Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

PASTOR'S PENS 2009

February 1st   A critic is one who points out how imperfectly other people do what the critic does not do at all! Most folk know that I’m not a real sports fan. Though I do regularly check scores and statistics, it’s very rare for me to watch a game. About the only teams that I really follow are the Atlanta Braves and the Georgia Bulldogs...and even there, I’m a bit of a fair weather fan. But what does get my attention are sport’s heroes. It was very easy for me to get excited about the Packers when Reggie White was playing for them. Here was a man who used the abilities God had given him to further the cause of Christ. And he was a true believer and model – he lived what he said.                 That’s why tonight I’ll be rooting for the Arizona Cardinals. It doesn’t really matter to me who wins or loses the Super Bowl but I admire Arizona quarterback, Kurt Warner. A few years ago, immediately after the Rams' victory at that Super Bowl, an interviewer asked him, "Kurt, first things first–tell me about the final touchdown pass to Isaac." Kurt responded, "Well, first things first, I've got to thank my Lord and Savior up above–Thank You, Jesus!” Kurt lives out his faith and has an exciting testimony! But Kurt Warner is not perfect. Without question I’m sure he has foibles and someone out there no doubt has some “dirt” on him. Reggie certainly wasn’t perfect and there were a few times when I grimaced at some of the things that he said. But would we even know about these “things,” if these individuals were not in the public spotlight? Most of us don’t consider the high price of fame. I don’t know about you but I have no desire to have paparazzi following my every move, taking pictures or taping even trivial choices like going to McDonald’s for lunch. And while my sermons are taped every week, I would quickly grow weary of having my every word parsed and every sentence picked apart by some talking head in front of a camera.                 Our’s is a very critical world. Add to that, we’ve become a nation of ignorant “experts.” Every Tom, Dick and Harry, not to mention Teresa, Donna and Heloise – knows what those in leadership and those in the public eye should do differently. Sadly, that pettiness and critical spirit has invaded the Church.                 Let me be clear though on what I am not saying. There are times as believers we need to speak out, correct and even rebuke. If someone leaves an orthodox theological position, or is conducting themselves in ways that bring shame and reproach to the name of Christ, their words and behavior need to be confronted. Yet, most of the petty criticism of those in the “spotlight” by other believers is not about orthodoxy or behavior that hurts the cause of Christ. It’s either cultural or minutia. Most of it isn’t even Biblical.                  Just recently, Mike Cote’ took a phone call from someone looking for a new church. This individual apparently had a lot of church background because one of their points of “interrogation” is that they wanted to make sure that we were not a “Purpose-Driven Church.” Sadly, what this individual seemed to totally miss is all of the good that Rick Warren has done and how God has greatly used him. His recent prayer at the Inauguration took true boldness. Having done more than my share of public prayers, I can tell you that his leading the crowd in the Lord’s Prayer or praying in Jesus’ name was not authorized and certainly was not politically correct. But what better prayer than to remind our nation’s leaders that “Thine is the Kingdom,” that God is Sovereign and ultimately we will all give account to Him.                 My point is, that unless it is heretical or an affront to the cause of Christ, we need to rejoice that the Gospel is being preached. While I do not always agree with a Calvinistic John Piper or an Arminian John Maxwell, God has used both of these men to touch my life and stretch me. While I am a cessationist and Jack Hayford is a non-cessationist (he believes that the sign gifts are still for today), his wonderful song Majesty still sends chills up my spine. While the Apostle Paul had great liberty, the other Apostles even after the Cross still obeyed the Old Testament Law, not as a means of grace but out of tradition.                 Paul writes of those who were preaching just to cause trouble for him. Let me quote his response about those who preached out of carnal motives, “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice” (Phil. 1:18). What’s my point? As believers, as a local church – we need to study God’s Word and be sensitive to His Spirit on what we believe, teach and how we conduct ourselves. We are both responsible and accountable for what we do here. Then, we need to rejoice that God is using even those who don’t dot all their theological “i’s” where we do. Finally, we do need to be aware when a “Christian” leader or group has departed from orthodoxy or is behaving in a way that hurts the cause of Christ. If God has placed them in our circle of influence, we need to hold them accountable. We need to warn others that we are responsible for about this leader’s theological error. We must be particularly watchful of young believers, which God has placed under our care, that they are not misled or hurt. But we must always do it in the spirit of love and grace.                 I don’t know about you, but the mean-spirited criticalness of talking heads like Keith Olbermann really bothers me. Yet, sometimes we in the Church sound an awful lot like that...and that truly is awful. Let’s learn to be thankful for those with whom we don’t agree on every jot and tittle.                 Let’s thank the Lord that there are those like Kurt Warner, even in Post-Christian America, who still stand strong for Jesus Christ. You don’t have to cheer for his team today but we all need to be thankful for him and that he is on our team and more importantly, we are all on King Jesus’ team!