Pastors Edge

James Merritt

How Do You Tolerate the Intolerable?

For those Rip Van Winkles who just woke up and wonder if there has been indeed a massive, earthquake size culture shift in our country in just the last 10 years just think Proposition 8 and e-Harmony.com.  

Who would have dreamed just a decade ago that a state would have to put up for a vote that marriage should be limited to a man and a woman? Who would have thought just a decade ago that an online dating service would have to agree with a court to become a matchmaker for homosexual and lesbians?

I will be the first to admit that my heart has not always been loving and compassionate toward homosexuals. I will be the first to admit that my attitude was indeed pharisaical and harsh toward those who have chosen this sexual lifestyle.  God broke me when several years ago I deliberately visited two lesbians who had visited a former church and saw firsthand how these are human beings who are loved by God and need His grace just like I do.  I not only became friends with them but led them eventually to Christ and saw them forsake their lifestyle.

That said, I am angry and somewhat astounded at the lack of toleration of those who scream the loudest for tolerance.  It is bordering on both the insane and the infinitely arrogant.

Proposition 8, which went before the people of California, was a totally legitimate effort following the democratic process of allowing an amendment to the state constitution. Not one person said there was anything unconstitutional about amending the constitution!! But then the completely unexpected happened-the proposition passed by a strong 52-47%...and what happened-the one who worship the idol of tolerance rioted, marched, screamed  and filed suit to have the people's will overturned!

In New Jersey, although there are hundreds of internet sites where homosexuals and lesbians can hook up, e-Harmony was intimidated by the courts into opening up their website to homosexuals as well as straights.  Apart from whether or not e-Harmony caved (I think they did) this is just another case where the poster children for tolerance are completely intolerant of others who in every way possible tolerate them!

Let me be brief and to the point: toleration works both ways and those of us who indeed practice it must stop at the line where we are forced to tolerate the intolerable. Not every hill is worth a Christian dying on-but this one certainly is. Let us act toward everyone with grace, love and compassion. But when the people have spoken in one instance and when law abiding are forced to make choices that violates both one's conscience and values, it is time to stand up and stand against those on the other side. Not to do so is to tolerate the intolerable.

When the Election is Over

I have been more quiet and reflective during the last 18 months in the race for President than ever before in my lifetime. I admittedly love politics. In fact I want to recommend a book to you if you have any interest in being a truly informed voter and one who can intelligently discuss and debate the various issues facing the next President of the United States (POTUS). The book is entitled What You Should Know about Politics...But Don't by Jessamyn Conrad. It truly is as the subtitle states a "non-partisan" guide to the issues. I found the book a great read and extremely informative and will be a more intelligent voter because of it.

That said, in a matter of hours, we will have elected the next POTUS in what will be (regardless of who wins) an extremely historic event. Either the first black person will be elected POTUS or the first woman will be elected V-POTUS. Either way, to say the least we have come a long way baby, no doubt about it!

The purpose of this post is neither to persuade you to vote for one candidate nor dissuade you from voting for another candidate.  However, I will go on record as saying this without apology: it would be wrong to vote against any candidate strictly because of the color of their skin. That is blatant racism and has no place in what should be a truly color blind society.  On the other hand, it is just as racist to vote for a person strictly because of the color of their skin. That too is just as racist and is simply not a reason to vote for anyone.

That being said, today we will have elected a new president and I want to give some observations, offer some counsel, and make some suggestions that hopefully will apply to everyone. I do this in no particular order.

First, do not make the political personal. I have never seen such venomous and vitriolic disagreement over a presidential election in my lifetime. Indeed, I just read where a fight broke out in a retirement home in Florida between some senior adults over the upcoming election! (I wonder if they were members of AARP-American Association of Retired Pugilists)  Obscene gestures, profane language, murderous looks can be had in an instant if you are wearing the wrong button, or have the wrong bumper sticker, or an unpopular yard sign. 

Though I don't want to underestimate the importance of this election ( just maybe one of the two most important of my lifetime) we do need to remember that we are accountable only as to how we vote, and that the differences offered in a democracy are what make living in one so great. Be passionate, be bold, and be willing to speak your mind but do so with an allowance for others to disagree without declaring war on them.

Second, don't whine about the winner and don't laugh about the loser. Frankly, I don't know why anybody would even want the job today! Have you ever seen more difficult issues facing a POTUS both in quantity and quality than the one facing the next one? From domestic to foreign issues, we are living in perhaps the most unstable, difficult, perilous times since the beginning of WWII.  Once the American voter has spoken it is time to move on. Mercifully, the debates, ads, primaries, and campaigns are over-at least for a few weeks, and we can all move on with our lives and get back to simply governing our own lives responsibly.

Finally, pray for the next POTUS regardless of who wins. Not only will he need it but he deserves it and God demands it!  One thing I am grateful for-it is the knowledge that behind all of this is a sovereign God who is in complete control and whose Son is coming back one day not to take sides but to take over!  Looking at the headlines right now-that event can't come soon enough

"Many Ministry Models, One Common Goal" (+ Book recommendations from my summer reading)

There are more ministry models out there than I can count. I have personally witnessed the Purpose-Driven Model, the Cell Church Model, the Home Church Model, the Church Growth Model, the Seeker-Sensitive Model, the Natural Church Model, and the list rolls on! But, what we often fail to realize is that a particular model has a track record of success because it has been implemented in a particular environment, in a particular community with particular participants at a particular time.

