questions

Must Be Something in the Water…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Well, dang! It’s happened again…and in the Dallas, Texas area, too. What has happened again? Another prominent pastor has fallen from grace.

Pastor Steve Lawson, pastor (well, former pastor now) of Trinity Bible Church in Dallas, Texas was removed from his ministry by the elders of the church last week because of an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman who was not his wife. (Read more about the story here).

I’m not here to dump on Pastor Lawson. He’s got enough people doing that. I do want to say, though, there must be something in the water in the Dallas area that is affecting pastors. Only this past June, two very high profile pastors resigned or were removed from ministry in the Dallas area for the same issue facing Pastor Lawson. (I wrote about those two persons here).

I’ll say that Pastor Lawson (who is 73 years old!) is/was a passionate preacher. I’ve listened to a number of his sermons through the years, and have read a couple of his books (he’s written over 30). When he preached, he always preached with certainty and authority (that’s my kind of preaching). He may not have always been right, but he was never in doubt. He was, by all accounts, a holy man used mightily by God for His glory.

A Christian Reaction to Non-Christian Behavior

As one might expect, the ordeal has the Christian community scratching its collective head wondering what is going on with all these “holy” people. Are they living sham lives, false lives, hypocritical lives?

The non-Christian community is not asking the questions, they’re simply saying that all Christianity is a sham and that all Christians are hypocrites (they might be correct on the hypocrite part). Lawson just happens to be the latest example to their point.

As I have reflected over the past week on Lawson’s situation, I’ve found myself asking the same questions. The easier path would be to dismiss these fallen pastors as charlatans and move on, but in so doing we might overlook some truth and miss what God is doing in the midst of it all. So, where is the truth?

First, we need to clarify that we are ALL sinners saved by the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ. Both preacher and parishioner are subject to sin because as the Apostle Peter reminds us “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV). The devil can devour the preacher as easily as the parishioner.

Second, these pastors were removed or stepped away from vocational ministry. Appropriately so, I might add. The sins to which they’ve either admitted or accused are of the disqualifying sort–at least until repentance is made and restoration practiced (that’s a whole other discussion).

Clergy should be held to a higher standard, but even acknowledging that fact, I am reminded of the words of Oswald Chambers: “The call of God has nothing to do with salvation and sanctification; it isn’t because you are saved and sanctified that you’ve been called to preach.” We are called to preach because God chose us to do so, and in so doing, placed a “divine compulsion” (the Apostle Paul’s words) within us.

Third, God uses both the holy and the unholy to minister to His people. This is where it gets sticky, but this is the point I want to make as I reflect on these events.

The Holy and The Unholy

I am reminded of Paul’s words to Timothy:

20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. (2 Timothy 2: 20 – 21 NIV)

Paul writes to Timothy to encourage him to rightly handle the Word of God. He even goes so far as to name two who have departed from the truth and brought confusion to the body of Christ. Yet, in his encouragement he admits that God’s house contains both holy and unholy vessels. Here’s the truth: God uses both!

Are the holy vessels more useful? Yes, obviously, but just because the holy vessels are MORE useful, doesn’t mean the Master does not utilize the unholy ones.

Please don’t hear me making excuses for these pastors and their failures. Their failures are their own and they must own them and deal with the consequences. What I am saying is don’t discount the good God has done through the ministry He entrusted to them–in spite of their failures. Stated another way: Don’t let the good God has done be negated by their unholy actions.

Nothing justifies their actions, but their actions don’t mean God wasn’t using them. So, why would God use unholy vessels? I can think of three reasons.

God and Unholy Vessels

The first reason is that God loves His people. He’s not using the person for the sake of the person. If He were, the person might begin to think that God owes him/her something because they’re “holy.” Or, the person might begin to think that God is okay with what he/she is doing…if it were all about the person. No, God is using the unholy for the sake of His people, and if another person’s life is touched in the course of that ministry, God has demonstrated His love for His people using an unholy vessel.

The second reason might be that God is storing up judgement/discipline for that “holy/unholy” person. Maybe God is giving that person the rope he/she is asking for, and surely, if you give a person enough rope he/she will hang themselves. Perhaps it is all about judgment/discipline towards His house. Is that not God using the unholy for His purpose?

