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tagged: Church, Church Life, Current Events, Geoff Baggett, Pastoral Issues, Theology, You Make the CallYou Make the Call – Episode 7
Posted by Geoff Baggett in IMPACT Features
This latest “You Make the Call” episode comes fresh from the field of ministry. It was submitted as a thread in our “Open Discussion” section of the brand new sbc IMPACT! Forum site by one of our newest forum members, anonymously identified as “scgamecock.” He has given us permission to reprint his situation here. We will maintain his anonymity … you’ll understand as you read the ministry situation. (Just in case you haven’t visited the Forums site yet … check it out! Our forums include Open Discussion, Prayer Requests, Site Discussion, and even a Chat Room! Just click the Forums link in the right margin.)
So … you make the call … on some questionable literature. Here’s the real-life scenario:
A group in your church is conducting a conference with break-out sessions lead by church members. It has come to your attention (you are on staff) that the book that one of the sessions is based on may be suspect – theologically speaking. After reading the book, you find that it does differ in several major areas from your church’s theology.
The session is being conducted by someone who you believe is a relatively mature christian and who you doubt believes everything the book espouses. The conference will be attended by individuals from a number of different area churches and towns. Even if the individual steers clear of the book’s incorrect theology and uses some of the “good” things it contains, there is the possibility that its usage could signify an unspoken endorsement by the church … a message we certainly do not want.
To compound the situation, the leader holds a major position in the church (one that you have to deal with on a regular basis). Your relationship with this personis not bad, but not great either (the pastor has a much greater ministerial and personal relationship in this instance). And to top it all off, this person is a member of a prominent church family. The pastor is aware of the situation but wants you to talk to the individual. (The pastor is near retirement, even though he has not set a date, and a number of individuals … both inside and outside the church … believe that he is already in a retirement mindset and personally does not want to be involved in any conflict.
So, do you:
- Go back to the pastor and ask him to handle it …
- Handle it yourself…
- Let it go and pray that the individual will have enough discernment not to use the incorrect parts…
- Something else?
Remember, this is real-life. Give a brother some help, please!
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It’s a little bit difficult to answer without knowing exactly what the theological issues are. This is what I think I’d do:
1. I’d handle it myself–the pastor is apparently unwilling and the issue needs to be resolved.
2. Talk to the leader who will be discussing the book. Find out if this leader really espouses all of the book’s theology. Hopefully he/she doesn’t.
3. I’d let the leader know my concerns. Perhaps the leader’s seminar on this book could be a good thing if handled correctly. If this is a popular book, the seminar could help people look at it more critically. Instead of ignoring the issues, I’d encourage the leader to deal with them in the seminar.
Maybe the name of the seminar could even be changed to “A Critical Look at . . . ”
That’s just my initial reaction.
I agree with Kevin, but I believe I’d confront the pastor first. I don’t read anything in scripture about retirement letting the elder off the hook for oversight of the flock.
I’d also sign up for the course, and challenge in the sessions, anything that I didn’t agree with, theologically. Why not .. I do that already.
But then, we don’t seem to agree with everything the Bible says, so what’s the big deal here? :^) Check with the IMB for some examples…..
I had this very situation occur this summer. Our church men did a study on a very questionable book. I went to the pastor and asked why. I also asked they hold the study instead so a better reveiw process could be initiated.
I was told by the pastor he didn’t see anything objectionable and that there was more to commend than condemn. I then was “invited” to lunch by a church leader (and deacon) to discuss my concerns in detail. I was more or less directed to discontinue my “judgmental attititude” to what the pastor had decided was going to happen.
Here is a link to a post I made in regard to this issue.
http://throughtheveil.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/practice-what-you-preach/
If the book contains information that is useful for the conference and there is no good substitute, I see no problem using it. ANY book written by a fallible human could contain error. That’s fine as long as the discussion confronts the issues head on.
In this situation, I would go to the person who will be teaching and ask if he intends to point out that the book contains info we don’t accept. With such a disclaimer up front, no one can say that the church is endorsing all the book’s content.
If he refuses, take it up with the pastor.
