One Reason I’m Not Faithful in Evangelism

Mike Leake

photo-1566392663107-b5650bf034abI’m waiting in line at Wendy’s. The car in front of me must have ordered the entire left side of the menu because this is taking forever. Off to the side there are three freezers. An employee, young woman in her twenties, clipboard in hand, unlocks the freezer. She props open the door, shuts off power to the freezer, and goes inside. Great safety precaution.

I watch the freezer fan slowly come to a halt as a young man, running as quickly as one can run with aggressively sagging pants approaches her. She lights up when she sees him—or maybe it was his pack of cigarettes’. The man, who had been followed by another couple now form a huddle in the slowly warming Wendy’s freezer.

In short time, each member of the circle was fully equipped with their own cancer stick. And then I saw something which both angered me and turned my stomach. The saggy-pants fella lifts up the Wendy’s gals smock and I see that she’s pregnant. They are all joyously rubbing her belly, filled with delight, and cigarette smoke.

I’m minimally bothered by the fact that our future cheeseburgers are being infiltrated by second-hand smoke. I’m incredibly upset thinking of all the potential health risks that this mother is taking with her child. It all seems to me to be an incredibly unhealthy situation for this child. I mumble to myself, “Idiots.” 

But as I drive away, nuggets in hand, I slowly begin to realize how different my heart is from the heart of Jesus. It’s not that justice and righteousness don’t include making sure that children are taken care of from womb to tomb. It does. But there is something about the joy within that smoke circle that I cannot get around. This baby-daddy is clearly proud of the little life he has created. He’s “baby-daddy” to me but something much more special to this young lady—and certainly within the eyes of Jesus.

The Way of Jesus

And this is why I’m not very good at evangelism. I start at the wrong place, so often. I see a scene like this one and think that my job is to get them to stop making foolish decisions, clean up their lives a bit, put down the cigarettes and pick up a Bible. I’m convinced Jesus didn’t start here. He spoke to where they were.

I do not know for sure how Jesus would have engaged this couple. I think we get a clue in his interaction with the woman at the well. He entered into her world. He engaged her with where she was at in that moment. So I imagine that Jesus would have used their moment of joy to propel them into a deeper joy.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I get the impression from reading the Scriptures that Christ would have disregarded a good deal of things in order to love them. I know some hear that and think that I am implying that a holy God “whispers at sin” or something like that. What I’m trying to say is similar to what Bonhoeffer said when he said “[Jesus] allowed no law to act as a barrier to his fellowship with his disciples.”

Conclusion

In truth, my vision of holiness and love is cloudier than that smoke-filled Wendy’s freezer. I see one piece of a puzzle and think that it displays the whole thing. Given my addiction to inertia, I tend to start conversations on the points which make me comfortable. This is not the way of Jesus.

The way I viewed these image-bearers felt righteous. After all, smoking isn’t healthy for a pregnant mom. Freezers aren’t meant for smoke breaks. This circle of chain-smokers bore many of the marks of immaturity. And yet on this day I outdid them in immaturity. To know the gospel of Jesus and then view other humans and the world in a way that is antithetical to the gospel is the height of immaturity.

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Photo source: here

Open Letter to Dr. John Yeats and the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board

Mike Leake

To Dr. John Yeats and the MBC Executive Board,

As you no doubt know, the messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee overwhelmingly directed the SBC Executive Committee to fully cooperate with a third-party investigation into a range of the SBC Executive Committee’s handling of sexual abuse issues. A key directive from the messengers of the SBC was that the SBC Executive Committee shall waive attorney client privilege in order to help facilitate the investigation. 

At this point, the SBC Executive Committee has refused to obey the express will of the SBC. Instead, the Executive Committee has sought to control the narrative, to hide in executive session, and to flout the will of the SBC messengers. This is unacceptable and is an affront to the thousands of messengers who spoke clearly at the SBC Annual Meeting and turns Baptist polity on its head.

Because of the unprecedented actions of the SBC Executive Committee in refusing the express directive of the SBC messengers, many SBC entity heads, ministry leaders, and state conventions have likewise taken the unprecedented step of speaking out against the actions of the SBC Executive Committee. 

Missouri Baptists have always been leaders in our great Southern Baptist convention of churches, so we ask that the MBC Executive Director and the MBC Executive Board to publicly repudiate the recent actions of the SBC Executive Committee and to call on the SBC Executive Committee to, immediately and without reservation, vote to waive attorney client privilege. 

Much is at stake in these difficult times, and we pray and trust that the MBC Executive Board will stand on the side of the SBC messengers, that is to say, on the side of truth and transparency.

