“This also means that you don’t take matters to the press. What goes on in the church of God doesn’t go to the press...I’m not going to talk to the press about things that are matters internal to the church of the Living God. It is none of their business. And they can’t possibly get it right, and they don’t get it right, so why do you take it to the world of unbelief? Whether that be the court, whether that be the press? 'Well there’s just no other way to handle it.’ Yes there is. Commit it to the Lord God Almighty.”
I hope the students at SWBTS can see just how stupid this is. Telling pastors that they should not talk to members of the press because they are "the world of unbelief".
First of all, why the presumption that the press "can't possibly get it right". What is "it"? He must mean that they can't accurately report truth or facts about something that happens in a church that might be of interest to the public. If the press can't get it right because they are "the world of unbelief", and that pastors should "commit it to the Lord God Almighty", then why does that JUST work in matters of the press? Why not in medicine? Why not just commit your health to "the Lord God Almighty"? Why go to a doctor, after all he or she operates in the "world of unbelief".
This is just another example of how pastors in the SBC are being trained to think they are some special anointed class of Christian that answers to absolutely no one but God himself.
And another reason why religious institutions will eventually lose their tax-exempt status. They don't want to participate in the basic rules of right in our society - like the press being a force to keep large institutions in check. Pastors and their churches are above answering to the local reporter apparently, they are "the church of the living God" and don't answer to anyone in the press.
Not to worry, the common folk will get the word out about misbehaving pastors and idiotic theology and doctrine via blogs, and the common folk in churches will continue to talk to the press when it is necessary.
And pastors, whatever you do, don't talk to recalcitrant bloggers. And don't go to those doctors who use science and medicine to heal people - they are in the "world of unbelief". Just trust the Lord God Almighty to heal you.
20 comments:
And ripe for a cover-up of sexual abuse, etc. Wasn't Patterson involved in a cover up of an abusive pastor or preacher friend who sexually assaulted a number of women. No wonder he does not like the press -- they tell it whether he likes it or not. And then there is the "social" media.
"Pay no attention to the man behind that curtain!"
- the Wizard
What was the overall context of the sermon and sentence? A sentence taken in isolation, even though I despise what PP has done to my seminary, it is unfair to judge something taken without understanding the whole situation.
I agree. Go listen to the sermon. It is on their website.
Again To validate a statement you must follow it to its Fullest Possible Conclusion.
Think about this...When did it become us Christians VS them Unbeleivers /Media, Mr Patterson?
Yes we must use common sense and be careful BUT if we attempt to be God Honoring in Everything we do then I say...Media come on in and look /visit my church because your "beef" will be with my God and he can clean your clock! Furthermore I will be using every step along the way as a witnessing opprotunity to you. Instead you Mr Patterson have decided that since you apperently have "special dispensation" "They just cant get it" so tuck your tail and just to cut them off from witnessing? Im no scholar but doesnt the Book of James say to rejoice in persecution counting it as good unto Him? You my man are a big chicken!!
The only possible way I could agree w your statement is if you think or know you have "stuff" to hide.
Bad Advise to young preachers! Better...Along the lines of REAL Men of God Preachers like Billy Sunday's old "gum him to death..." quote- Stand/ Invite/ and Fight! Thats the kind of preachers we need:)
Wow.
Just look at that photo.
Makes me want to ask a question, "Are you a drinking man, Page?"
I'm not a fan of Paige Patterson. I fully believe he did have something to do with passing Daryl Gilyard along from one church to another. Then there is the whole issue with Sherri Klouda. Patterson must be seething in anger of her name being included in the HCSB bible as a contributor! Good for Sherri.
I don't agree with Patterson's message here, but I don't think he is wrong concerning the media. They are hostile to Christianity.
I saw a video a couple of days ago where Gene Simmons of KISS fame was defending Tim Tebow against a media who went after him because he was a Christian. Simmons opined that if Tebow had been a Jew or a Muslim, no one would have said a word. I think Simmons is right on this issue.
It is also true that we bring much of this on ourselves by acting like self-righteous bigots and treating the faith as a corporate entity interested in its own wealth.
Come Lord Jesus.
The trouble "pastors" have with the press is the responsibility of journalists to present both viewpoints fairly. When you are in a controlled environment (church) where only one viewpoint is shared and opposition silenced, it upsets you when the opponents are heard.
The lesson PP missed is that refusing to talk with the press means they will give your opposition a louder voice and your silence will give approval to their position.
Pastors - or anyone in leadership - should discover the value of being truthful and respecting your opposition even when you disagree. Respect gives credibility to your position while silence does not.
Patterson sounds identical to an IFB cult pastor. Could parts of the SBC be moving toward independent baptist fundamentalism?
Patterson lashes out against the media because it has exposed his own abominable sins:
http://www.ethicsdaily.com/sbc-seminary-president-labels-clergy-sex-abuse-victims-group-evil-doers-cms-12262-printer
http://stopbaptistpredators.org/scandals/gilyard_and_patterson.html
Why, WHY, WHY would any God fearing believer ever give to ANY church that supports the co-op of the SBC. The SBC is almost totally apostate! Leave it. Get out of this sinking ship. It is become the habitation of devils and every foul spirit. Come out from among her God's people and be ye separate.