I think I fully agree with Bob’s answers above. First and foremost, challenge the pastor. Confront him. If he wants to retire, then go ahead and do that, there is little worse than a pastor who retires…but continues working for two years, just drifting until it becomes official.
I’d sign up for the class myself, challenge the areas that are incorrect.
Then, I’d add a third part. As a staff person, the day will soon come when the pastor retires and a new pastor is called. This staff person will need to prepare the new pastor for the ins and outs of the church. The new pastor will need to know about this leader and some of his questionable teaching materials.
Then, I suppose the next part would be to polish up your resume…once you challenge the pastor, and the member, you may find yourself out the door pretty soon! But, so what! If standing up for God’s Word gets you booted…shame on the church!
First, it is crucial to know whether the doctrinal issue is fundamental or not. If the book questions the deity of Christ or asserts there might be other ways to God, or that there are mistakes, that is worth taking a stand and fighting the good fight.
If there is an undercurrent of charismatic theology or something similar, or a calvinism-related pro or anti) issue, maybe you just let it be. People tend to hear what they want to hear and will probably survive unscathed.
It all comes down to the doctrine and its relative importance.
Second, if the person with the problem is staff as I understand, then there are some issues of protocol.
Is this conference under the staff member’s direct supervision and authority? If so, he is responsible and should take more direct action.
If it is under the authority of another staff member, express your concerns to that staff member.
If it is a churchwide or lay-led conference, talk to the senior pastor and let him know of your concerns. You have then done your job.
As a senior pastor, I want my staff to take care of their areas of responsibility. I want them to come to me with issues and I will decide if its significant.
Work within the system. On the other hand, if it is fundamental, gospel-undermining error, that is a hill worth dying on.
I guess I have a somewhat different perspective than do some of you, or at least I understand the purpose of a book which is to be used for some conference differently. You see, I have quite a few books in my library that some might call theologically questionable: Bultmann, Tillech, Calvin/Arminius, etc. My perspective is that I have learned a lot more from books with which I disagree than I do books I agree with. The reason is simply that if a book affirms something I hold, OK, good, so what, I pass on without devoting much brain power to it. But when I run across something with which I disagree. . . then it challenges me to sharpen my arguments, to research the matter in greater detail, and in general, to examine myself to discern whether or not my belief/arguments hold water. As the Bible says in Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Now in a conference setting, this approach presupposes several things. One, it resupposes that the book in question is being used as a “jumping off place,” a discussion starter, rather than an unquestionable authority; two, that there will be articulation that neither the book nor the conference leader speak infalliably for the church; three, that we have the freedom in Christ to disagree, the maturity in Christ to voice disagreement openly, honestly, and directly, and to the person with whom we disagree, and we have the grace of Christ to do all of the above without being disagreeable. And there may be other presuppositions, but those occur to me immediately.
Bottom line: if you have qualms about some text, you should go to the person who is responsible for selecting the book (whether that is the pastor or the session leader) and ask (not demand, criticize, etc.) but simply ask how the text in question will be used, and discover if opposing views will be tolerated and if the church’s theology will be articulated in some way, shape, form, or fashion. If that person responsible does not engage in your honest inquiry, then Jesus laid out the way to handle it in Matthew 18: 15-20. And if it puts your job in jeopardy. . . well, I had that dilema almost 30 years ago, when I found a certain aspect of my (secular) job at odds with my new-found Christian faith. And I wrestled with it considerably, then realized, “Hey! So what? I was looking for a job when I found this one!” I believe now that was God speaking to me, and I haven’t gone hungry yet. And it will have the benefit of providing the church with a spiritually and emotionally healthy way of dealing with conflict. Having dealt mostly with dysfunctional church in my ministry, that is something that many of them would have benefitted from when conflicts arose.
John Fariss
For clarification, the conference is completely lay-organized and led women’s conference. There are certainlycharasmatic tones to the book. It is \rich\ in name it-claim it theology. It clealy teaches that whatever speak with faith will occur. God is obligated to respond to our desires. Several points question God’s foreknowledge, including those who will be saved.