Son Of A Pitchman

My return to Blogging... with a connection to Twitter. This is a repost of my weekly San Damiano Facebook group message. If you are not familiar with San Damiano, it is the church that I pastor.

Son Of A Pitchman, Part One
I don't know if you are like me, but I've really been intrigued lately by the rise of the micro-blogging site, "Twitter". I fully realize that as I write this, Twitter may be on its last 2 or 3 minutes of it's alloted 15 minutes of fame. Then again, it may become one of those things that in five or six years we'll wonder how we managed without it. Only time will tell.

I have decided to do something different this week and rather than write one San Damiano Group Facebook message, I'll be doing a series of 4 or 5 articles throughout this week about some of my favorite people that I "follow" on Twitter. I hope you like them and I fully expect to have some healthy e-dialog about them. The other two (in addition to todays feature), that I'll write about is Ted Haggard and Billy Mays III, who goes by the moniker "youngbillymays" on Twitter. He and today's feature are the inspiration for the name of this little series. These notes I'm sharing will all have to do with, in some way, the spiritually crippling effects of judgement on the human soul. Those of you who lean toward a "pro-accountability" side of the judgement fence, I humbly ask you to read with patience and graciousness. Your voice of balance is helpful in the discussion we need to have. It is important that those of us who lean the other way, learn from your perspective and don't judge you, either.

I'll start with a friend of mine and one of my favorite "Tweets", Jay Bakker. Jay can be seen as a very controversial figure on the Christian scene these days for standing in the gap as a Pastor who is passionate about defending and affirming Gay, Lesbian and Transgender folks who sincerely want to engage in the life of the Christian church. That subject, in particular, is way too big to cover today, but with that as preface, please let me share my point.

Most of Jays tweets are just little snapshots into his daily life as a very funny, yet imperfect Preacher man. A guy who may not know all the answers, but certainly asks the right questions. Those kinds of posts remind of how much I love this guy and although we haven't got to spend any time together these last few years, I feel a little closer to him... and that always brings a smile to my face. Jay will also oftentimes will post links, via his Twitter account, to his own sermons, different blog sites or opinion pieces that spur discussion and dialog. Usually, the centerpiece of these sermons and links is not specific to the GLBT issue per se. They are usually a call by Jay or the writer(s) to reduce the amount of judgement that seems to be woven through our Christian culture. Most of the time, he and the writers point out that this epidemic of shame has eroded the church's relevance in regard to our engagement with our younger brothers and sisters. Their generation seems to have an eye for the pharisaical and hypocritical coat of arms that we Christians wear as we fight the so-called "culture war."

Behind Jay's tweets and links is a guy who lived through the most public of all modern Christian falls from grace. His family endured the most mean-spirited and public media flogging in history when their televangelism ministry empire crumbled under a cloud of scandal. Unfortunately, the Christian community followed the lead of the secular media and unleashed a campaign of rejection and retribution instead of restoration and reconciliation. Caught in the crossfire and left as collateral damage of his Dad's misdeeds was Jay, his sister Tammy Sue and to a certain degree, his Mom, Tammy Faye. Tammy Faye passed away two years ago and left Jay with a gift of acceptance, forbearance and graciousness that he carries well. Thank God.

What stuns me about Jay is how he keeps "fighting the good fight" when he was so wounded by the friendly fire. It's a funny thing when one of the guys we shot the most becomes our leader. So, how is it that he keeps going? I deeply believe that through it all, Jay cannot shake the fact that as much he thought God hated him and his family, His (God's) love broke through all of that. ALL OF IT. Jay is compelled, by the grace of God, to treat everyone with love and dignity, the two things the church (at least the first ten years or so after the scandal), didn't give to him and his family. I propose to you that perhaps love and dignity can live with judgement only when the offender is broken (by God, not others) over their own sin. The judgement of God is perfect, peace-giving and completely restorative. This is too difficult for human hands to hold on to, it is best to ask the Lord to intervene on behalf of our backslidden brother or sister... then let it go. Drop any weapons you are holding or lessons that you want to teach and let God take care of it.

So maybe today would be a good day to surrender any human judgement that you are burdened with. Trusting God to His work in your life... and those around you. Then maybe you can Twitter about it later.

I'm looking forward to church tonight, as Mark shares his thoughts about judgement and Jerod Wilson leads us in musical worship. Harmony Cafe', College Avenue, downtown Appleton, Wisconsin. 8:00 PM.