Rabble Rousers in the Church

If you follow the Christian Sub-Culture you probably know who Mark Driscoll is, and, the church he started, Mars Hill.  You probably are also aware that the whole thing is currently imploding. 

A quick overview....
- Driscoll founded Mars Hill about 20 years ago as a basically brand new Christian in the most unchurhed city in America(Seattle)

-  With a brash and engaging style Driscoll oversaw explosive growth that quickly led to him being the new "IT" guy in evangelicalism. 

-  He wrote a number of "best sellers" that detailed the churches growth and his theology.  These books were treated as "Church Growth Manuals" for many young pastors coming up who wanted to emulate MD's success. 

-  MD oversaw a church planting network(Acts 29) that has planted hundreds of churches world wide in just over a decade. 

-  In the last two years the bloom has fallen off the rose as destructively unhealthy leadership by MD and his "executive" elders has come to light. 


A couple of general thoughts and reminders....

- The Bible is littered with flawed people who would be kicked out of most churches for their sinful behavior if they were doing it today.

-  God still used these broken sinful people for His purposes...not that He ever gave a pass for their culpability, but His sovereignty ruled over the sin.  God even chose a murderous adulterer(King David) to be the line through which the Messiah would come. 

- Even our greatest sins and failures do not limit the redemptive power of the Cross.  As Paul says, as long as Christ is preached.... EVEN when it was done for selfish ambition!!!


Personal Responses and Convictions......

- If Acts 29 or Mark Driscoll have been a blessing to you in any way at any point....GREAT.  We are capable of benefitting from God's work, even when the vessel that delivered it is tragically flawed.  We don't stop reading the Psalms because David was a pretty screwed up guy.

- Who are you attaching yourself to?  Our celebrity driven culture is excessively unhealthy.  When we begin to follow man instead of Christ, we are setting ourselves up for a fall.   Even if Driscoll did not have any of these problems, we should have never been so undiscerning by how much "worship" we were giving him.  And this includes anyone else out there.  Whether it is your favorite theologian, or, your local pastor.  They are flawed people that God can do great things through, but everything they do and teach must be weighed against the Cross and God's word. 


Moving Forward....

So what now?  I hope a lesson we can draw from all of this is that sin that is allowed to fester becomes more and more damaging with a far greater fall out.  To borrow from a good law enforcement statement, "If you see something, say something".   One of the red flags at Mars Hill was when they bylaws were changed in a way that consolidated "absolute" power with Mark Driscoll.  This is unbiblical.  Should Elders lead the church.  Absolutely.  Is it an authoritarian unaccountable paradigm.  Never.  If you are a part of a church, and leadership is unaccountable, treats members as a bunch of little children who have invalid opinions....run for the hills. 

In John chapter 7 the Pharisees are furious about what Jesus has been saying and how the people are seemingly "buying into it".  They say, that mob, they know nothing!!  Only these high and mighty self-righteous guys are able to really know what is going on.  Everyone else is a bunch of idiots.  But it was actually the "mob" who got what was really going on! 

Read your bible, test everything you hear according to God's word.  Love and trust your leadership, EVEN when they make mistakes.  But don't excuse sin and mistakes just because someone is a leader.  Nip it in the butt.  And if it doesn't change.  They can't be leaders.

Use this image to ask yourself how your leaders are doing

Where's My Healing?

The biggest cause of significant health problems in the US today is behavior.  Heart disease, diabetes, some forms of cancer, etc, are all deeply entwined with personal choices.  And those are just some of the major categories of diseases that require significant medical intervention.  We can go on and on and on about the myriad of ways we willingly compound our problems and compromise our health KNOWINGLY making bad health choices. 

Now, I am no scientist, nor am I a doctor.  But I am also not an idiot.  Observation of what is happening all around us is quite clear if we are willing to open up our eyes and use our brains.  Our family has recently entered into the gluten free world.  And let me tell you what a difference just a few weeks can make.  Sleeping better, feeling better, no headaches, need less caffeine to function.  If you are interested in the many ways that it can affect you neurologically you should read the book, "Grain Brain". 

