A Brief Word of Explanation …

I’m going to experiment with a new form of post today. Viewers of 1980’s-era Monday Night Football or This Week In Baseball might remember a segment called “You Make the Call”, sponsored for quite some time by IBM. They’d showed a brief video clip from an actual game, and you had to play the part of the referee (or umpire), and decide what the correct call was.

So, we’re going to do sort of the same kind of thing … from a church/faith perspective. I’m simply going to present a hypothetical scenario that could occur in church life, or in denominational life, and then allow readers to “make the call.”

There will be no editorializing on my part. I will merely lay out the hypothetical then turn it over to you. Use your knowledge, your beliefs, and the Scriptures to make your case … and “You Make the Call” Of course, there may be some differing opinions. And some may be emotional about these issues. So, please, review our standards and interact with grace.

*Note - All “You Make the Call” scenarios are purely hypothetical. They are the products of my imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.

***

Episode 1 - You Make the Call … on Alcohol

A Southern Baptist pastor has faithfully served his church for eleven years. The church is stable and growing. The pastor is well-loved by his church family, and well-respected in the community.

A deacon in the church hears a rumor that a local trash collector noticed empty wine bottles in the pastor’s trash. He recruits a fellow deacon go go with him and confront the pastor about this rumor. During the course of the visit, the pastor admits that he and his wife enjoy a small glass of wine each night before they go to bed. He stated that they do so in the privacy of their own home. Furthermore, he states that they drink this nightly glass of wine on the advice of their physician, because of the histories of heart disease in both of their families. The deacons seem shocked at the pastor’s admission. They tell the pastor that they may have to bring this information before the church. The pastor informs them that he believes this very private evening routine is not sinful and it is no one’s business but his own.

Now … You Make the Call! Has this pastor violated his peoples’ trust? Is he disqualified from pastoral service? Is he guilty of unrepentant sin? What should these deacons do next? Should this pastor be allowed to continue in his leadership role at his church? Or is it no one else’s business?