Rutz on Haggard
Jim Rutz has an interesting movement take on the tragic situation with Ted Haggard. It is worth a read. Jim is the kind of guy that does not shy away from sharing his feelings about the institutional church - especially in regard to hierarchy and leaders in isolation.
Here is sample.
The centerpiece of most churches today is not the "altar" but the pedestal – a slippery, invisible pedestal that elevates the pastor above the people, for better or worse.
We can blame Ted for not seeking help. But there is a much greater blame in this case, and it must be aimed at the pastor-centered church system that does not and cannot provide ongoing help and correction.About 10 years ago, I suggested to Ted that he go whole hog and decentralize his church into a full-on house church model – which has leaders, but no clergy class. He good-naturedly said I was 20 years ahead of my time. Hmm. Perhaps I was only 10 years ahead of my time. If Ted had been in a small, high-accountability, house-church group, I think they could have kept him out of trouble.
2 comments:
Shane, this is very tough quote here. I agree that churches (or movements) that place the the pastor as "CEO" with no direct accountability and almost making him Jesus Jr. are very bad and probably unhealthy.
But what about the model that the apostle Paul left from every church he planted? He appointed a plurality of elders in every church he planted, those who have authority to guard doctrine and rebuke false teaching and lead and love like servants those in the church. What about churches like that?
It is a very very tough quote. And Rutz is a pretty harsh critic of the established church (and I do not agree with all that he says). What you describe about Paul in Acts is exactly what how churches are (and what they do). They appoint leaders from within (just like the big churches) and these individuals guide the community. It is just that there is no hired top gun and the community is much smaller (and usually much tighter). Two good books to read on the subject are "Houses that Change the World" by Wolfgang Simson and "An Army of Ordinary People" by Felicity Dale. As far as accuracy of doctrine and all that jazz - look at the blog from a few days back about the condition of some of our most organized denominations.
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