As you’ve noticed—as everyone’s noticed—there seems to be something rotten in the Denmark of Christian leadership.
Every time you think there can’t be another megachurch pastor who fails, well, there’s another megachurch pastor who fails.
And those are the stories that make the news. For every story that makes the headlines, though, there are dozens that never do simply because the church wasn’t large enough or prominent enough to make the news. And yet, dozens (or even hundreds )of people are left devastated, and may often lose faith as a result.
So, what gives? What’s wrong with the church? Why is this so widespread?
And it’s easy to play armchair critic whenever yet another mega-church pastor or Christian in leadership fails and think to ourselves “Well, I would never do that.” And perhaps that’s true.
What’s especially difficult, though, is spotting the evil in the moment.
What’s even more difficult, is when the evil that’s causing the downfall often passes for good.
Which is why I’m writing this post.
As you’ve noticed—as everyone’s noticed—there seems to be something rotten in the Denmark of Christian leadership.
In a conflicted, divided, cynical world, the evils that pass for good are qualities that Christians sometimes celebrate in leaders. And qualities that get celebrated also get emulated.
And when we tolerate or celebrate evil that passes for good in the church, we shoot Chrisitan leadership in the foot, and perhaps sometimes in the head.
Here are four evils that pass too often for good in Christian leadership. There are nuances to each, which is why the best lens through which to read this post is not to start judging other leaders, but to look inside and wonder if you’ve been guilty of some of it too.
I know in different seasons of my life, I’ve been more than capable of all of it.
1. Cruel Certitude
At your moments of greatest certainty, you have the propensity to be the cruelest—the most dismissive, rude, inhuman and, yes, cruel.
The Christian faith is a curious thing.
On the one hand, you carry a conviction about who Jesus is and an affinity for core beliefs that Christians have had in common for centuries.
On the other hand, Christianity is a belief system.
As Tim Keller points out in his very thoughtful Questioning Christianity podcast series, both belief and unbelief require, well, belief. Everything is a faith system, and no one can be 100% certain about everything or it would not require faith. God, it seems, actually requires trust from his creation.
This is true of all faith and religious belief systems, including atheism and agnosticism. Because, yes, even atheism and agnosticism are belief systems that require trust.
Where Christians begin to veer into dangerous territory, is when we overstate our certainty to the point where it becomes hard, closed, and cruel.
Brian Zahnd notes that “Certitude can be an incubator for cruelty. Perceived infallibility can lead to brutality.”
When I read that, I stopped dead in my tracks. Not only is that exceptionally clarifying about the current dialogue in much of Christianity, but it also convicted me.
At your moments of greatest certainty, you have the propensity to be the cruelest—the most dismissive, rude, inhuman, and, yes, cruel.
And yet that’s exactly what a meaningful subset of Christians seems to applaud these days. The more certain you are, the angrier you are, the crueler you are, and the more your stock increases among certain Christians.
It’s a great way to attract followers in a cruel culture, but it’s not reflective of authentic Christianity.
The damage that cruelty has done to Christianity in this era is staggering.
And we wonder why a generation is walking away. At your moments of greatest certainty, you have the propensity to be the cruelest—the most dismissive, rude, inhuman, and, yes, cruel. CLICK TO TWEET
2. The Burning of Enemies At the (Figurative) Stake
Jesus’ teaching about loving your enemies wasn’t just a teaching, it was perfectly embodied on the cross. The very people who crucified him were the people he loved enough to save through the act of crucifixion.
Jesus’ teaching about loving your enemies wasn’t just a teaching, it was perfectly embodied on the cross. The very people who crucified him were the people he loved enough to save through the act of crucifixion.
And yet despite the greatest act of enemy love imaginable, Christians have had a field day over the centuries not just hating their opponents, but destroying them.
I have benefited so much from John Calvin’s teachings and writings over the year and remain grateful for much of my Reformed background. But he, like almost every one of his era, destroyed enemies rather than embraced them.
Calvin, for example, had Michael Servetus burned at the stake. As much as that might shock modern people, these days Christians instead torch their opponents on Twitter.
If you want to see evidence of hating enemies, look no further than the current partisan divide in the West where people on the opposite sides of the political spectrum demonize each other, or watch as the Roe v. Wade debate rages, where each side demonizes the other, and too many Christians jump in with surprising hatred.
So, what’s the alternative?
Maybe start here: You can carry your convictions without destroying your opponents.
Disagreeing with another person never justifies destroying another person.
The impulse to inflict harm on someone may never disappear. I still feel the urge too. But our faith should stop us from ever acting on it.