Again, I AM NOT A DOCTOR!!!  So, do yourself a favor and take a hard look at your own lifestyle.  How many things to do you choose to do that you KNOW aren't good for you?  Compound those choices over years and decades and where are you going to end up?  Not anywhere good. 

So why do we continually make bad choices even when we know clearly that there are consequences?

The problem is not a lack of knowledge and information, it is a problem of the heart!

Fundamentally there is something broken with us.  And it just isn't our physical health.  Every day we make self-centered and ultimately "bad" choices even when we know better.  Ever been in an argument with a significant other and you knew before you said something that you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT SAY IT?!?!?!  And then you did????  I mean, not that I would ever do that..... 

Our problem is a deep rooted in, soul level, problem.  And until we address the brokenness of our inner selves we will always be in an uphill battle against our bad choices.

In Matthew 13 Jesus begins to teach in parables.  His disciples, confused by his "confusing" style of teaching ask him why He is doing it.  To respond he quotes Isaiah...."You will keep hearing, but will not understand; you will keep seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become DULL.....Otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, AND I would heal them"--Matthew 13:14-15

What do we need to get better?  To be healed?  To have our hearts changed.  Not just made a bit better, or, a bit healthier, but to become completely new! 

This past week we celebrated Easter.  Easter is the center of the Gospel.  Death was defeated by the finished work of Christ on the Cross.  What does this mean?  What is the inherent promise that is found in this act of total victory?  That because of Christ, our dead and unperceiving hearts can be brought to new life.  A life that can see, hear and experience healing!

When we allow God to change our hearts it is in Him that our choices begin to change permanently.  Instead of just jumping through a few specific hoops for an allotted period of time, our fundamental identity is something brand new.  We like to go on spiritual "diets" where we improve our behavior for a period of time.  But then we always come back to where we used to be.  This is because we never really perceived the depth of our problem. 

Stop lying to yourself.  Where you are is not good enough.  You have problems and issues that are compounding in your life every day.  You don't need better habits, you need a different heart.  And you can't build that yourself.  Only He can. 

And He will

We know what we need to change, but we can't seem to change it!

Irritable Bowels and Sanctification

What separates successful writers and bloggers from those who are unsuccessful?  Honesty.  Well, honesty and having interesting things to say.  Well, I can do honesty.  Real, deep, shocking honesty. 

About 10 years ago I was at work when I began to experience debilitating pain in my side and stomach.  It was so bad that I wasn't able to stand up straight and any type of movement caused more pain.  My coworker, who was studying medicine, assured me that it must be a hernia.  As someone who regularly proves his manliness by lifting and tossing around absurdly heavy items, I agreed with his assessment.  Off to the ER I went.

After a few gentle prods and some basic questions the doctor had me go in for an x-ray to see the extent of the damage.  About an hour later my doctor and nurse had wry smiles on their faces as they intently studied my x-ray images.  While trying to not laugh, my doctor informed me that I did not have a hernia, I was just full of crap.  Literal crap.  Full of it.  Blocked up in my intestines. 

My mothers response was simply to say that she could have told me that without a visit to the ER.....

For a number of years I had always had stomach annoyances.  But I finally had an answer to why I never felt quite right.  I was all backed up and had the ambiguously defined, IBS, or, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. 

It is really hard to nail down the exact causes for IBS.  It is sort of like saying you have a head ache in your stomach.  It is often used as a catch all that helps describe most non-diagnosable stomach maladies.  But the one consistent solution and approach to addressing the problem is diet.  Cut out unhealthy carbs, sugars, and add fibrous veggies and lots of water. 

Over the course of the last decade I have slowly gotten better and better at maintaining a healthy diet.  Since my kids have been born I have been really good at it.  I follow a mostly low-carb diet and drink an inhuman amount of water every day.  Also, I take an extreme fiber powder in a large bottle of water twice a day.  It is a fiber powder made out of psylum husk powder....yummmmmmy. 

