I Declare… “This is Whack”

Mike Leake

One of my favorite moments from the Office is when a flat broke Michael Scott learns about the option of declaring bankruptcy.  If he only declares bankruptcy then all of his bills are gone.  So he does just that:

We laugh at this because it is ludicrous to think that just because we declare something that it will somehow be spoken into existence.  I love when Michael says, “I didn’t say it, I declared it”.  It’s silly to think that you can declare something and it will inevitably happen.  Right?

According to Joel Osteen, Michael Scott is on to something.  His latest book “I Declare” is a collection of the most powerful blessings in Scriptures.  According to Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”.  Osteen wants people to speak blessings into their future rather than curses.  If you want to know who you’ll be in five years just look at the words you say about yourself today.  If you buy this book you can “take charge of your future”.  For 31 days you can declare what God says about you instead of those negative words.  Your world will be changed.

Where He Is Right

What Osteen is really encouraging people to do is to preach to themselves.  And there really is value in preaching to ourselves (provided the content is correct).  Furthermore, we really ought to be certain that our identity is founded upon God’s view of us rather than a fallen view of ourselves.  The words we say really do matter.  They don’t have the same amount of power that Osteen wants them to have—but the Bible is clear that the tongue is a powerful instrument for good and for evil.  He gets that much correct.  But then…

He Totally Shanks It

While there is benefit in proclaiming the gospel to yourself and there is a benefit in seeing yourself the way that God does, Osteen’s muddy non-gospel taints every single one of these declarations.  His theology has no room for a blood-soaked Cross or disciples following the dangerous path of the Suffering Servant.  Woodbridge and Jones summarize Osteen’s “non-gospel” well when they state:

Osteen’s gospel, then, is that Jesus died in order to save man from a less than ideal life.  Absent from his preaching is a well-defined concept of original sin, as well as a biblical explanation of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Of course, within prosperity theology these omissions make sense, for negative thoughts impact your ability to gain God’s favor; thus, sin and the cross are omitted.  (Health, Wealth & Happiness, 77)

Consider Osteen’s version of preaching the prosperity gospel to yourself.  Here he encourages us to wake up and proclaim these words to ourselves:

“Good morning, you beautiful thing.  Good morning, you handsome thing.  Good morning, you blessed, prosperous, successful, strong, talented, creative, confident, secure, disciplined, focused, highly favored child of the Most High God.”  (emphasis mine)

Now let’s see how that gels with the Apostle Paul who declared himself to be the chief of sinners:

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
(Ephesians 1:16-23 ESV, emphasis mine)

See the difference?  Osteen has us looking within ourselves and calling ourselves amazing.  Paul (and I could have pulled in a host of other verses) has us looking outward.  Looks within always are met with declarations similar to “I’m the chief of sinners” but quickly followed by a “BUT, in Christ…”  And it’s not declarations of “since I’m in Christ I’m now promised prosperity”.  No it’s quite often “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…” 

The last time I checked the only One with the power to speak things into existence is the Almighty.  Our faith in Him doesn’t somehow give us the power to then look outside of Him and “change our futures”.  No, our faith calls us to look solely to Him and to trust the work of His hands, not conjure up a world of our own making. 

Why This Matters

Inevitably somebody will respond that I am being too harsh on Joel.  After all isn’t he a nice chap that is just trying to help people?  It’s not like he’s telling people to go out and throw kittens in wood-chippers.  He’s simply telling people to think more positively about themselves and consider themselves the way that God does.  What is so wrong about that? 

Quite a bit, actually.

Later today I’ll give you at least 5 reasons why this teaching of Joel Osteen isn’t just smiley ignorance but it’s damnable serpent talk. 

Replacement Refs and Pastoral Authority

Mike Leake

There was something really painful about watching the Monday Night Football debacle.  As I watched the final play and what appeared to be two woefully insecure refs make two different signals, I couldn’t help but think about pastoral ministry and loss of authority and respect. 

