Scandals and Miseries Galore! 7 Takes on Friday

Pastoral Scandals, The Billy Graham Rule, Strikes, Good Financial Advice, Dr. and Dr. Hays, A Gorgeous Piece of Music, and Reading the Comments

Happy Feast of Saint Francis! And it’s Friday! Let’s find some takes.

File:Giotto di Bondone - Legend of St Francis - 2. St Francis Giving his Mantle to a Poor Man - WGA09119.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

One

Meant to link this on Wednesday, but check out the podcast I did with Melanie over at CRJ about what to think and do in the aftermath of yet another pastor scandal. I’m working on the article—hopefully, it should be available next week.

Meanwhile, the Steve Lawson thing got a mention in the New York Times along with a roundup of a lot of other scandals in Dallas and Fort Worth where there seems to be a rash of bad pastoral behavior. Ruth Graham catalogs a whole lot of them as well as this pretty funny but super immiserating joke:

“It’s like the unbuckling of the Bible Belt,” Mr. Young said in an interview last week.

More to the point, why is this happening? I wandered around the piece wondering if Graham would be able to discover why. She doesn’t know:

There’s no clear pattern to the scandals, which range widely. The churches are all Protestant but belong to different denominations — or none at all — and have different theological beliefs and worship styles.

Someone wondered if this might be a problem:

Others observed that many of the affected churches were essentially accountable only to their own members, with little, if any, external denominational oversight.

And then there’s this tragic note:

“I want to get on and say, ‘It’s terrible, a true pastor should never do that!’” said Mr. Barber, the previous president of the Southern Baptist Convention. “Then I think, ‘What would Steve Lawson have said in an interview five years ago?’ Probably something very similar,” he said, referring to the pastor who resigned at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas.

One has to also wonder, of course, if it may be that the American church, at least in a broad generalizing sweeping sense, might be suffering from a lack of actual belief in God grounded in the scriptures. If you sort of lackadaisically believe, but do not know that God is holy, that he is good, and that he can be trusted to effectively communicate himself in the scriptures I expect you will always be disappointed by leaders who likewise don’t take any of this seriously.

Two

Graham, of course, had to get in on the Billy Graham Rule:

Some evangelicals have proposed a revival of “the Billy Graham rule,” or the principle that a man should never be alone with a woman who is not his wife. Critics point out that it effectively prevents women from advancing in organizations led by men. The “rule” was one of several guidelines developed by Mr. Graham’s team in the 1940s, as the evangelist’s profile was rising — a fortress against the temptations of pride, lust and frequent travel. Larry Ross, who has headed an eponymous public relations firm in Dallas for 40 years, represented Mr. Graham for decades. Accountability is crucial in preventing and responding to failures, Mr. Ross said, but so is perspective. A faithful, clean-living pastor is like an airplane taking off or landing successfully at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Mr. Ross said, recalling a similar insight from Mr. Graham. It happens thousands of times a day, and no one notices. “But if any one of them crashes, it’s going to be on the news,” he said.

According to Protestia, it seems the Billy Graham Rule wouldn’t have made any difference for Lawson because he rearranged his life to accommodate the young woman he, apparently, still has some connection to. As I said last week, I really think the best antidote to marital catastrophe is to try to have a good relationship with your wife, and if you can’t do that, you probably shouldn’t be in the ministry. You should want to be with your wife. It shouldn’t be a chore to take her everywhere. In fact, you should feel angry and sad when you have to go by yourself.

An excellent way to get rid of the Big Eva Conference Industrial Complex would be if everyone liked their local churches so much and were drowning in useful work, and couldn’t bear being away from their wives and children for longer than an afternoon that no one bothered to sign up. I’m so grateful that Matt is always full of wroth when he finds out he has to leave his own desk chair or pulpit for even a few minutes. A few years ago we finally both had enough and made a rule that neither of us can accept a conference or speaking engagement if the other one can’t come. Not because we’re worried about sin but because it’s so horrible being apart for any reason.

