, that disagreement was healthy and that we didn’t have to agree to be family. Kris, you talked about God moving us away from denominationalism (where we gather out of agreement) and into apostleship (where we gather because we’re family). And I still believe that’s the direction we’re meant to take."

Now it seems to me that driving all this bluff and bluster from Mr Fitzgerald is a dangerous belief that there are some christians who are beyond being questioned or challenged. Because, irrespective of the issue being debated, this type of reaction from any church leader speaks of a culture suspiciously akin to Animal Farm. In other words, "All christians are created equal, but some are more equal than others!"

So maybe it's time we stopped treating celebrity pastors like demigods, and realised we are all brothers and sisters here. No-one is infallible. No-one is above questioning. And no-one's word should be taken as gospel.

A Thought For Thursday

I just came across this quote from someone who I suspect is the sort of "new-age hippie" the church used to warn us about back in the 80s.

"Spiritual abuse is abuse of the spirit of another human being. We abuse the spirit... by teaching, either covertly or overtly, that that spirit, that soul, that Self, cannot be trusted and/or must be negated in the name of someone’s or some organization’s notions of reality, righteous living, or safe living."

The funny thing is, a couple of weeks ago a friend sent me the link to a blog post from a highly celebrated church leader which included the following quote:

"If we only do what those in leadership over our lives tell us to do when we agree with them, it is not called submission, but rather “doing our own thing.” We must invite leadership into our lives and learn to trust them more than we trust ourselves." [Emphasis added]

When I contrast the two, I'm left with the question, "Does the church create and promote an environment which all but guarantees abuse?"

Christian Celebrity Culture

I came across this Facebook post from Kris Vallotton last week. As of today, it has received over 1,500 responses. And as far as I can see scrolling down the first few hundred, they are all messages of thanks and applause.

But I have spent the last week struggling with it - feeling like I must inhabit an alternate universe. Because when I read this post, I didn't feel like applauding.

I was distressed!

Before I explain, let me clarify why I am sharing my response. This is not a personal attack on one man. And I do get the idea that he's encouraging people to work hard for what they want. I have no issue with that at all!

It's just that I was really disquieted by the first part of his post. It sounded way too much like the toxic celebrity culture that has done so much lasting damage within the 'church'.

My congregation consisted of about 11 people; 8 of which had Alzheimer's. When I would a yell a powerful point, (I used to preach with drama), several of them would pee the floor and the nurse would wheel them out.

This made me cringe. These were people. Real people! And yet this sentence de-humanises them. Turns them into a bit of a joke. They appear only as a backdrop to Mr Vallotton's preaching!

Which raises questions in my mind - questions I would ask Kris Vallotton if I could: Did your yelling bless those people? Did you think about the poor staff who had to clean up after them? Did it occur to you to change your approach to accommodate the particular needs of those to whom you were preaching?

Or were they just a means to an end - an opportunity for you to prove your faithfulness so that you could move on to the 'real deal'?

Bill Johnson taught me that if I prepared as if I was teaching 1000s, someday God would entrust 1000s to me.

It disturbs me that we so often reduce God to a slot-machine, and loving service to a formula. If I do X, then God must bless and multiply what I do.

Then we play the numbers game and equate 'success' with the size of our 'ministry'.

'Our' ministry becomes the focus - not simply loving and serving others. 

So I spent hours every week, reading, studying, and preparing my messages. As I prepared, I would envision myself in stadiums filled with hungry people, all listening to me preaching. 

It seems like the focus was all on the preaching. But was there any thought during those hours of hard work for the actual recipients of this preparation? What were their needs? How could they be blessed? Were they even in the equation at all?

It sounds like Mr Vallotton was so busy envisioning stadiums of hungry people, that he couldn't see the "least of these" that God had placed right in front of him.

I may be misinterpreting the man, but I've seen this attitude way too often to be anything but disturbed by even the suggestion of it.

It's the fantasy of having thousands of people all looking at me. Listening to me. Being fed by me. And as we have seen, that attitude of celebrity culture in our churches is toxic.

I hesitate to point out the obvious, but Mark Driscoll is a startling example of where that thinking leads: "Look at all the people I'm reaching! What's a few people being trampled underfoot (or run over by the bus!) when I'm doing so much good for the kingdom?"

The trouble is that most of the time the kingdom that is being built is not God's!

Many times I would preach at the hospital with my eyes closed...I was preaching to a different reality.

Again, I do not want to make assumptions about Mr Vallotton's motivation here, but this sounds too much like the celebrity attitude. "This lowly group is not my real destiny - they're just a stepping stone. I was born to preach before thousands!"

And yet, as I've said, these were real people Mr Vallotton closed his eyes to. People who apparently weren't a good enough 'reality' for him.

I have tried to make it clear that this is not a personal attack on Kris Vallotton here. What I am attacking is the toxic attitude that has so permeated our 'christian culture', that we applaud it without thinking.

In fact, we don't even recognise it because 'ministry' has become the goal - not people. 'Success' is measured by how many people we 'reach', not by how well we love.

The unwritten promise is that if we work hard enough, God will reward us with fame and fortune... or at least a 'real' ministry.

Too many western christians have bought into the celebrity fantasy and have forgotten that Jesus came to serve. And to die!

"Jesus got them together to settle things down. “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” he said, “and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage." (Mark 10:42-45)

Now, if Kris Vallotton had written about how he'd knelt down Sunday after Sunday and cleaned up the urine-soaked floor, that would have really been something!

But we want to avoid the part where Jesus calls us to serve the "least of these", and we become so obsessed with trying to be 'somebody' that we fail to grasp the fact that in Jesus we already are somebody?

This world really does not need even one more celebrity - but it sure as hell could use some servants!!!