522 Politics Cleaning the Church
By nearly every measuring stick the church in America is in decline. Attendance is down, giving is down, existing churches close faster than new ones open, clergy leave faster than they can be replaced. A stunning 69-94% of Christian teens are leaving the faith after they graduate from high school.
The sun seems to be slowly setting on the church in America just as it did in Europe a century ago. With signs of church renewal as scarce as rest areas on a Montana Interstate, imagine my delight when I found one recently via the pastoral controversies swirling our presidential candidates.
Back in February, Senator McCain, hungry for support among conservative and evangelical leaders, said he was “very honored'’ to accept a presidential endorsement from Rev. Hagee, pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX. This endorsement created instant problems for McCain who said he was unaware of Hagee’s long a history of controversial viewpoints regarding Catholics, Jews and countries like Israel and Iran.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue questioned McCain’s wisdom saying, “Indeed, for the past few decades, he (Hagee) has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church. For example, he likes calling it ‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’”
Of course, Jeremiah A. Wright, Barack Obama’s former pastor, has become America’s most famous pastor thanks to his high voltage comments about America and racism. Yet Wright’s comments are no less volatile than the militant sermons of Rev. Rod Parsley, pastor of World Harvest Church in Columbus, OH, from whom McCain also accepted a February endorsement.
By late May, McCain had rejected the endorsements of both Hagee and Parsley, and Obama had distanced himself from Rev. Wright. Then came Rev. Michael Pfleger.
In a hugely publicized sermon, Pfleger, longtime pastor of Chicago’s St. Sabina Roman Catholic Church, mocked the tears Clinton shed before the New Hampshire primary, suggesting that the former first lady owed her sorrow to the black man who threatened her Democratic presidential nomination. Obama denounced Pfleger’s comments and shortly afterward resigned from his church.
What a shock for these pastors to suddenly have their sermons gleaned for questionable content; which if found, is instantly broadcast worldwide via the Internet.
When Jesus was being grilled about his sermons he said, “I’ve spoken openly in public. I’ve taught regularly in meeting places and the Temple, where the Jews all come together. Everything has been out in the open. I’ve said nothing in secret” (John 18:19-20). This should be the church’s model, instead of delivering our sermons deep within our walls where things can be said and done that shouldn’t. Exposure is good medicine for bad habits.
Some see these pastor controversies as yet another set back for the church in America; I see them as a God send. Like a good spring cleaning, things need to be brought out of the closet and discarded. Mark my words, pastors everywhere are thinking twice about what they speak from the pulpit. I am. Hallelujah! Thanks to politics there might still be hope for the institutional church.
|
|