Three

Speaking of horrible things, and I’m sure it seems small-minded of me, but I’m super relieved about the end of the Dock Worker’s Strike. I’m not sure whose side to be on, most of all because I don’t know enough to have a proper opinion. It just seems like one of those awful situations where everyone has a reasonable vested interest but then it gets mixed up with huge piles of corrupt politics with a side of thoughtless globalism.

Maybe it’s just me, but it did seem just too cruel to shut everything down with people still being rescued from Helene devastation. Also, the video of the Union President explaining how he will “crush” us all seemed, well, off-putting. Anyway, I guess we don’t have to worry about that particular apocalypse till January and can concentrate our minds on the certain horrors of the upcoming election.

Four

Also shocked, but not really, to discover that FEMA spent all the money before the Hurricane hit. I, like everyone else, was there for the ratio:

Is it just me or does it seem like no one is in charge? Anyway, as I was going from one page to another, Microsoft Bing offered me an “article” called “King Solomon’s Financial Advice: 7 Rich Proverbs That Can Boost Your Wealth.” What! I thought, this is amazing. I clicked because of course I did. Here’s what I learned:

King Solomon was a biblical Israeli king revered for his wisdom. His lessons are still worth considering today — particularly if you’re pursuing financial wellness. So here are seven King Solomon quotes that can help you think about your finances differently.

I didn’t bother to read any of the “quotes” as the writer calls them. I thought the explanations of what they portend for us today far more illuminating. Like this bit:

When King Solomon says a slack hand causes poverty, he means laziness and lack of focus won’t take you anywhere. Exercising a more diligent or purposeful plan will help you succeed, even if it takes more effort in the near term. In modern terms, this means you have to work to get where you want to be financially.

I am all astonishment:

What was true in King Solomon’s era is still accurate for us today. This is a theme you’ll see repeated in many of his quotes.

Accuracy above all! What a treat this is:

The solution is to seek outside input before making a major financial decision. This can mean reaching out to a financial advisor or asking for guidance from people you respect or admire. For example, you might ask your dad what he thinks before you buy your first house. He may give you advice that you wouldn’t have thought of on your own, which might change your decision. The key to following this lesson is not relying entirely on yourself. Even if you decide against following the advice you receive, it can still enhance your perspective or help you avoid consequences you wouldn’t have considered.

Ah yes, we should all bravely work to enhance our perspectives and avoid consequences we haven’t considered as the long day wears on.

Five

I am not making very much progress through The Widening of God’s Mercy because I have so many things to do. But this bit struck me as being sort of ridiculous:

The catechism never dares to ask a “why” question, but an answer is implied: We’re here because God wanted to be glorified, and because he wants us to enjoy . . . something. But the biblical prooftexts supplied for this have little to do with creation.

Isn’t that an interesting thought. God “wanted” to be glorified. Would you put it that way? There are so many different ways to talk about God, and so I guess we shouldn’t necessarily limit ourselves to any particular expression—except that the way you approach the topic will give you the answer you want. And in this case, to put it like that, using the word “wanted” implies, to me anyway, though I am, of course, happy to be corrected, that creation is not something that flows out of God’s character. It’s like he’s some sort of small-minded Union Boss who “wanted” to shut down all the ports for higher wages and less automation. He could have “wanted” anything, but in this case, it’s to be glorified.

There are more elegant and beautiful ways to express the truth of God being the only One who deserves glory. It could be that the eternal outpouring of self-giving love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit spills over into Creation. God is jealous for his own glory because the only way we, his creatures, will ever be satisfied is if we glorify him.

And my gosh, I guess you can frame it up by bashing at the Catechism, but in my ecclesial tradition, in Morning Prayer which you are supposed to say every day, you begin with the Venite which is literally all about God molding the dry land and that the sea belongs to him because he made it and also the heights of the hills. You end off by remarking on the peculiar fact that you are “a sheep of his hand” and are then invited not to harden your heart but to not put God to the test. And that’s after you’ve confessed your sins.

Six

I’ve been listening to this on a loop:

Seven

And finally, here’s a bit of a podcast for all your wonderful paid subscribers—read some comments, and chattered on about some things. Enjoy!