I’ve been following several stories this past week and trying to take it all in. There was the Chick-fil-a flap. (You can read my comments about it here and here and here.) There was the removal of a prominent Baptist Fundamentalist pastor in Indiana (here and here). (If you want to understand why some women hate Christianity, watch this tirade against women by dismissed pastor Jack Schaap if you can stomach it or this utterly bizarre one.) And then there was more discussion of women in the church with a series on a prominent complementarian website that has left me scratching my head more than once (here for the introduction and to find the subsequent posts).
Although each scenario is different, I think they all have the same problem.
People do not have their eyes fixed on Jesus.
After the Chick-fil-a support day, a prominent blogger expressed that what she saw that day left her faith in shreds and that she was hanging on by her nails. She didn’t recognize her church and was apparently completely distraught over people supporting Chick-fil-a which she saw as damaging to her friends on the other side of the fence.
A pastor was caught in an abusive sexual relationship with a sixteen year old girl. Church members were stunned. The senior pastors in this church (both current and past) are seen in an almost God-like way. It is almost cult-ish the way he was followed even in the midst of some seriously bizarre teachings. Some church members are commenting online, floundering in trying to redeem the situation because they cannot come to terms with what this man (who was next to God to them) has done.
And then there are discussions about women in the church and in marriage that consistently make me wonder why people feel this need to have someone in charge, in a position of authority in a marriage. The verbal and theological hoops that people are willing to jump through to maintain a teaching just astound me at times.
As I was contemplating all this, I watched the sermon on echurch at Wartburg. Pastor Wade Burleson was expounding on Hebrews 11:6 which is:
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
While he was preaching, I thought of a verse God gave me many years ago that He has confirmed to me time and time again. Jeremiah 33:3 tells us:
Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
I suspect that most, if not all, of our problems as Christians stem from taking our eyes off Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 exhorts us:
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…
In every time of low spiritual health, I have taken my eyes off Jesus. I have neglected to eagerly seek God in faith, but have looked at circumstances instead. I have not called on God, expecting Him to show me great and mighty things but have looked to people for answers.
Jesus is the author and perfecter of my faith.
Jesus is the one who will point me to truth, comfort me, guide me, and carry me.
When people fix their eyes on social justice instead of Jesus, there will be despair.
When people fix their eyes on prominent teachers instead of Jesus, there will be tragic outcomes.
When people fix their eyes on theological nuances instead of Jesus, there will be disappointment and disillusionment.
Any time we fix our eyes on anything temporal – movements, teachers, pastors, doctrines, etc. – we will end up in trouble. The only thing we can fix our eyes on that will not disappoint is Jesus. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He knows the beginning and the end of our faith journey with Him and will walk with us faithfully every step in-between.
If our faith is shattered by the actions of others, we have taken our eyes off of Jesus.
If our faith revolves around a charismatic leader in a denomination or using a certain Bible version, we have taken our eyes off Jesus.
If our faith is dependent on having the right answer to every theological debate, we have taken our eyes off Jesus.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
I was wondering whether you’d comment on CFA. I’m impressed by your read on CFA supporters, and I think you may on some level be right, and you’re very kind — but for LGBT people, the issues is pretty central to them, as it is as a civil rights matter. It would be hard for me to tell a gay friend with anything but shame that this really visceral anger had little or nothing to do with the issue that is at the center of it — when we consider the widespread violence against gays in this country even apart from the other civil rights issues involved. What would I say? Yeah, they’re talking about you all the time but it’s not about you? That would be hard for me to understand if I were gay.
I just watched “pastor Jack”…and am now going to shower. Ugh!
SB – Yes, that’s about the extent of my input on that topic. It isn’t the focus of what I’m doing here so it isn’t something I intend to write about. I’m also purposely not writing about politics on either of my sites any longer. 🙂
Katy – I totally get your shower comment although my reaction was more anger and righteous indignation. Can you imagine being a wife or daughter sitting in that room and listening to your husband or father saying “Amen” to that drivel? It’s beyond disgusting.
Only read your comments on Chick fil a . You say exactly what has been going on in my heart about all these horrible things that happen in the world and we are overwhelmed. I have had it on my heart that I should DO something but my gosh there are so many causes and if you do not jump right on board you are labeled a hater or cold and selfish…Well I could go off and have a writting fit..it just feels so good to hear a sane voice in an seemingly insane world. I cried when I saw a video of kind friendly normal Americans waiting in front of a Chick fil a. No screaming that certain word ,no talking over ,talking down , just normal happy friendly humans.Karen
No, I could not imagine it, Sallie. It is truly horrific to hear the “amens” coming from the congregation. Those poor young women who are growing up thinking they are less than the men…that they are the reason for sin entering the world. I’m certainly glad that Timothy’s grandmother and mother never had to listen to this man’s drivel!
It is strange how the more “fed-up” and powerless people feel, the more they divide into groups and begin to attack one another. The opposite behavior, banding together in common humanity to work through a challenge, would be more conducive to coming to a solution. In our current cultural climate, the idea of attempting to live at peace with all men and women seems to be a non-starter.
HI Sallie…I am finally catching up on reading here….always so much great stuff.
Chic-A Filet……my FB feed lit up for over a week with comments and thoughts from every imaginable spectrum. I have a bunch of people I knew in my Christian college days who have embraced homosexuality, some for themselves and others for those they care about. stunningly to me,some of them are pastors and youth leaders. I also have a handful of young friends who are quite post modern in their thoughts and, of course, this issue is a big deal to them because they have set aside any absolute truth. And then I have a couple truly committed radical liberals who absolutely hate Christianity…but they like me for some reason. I want to present an honest and accurate picture of Christ to them. Because of that, I have said little about the issue other than forwarding an article by Eric Metaxas. That started a long discussion of how horrible and hateful Christians are and I concluded that no one ever truly influenced someone else in any positive way through a sound bite!
BUT, were I to comment it would like very much like what you have so correctly identified. This was about American people who are fed up with political correctness who saw the simplest way to say so was to eat a chicken sandwich. I also think it is a bellwether on what will happen in November.
Sorry I’ve been slow to respond to comments…
Yes, I made the decision to not do politics on either of my blogs any longer. I think I deleted all the old political posts on my other site. I also made the decision to not discuss homosexuality. There are so many other places to debate it online that I’m simply steering clear of that stress-inducing topic since 99.5% of the time it ends up as a trainwreck. 🙂
Sallie, I did not know about Pastor Schaap until I read this post a month ago. I meant to leave a comment here, but life got busy. This post lead me to a deep researching of that pastor, the church and college there, and over the top fundamentalists in general. I’d often wondered about your beliefs about submission in marriage, etc., but if this is what you’ve seen, I don’t blame you! This is so far from what God intended in marriage. Men acting like this, as well as other things going on in fundamental churches, just turns my stomach. (Hope I made sense–I can’t remember what I was going to say exactly.:) )