They kept showing the highlights where the back judge came running in, clearly seeing that Jennings had secured possession, then offering a quick glance to the other ref, who seemed like a little boy at his first day of Kindergarten, begin raising his hands.  So the back judge does the same—all the while thinking his in unison with the other dude—and raises his hands to signal touchback.  But the other dude wasn’t saying touchback he was saying touchdown. 

I do not envy these replacement refs.  Only three weeks of a young NFL season have passed and these cats have already lost every ounce of respect and authority that they had.  And respect and authority is huge when you are trying to pretend like you have control over an NFL game.  When authority is lost what you see is what happened on Monday Night Football.  And that’s what got me thinking about pastoral ministry.

My Story

My first ministry position was a disaster.  I was a young punk kid still in college that barely new Jesus much less how to do ministry.  I had good teachers but I was learning on my feet.  Add to this that I was somehow tricked into being a Baptist youth pastor (beginning to struggle with the issue of Calvinism) thrown into a pretty liberal Methodist church. 

I had a much different philosophy of ministry (and a pretty different theology) than the church that I was serving.  It was difficult.  Please do not misunderstand, there were some really great people there putting up with a really young and self-sure youth pastor.  I made things more difficult for myself than probably need be, but it was very painful. 

It did not take long for me to have less authority and respect than these NFL replacement refs.  So, I knew that feeling of insecurity and fear as these two guys ran up to the play to try to make a call.  “Oh, please Jesus let me get this right”. 

That’s no way to live and it’s no way to minister.  When you are questioning every decision you make every word you proclaim your heart is in the wrong place.  You feel the red-hot glares of a host of people that probably will not give you the benefit of the doubt.  You start trying to please them.  Or you go the other route, buck up, and do everything you can to show them that you are right and they are idiots.  Either way you aren’t doing ministry anymore.  That’s the problem with ministering with vested authority instead of borrowed ambassador-type authority.

Vested Authority vs. Borrowed Ambassador-Type Authority

If, as a pastor, my authority is pending on that which is vested to me then it is going to be shifty.  With every decision that goes against the status quo, with every word that cuts across the grain of the norm, I’ll be taking chunks out of my authority.  I’ll have to constantly monitor where I stand with the people.  Because if I don’t one of these business meetings we’re going to have a Monday Night Football debacle that makes those replacement refs feel pretty good. 

Borrowed Ambassador-Type Authority is different.  It’s an authority that is given not because I could park in a place that says “pastor” but because I am standing behind the unchanging word of God.  In as much as I am able to rightly say, “thus saith the Lord” I have all of the authority of the One that makes mountains move.  It may not be received, it may be rebelled against, and it might be rejoiced in.  But it’s a borrowed authority that nobody can take away and really one that I can’t even conjure up on my own.  Pastors need this type of authority. 

Stand behind the Word and that authority will always be yours.  People may gripe and complain (just as they did with the regular refs) but you’ll at least know that you made the right call and their chaffing is against the Book and they need to take it up with the author.  But when I move away from the Book and try to have authority on my own it’s deadly.  I might make a few calls here and there and make people happy.  But inevitably I will be exposed and on that day I’ll have nothing to stand on but my own blown call. 

Be the type of pastor whose authority comes from the risen Savior and not from a vest of merits. 

Today in Blogworld 9.26.12

Mike Leake

A baby blogger salutes the daddy of all bloggers

In honor of Tim Challies 10 year blogging anniversary David Murray shares 10 things he has learned from the blogging practices of Challies.

John Wesley’s Twelve Rules for Preachers

Nathan Finn shares twelve rules that John Wesley had for his Methodist preachers.  What do you think of these?

Is the gospel enough?

Tom Ascol reflects on the gospel-centered movement.  Are we gospeling ourselves to death?  Ascol says that we are never in danger of obsessing over the gospel.  Wise words from a seasoned pastor.