The third reason is so that He can demonstrate the riches of His grace. God’s is an amazing and extravagant grace, and He gives it in ways we don’t always understand, nor do we always like (ask the older brother in the Story of the Prodigal Son).

If God used only holy people, it wouldn’t be long before all the holy people would be pointing to themselves thinking everything was happening because they are so holy. No, everything is happening because God is so gracious. It is always and forever about what God is doing, never ever about what we are doing.

So, I suppose we should let this be a warning to all of us (especially those of us in ministry). So, I heed the warning by seeking to live a holy life, by confronting the sin that is within me, and by crucifying the passions and lusts of the flesh on a daily basis…well, because holiness is such a daily endeavor. And I do it not for ministry success, but because I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Yes, God uses holy vessels in a greater way than unholy ones, but God can, and sometimes does, use people who are undeserving. And, He does it whether I like it or not.

Until next time, keep looking up…

I’m Just Asking…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

This has been a week that has been filled with questions…questions I’ve pondered as I’ve encountered situations, listened to conversations, spent time in prayer and watched the world stage.

I’m posting questions via this venue, not really seeking answers (though I invite you to comment if you like) but to offer others the opportunity to ponder with me, or to get others to think about what is happening in their own lives.

Deep Questions

Let me start with the theological questions I’ve been asking this week:

  • Is it possible to be totally abandoned to God?
  • What does total abandonment to God look like?

I know! You want me to answer those questions, don’t you? Well, I’m not going to answer them because I’m not sure I can. As I’ve pondered the questions this week, they’ve only raised more questions. Asking the questions doesn’t diminish my desire to be totally abandoned to the Lord, but even asking the question makes me believe that I’m not totally abandoned.

I know Jesus was totally abandoned to the Father’s will, but then again, he was/is Jesus. He is God! He knows the beginning from the end. Surrender/abandonment seems easy for Him.

What about me? What about we mere mortals? Can we not ask questions? Do we simply accept every situation, circumstance or event as a place God would have us be? Even when we make stupid decisions? Does the Lord lead us into hell, or rather, does He accompany us there because we’ve led ourselves there?

See? Answering questions with more questions. That’s kinda’ been my week. Hey! If you’ve got answers, leave them in the comments section below.

“End Time” Questions

Here are more theological questions I’ve been mulling over the last week or so, especially in light of world events:

  • Are we living in the “end times?”
  • Am I ready for the “rapture?”
  • Are there too many interpretations of the “rapture” to really understand it?

Yeah! I actually went there–end times stuff. All the chaos in the world has many people (Christians) believing that the end is near. As I ponder these questions, I have to remind myself that every generation, including the Apostle Paul’s, believed the end was near. I also have to remind myself of what Jesus said:

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Matthew 24: 36 (NIV)

Go study Matthew 24 – 25 for a more in-depth understanding of Jesus’s discourse on the end times, but with every answer be prepared for more questions. Questions like: “How self-absorbed must I be to believe that this generation is so pious that the Lord wants to ‘deliver’ us from the ‘Great Tribulation’ that is to come, when there were other generations of believers who suffered so much more persecution than we have or will?”

I refuse to answer that question, too. I’m sure some of you will attempt it. Go ahead. There is a comment section below.

Honest Questions

I haven’t only been mulling theological questions this week. I’ve also been asking myself these questions:

  • Why can’t some former United Methodists simply move on?
  • Why do some current United Methodists feel the need to continue to berate those that left the United Methodist Church?

These questions have been prompted by the fact the General Conference of the United Methodist Church is gathered in Charlotte, NC. Yes, it’s the postponed 2020 General Conference that is meeting in 2024. Seriously, only United Methodists could have a meeting in 2024 and call it a meeting for 2020.

Honestly, I haven’t followed the goings-on of General Conference very closely. Number one, I’m no longer United Methodist so it doesn’t really matter, but number two, who has got that much time? I only mention it because my Facebook feed has been packed with posts and comments from both current and former United Methodists who just can’t seem to let go of all that has transpired through the disaffiliations of the last four years.

