Have you heard of James McDonald? Chances are, if you are reading this, that you have. James is a gifted Bible teacher and writer and communicator and pastor and leader. He speaks on the radio. He rides on jets to conferences that he speaks at. He gets paid lots of money to teach God's Word to people who need to pay for hotel rooms in order to listen to. He hosts conferences that people need airplane tickets to get to. His buddies that he hangs around with are other world-renown pastors/theologians. His church has a school attached to it and a parking lot that gets measured in full and plural acres. Then again, "acres" is already plural.
McDonald has born a ton of fruit. He has watermelons hanging from his tree (not possible, I know, but watermelon is the biggest fruit I can think of). James McDonald is hugely successful and James McDonald was just fired from his position at Harvest Bible Chapel in Illinois.
Of course we wonder why? In short, it is sin. And believe it or not, sexual infidelity is not the only way for a pastor to lose his job. Turns out, McDonald was manipulative and filled with ego that led to what is described as a "cult of personality" for which he refuses to repent or take ownership of. More recently, McDonald was recorded responding very harshly and inappropriately. What was called "Toxic leadership" managed to build a huge empire but now the body of Christ is left to wonder, how badly will the walls come crumbling down?
If you are like me, your hope rises when you see large churches who are teaching sound doctrine. You find yourself saying something to the tune of, maybe there is a little hope after all. Maybe the church can continue to gain more and more momentum in a culture that seems to slip further and further away from God. Inevitably, as excited as I get to see large, thriving ministries flourish equals then the extent of despair I deal with when I see them crash into side of the Grand Canyon at 1200 MPH.
Here are some considerations for those of us trying to put the pieces together:
We should be sad: When we hear of the moral failure of pastors leading large ministries we should be sad and grieved. It is right and good for us to grieve the way the Gospel is defamed by those who claim to be Christians.
We should not fear: It is tempting to feel the weight of this and fear. Christians are already feeling the vulnerability of the church and the way it is losing ground in the U.S. We know how fast word travels. The media love dirty laundry, especially when it happens against "judgmental, holier than thou Christians." We remember the marketing rule that if someone has a good experience they tell five people but if it is bad they tell 11. Bad news travels twice a fast and twice as far. Yet, we must hear the words of our Savior to "fear not." God is still on the throne. He is still building his church and the gates of hell still won't prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
We should be careful not to equate failed leaders with who Christ is: Yes, I know it. The world will inevitably blame Christianity and its hypocrisy for their moral failure. However, the world must come to terms with Jesus himself, who never had such failure. People who misrepresent Christ cannot make Jesus any less glorious or his gospel any less true. Don't forget that.
We should check where our hope is: We should remind ourselves that great church leaders are a gift but they are finite, fallen sinners. Some gifted leaders have great capacity for advancing God's cause but they have equal power to do damage. All of us have some ability for good and some range for defaming the gospel. If our hope is in sinful man we should give up. The Bible is filled with great men and women of God who also committed greater sin and folly. God's kingdom went on!
We should examine ourselves and our priorities: In sports there is a saying that says something to the tune of "winning solves everything." Unfortunately, this is true as well for the church, especially if we swap winning with success (and by success, I mean numerical growth). There were reports that the elders were clearly warned 5 years ago that McDonald was not fit for ministry. Why didn't they act then? What if they had? Credit them for making the decision to fire McDonald now but in light of the "highly inappropriate recorded comments" that have now surfaced it almost seems like the situation reached a point where there really wasn't a decision to be made. Make no mistake, James McDonald is in the hot seat but it takes a lot of complicit people bowing down to the idol of success to overlook the kind of character flaws that got the situation to this point. We too should check our hearts, especially in relation the cultural love affair, shared by the church, for success.
We should be careful to never confuse fruitfulness with numbers: This is tricky because often times healthy things grow and they do so numerically. However, it is possible to grow big ministries when God is not pleased. I will just present the tension and let you work it out for yourself.
We shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater: This is another tricky one. What do we make of a man's ministry when it was built through manipulation and abuse? Well, on the one hand, who is without sin? Is there anything that any single person has ever done that is completely pure? God works through imperfect people. Yet, at the same time, this firing undoubtedly clouds his ministry and influence. Paul rejoiced in Philippians 1:18 that the Gospel was proclaimed, even if done for the wrong motives. God cares about our motives, but he also uses less than ideal situations and people to accomplish his purposes. Remember that this is the exception, not the rule and God's people must strive for holiness and purity in all things.
We shouldn't overlook offenses, especially patterns of them: I know that Proverbs 19:11 says that it is a glory to overlook an offense. I don't think this Proverb has every offense or every situation of offense in mind. When there are indications of character that are alarming then the body of Christ needs to play its role and expose it rather than to overlook it. God has a standard for his people and unfortunately, the world has to see the fallout of a church who probably should have fired their pastor five years ago. If it had been done then they would be an example of holiness, now it seems like they may just be doing damage control.
Don't give up on the church: Jesus died for the church. It is very flawed. Yes, this shouldn't be news. The church is a community of redeemed sinners who are all a work in progress. Yes, it is disheartening to see this happen but it really shouldn't surprise us, in some ways, to see that even Christians have real brokenness. Beware of legalism and beware of looking down your nose at the world. Know that the potential for great failure is well within your own grasp. Have compassion on those who need Christ because you too, still need Christ just as much.
I am sure there is more to say...I hope this gives us some parameters to operate within.
In Christ,
Pastor Kevin
Comments
Post a Comment