The mind is a better actor than the heart.

[via daydreamer]

Evangelical Denial

The sins of the institution nurture the sin of the individual.{read the full post}

[via The Paris Project]

Mark, Mark, Mark...

Mark Driscoll and women

[via Conversation at the Edge]

A Wittenburg Christmas

With A Wittenburg Christmas: Shakespeare's Lost Pageant, Donnie Wildmon Finds Evil in TV Commercials, The Gospel of Caiaphas, Spiritual To-Do Lists, Satan's MySpace Page, and so much more.

Also features interviews of Will Campbell and Cathleen Falsani, as well as "interviews" of The Veggies of Veggie Tales, Warren Jeffs and Rev. Raymond L. Chrissler. The Last Word is about mocking lips.

Casual Fellowship vs. Visceral Fellowship

[via Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit]

Back To Flawed Assumptions

Frustrated
Because there are some that seem to think that if Haggard believed more like them this wouldn't happen. The critical mistake we make in our thinking at a global and local level is believing that our old answers still work. We keep coming back to flawed assumptions. There are lots of reformed churches that take theology very seriously and lots of fundamentalist churches that believe very strongly in obeying the word of God, there are lot of pentecostal/charismatic churches getting people filled with the Spirit, but collectively they make almost no net impact on the behavior of evangelicals as a whole.

Maybe it is time for us to humbly admit that we are missing something....We equate Jesus with the values and morals of the Christian subculture, or vigorous theology, or spiritual experiences. Perhaps we can do all these things without knowing Jesus at all. Maybe we've been going through the motions for so long we don't know what is real anymore.

[via The Heresy]

One Bad Day From...

haggard was undoubtedly trying to cover his ass and made some obvious blunders, blatant lies and stupid moves. his bad timing is nothing short of legendary. he is a part of a system that has chosen to make a big deal about status, and has become a victim of his own culture. for some reason he felt pressured by a system that cannot accept its own humanity and pretends that it's hired guns are above reproach. i feel bad the the guy, for his family, and his people. i know a little about what it means to feel unjustly or justly accused. i know the fear of going out in public because the very people who once told you they loved you have made it their personal mission to hold a crucifixion. i cannot imagine the pain of seeing your mug on cnn and looking forward to a life selling cars branded as a pervert.

we forget we are all one bad rumor from ruin. one bad day from humiliation.

[via Scott Williams]

Respectability vs. Responsibility

Sometimes people act respectable as though it substitutes for responsibility.

The Ted Haggard scandal is a case in point. Both Haggard and Jones exemplify stereotypical versions of respectablity and homosexuality. Haggard became irresponsible by hiding his desires and looking functional; Jones became irresponsible by simplifying his identity and pursuing pleasure. Consider the following:

1. When gay indentity can be associated with overindulgence and risky behavior (in Jones's case), it dilutes any impact.

2. When homosexual behavior can be just covered by religiosity and deception (in Haggard's case), it doesn't fix anything.

Perhaps we should expect more responsibility from all involved.

Not Well-Served

Imagine the conversation in the back of Ted's head everytime he addressed homosexuality. There is nothing to suggest that he is some kind of Elmer Gantry, so we have to believe he is a true believer. He had to have been completely devastated everytime he visited that man. I can only imagine the prayers to take away that temptation.

I really feel for the man when I think of how tortured he must feel. And, as others have written, I can only imagine the horror of being taken down this way; gone from national evangelical figure to pariah over a weekend; the impact on his wife and kids....

It seems to me that the Christian right could learn from the Haggard experience. Here is a man devoted to his church, to his God, to his ministry. A man, by all accounts, who tried to love his wife and certainly his kids. If any person on the planet could have prayed this away, don't you think it would have been him? Don't you think he would have given anything to not be gay?

I don't think our sexuality works that way, and I don't think the conservative church is well served by this.

[via Streak's Blog]

Afraid to Confess

But, what I find here is what I want to call the evangelical environment. In evangelicalism, and the charismatic stream in which Ted Haggard swims, sin is bad and sin by leaders is real bad. This leads to a complex of features that creates a serious problem:

1. Christians, and not just pastors, do not feel free to disclose sins to anyone;
2. Christians, including pastors, sin and sin all the time;
3. Christians, including pastors, in evangelicalism do not have a mechanism of confession;
4. Christians and pastors, because of the environment of condemnation of sin and the absence of a mechanism of confession, bottle up their sins, hide their sins, and create around themselves an apparent purity and a reality of unconfessed/unadmitted sin.
5. When Christians do confess, and it is often only after getting caught, they are eaten alive by fellow evangelicals — thus leading some to deeper levels of secrecy and deceit....

evangelicals need to work hard at creating an environment of honesty. It is dishonest to the human condition to pretend that Christians don’t sin; but as long as we are afraid to confess to one another we will continue to create an unrealistic and hypocritical environment.

[via Jesus Creed, HT: The Eagle and Child]