Preachers and Their Critics

Brian Hedges talks about the criticism (often unfair) that is lobbed against preachers.  He then gives a few points of advise for hearers and for preachers.  Solid and helpful article for pastors and listeners alike. 

This is brilliant:

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Joy Robbers and Shallow Presidential Standards

Mike Leake

President Obama is a fan of the NFL and is a very passionate fan of college basketball.  During these seasons he (or at least the autobot that puts together his tweets) has been known to throw out a few tweets about the NFL.  Here recently he tweeted about the MNF debacle and the replacement refs. 

To this I saw several snarky responses that implied the President’s priorities are all jacked up.  How is he worrying about football when we have a 16 trillion dollar debt?  How can he fill out a college basketball bracket when we are fighting for peace in foreign countries?  Bring the troops home and then tell us how you picked North Carolina. 

Now I do not care to comment on the President’s policies or his priorities in specific.  You can find a political blog to talk those points to death.  Here I want to reflect on how such an attitude can rob us of joy.  Furthermore, I want to see how such a joy is really detrimental to the life of a leader. 

The assumption behind those snarky responses is that caring about the poor, our debt, and world peace is somehow mutually exclusive to watching and commenting on a blown call on Monday Night Football.  It’s also a ridiculous double standard that these peeps would find the time to a comment on Twitter while people are starving to death around the world.  Why, dear sir, are you not turning off your computer and grilling some burgers for the homeless in your neck of the woods?  Your priorities are all jacked up.

The Jesus Way

It seems to me that Jesus was on occasion a befuddlement to people in his day because of this very issue.  If He is who He says He is, then why in the world is he having a party at a tax collectors house?  Why is he allowing expensive nard to be poured out upon him when that could have been spent on the poor?  Your priorities are messed up, Jesus. 

In Jared Wilson’s new book, Gospel Deeps, he says, “if holiness makes you a sourpuss, you’re doing it wrong.”  Reflecting on the power of the gospel to transform our joy and C.S. Lewis’ use of the term quiddity Wilson says,

If steak or wine or coffee or chocolate or anything else other than God is the highlight of my day or the ultimate joy of my heart, my joy is temporary, hollow, thin.  But if I believe in the gospel, I can finally enjoy the chocolate-ness of chocolate and the coffee-ness of coffee.  Only the gospel frees me to enjoy things as they truly now are and as they someday will be.  (Gospel Deeps, 91)

Yes, we continue to mourn the fact that we are under the weight of 16 trilion in debt, that wars happen, that people starve, etc.  The Lord is grieved by these things just as He was grieved by many things when he walked on the sands of this broken earth.  Yet, there was something about Jesus that was able to enjoy nard-soaked worship even while people were hungry.  I don’t know how that’s possible at times but I do know that it’s commanded.  And I know that an inability to enjoy a sunset is probably a reflection of a deeper-seated inability to dance in the accomplishments of the gospel.

Now please don’t hear me say that I believe President Obama is somehow following the Jesus Way and that he is able to watch college basketball because He has greater joy in Jesus.  That’s not my point.  My point isn’t to say that President Obama is correct—after all he may very well be fiddling while Rome burns—but my point is to say that the snarky rebukes aren’t necessarily correct either, in fact they are deadly to leaders.

For Leaders

If you are a leader that cannot find yourself commenting on a blown call on Monday Night Football because the world’s problems are too pressing it might be possible that you aren’t more holy but less holy.  It might be that you are convinced that you are the solution to the 16 trillion dollar debt and therefore how can you sleep.  Pastors can be tempted into thinking that they are the solution to the marital problems within their church, the financial troubles, the numbers issues, the lack of discipleship, etc.  But you aren’t.  Jesus is. 

To think that you are too important to enjoy a Monday Night Football game is arrogant.  And to imply that a world leader is flitting away his time because at 11:30 at night he turned on the television and ponders a blown call probably reveals either a subtle idolatry or a deep seated bitterness.