And I'm not just referencing the "biological relatives" in this post, either.
A good pal of mine, Joe, came over for a short visit last night. Joe and I have been buds now for two years--if not a little longer. We met the first time he visited Chicago Tabernacle in Fall, 2004. We've been friends ever since. We've both been through some tough times...and we are always there for each other.
We were discussing alot of the fall out from the recent scandal in Colorado Springs involving former Pastor Ted Haggard--who was also the President of the NAE (National Association of Evangelicals) which constituted some 34 million Christian believers here in the United States.
We both agreed that this wasn't just a "current" thing that happened to Ted Haggard. From his own admission in a letter read to New Life Church (which he started and had pastored for many years) last Sunday morning, Haggard had battled some very dark and repulsive issues for a long time.
But now as Christians, we need to ask some questions:
1) Why did Pastor Haggard have to "hide" his issues for so long? Was there no one he could turn to, confide in, or seek out to get the help he so desperately needed?
2) What good is the "family of God" if we aren't a place for healing, hope, and help?
3) How many good men (and women) sit in our pews every service--week after week--and battle in their own souls, but know without a doubt that "if any one finds out" they will be completely destroyed?
4) Are we, as the Body of Christ, so possessed with the idea of "the show" that we can't really be the "family of God" to each other anymore? Must "the show" go on at all costs--even if those costs are eternal?
5) What will it take for us to become the "family of God"--where we are truly "family" and not just a bunch of "power brokers" concerned more with image, status, and position, than we are with the spiritual well-being of our fellow "family members"?
I'm heartbroken over this sad, sad situation. What is God trying to tell us? Are we even listening? Are we only "hearing" what we want to hear?
What say ye?
1 comment:
Phil, great post today. I have often lamented to my wife that in the church we have to put a mask on. We think that if people knew what we struggle with, if they knew our fears and pains, we'd be shunned. It reminds me of a Casting Crowns song on their latest CD, "Stained Glass Masquerade". It's chorus says:
"Are we happy plastic people
under shiny plastic steeples
with walls around our weakness,
and smiles that hide our pain.
But if the invitations open
to every heart that has been broken
maybe then we'd close the curtain
on our stained glass masquerade"
I think fear motivates us to shut up and put up. Sad, really.
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