Pastors and Honesty

by David Hayward - The Naked Pastor

Rachel Held Evans, author of Monkey Town wrote on her blog the other day about The Epic Fail Pastors Conference and about how many pastors are afraid to tell their congregations what they have learned about the Bible and Christianity because of  "fear and recourse."  She was also calling upon pastors to stop being "Super Pastors' and to be vulnerable and tell their congregations about the struggles they have in life.

That set of a lot of responses to her from pastors who told why they could NOT do such things..  One excellent response is here:  Pastors and Honesty

Here is an excerpt:

So, when Rachel signs her letter from "The Congregation," I have to wonder which "congregation" it is who is eager for their pastor to tell the truth about life, faith, and relationships? Which congregation doesn't only say they want authenticity and honesty, but will actually respond well to it and find God's healing through those things?

My guess is that the congregation she is describing has these characteristics:

1. The church has a culture of grace. When people share honestly with one another, they are not condemned for it but are met with love and empathy. They hear "me too" more than "shame on you."

2. The church has a lot of young people. The college students and young adults I've worked with over the years have been far more eager for honesty than others I've worked with. They are likely immersed in social media and its culture of sharing and are comfortable with opening up the intimate aspects of their lives with others.

3. The church is emotionally healthy. When confronted with weakness or struggle, they search inside of themselves instead of punishing others for what they've done.

4. The church wants to be challenged. Truthfully, a lot of people in churches are not looking to hear something hard or new. They don't want to be led in new ways. They come to church to hear the things they already know and to be comforted. They need to want to be led and to be stretched in new directions in order to be open to the honesty that heals.   

If we're being honest, most churches do not have these characteristics. I don't know how many Rachel Evans there are in most churches who would receive a pastor's honesty with grace and self-reflection. And that's why most pastors are unwilling to tell the truth.

The blog comments that sparked this exchange is here:

Dear Pastors, 

Tell us the truth. 

Tell us the truth when you don’t know the answers to our questions, and your humility will set the example as we seek them out together.   

Tell us the truth about your doubts, and we will feel safe sharing our own. 

Tell us the truth when you get tired, when the yoke grows too heavy and the hill too steep to climb, and we will learn to carry one another’s burdens because we started with yours. 

Tell us the truth when you are sad, and we too will stop pretending. 

Tell us the truth when your studies lead you to new ideas that might stretch our faith and make us uncomfortable, and those of us who stick around will never forget that you trusted us with a challenge. 

Tell us the truth when your position is controversial, and we will grow braver along with you. 

Tell us the truth when you need to spend time on your marriage, and we will remember to prioritize ours. 

Tell us the truth when you fail, and we will stop expecting perfection. 

Tell us the truth when you think that our old ways of doing things need to change, and though we may push back, the conversation will force us to examine why we do what we do and perhaps inspire something even greater. 

Tell us the truth when you fall short, and we will drop our measuring sticks. 

Tell us the truth when all that’s left is hope, and we start digging for it. 

Tell us the truth when the world requires radical grace, and we will generate it. 

Tell us the truth even if it’s surprising, disappointing, painful, joyous, unexpected, unplanned, and unresolved, and we will learn that this is what it means to be people of faith. 

Tell us the truth and you won’t be the only one set free. 

Love, 

The Congregation

Why is Critical Thinking Not Practiced in the COG's?

I have always been taken back by the seemingly total lack of  Biblical  questioning by my former ministerial friends in WCG or in the membership over all.  It is amazing to me how little study into other ways of perceiving the Bible, it's history, it's construction and origins, its many contradictions real or imagined is done.

In the COG groups, the one man show type can get up and declare the Bible "clearly" shows the goofball to be an Apostle, Priest, King or Witness, AND FEW IF ANY QUESTION THE ROAMING AROUND IN THE BIBLE THAT IT TOOK TO DRAW THAT CONCLUSION.

"Duh, boss.  Whatever you say, huya huya...whatever you say." 

When Dave Pack goes on and on qualifying for membership in On and On Anonymous, why can't someone tell the man he talks too much and sees way too much of himself in the scripture.  Why can't someone say the sermons aren't always as amazing and never before understood as they are being led to believe. When he can't explain anything in less than two to four hours each week, where is the common sense of the audience?  When the man says either, "And yes, I am an Apostle," or "Send it in,"  blah blah blah...who are the people who just do this?  Are they defective of mind and common sense?

When Flurridians are told the Guru is "that prophet" or "God wants you to kiss your unconverted family goodbye and please no more talking to them,"  who are the nutcases that say, "ok, ok, whatever you say?"   Have they all been lobotomized?