I will offer this counsel to all my friends: Move on! If you are my friend and you are a former United Methodist, don’t feel the need to comment on anything that is happening at General Conference. What is happening is exactly what you knew would happen and is the reason you left the denomination. It is unnecessary to say, “I told you so,” or to cry, “Apostasy!” Move on! Look forward. Serve with faithfulness where God is calling you NOW.

If you are my friend and you remained United Methodist, don’t feel the need to complain about and berate those of us who left. Move on! Look forward. You’re getting the church you want because we’re not there. Go do what you believe the Lord is calling you to do. Don’t make yourself look less Christian because of your snide and condescending comments on Facebook.

The circumstances surrounding the General Conference have caused me to ask, “Can’t we just show one another grace?” But, hey? I’m just asking…

Trust me. These aren’t the only questions I’ve been asking myself this week. Just demonstrates how muddled my mind can get sometimes. With as many questions as I’ve had (with few answers), I still feel like I’m not asking the right questions.

So? What about you? You got questions? Better still…do you have any answers?

Until next time, keep looking up…

Questions with No Answers (Four Lessons on Trials)…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Dr. James Dobson wrote a book in 1997 entitled When God Doesn’t Make Sense. The book was written for anyone struggling with trials and heartaches—the death of a loved one, disease, divorce, rejection—in the hopes of understanding the meaning of suffering in the world. He takes the reader through eleven chapters until he reaches his conclusion. It’s the conclusion we’re all looking for when it comes to hardships, trials and heartaches in this life. You know his conclusion? “I don’t know.” Eleven chapters, and he finally gets to point—I don’t know.questions and answers

It’s the same answer I give when I’m asked any of the following questions:

  • Why do we go through trials?
  • Why do we face hardships?
  • Why is there suffering in the world?
  • Why does God allow evil?

With all my theological training, the best answer I can give is, “I don’t know.” There is a verse of scripture that is often quoted when trials come. It’s Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (NKJV). Too often, we do with that verse what we do with so many other verses. We take a single verse and form a deep theological answer to a complex issue. Oh, that it were so easy. It leads us to a shaky theology that fails us in times of hardships and difficulties. Scripture is like real estate. In real estate, three things are important: location, location and location. Well, in scripture, three things are important: context, context and context. If we want to understand “all things work together for good,” we have to understand all of what Paul was saying.

If we want to know what Paul meant when he wrote “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes,” we have to understand the verses around it, and we have to understand where it fits in the entirety of the letter he wrote to the Romans. I just would like to know, “Is God working in all this mess of a life of mine?”

The answer, for Paul and for us, is, “Yes.” Paul was no stranger to suffering; his several near-death experiences, beatings, imprisonments, and persecutions were enough to eradicate any “pie-in-the-sky” attitude that might have lurked in his heart. In the immediate context, Paul lists some qualifiers for the good to take place: “we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28, NET Bible). Paul is not giving this promise to all people, but only to those “who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

But what does this mean? Those who love God are, in this context, Christians, because they are called according to God’s purpose. We have to be careful to not say, “As long as you love God, things work out; but whenever you are not loving God, things do not work out for your good.” That’s bad theology. No, if we have faith in Christ, then all means all. Immediately after, Paul speaks of our conformity to Christ, our glorification, as the inevitable outcome of those who love God. And that is not dependent on how much we love God but on the finished work of Christ on the cross. Paul concludes this chapter by making explicit that nothing can separate us from the love of God (vv. 38-39), and by implication, that would include even our temporary lapses in our love for the Savior.

What, then, is the good? The good is conformity to Christ! Ultimately, Paul says, all things work together to bring each of us into conformity to Christ, to bring each of us to glory. Not only is Paul talking about all circumstances, but he’s also talking about all those who believe in Christ. Paul does not say “some of those” or even “most of those” when describing each stage of the salvation journey. From calling to glorification, no one who loves God misses the boat.

Great theology, preacher, but I need practicality. How do these trials and hardships work for good? Okay, here are four lessons to remember about trials.