This radical behavior change has had two significant benefits:  1) I rarely have stomach issues  2)  I have lost a ton of weight...At my largest I was about 285...Today I am 190.  The original goal was not to lose weight, I just wanted the pain to stop.  But the weight loss has been a wonderful and significant bonus.  The weight loss aspect of a "safe" diet helps in maintaining the diet.

Sin is like IBS.  It causes pain, it takes away your peace, it can literally double you over as it "backs up" your spiritual body.  And the process of dealing with it is very similar.

1)  You have to directly address it when you find discover it.

The first thing my doctor did for me was give me a prescription for a mega-strength laxative.  When I asked him if I would notice it was working he laughed and said, "There will be NO question about it".  He was right.  And I felt a thousand times better.  I could stand up straight, I could lift things, I no longer had the sense of constant cramping.

The first step with dealing with sin is confession.  Like a prescription laxative you gotta get that stuff out.  As long as it is just festering inside of you it will affect everything you try to do.  It is a handicap that can bring you to your knees.  And, like the laxative, confession is just the beginning.  A non-negotiable first step, but not the permanent solution.

2)  You have to change your "diet"

How I used to eat didn't cause me to have IBS, but it played right into the inborn problems that already existed within me.  If I didn't want to end up in the hospital again being laughed at as a doctor looked at my x-ray, I had to radically overhaul my diet.  Out goes the junk, and in comes the fresh veggies and lean meats.

The theological term for this ongoing life change is Sanctification.  It means the ongoing lifestyle change that leads to becoming more and more Christ like.  And sanctification doesn't just mean adding a bit of good to the bad, it means eliminating the bad and adding the good.  I am sure it would have been somewhat helpful to do nothing more than adding broccoli to my diet.  But as long as I insisted on eating all the other bad stuff, the broccoli would always be on the losing side of the bowel battle. 

Often we don't want to actually eliminate sinful behavior.  We just try to add some extra religion to the diet.  It's like having a salad with your triple thick extra large milkshake.  Not going to do too much positive for you.  Ironically, we then get frustrated and say, "This just isn't working!!"  And quit eating salads all together, because, seriously, what's the point if it isn't helping!?!?

Your spiritual life is not going to change because you sprinkled in some Jesus.  The diet needs to change.  Maybe you even try to go 50-50, but in the end, unhealthy always wins.  Sin is an addiction.  To self, to pride, to rebellion, to destructive behaviors.  Could you imagine a meth addict trying to beat their addiction by drinking more water and going for a jog....right after smoking meth???  That is what we do spiritually.  And it NEVER works.

3)   You have to regularly "purge"

I don't drink heavy duty fiber every day because it is so scrumptious.  Drinking fiber keeps me ahead of the game.  It doesn't let things slowly build up in my stomach.  I am not perfect at only eating that which is good.  Keeping a healthy dose of fiber in my routine helps me stay on a healthy path.

Confession is not a one time thing.  It needs to be the first-step, but the ongoing work of sanctification requires regular confession.  You have to keep cleaning house so that your healthy diet does what it is going to do.  When we believe the lie that we already "dealt" with all of that "back then" we are allowing sin to creep its way right back in. 

Purging/confessing has an added benefit.  It staves off relapses.  Sin IS addiction.  Eating unhealthy IS an addiction.  Fiber helps clear out my system so it doesn't set off triggers that make me want to eat a whole sleeve of girl scout cookies.  Confession keeps me from falling back into old habits that control me. 


When we actually begin to address our pain there is a correlated benefit.  We start to "look" better.  I changed my diet and drink fiber because I was in pain.  Losing weight is an amazing benefit.  But it wasn't the goal.  And, when I really got serious about losing weight as well, the bowel problems basically became non-existent. 