Evolutionary author Donald Prothero notes...

"Looking over the shoulders of the hundreds of hard working , dedicated, self sacrificing biologists who spend years enduring the harsh conditions in the field to observe evolution in action inspires admiration in us real scientists.  This is in sharp contrast with the creationists who sit in their comfortable homes and write drivel about subjects they have never studied and do not understand."   (Evolution-what the fossils say and why it matters.  Page 113, Prothero)

This is also how ministers "do their hard work."  They skip along as good Bible and booklet readers.  Or as I have often noted, "piously convicted and marginally informed."
  

For as intelligent as GTA was, when he wrote about evolution as the authority on it for the Church, and why the Bible was right and science was wrong, he didn't know what he was talking about.  When Herbert Armstrong droned on and on about the two trees or the word "Elohim" and what it meant, he didn't know what he was talking about theologically.  When he said once in Bible study that dinosaurs were of Satan's world because they, like Satan, can't reproduce, he had no clue as to what he was talking about.  The current issue of National Geographic had dino eggs on the cover.

When Gerald Flurry declares this or that is God's way, he doesn't now what he is talking about.  When Dave Pack spins his sermons and mocks Plato, Socrates and the like, he doesn't know what he is talking about.  When he dismisses Albert Einstein because he had "wild hair,"  he has really run out of ideas and does not know what he is talking about. 

When Ron Weinland declares himself and his wife the Two Witnesses, well you know...it's just bullshit.  When you see yourself spoken of in the scriptures by the prophets, it is not time to start a church.  It is time to get some help.  I ask why Ron never studies what else  the Book of Revelation might be, who really wrote it and to whom for whom about whom?  Of course, if he did or if any of the COG ministers read the other issues raised by that book, it might require taking a lot of fancy literature off the shelves and throwing them into the shredder.

But back to the original question.  Why do COG types and really most Evangelical Christian ministers or members lack the critical thinking skills that would provoke them to ask questions about how we really got the Bible, who really wrote it and why?  Those few who do have good critical thinking skills usually end up teaching them but not at church, disfellowshipped, excommunicated, marked and otherwise marginalized.  God may love a cheerful giver but He is not much for a clear thinker evidently.

When debating Art Mokarow over the issue of creationism vs evolution, his "Oxford trained" side kick on stage blurted out when I was recommending Evolution--What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters,   "I have that book!" I was so tempted to reply, "Well I suggest you actually read it."  However, I restrained myself.  Many have a Bible but few ask much about how it got to be.  The non-Sunday School answer can be pretty darn challenging to one's faith.  Perhaps that is the total reason right there.

He told me I was too dogmatic about the problems in the Bible and too specific, whatever that meant.  I asked him if he was the author of "God's Puzzle Solved?"  He said  yes of course and i noted the words  "Puzzle" and "Solved" are pretty specific and dogmatic.  He said that's not what he meant.  Uh huh.

So, let's try this.  A couple of years ago I wrote a series of articles entitled, "Questions Your Pastor Will Hate."   They can be found here:

Questions Your Pastor Will Hate - The Book - Part One

Questions Your Pastor Will Hate - Part Two

Questions Your Pastor Will Hate - Part Three

Questions Your Pastor Will Hate - Part Four

Questions Your Pastor Will Hate-Part Five


And just for fun and as a bonus....

Why Does the Gospel of Mark Have No Positive Ending and John Has Two?

Now I admit the form was a bit cheeky at times in challenging us to look outside the box or at least how to even notice the Bible has contradictions, but I was processing my own "why was I not taught this?" experience. 

Art Mokarow assured me he had asked himself every one of those questions and that he was able to easily answer them to his satisfaction.  Good, I'm glad.  He had to say that.  It's like the Pope forgiving the guy who shot him.  He has to forgive him!!!!  He's the Pope.  He's a professional forgiver!  In the same way, if one is going to say the Bible is without mistakes or contradictions, one has to get a bit defensive at times, circle the wagons and ultimately feel sorry for the poor slob who even thinks to ask the questions.

So.  Do you even know how to ask questions about the Bible, its purpose, its real authorship, its politics, its errors (real or imagined) its intent?  If you know how to ask the question or what the question even is, why don't you?  Are you going to let others get away with telling you there are no questions or that questions are suspect around here? 

Enjoy the questions. You may or may not like them, but they are oft asked questions, they are not original to me and at least may help one ask enough questions when needed to maybe save them from believing just one too many made up answers that, in fact, are not so.

I think it matters to ask questions when in religion, there can be so much at stake for the questioner.


DenniscDiehl@aol.com  

UCG Ghana Resigns En Masse