Now you may be struck by the obvious nature of that statement, but there is a deeper, often overlooked truth that hides just beneath its surface: Because the success of a specific ministry model has been attained in specific circumstances, it may or may not be optimal or even effective for you. In other words, just because the Purpose-Driven Model blew Saddelback Church up like a carnival balloon doesn't mean that it will work in your community, in your environment, with your participants and at this time.

If someone tries to sell you on the theory that there is one definitve ministry model out there, kindly send them to me. I have a some wonderful, ocean-front property in Kansas I would like to sell them.

Joseph Myers, in his book Organic Order: creating a place where people naturally connect, oberves the following: "We see or experience a pattern that 'works,' and then we assume that if we repeat the pattern exactly, we can manufacture the same result." He goes on to say that this confuses the "descriptive" with the "prescriptive." He concludes, "there are many patterns that we can use to connect to God and others."

This serves as a reminder to all of us that we have not been called to a ministry model, but to the Gospel ministry. As long as you are moving people toward maturity in Christ and effectively reaching the unchurched in your community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter what ministry model you are using or if you are using any model at all. So long as we are all pursuing this one common goal, the means for getting there matters little.

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Also, here are a couple of highly recommended books from my summer reading:

Confessions of a Reformation Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church by Mark Driscoll

The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary by Mark Sanborn

Coach Wooden One-On-One by John Wooden and Jay Carty

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies

Meet the Press Meets God

A few days have passed from time as Tim Russert, the seventeen year host of Meet the Press, has passed from this life on to the next. There is a real sadness in my heart and hopefully sensed in my words for several reasons. First, Russert died two days before Father's day, a tragic irony in the fact that he was known as a son who had a great relationship with his own father-a relationship chronicled in his New York Time's bestselling book, Big Russ and Me. Moreover, Russert was equally close to his own son Luke, and had just returned from Italy where he and his wife of twenty five years had gone to celebrate Luke's graduation from Boston College.  He was without question a fine family man and, as President Bush put it, "a good and decent man."

Like me, you probably rarely saw Meet the Press; our big work day is Sunday. Still, I was a distant admirer of Russert and his craft. One could not help but notice that there was none better at interviewing politicians in a way that forced honest answers and candid dialogue. (Sorry Mr.O'Reilly, but Russert invented the "no spin zone.") Russert was always prepared, knew his subject and his interviewee, and was from all indications truly "fair and balanced."  So I am saddened at the loss of a good father, steadfast husband, committed son, and world class journalist who brought dignity and breadth to an industry often maligned for a lack of both.

In a broader sense, I am somber as well. Like the shock of an unexpected cold shower, I was jolted out of my daily comfort zone and reminded once again of both the fragility and the brevity of life-and the fact that death is not impressed by fame, notoriety, influence and does not discriminate on the basis of creed, color or gender.

Russert was only 58-young by today's standards for sure. He was at the top of his profession and just entering the prime of his career and life. Every Sunday, 4 million Americans tuned in to Meet the Press, and he had just been named to Time magazine's "100 most influential Americans." Russert had received 44 honorary degrees and other honors too numerous to mention He was under medication for a diagnosed coronary condition, had just passed a stress test two months earlier, and was exercising regularly.  

Then, as Tom Brokaw so movingly said, "...my friend Tim Russert collapsed and died...." Just like that-he was dead and gone. Little if any warning, little if any time to realize he had completed his last broadcast, taken his last trip, eaten his last meal, asked his last question. So it is with all of us.

Pastors, we may not be the hosts of a hard-hitting news show, but one day we too will meet our Creator at the time of His choosing. When we breathe our last, we will have to account for every sermon (Did you communicate the Gospel message?), we will be questioned about our family lives (Were you the husband and father God desired in the face of the relentless demands of the pastorate?), and we will have to give an answer for every moment (Did you live the pure and clean life you asked others to live?).  If any of us were to drop dead right now, we better be even more prepared than Russert was for every Sunday-morning interview. 

I Am Not Alone

One of the greatest battles I face is loneliness; the feeling that I am in this all by myself. I guess this is true for many pastors and those involved in ministerial leadership. After all, who does a pastor talk to? I mean, I don't won't anyone to know when I am discouraged, depressed, disillusioned or feeling downright defeated. Maybe it is the pride of not letting anyone know I am not the inventor of positive thinking, or the fear that the man they think is a sturdy Superman is really a whimpering Clark Kent, or the insecurity of letting anyone think my hotline to God is out of order. I guess most of us pastors, at times, walk a very lonely road.

But my church members share with me that they too feel lonely. I am convinced that many, if not most. Christians live with the subconscious resignation that the "victorious Christian life" is one that is out of their reach and they are just glad they are going to Heaven--and not every Christian is even sure about that! They live with the feeling that they cannot do the things that most "super Christians" can do--things like sharing their story, serving in ministry, even leading one person in a bible study becauseonce they think that they are in this all by themselves.

God in His infinite wisdom, knowing us better than we know ourselves and realizing that the feelings of loneliness, insecurity, and inadequacy would plague us has given every pastor and every Christ follower a secret weapon-a weapon that we all carry with us 24/7--a weapon that though unseen can unleash incredible divine supernatural power through us and accomplish mighty things for the glory of God. That weapon is more than a power--it is a person called the Holy Spirit.

God has given the Holy Spirit to us for the two most important and difficult things God commands every Christ follower to do : prayer and witnessing.  Prayer is hard work for me and I suspect for others and witnessing is evidently so daunting to the average believer that (according to statistics) over 90% of Christ followers have never tried to share with even one person.

Dr. Merritt's personal thoughts on a variety of subjects is covered in this section. He shares his insight and experience on issues that you are working though yourself.