Dealing with sin directly begins the process of healing.  And it changes more than just your pain.  It changes you.  But it takes commitment.  Every time I indulge in something "bad" for me, I can feel my problems coming back.  Now, though, I know what to do.  I hop right back on top of that wagon and get on track.  I have been sick, and I have been well.  I will choose being well every single time.

How is your spiritual life?  Are you in pain, doubled over, feeling like you are full of crap?  Confess, change your behavior, and, keep confessing.  It can be difficult to adjust to at first, but one day you will look back and ask yourself, "What took me so long?!?!"

2 Steps forward, 2 Steps back

My Problems

I know two things that are completely and inarguably true:  1)  I have problems.  2)  They are because of me.  Actually, I know a third thing that is also true: 3) You are exactly like me concerning the first two truths.

Whoa whoa whoa!  I hear you yelling at the screen you are reading this on(assuming you don't print out my blog and read it at your leisure, which I assume many of you do...).  But Adam(you again), I agree, I have problems.  But they are rarely MY fault.  So and so did "this" and so and so did "that".  My job(or lack of one) causes "this".  Don't forget my "disease" was out of my control.  I am offended that you are "blaming the victim"!!

I see the disconnect you and I are having.  Let me define what I mean by "problems".

A problem is not your circumstances.  Circumstances are just events that have happened.  In and of themselves they are valueless.  Our perspective and reaction TO the circumstances are the problems. 

Explain yourself!!(you again)

Have you ever noticed that people in the exact same circumstances can have a profoundly different response and outcome?  One person loses a child and goes into a tailspin of depression and self-destruction, while another person starts a charity/organization that positively impacts and serves thousands of people who are going through the same thing.  The initial pain response to the circumstances is the same, but the reaction is radically different.  One person becomes defined and controlled by the "problem" they perceive, while the other defines themselves by who they will choose to be in the midst of that pain.

When we make the choice to be controlled by our perception of the problem we create an environment in which we will be constantly anxious, angry, resentful, depressed, etc.  This mindset is often coupled with aggression towards the original source of those negative circumstances.  If we are angry at someone, we blame them for MAKING us angry.

Guess what?  No one can make you do anything.  How you choose to respond is completely up to you.  Sure, sometimes responding in a healthy way can be extremely difficult based on some of our circumstances, but it is still up to us.  We refuse to take personal responsibility for the choices we make and continue to make.  It is always someone else's fault.

For the past few weeks I have been teaching through the book of Malachi.  It is quickly becoming one of my favorite books in the Bible.  Every word in it seems to speak right to me.  The heart of the book is that Israel is suffering in a myriad of ways and they cry out to God to complain about their perception that He has abandoned them and does not love Him.

How does God respond?

I love you, I love you, I love you.  But guess what?  The reason you feel the way you do, the reason you have this "problem" in your lives, is due to your choices and your behavior.  And why am I letting you suffer through the consequences of your choices?  Because I love you, I love you, I love you. 

Yes, bad things have happened to Israel.  But their despair is not about those circumstances, it is about their self-righteous indignation towards those they blame.  Never willing to ask what part they may have played to get where they are.

Right in the middle of Malachi, as God is patiently detailing the many terrible and sinful choices Israel has made, is the most important line in all the text;  Return to me, and I will return to you.(3:7)  He is saying, you are your own source of your problems.  Your choices, your responses, your heart.  That is all on you.  Yet I stand here, patiently, lovingly, gracefully, inviting you to a place where your "problems" will be healed.

How do we stop having "problems"?  By making the choice to allow God to change our response to our circumstances.  When we lay down our pride, our self-centeredness, our own choices, we are finally able to come to a place that says, "I cannot do this, take my heart and change it."

Bad things are going to happen to you.  People will hurt you and frustrate you.  There will be death, disease, pain.  But we do not have to be defined by them.  Be defined by the one who can make all things new. 

If you make the choice to have a velociraptor as a pet,

you only have yourself to blame.....