Wisdom

Moral standards have become confused for many evangelicals because they are not all clearly defined as “right” or “wrong.” In our subjective, truncated view of spirituality, we have created a generation of youth who feel more guilty about cultural things than they do about moral absolutes. We have failed to distinguish between biblical absolutes and cultural issues. 

Morally, the Bible is always absolute; culturally, it is relativistic. Fornication was wrong in Jerusalem and in Corinth; however, whether one could eat pork depended on in which city he lived. This gives a sense of security on the surface but not a security rooted in God’s word and grace. Cults are usually legalistic and hold high standards against the use of tobacco and alcohol and against other worldly habits.

Following are some practical guidelines for dealing with subjectivism and legalism.

1. Be very cautious in using the phrase “the Lord led me."
2. Learn to listen intently to a sermon. Reflect on its content Resist responding to emotional stories, but rather ask if they clarify the passage.
3. Check the passage of Scripture used in the sermon and see if it is presented within the context of the whole chapter.
4. Set aside a time to evaluate your own personal life. Ask whether you get upset over Christians who do something cultural of which you do not approve. Then ask yourself whether you feel guilty about gossiping, exaggerating, or using others for personal gains.
5. Remember that Scripture gives us content by which we can evaluate whether a speaker is expressing truth. There are no biblical checks and balances concerning emotions. 

Expectations of an Ideal Pastor

Evangelicals not only have concepts and expectations of an ideal church, but also of an ideal pastor. Often I receive job descriptions from churches seeking a pastor. After reading the descriptions and expectations, I usually suggest adding that all mission trips should be taken from New York to Africa without the aid of a boat or a plane! A man who fills all expectations of the ideal pastor risks being the main focus of the church. It was recently brought to my attention that two strong evangelical churches, one on the East Coast and the other on the West, when applying for loans for new sanctuaries, were granted loans with the stipulation that each pastor sign a promissory note to stay as pastor for an extended period of time.

This should be an indictment on the direction our churches are taking. Almost every large church or parachurch which is successful today is built around a single personality. We seem to want a charismatic personality to be our authority figure. We place unbelievable pressure on our pastors to fulfill expected roles and thus open themselves and ourselves to some extremely unhealthy dynamics. Cults offer both the ideal pastor and the ideal church.

While in Europe ten years ago, I had contact with a youth missions organization based in Switzerland. Upon arrival each team member was given a victory sheet which informed him never to question those in authority over him and never to write anything negative to those at home. This is certainly not the biblical model.

We seem to long for two major spiritual images in evangelical circles. One is the successful bionic pastor or missionary whose church markets him in a cassette ministry and he is usually good-looking. Unfortunately, bionic people are half machine. The other image is the inner-city-guitar-Levi model who rejects all middle class trappings. Unfortunately for this model, the sixties left twenty years ago. With both of these figures, the biographies and autobiographies tell of success and of ideal images to be followed. Each “image of perfection" borders on idolatry and leads us to live under guilt because it places unrealistic expectations on us.

We compare ourselves to models presented on talk shows and in books but fail to discover our own creative gifts and abilities to serve God. Unlike Scripture, these leaders usually speak only of success and rescue stories.

Like members of cults, we have difficulty admitting our own sins because we desire to be the ideal. I have worked in two pastorates, one evangelical and the other liberal, on a journey toward a deeper spiritual commitment. The one thing that stands out in my mind regarding the cultural differences between these movements is that when problems arise, liberals face them openly, admit their wrongs, and ask forgiveness. However, I find that we, as evangelicals, have a tendency to justify our behavior, spiritualize it, or blame the church structure for our shortcomings. 

Our inability to deal with our own sins and weaknesses, coupled with our ideal models, makes us very vulnerable to cultic-type leaders who give the image of successful and sinless leadership.