Signed,

Mike Leake, Lead Pastor, Calvary of Neosho

Scott Gordon, Pastor, Claycomo Baptist Church, Kansas City

Mike Bergman Pastor, First Baptist – Adrian

Dan Born, Pastor, Believers Church, Hannibal, MO

Dustin Lair pastor at Community Southern Baptist Church (CSBC) Fair Grove, MO

Jamie Cartledge, Worship Pastor, Claycomo Baptist Church

Brian Baker, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Marceline

Wood Marshall, youth pastor, First Baptist Church of Gallatin

Rev. Sam Byers Primary Teaching Pastor Elsberry First Baptist Church

Darin Smith, Pastor, Tower View Baptist Church, Kansas City

Tony Jones Pastor First Baptist, Rich Hill

Chris Baker, Centralia First Baptist Church

Rich Starnes, Member, Visio Dei Church, Jefferson City

Pastor Nick Drake, Richland Baptist Church, Kingdom City, MO

Robert Hudson, Pastor, Littleby Baptist Church, Rush Hill, MO

Joshua Meranda – Associate Pastor of Worship, Open Door Church, Columbia, MO

L. P. Cook, Lead Pastor, Union Hill Baptist Church, Holts Summit

Ryan Nix MBTS Student, Pastoral Intern, The Master’s Community Church Kansas City, Mo

Tim Fenton, Deacon, Believers Church, Hannibal, MO

Dr. Mike Hubbard, Pastor, Genesis Church, Eureka, MO

Chris Creech, Worship and Children’s Pastor, Genesis Church, Mexico MO.

Bryce Kristofferson, Pastor, Centennial Baptist Church Mexico, MO

Aaron Campbell, pastor, Mercy Hill Church, Jackson, MO

Mike Shupert, Pastor, Illmo Baptist Church, Scott City, MO

Keith Sisney, Pastor, Norfleet Baptist Church, Kansas City, MO

Kurtis W. Estes Pastor, First Baptist Church Salisbury

Ben Schnipper, Associate Pastor of Youth & Discipleship, Union Hill Baptist Church

Kevin Larson, Lead Pastor Karis Church, Columbia, MO

Brian Simmons, Family Pastor, FBC Carl Junction, MO

Ryan West, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church Steele, MO

Shannon Cobb, Lead Pastor, Splitlog Baptist Church, Goodman, MO

Joe Voga, Pastor, New Harvest SBC Church, Agency, MO

Justin Francis, pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church in Doniphan

Scott Conover, youth pastor, First Baptist Marshall, MO. 

Andrew William Steinbeck, pastor, Foley Baptist Church, Foley, MO

Ronni Kurtz, Emmaus Church, Kansas City, MO

Rocky Lindley, Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Salem, MO.

Ryan West Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church Steele, Missouri

Joel Booth, Middle-Row Congregant, Calvary Baptist, Hannibal, MO

Kenneth James McCune. Member of Spring Creek Baptist Church, Rolla, Missouri (Former IMB missionary)

Shyre McCune, Spring Creek Baptist Church, Rolla, Mo. Retired NAMB.

If you are a Missouri Baptist and would like to be included in this letter, please comment below with your name and title/church (if applicable) and we will add your name. Or, copy, sign, and send this letter as an individual to information@mobaptist.org and  jyeats@mobaptist.org.

When Biblical Truths Are Ratioed

Mike Leake 1 Comment

The_Simpsons_Movie_Homer_Simpson_being_chased_by_Angry_MobTo be ratioed means that the reaction to something you’ve said is overwhelmingly negative. It’s a term which began on Twitter for the times when the ratio of replies (negative) out number the likes of a tweet. Basically it means what you wrote kicked a hornet’s nest.

This past week there was an article by Kevin DeYoung and a video by Matt Chandler which created a bit of backlash. This is the tweet with the Chandler video. And this is the DeYoung article. I don’t think you can say that either were technically ratioed, but it was interesting to me to see the pushback on this video and article.

Matt’s video was calling believers to give one another the benefit of the doubt and stop being jerks to one another. DeYoung’s was an exposition of Romans 12:15, noting that the call to “weep with those who weep” is not a one-sided exhortation void of wisdom. As an example we don’t rejoice with the Taliban for taking Afghanistan and we don’t mourn with those who are saddened by godliness. I would wager that ten years ago both of these would have hardly caught our attention.

In my estimation both Matt’s video and DeYoung’s article they are basic biblical truths. But they were both ratioed—and maybe deservingly. Let me explain.