  1. Trials are a short term reality. I love the theology of the unlettered maid who was great in the kitchen and an immaculate housekeeper, but her main strength was that she was never ruffled by anything. She was always calm and in control. When asked about her secret, she quoted a verse in the Bible: “It came to pass.” When told that this was not the complete verse she replied, “It is for me. It means that whatever comes, comes to pass. It doesn’t come to stay.” We may have short-term pain, but it’s working out a long-term gain. It’s like when we’re sick. We go to the doctor because we trust the doctor knows what he/she is doing. The doctor prescribes the treatment, and it’s painful or unpleasant, but it’s necessary for our ultimate healing. We have to endure a little more pain before we’re better. As followers of Jesus Christ, the better for us is God’s glory, and this short-term pain is working toward a long-term gain.
  1. Trials give us proper perspective. If we never had bad experiences, how would we know to appreciate the good experiences? Our problem is we interpret everything from our human, materialistic perspective. The good is not our comfort or wealth, or even our good health. The good is God’s glory. Part of my daily routine is a short devotional called Our Daily Bread. It recently had a neat prayer that read, “Lord, it is easy to let my circumstances change how I understand You. Help me to remember that You are good and faithful, even though I can’t see everything and may not understand how You are working.”
  2. Trials keep us forward-focused. We may see nothing good come of misery and disaster in this world, but this world is not all of reality. There is an ‘until’; there is a place beyond the horizon of what our senses can apprehend, and it is more real and more lasting than what we experience in this life. God is using the present, even the miserable present, to conform us to the image of his Son. If we define the good as only what we can see in this life, then we have missed the whole point of this text. For, as Paul said earlier in this same chapter, “For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18, NET). For Western Christians (especially American Christians), we are prone to think if our lives are comfortable, if we have wealth, good health, that is fine and well. But that is not the good that Paul had in mind, and it is not the goal of the Christian life. The famous preacher D.L. Moody told about a Christian woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic apartment on the fifth floor of an old, rundown building. A friend decided to visit her one day and brought along another woman—a person of great wealth. Since there was no elevator, the two ladies began the long climb upward. When they reached the second floor, the well-to-do woman commented, “What a dark and filthy place!” Her friend replied, “It’s better higher up.” When they arrived at the third landing, the remark was made, “Things look even worse here.” Again the reply, “It’s better higher up.” The two women finally reached the attic level, where they found the bedridden saint of God. A smile on her face radiated the joy that filled her heart. Although the room was clean and flowers were on the window sill, the wealthy visitor could not get over the stark surroundings in which this woman lived. She blurted out, “It must be very difficult for you to be here like this!” Without a moment’s hesitation the shut-in responded, “It’s better higher up.” She was not looking at temporal things. With the eye of faith fixed on the eternal, she had found the secret of true satisfaction and contentment.
  1. Trials help us experience God’s presence. Again, Paul gives us the practical over the theological when he reminds us in 8:26: “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” As long as we trust, there are times we go through circumstances we don’t know how we got through them. We might say a person had a strong will or a strong character, but it was really the Holy Spirit interceding for them when they couldn’t pray, or didn’t know what to pray. And, God’s grace was provided in just the right measure at just the right time to meet the need. The Psalmist proclaimed, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…” (Psalm 23).

“Well, pastor, you haven’t given me my spiritual ‘happy pill’ this morning.” No, sorry, I haven’t, but Romans 8:28 was never meant to be that—although it has been used as such. “So, give me a little hope, please. After all, I don’t want to be like the young man who went to the fortune-teller. She looked at his palm and said, ‘You’ll be poor and very unhappy until you’re 37 years old’.”

“What’ll happen then,” the young man asked? “Will I be rich and happy?”

“No,” the fortune-teller replied, “you’ll still be poor, but you’ll be used to it by then.”

Where do we find hope in the midst of the pain? Paul answers that, too. Paul closes this most beautiful passage of scripture with these words:

37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

All our hope is in Jesus Christ. All our life is in Jesus Christ. All our glory is found in trusting Jesus Christ. For Paul, all means all. Theologically, I can’t explain it, but practically, I can face all things because of the One who gave it all for me.

Until next time, keep looking up…