Define applause7/20/2023 ![]() Speaking Out is Christianity Today’s guest opinion column and (unlike an editorial) does not necessarily represent the opinion of the publication.Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. ![]() This piece was originally published at SBC Voices. So save the standing ovations for the football field.ĭave Miller is the senior pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa, and editor of SBC Voices. But standing ovations for misbehavior are not acceptable. That’s a natural and even honorable desire. They want to believe the best of and for their leaders. Yes, these churches love their preachers. In most cases, a church has been given only a part of the story or a sanitized version of it-typically the one most favorable to the pastor. If he isn’t genuinely repentant, he doesn’t deserve it. If a sinner is genuinely repentant, he doesn’t want applause. Ovations serve no spiritual purpose, and in these situations, especially, they only cause hurt and harm. We should not applaud confessions of sin. Unfortunately, in many megachurches-and elsewhere, too-people are conditioned to see their pastors in near godlike terms, so when he confesses a sin, they jump to a redemptive narrative and respond with enthusiastic applause.īut it has to stop. All told, the pastor or church leaders control the story to cast the confession in a heroic light. These “confessions” are often staged to put the fallen pastor in the best possible light. The fault often lies more with leadership than with congregants. Repentance requires honesty, humility, and sorrow, not managing appearances, controlling the narrative, or hiding the facts. When a church leader stands to confess sin, it’s a time for lament and a time for tears. In doing so, they heaped condemnation on survivors and added to their suffering. Nonetheless, they honored and applauded abusers. We can only hope that both of those churches came to later regret their actions. Of course, the pastor still got a standing ovation. She accused the pastor of statutory rape and some of the ugliest actions imaginable. More recently, another pastor stood to confess an affair (again, putting it in the best possible light), and the woman involved came forward to tell the truth. After years of denial and evasion, the pastor who had abused her years earlier stood before his large congregation and gave a sanitized version of his “failings.” He received a wildly supportive standing ovation. You might remember Jules Woodson’s public story of sexual abuse. When did it become appropriate to give standing ovations to those who have committed disqualifying (or near-disqualifying) sins in ministry? I’m an old codger, so I am authorized to do “get off my lawn” rants. ![]() Another pastor stood to “define the narrative” by telling them what their ovation meant, and then congregants gave Chandler another round of applause. In the accounts of Chandler’s actions, I looked for one thing and, sure enough, saw that after he confessed to his congregation, the church gave him an ovation. Reading about his imbroglio just got me thinking. With that in mind, I’m not addressing Matt Chandler’s sin (or whatever other words he used to describe it). He claimed the messages were not sexual or romantic, but he withheld any further details. Yesterday, Matt Chandler stood before his congregation to admit to inappropriate text interactions with a woman other than his wife and to announce he was taking a leave of absence. What I didn’t receive was a standing ovation. It was a wonderful way to wrap things up. We received a basket of cards with some generous gifts and messages that made my wife cry. Members expressed love for my wife and me, sorrow that we were leaving, and prayers for our future. I did what I’ve done week after week, Sunday after Sunday, since August 28, 2005: preach a text of Scripture.Īfter church, we had a potluck dinner and enjoyed warm fellowship. ![]() Our attendance was the highest it’s been in a long time. Yesterday, I finished a 17-year ministry at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |