Missional Church Network

In an earlier post I shared with you that the pastor of the church where my family and I attend resigned this past Sunday after confessing an adulterous relationship with a fellow staff member. Dan Southerland, author of “Transitioning,” founder of “Church Transitions” and frequent guest teaching pastor at this church brought the message this past weekend. Southerland’s message focused on how to understand and deal with crisis in our lives. He then transitioned into discussing the period of crisis that this local congregation was about to enter, in light of the moral failure of the senior pastor. I thought he did a very fine job. He spoke frankly about the moral failure of the pastor, but he did so with grace and an eye towards redemption. He spoke to the variety of feelings that people would experience and the proper way each ought to respond.

One of the major themes of Southerland’s message was the importance of not confusing the message with the messenger. A statement that was emphasized along this thought was: “Do not let the mess of the messenger negate the message.” While I thought this was an appropriate response and was surely helpful to many who were struggling to make sense of the circumstances, I later found myself reflecting on the delimma this statement creates.

At the risk of sounding (and being) hypocritical, I have to ask when does the power of the Gospel give us the strength to clean up the mess in our lives? Is there not sufficient power found in our relationship with Christ and guidance by the Spirit to overcome our mess? Or as Dallas Willard asks, are not the ideals of the Sermon on the Mount obtainable in this life as we are empowered by God’s Spirit? Or as some suggest are the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount for a future kingdom, simply too difficult for us to obtain?

I find myself once again asking, does the style over substance “system” that we so often operate within in the western church create the environment where we have no other choice but to say “well we only human.” At some point should not the message, when taken seriously and lived out in a genuine daily walk with Christ give us the power to overcome the mess? And does not the “system” which is dominated by church marketing techniques and business models of leadership create obstacles that make living a life ruled by the Spirit less of an emphasis and even more difficult?