And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal? - 1Corinthians 3: 1-4 (NKJV)
The letters written by the Apostle Paul often revealed problems within the early churches that seem eerily prophetic to what we see today. The church at Corinth had many problems not the least of which early on was division based upon personality and human preference. The key verses today outline such and it is interesting to note that Paul refers to this problem as one of spiritual maturity. That if you are still arguing about the individual human preferences than you have not yet progressed beyond the capacity of a spiritual baby. That you still require spiritual milk. That you cannot yet receive the real meat of the Word. Focusing on the vessel of the message instead of the true messenger is a contributing factor in the level of spiritual immaturity in the church and it remains so to this day. What we see here in the church of Corinth should look very familiar to us in American Christianity. It is what I refer to as "pastor worship." When we focus on the man preaching the Gospel instead of the man that is the Gospel. It is happening across this country every single day and is a huge reason why so much of the church is still feeding off of spoiled milk, unable to progress to the true meat of the Word of God.
In the days of Paul we see that the believers at Corinth were divided about who they were following. Some were saying I am of Paul, perhaps because he was the originator. He was the founder. He had the personal testimony of meeting the risen Christ. Others however said they were of Apollos. Perhaps because he was local and more well known. Perhaps because he was a better orator than Paul. Perhaps he had a more magnetic personality. Does it matter much why? The result is the same and the key verses make it very plain - it is utter carnality. That carnality is still running rampant throughout the church today. There are still many who say they follow Osteen or they follow Prince instead of Paul or Apollos. They make sure to say the name of Jesus enough but the fruit is undeniable. Remember, we have biblical qualifications for those who would lead in the church:
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. - 1Timothy 3: 1-7 (ESV)
Now there is always room for grace within these specifications but when there is a consistent pattern of violation, the Bible spells out that the person has disqualified themselves. Can they repent and be restored? Absolutely. The problem today however is we have a celebrity cult fascination with pastors; both nationally and locally. Twist Scripture? No problem but don't you say something critical of my pastor! I remember I once did a devotional about a mega church pastor here in NY and one of the attendees of that church chastised me because I did not know his heart. Or how much good work he had done with the community. Those are carnal considerations, not scriptural. You can be the nicest guy in the world; it only matters what you teach. Joel Osteen and Joseph Prince both strike me as nice guys. As people who genuinely care. That has to be irrelevant when considering the heresy they teach because at the end of the day we should be more concerned about the sheep than our personal feelings about the shepherd.
Take for example the case of Mark Driscoll. Pastor Driscoll did some fine work in the great northwest. He founded Mars Hill Church and grew it to enormous heights. Somewhere along the way however you started to see cracks in the armor. He started being belligerent when questioned about his propensity to curse and talk inappropriately about sexual matters from the pulpit. He forced out of leadership those he founded the church with and consolidated the power all unto himself. He created a sham of an accountability board that never dared go against him. He was caught plagiarizing multiple times. He was caught stealing over $200,000 from tithes to pay a company to cheat the NY Times best seller list so he could personally profit from it. He bragged from the pulpit about the "pile of dead bodies" behind the Mars Hill bus he was driving and said by the grace of God it would be a mountain by the time he was done. People were forced to sign unbiblical covenant agreements when they joined and non disclosure agreements when they were hired. They were coerced to sign "non-compete" clauses when they were going to leave. Many who were hurt formed a website to detail the cult-like abusive practices suffered at the hands of Mark Driscoll. Recently, the Acts 29 Network, which Driscoll founded, removed him and Mars Hill from their association. The second largest Christian book retailer has now pulled Driscoll's books. He has been removed from speaking at a conference this fall and his own "Resurgence" conference has been scrapped this year as speakers were pulling out left and right. His sham board defiantly says they intend to do nothing. None of these things mentioned are in doubt. They are all established fact. Driscoll says he was allowed to take the money for the purposes he used it for. He apologized for cheating the system, so he admits that. He has defended his use of curses and sex talk. There are copies in the public record of all the agreement forms and the contract with the company used to cheat the system. There is audio of the sermon with the "pile of bodies" comment. There is the website, welovemarshill.com, that outlines the abuses; to which Driscoll admits he could have been better with. This is not a "he said-she said thing." This is a "they said-he agreed-he doesn't care thing."
Yet here is what is really discouraging. The amount of people still supporting Mark Driscoll is staggering. The amount of people claiming there is only smoke and no fire is overwhelming. The amount of people essentially saying; "to heck with 1Timothty 3, I follow Driscoll" is heartbreaking. Is Mark Driscoll above reproach? Hardly. Is he well thought of by outsiders? Hardly. We can get into some of the more specific items in 1Timothy 3 but the truth is we do not have to. He is disqualified. Like his friends at Acts 29 said, he needs to step down and repent. Putting Driscoll aside however the scandal reveals the extent that pastor worship is taken to in our society. I know people who are good Bible believing Christians who simply worship their pastor. Who refuse to hear anything about him. Who refuse to test anything he says. Part of the problem is the modern church's unhealthy infatuation with secular leadership. The annual Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit just concluded. Last year they reached 170,000 people. This year, as usual, this event had a star packed lineup of people who do not claim Christ as Lord and others who simply do not belong. The 2014 GLS was 75% unsaved speakers. The number two draw was Tyler Perry who has made 400 million dollars by cross-dressing in movies. Perry made a splash last year when he gave one million dollars to TD Jakes and the "Bishop" allowed Perry to lay hands on him so Jakes could twitch to the delight of the crowd. Immediately followed by the offering of course. The point being again is why is the church pursuing carnal leadership principles when the Bible spells it out clearly?
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. - 1Corinthians 11: 1 (NIV)
Is it that this is too simple? No beloved. It is too hard. It is much easier to find out the way the world wants to lead. The world has no problem with Mark Driscoll paying a company to game the system and pretend to be a NY Times best seller. Christ however has a problem with dishonesty. The world has no problems with profanity and over-sexualizing everything. Christ however teaches against lust and the profane. The world glorifies people who would brag about all the dead bodies left in the wake of their relentless push forward. Christ however teaches about caring for all people. The world would reward the ingenuity of Driscoll in using non-compete, non-disclosure and covenant agreement forms to control his empire. Christ however says to let your yes be yes and your no be no. Are we seeing the point here? Following the world is always easier than following Christ. That is why the church is chasing the principles and leaders of this world and why they end up creating the Mark Driscolls of Christendom. It is why the sheep that become bewitched by it all will defend the cult of personality over the purity of Scripture. Why they are still subsisting on rotten milk instead of advancing to the real meat of the Word. Why the church gets blown astray by every wind of doctrine that comes along. Holy Laughter? Sure why not! Prayer of Jabez? No problem! Purpose Driven Heresy? Love it! Circle Maker? Get me a stick! Todd Bentley punching people with stage four pancreatic cancer? All glory to God! Wait a minute"someone is saying something mean about Mark Driscoll? Judge not!!! Someone is pointing out the heresies of Joel Osteen or Joseph Prince? Stop dividing the church!!! The Bible makes clear in Romans 16:17 that it is the false doctrine that divides the church. The sad truth however is we follow after what is false because we like the vessel delivering the message. It is all about personality and in some cases celebrity. It is pastor worship instead of God worship. It is "I follow Apollos" or "I follow Driscoll." It was carnal then and it remains carnal today.
Rev. Anthony.