Biblical Truth Wrongly Applied, Stinks

When I teach on Job, or train others in something like biblical counseling, I inevitably make the point from Job’s friends that good theology (biblical truth) wrongly applied, stinks. If you apply a biblical truth at the wrong time then it can be more harmful than helpful. Job’s friends were sharing things which were theological true but they did not fit Job’s situation.

Likewise, what Matt Chandler said about biblical community is good and helpful and healthy, at least it would be in a context where narcissistic abusers haven’t been platformed for a few decades. But we aren’t in that context. The last ten years we’ve witnessed our little slice of evangelicalism be decimated by scandal after scandal. We were told for years to give the “benefit of the doubt” to these leaders. After all, they were heading up growing ministries in difficult locations. The kingdom was advancing. We’d do well to overlook some of these flaws and not listen to the critics. But in many instances, the critics were correct.

So we cannot listen to Matt’s words the same anymore. That is a consequence of decades of spiritually abusive leadership. It’s a consequence of our platforming those with competence over character. We’ve lost the benefit of the doubt.

In the same way, DeYoung’s article at face value isn’t wrong. But we live in a day and age of the subtweet. What pastoral situation is motivating DeYoung to write this? Is it all of the talk we’ve been seeing about empathy? Is it possible to read this without considering some of the backlash that TGC/DG has been experiencing? It’s possible that it’s just an innocuous article which DeYoung penned after doing his quiet time on Romans 12. But we’re not living in an age when that “benefit of the doubt” is going to be granted.

A Way Forward

Biblical truths should not be ratioed. We are in real danger when exhorting others to principles of basic Christian community incurs backlash. Now you might be thinking that I’m going to exhort those who are kicking against these biblical truths to repent and stop reading articles through their perceived hurts. I’m not. I’m actually going to use one of the beloved phrases of Mr. Leader Man to place the onus for change where they say it ought to be.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership”. That’s what we’ve been told for years. I think that certainly applies in this instance. So I’m going to say that leaders need to labor to rebuild trust…even when trust which others have broken. We have to have a long season of being people of integrity. We need to earn back the benefit of the doubt. And until then, we cannot afford to speak as if we’ve earned such a thing. Our words will continue to be poorly received. 

As a leader I have to be aware of the environment in which I minister. I have to know that the cover has been lifted and the hurt is being exposed. We’re not ministering in a season of scabs and scars but of open and festering wounds. Bruised reeds we should not break.

Yes, there is something to be said for those who are triggered (whether the triggering happens easily or after much circumstance). I am a leader, but I’m also a limping leader. I have my own hurts (some festering). And I have to take responsibility for my triggers and be sure that I’m responding in a godly fashion. But I’m putting more of an onus on leaders. We have to take responsibility for this season we find ourselves in, and we must work to regain the trust which was abused and now forfeited.

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As a side note, nothing I’m saying here is specific to Matt Chandler or Kevin DeYoung. I’m merely using this situation to make the point that we can’t speak as we did 15 years ago. We’ve lost that. It may take years to build back, but it’s worth every bit of our effort.

The Consequence of Claiming Sufficiency of Scripture For Inconsolable Things

Mike Leake

photo-1495051964098-df2856bfee39“We don’t need CRT to help us deal with racism. The Bible is entirely sufficient.”

I hear similar statements with increasing frequency. You can replace CRT and racism with other issues as well. There is a growing movement which believes you don’t need X because the Bible is sufficient. I would argue that this is not a faithful development of the doctrine of scriptural sufficiency. Today, I will show you a consequence of this misstep.

It is not my intention to defend CRT. So, if you’ve come here to tell me that it’s a godless ideology that has no place within Christianity, take your argument elsewhere. I’m not arguing FOR that particular solution to racial issues. My intention today is to argue against a view of sufficiency which would de facto reject a secular ideology as a help in addressing something such as racism. 

What is meant by sufficiency?

Historically the sufficiency of Scripture means that the Scriptures give us everything we need to know to please God. And they are sufficient to interpret themselves (you don’t need an outside magisterium to give you the interpretation). We have in the Scriptures what we need to have a relationship with Christ. I’ve appreciated Piper’s summary:

In other words, the Scriptures are sufficient in the sense that they are the only (“once for all”) inspired and (therefore) inerrant words of God that we need, in order to know the way of salvation (“make you wise unto salvation”) and the way of obedience (“equipped for every good work”). The sufficiency of Scripture does not mean that the Scripture is all we need to live obediently. (here)

But I think in recent years that doctrine of sufficiency has widened a bit further than the Scriptures themselves would speak. It seems to me that in our day it has come to mean that the Bible is the best at everything and therefore it is the only thing you need. You don’t need other sources. And it’s often taken a step further—that to use other sources is an insult to the sufficiency of Scripture*.

