Two men went onto the internet to status update/pray.
One, a prominent emergent/reformed/fundamentalist Christian leader said:
“Lord I thank thee that I am not as other men or women who run churches larger than mine.
For example I…(strike out which does not apply)
1. Publicly affirm my support for egalitarianism/LGBT rights/Palestine.
2. Confidently assert my Reformed credentials years before it became cool.
3. Never mention sex inside marriage from the pulpit.
4. Scoff at video link up sermons and meet for church in a traditional building/small pub/my house.
The other man would not lift up his finger to Twitter, but said, “Lord have mercy on me a sinner.”
I tell you, this man, rather than the other, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself on Facebook/blogs/Twitter/online will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Steve. Thanks. So sad that Mark has been brought down by faceless men who have condemned him for being “inappropriately dressed” in the pulpit. Its outrageous that one man has started a campaign against Mark on a web site when this man is almost unknown. Just because Mark related to the 20 and 30 year olds in their language that they understood, he is condemned. Jesus of course was intensely disliked by the religious authorities because he related to the people that he loved. He was condemned because he did not speak like the Jewish authorities and consorted with sinners! David
So my blog reader cache had an earlier edit of this post, that helps me make sense of the comment above. I know not of which he speaks, but do appreciate the point of this post that we are fools to assert that we are more righteous than a brother.
Anyone in leadership knows how difficult and unrewarding it can be to be on the receiving end of public criticism.
Steve- that is not a vent- that is brilliant