More on Patterson's wickedness:
http://stopbaptistpredators.blogspot.com/search?q=Patterson
http://archive.org/details/PaigePattersonsbcAdviceToVictimsOfDomesticViolence
http://dannimoss.wordpress.com/clergy-abuse-links/abuse-in-the-church/paige-pattersons-views-on-domestic-violence/
The Bible declares that Christians are always to be ready to answer ANYONE!
Sounds a little bit like Jim Jones.
One journalist was even murdered for criticizing Southern Baptists in 1898: http://stopbaptistpredators.blogspot.com/2013/09/dont-mess-with-texas-baptists_2.html
Well what do you expect. Just look at the type of Pharasees that are leading these religious businesses that claim they are churches. He hangs around people like this:
http://thecultbuster.blogspot.com/2012/04/morningside-pastor-wayne-robertson.html?commentPage=2
my favorite part of this article was the google adwords ad for mormon.org that came up under it.
Swing and a miss Watchdog. Unlike medicine and other secular institutions, the news media has a decidedly anti-evangelical Christian bias (as does a lot of internet media, dare I say your blog? I think you do a good job exposing foolishness and falsehood but sometimes, like with this post, I see bias in the form of spinning honest and legitimate comments into something they are not). The secular news media can't be trusted to fairly report anything an evangelical might say. Their agenda is almost always to make conservative Christians look like blooming idiots. So when an evangelical pastor gets a call from a reporter, that reporter is not on a fact finding mission. No, she is trying to get something that the outlet can use to make the pastor a public spectacle and generate click revenue.
I wanted to add to my previous post. The problem of corruption and heresy within the church is not, and has never been, per se, the secrecy and duplicity of the leadership. No, it is the apathy and gullibility of the laity toward such secrecy and duplicity. I see nothing "utterly stupid", as you stated it, about Patterson's comment. What needs to happen is for the laity to be more discerning, to study the Word instead of taking the leaders' word for it, and to hold false teachers accountable. That's what happened with the Reformation, and it's what needs to happen now. I don't think the secular news media has much of a role in this process if it is to happen, and in any event certainly does not have the Church's best interest at heart. Church members have the power if they will just exercise it. And I don't think anything they read in the news media, or even on this blog, is going to change the mind of someone who blindly trusts what Ed Young or Ergun Caner or their ilk say.
Anon 8:10. Sure, many in the press have an agenda, and have a bias against Christians. But that is a terrible excuse to put down a fundamental principle of NEVER speaking to a reporter! I'm glad Tim Tebow doesn't take that tact. I would say a pastor has a responsibility to speak to the media on matters that are of interest to the public concerning his church. What is wrong with that? And if they get it wrong, so what? Didn't Patterson say to just take it on the chin and let God handle it? Can't you see that his own advice in the same sermon contradicts itself?
And talk about bias here's your own words:
"So when an evangelical pastor gets a call from a reporter, that reporter is not on a fact finding mission. No, she is trying to get something that the outlet can use to make the pastor a public spectacle and generate click revenue."
That is not true of all reporters, not by a long shot! I have dealt with a number of reporters that have investigated church issues: Jeff Brumley and Brett Shipp and another one looking into the finances of Steven Furtick to name a few. These are all very fine men - at least one I know is a believer - who are very skilled at what they do. They are local reporters, and they have a vested interest in reporting the truth about churches and pastors.
Your problem and the problem pastors have with reporters is they think they are above the scrutiny of a reporter's questions. Many pastors like Patterson don't think they answer to anyone but God, and that anyone who would criticize them or cast a negative light on their church is of the devil. That is the real issue here.
And I have more to say on the Patterson sermon - because his comments concerning the press were not really the worst part of the sermon. So stay tuned.
There is an old saying: “If a man lies about something small, he will lie about anything.”
Paige Patterson was president of the SBC and on 3-26-00, he preached at Prestonwood Baptist Church. Prestonwood had not decided if they would stay with the Old Convention of Texas (BGCT) or join the New Convention (SBTC). After Patterson left, the church joined SBTC and their pastor became the next president of the SBC. Hmmmm
After his sermon, I was in a long line to speak to him. I told him I had a missionary son in Israel, and I had swam four miles across the Sea of Galilee but it was taking more courage to ask him a question.
I showed Criswell Study Bible and his forward stating: “Harmonization of apparent discrepancies and explanations of passages thought by some to contain error are afforded the reader.”
I asked, “Does that mean you got ALL the errors or just SOME of them.”
He answered in a loud voice that all could hear: “WE GOT ALL OF THEM!”
I asked, “What about the ruler’s daughter being dead in Matthew and alive in Mark and Luke.”
He replied in a voice I could barely hear, “We got all we could.”
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