So when it comes to issues of racism someone holding this more recent view of sufficiency would say that we do not need a secular ideology, the Bible is all we need to solve the issues surrounding racism.

But what is meant by that?

Do we mean that the Bible gives us everything we need to know how to please God on issues of race? I’d wholeheartedly agree. Do we mean that the Bible is all that is needed for the Spirit to define and convict the world in regards to righteousness in areas of racism? Sure. But it seems to me that many mean something more by this—the Bible is all that is needed to solve the issues regarding racism.

God has given us the Scriptures. He has equipped us with what is needed to end racism. That sounds really good. But I want to give that a bit of a test run using Luke 9.

The Consequence of Luke 9

In Luke 9:1-2 Jesus empowered the disciples to cast out demons and to heal sickness. Demonic induced epilepsy certainly falls under this category of stuff they should have been able to fix. But when they encountered a boy who was “shattered” by this very ailment the disciples were powerless.

They should have been able to fix it, but they did not because of their faithlessness. They had brokenness at their feet and they were impotent. That’s why I put Raphael’s Transfiguration as the photo on this article. It’s a perfect picture of what’s taking place in this passage. Powerful Christ. Empowered, but impotent Church.

I think it is the church who actually gets the rebuke of Jesus when he said, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?” Luke has their failure on full display in this chapter. They are busy with self-promotion, self-preservation, and a self-focus that keeps them ultimately faithless and powerless when they ought to be healing brokenness.

I’m sharing this because if you want to claim Luke 9:1-2 empowerment (God has given us everything we need to solve issues of racism) then we have to deal with the consequence of our impotence. If we do have everything we need to solve this issue, then why is there still racism?

Do you blame ungodly systems for the continuance of racism? Is it that sinful hearts are still harboring racist thoughts? Is it that the church has been too busy with self-promotion to actually be about working towards racial reconciliation?

I suppose one option, and one which I think we’ll see people lean towards more in the coming days, is to deny that racism is still a thing. If you can’t solve it perhaps you can deny it and then pretend as if your solution actually worked.

All I’m attempting to say here is this, if you truly believe that the Bible is all you need to “deal with racism”, then you’d better get to work because there is quite a bit of brokenness at your feet.

There is another option…

The Inconsolable Things

I would argue that when it comes to some of these issues we actually are not pinned into the corner by Luke 9. I do not believe the sufficiency of Scripture means that we have everything we need to end racism. We have everything we need to individually please God in how we handle issues of race. But I would leave redemption in this areas to the ultimate restoration we are going to see from Christ. The Scriptures are sufficient to tell us that these things will ultimately be fully and finally healed in Christ.

I think the words of Zack Eswine are helpful here:

But the presence of things we cannot control or immediately fix reminds us that though the Bible is God’s revelation, it in itself is not his magic remedy. It lights our path by his Spirit, but it cannot always shield us from what he shows us there. Only the Christ that the Bible verses reveal can do this. (Eswine, 93)

Eswine goes on to talk about “fix-it-alls” who believe with Bible in hand that they are going to be able to fix all the problems. The result is often frustration and anger. Typically a “fix-it-all” will lean into things like fear and intimidation when their simple solutions aren’t working.

“Fix-it-alls begin to think something like this: This situation or person couldn’t possibly be what it appears to be. We have quoted the Bible and made our arguments. Things should be fixed by now. There must be some hidden mischief here. We need to speak some more, but this time, louder and more accusatory. (Eswine, 93-94)

Eswine points out that there are some things which are “inconsolable”. We can’t ultimately fix these things. Only Christ can….and will.

Conclusion

One could think that my conclusion is that we simply must deal with the ever-present reality of things like racism. I suppose there is some sense in which it, like every other sin, will be present in human hearts and human society until Christ does make everything right. But that is no excuse for inaction. And it’s also why in the here and now we use whatever means God gives us to provide some relief. Yes, ultimate healing will always come through Christ. But he graciously gives temporary relief—and even at times by those who “aren’t one of us”.

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*I’ve interacted in the past with Heath Lambert’s chapter on the sufficiency of Scripture in counseling. If you combine his definitions of this doctrine then you’d have a practical definition similar to this: “the Bible tells us “everything we need to know from God about any topic” to provide “answers, solutions, and help.” Lambert is talking about counseling—but I don’t believe it’d be a stretch to extend this definition to an issue such as racism.

Photo source: here