[BBC List] truth is stranger than...

Thu Apr 6 08:55:24 EAST 2006

Elijah and the Pastor’s Conference

Steven Cole

Flagstaff Christian Fellowship, Flagstaff, AZ

(A fictional story about a minister who embraced the modern psychobabble
culture and abandoned God’s Word.)

As he eased his BMW along the freeway in the crowded morning traffic, Dr.
David Shaw reflected on the stunning success of his

ministry. Just fifteen years before he had been the pastor of a struggling
little church that wasn’t growing, and Dave struggled

with a nagging feeling that somehow his message wasn’t quite what people
needed.

Then he had stumbled onto the idea that had made him famous. Although he had
never told anyone, he had seen it in a

women’s magazine while he was waiting to get his hair cut. The author was a
successful young woman who had broken free

from a restrictive religious upbringing. She had always felt put down as a
child, but then a college professor had told her that

she saw great potential in her if she would just believe in herself and act
with more self-confidence. It had worked wonders for

her!

The words had jumped off the page at him – Believe in herself! As Dave had
thought about it, he realized that he was

perpetuating the kind of thing that the woman had grown up under – negative
preaching that always confronted people with

their sinfulness. No wonder people weren’t flocking to hear him preach!

As he reflected further he had to admit that he didn’t really like what he
preached. He had grown up under it, too. As a dutiful

son, he had gone into the pastorate to do what was supposed to be done. But
his approach didn’t seem to be working.

At first it didn’t gel. But then he hit on his theme: “Believe in You
Ministries!” 

He got it from John 14:1, where Jesus told his

disciples, “You believe in God, believe also in Me.” Dave had thought, “God
wants us not only to believe in Him and in Jesus,

but to believe in ourselves, too, because He believes in us enough to die
for us.”

So he began a subtle shift in his approach. He started preaching on passages
that were more uplifting. People had great

potential if they would just recognize it and start believing in God and in
themselves. “God doesn’t want you dumping on

yourself! That’s where true success begins.”

A few disgruntled old timers left the church, but a lot of new young
families began coming. Finally, the church was growing! It

felt good to succeed for a change.

Then Dave had written the article for Living Faith magazine. He never
dreamed how it would hit a nerve. Dozens of positive

responses flooded the magazine. And, to his surprise, an editor at Reader’s
Digest had seen it and wanted to run a condensed

version!

>From there things had snowballed. A leading Christian publisher approached
him for a book contract. The book became an

immediate best-seller, even in secular bookstores. A nationwide Christian
television network invited him to appear on several

talk shows and then offered him his own show. People started flooding into
his church, so that the church had to buy new

property and build a 5,000 seat auditorium. The rest was history.

Dave jolted back to the present as he pulled into the crowded church parking
lot. Two thousand ministers from all over the

world had gathered for his “Believe in You” leadership seminar. Dave pulled
into his reserved parking space, adjusted his tie

and went in the side door to avoid the crowded main entrance.

Before he could check in with his secretary, two nationally prominent
pastors stopped him to shake his hand and exchange

greetings. They each had brought their entire church staff and were raving
about how the conference had liberated their

ministries.

Twenty minutes later Dave was seated on the stage waiting to deliver his
final challenge. Dave scanned the audience. There

were many young American pastors, of course, including quite a few women.
Also there were about twenty African pastors who

had come on the scholarships Dave had been able to provide through a wealthy
donor. A good number of pastors from the Far

East sat together in another section.

Dave’s executive associate introduced him. As he approached the podium and
the applause died down, out of the corner of his

eye Dave saw the man stand just before he heard him. A radical-looking guy
with a beard was on his feet, shouting to everyone

in the auditorium!

“How can you claim to be a Christian minister and never preach against sin?
How can you claim to follow Jesus and never talk

about hell and judgment? How can everyone here endorse this man’s ministry
when he has deviated so far from the Word of

God?”

Dave froze for a brief moment. By the time he had hit the switch under the
podium signaling the ushers, they were already

headed for this Looney Tune. It took them a minute – that seemed like an
hour – to get him out of the auditorium, while he

continued to shout his anathemas.

Dave could feel the tension in the audience. He tugged at his collar and
joked, “I assure you that he was not a planned part of

the conference!” Laughter rippled across the expansive room and died down.
“I think he must have taken a wrong turn from

the fundamentalist conference on the other side of town!” They roared.

Dave relaxed. He knew they were still on his side. He launched into his
final message, “Who is Adequate? You Are!” based on

2 Corinthians 2:16. From their radiant faces and the enthusiastic responses
afterward, he knew that the conference had been a

success in spite of the crazy guy with the beard.

A couple of hours later as Dave pulled out of the parking lot he thought, “I
wonder who that nut was, anyway? Probably

thought he was Elijah or something.” Then it hit him: He was probably just a
struggling, frustrated pastor like he himself had

been fifteen years before. “Poor guy! He must really be churning inside to
get up in public and do a dumb thing like that. He’ll

never build a growing church if he doesn’t change.”

Dave popped a CD into the slot and enjoyed the soothing sounds as he
thought, “It’s great to enjoy God’s blessing on my

ministry after years of being where that poor guy is!” Then he whispered out
loud, “Lord, help him to see the light!”

“For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not
surprising if his servants

also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” (2 Corinthians.
11:14-15, NASB)

Charis, 

Mike Abendroth 

"Make us choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to
be contented with half truth when whole truth can be won.  Endow us with
courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns
to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when right and truth
are in jeopardy."

 - West Point Military Academy Cadet Prayer 

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