Crybaby Pastors Part 1: Thom Rainer Issues Call to Church Members to Deal With Critics

According to Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, criticism of pastors is harming the Great Commission. Yes, pastors trying to win the world to Jesus are being thwarted by criticism, and it must be stopped for Jesus' sake.

You can read Rainer's blog posts here and here where he discusses the curse of criticism. One of them was published at Baptist Press here. Some excellent analysis of Rainer's post has been written by SBC pastor William Thornton here.

Rainer says criticism leaves pastors with "little energy to do anything else" when they have to suffer through criticism. Poor babies. One commentor on Rainer's blog, an anonymous pastor named "Bob Smith", says he is ready to quit the ministry because: "Well, I average one criticism a day, over 300 a year. It's wearing me out." I did the math, and he's right, one criticism a day is over 300 in a year. How DO they bear such a heavy burden? I think I passed the 300 mark on January 5th, and that's just from my teenagers.

According to Rainer what makes a good church member - and one who is a true Christian - is one who doesn't ask questions and doesn't ever complain. In Rainer's view, "undoubtedly many of the worst critics are not true followers of Christ." He gives no criteria as to what makes a "worst critic" - but he knows enough of the mind of God to say that they are not true Christians. How arrogant. How cultish.

Who are the good church members, according to Rainer? Well, they obviously don't complain, and if you want to be a really good soldier for the Lord, Rainer says you will help to silence these critics. Says Rainer: "The time has come for church members to speak up. Too much is at stake. It is truly a sin to remain silent when it is our God-given responsibility to confront those who ultimately would hinder the spread of the gospel with the poison of their words."

Rainer is out in leftfield on this - anyone that has spent time in Southern Baptist churches knows the level of opposition they will face if they ever call into question the actions or decisions of their pastor. Even when it comes to serious charges like sexual abuse - the pastor is often defended and protected by those around him while those who raise the charges are shunned and berated or slandered. The culture in most SBC churches is that asking questions and rocking the boat is a sign of spiritual immaturity and rebellion.

It is somewhat ironic to hear a preacher like Rainer complaining about critical church members, because pastors themselves are pretty good at criticizing from the pulpit other preachers they disagree with. And it is well-known how poorly some senior pastors treat ministers they have no use for in their ministry, firing them and forcing them to sign a non-disclosure agreement while telling the church "God called them somewhere else" - and yet they have thin-skin themselves when it comes to criticisms cast their way.

And unbelievably, Rainer is calling for church members to rise up and "confront" complainers. He says that there must be a formal or informal system in the churches to "confront the nagging naysayers." Notice the terminology. Rainer moves from "worst critic" to now it is the "naysayers" who must be confronted. A "naysayer" is one who doesn't go along, who rocks the boat, who doesn't get on board with the pastor's vision. This is what Rainer's beef is really about. Specially-anointed pastors sent by God Himself as God's gift to the church, who don't want their leadership, their "vision" for the church, to be questioned by some pipsqueak church member.

Well, newsflash to Rainer: FBC Jax tried what he is suggesting, to deal with me, one of those "nagging naysayers". While it did get rid of the nagging naysayer, the process they used created a huge mess and embarrassment for their church as well as a legal mess for the city of Jacksonville.

And when Rainer urges church members to "confront" complainers, I just couldn't help but think of Mac Brunson's infamous "shut 'em down" quote in the pulpit just a few days before the President of the Trustees stood in a special business meeting on 2/25/09 to read his "Deacon's Resolution 2009-1", which included this quote:

"And whereas it is the belief and expression of the deacons herein that division, strife, and discord caused to church members and unjust criticism and ridicule of the ministry, staff, leadership, pastor, and people expressed to the general public at large in any form and by any means by any member of the church should be viewed as an attack against the Lord's church contrary to scriptural truth and confronted aggressively in accordance with Scripture and the disciplinary provisions of the bylaws of the church."

Yep, FBC Jax has already declared that unjust criticism and ridicule, is "an attack against the Lord's church", and should be "confronted aggressively".

See, you're a little late to the game, Thom. FBC Jax is "cutting edge", and they already laid out the path you are suggesting and they executed it masterfully in 2008 and 2009.

Stay tuned Wednesday for Part 2: A naysayer's advice to crybaby pastors.

Candidates Own Words - And Words of Their Pastor - Can Cause Political Trouble

Mike Hogan, a candidate for mayor in Jacksonville, is in hot water again this week for a joke made about bombing abortion clinics at a mayoral debate Monday.

Apparently when the topic of abortion was raised in Monday's debate, Hogan declared his pro-life views, then stated that the only thing he wouldn't do to oppose abortion would be to bomb abortion clinics, but added "...but it may cross my mind".

Ouch. An attempt at humor, or an attempt to show his absolute disdain for abortion. But really it is a foot-in-mouth comment that achieved nothing but to give fuel to his opposition making his victory that much more difficult. Articles are in the local news outlets here and here and here and the comment streams are running wild.

But again, this points to another example of how these sort of things make it difficult for evangelicals to get elected by the general population, especially a member at FBC Jacksonville as Hogan is.

Hogan is not the first member of First Baptist Jacksonville to make a serious run to be elected mayor of Jacksonville. Back in 1987, FBC Jax member John Lewis ran for mayor against Tommy Hazouri. As reported by the AP back in 1987, Lewis actually made Hazouri's ancestry an issue, saying Hazouri could not be elected because he is an "Arab" (Hazouri is actually of Lebanese descent). Hazouri called Lewis "John the Baptist" and claimed Lewis would not be able to bring the community together and would be a divider.

John Lewis' pastor, Homer Lindsay, Jr., created a controversy during the campaign. In 1987, Homer Lindsay, Jr. sent a letter to First Baptist Jacksonville members saying that Lewis was a "real Christian", implying of course that Hazouri, a Presbyterian, was not a real Christian. This outraged the Hazouri campaign, and it became a hot campaign topic. Hazouri ultimately beat Lewis, and Lindsay later regretted sending that letter.

While candidates who are members of a mega church like FBC Jax have some advantages as written about here in this 2001 Times Union article, Hogan's membership at FBC Jax could still be a campaign issue especially if he is in a run-off election when the gloves would really come off.

While Hogan won't have to deal with letters from his pastor declaring him to be the "real Christian", there have been teachings emanating from the FBC Jax pulpit that may causes voters concern. And I'm not speaking of theological teachings - but teachings about how people of other faith are viewed and about economic issues - that may have an impact on how a candidate would govern. On top of Hogan's abortion clinic bombing comment, and his embarrassing logic used at a sentencing hearing to claim the innocence of a youth pastor convicted of child pornography, here are some other tough questions raised by his affiliation with FBC Jax:

- Hogan's pastor Mac Brunson has said on multiple occasions (most recently here in October 2010 and before that in 2008), that our economic recession is the judgment of God on our country for disobedient Christians who won't tithe 10% of their income to their church. Does Hogan agree with this nonsense?

- Hogan's pastor has said that if church members don't tithe, that "God collects", and God will take the money from them through misfortune, so they had better tithe. Does Hogan agree with this?

- Hogan's other pastor Jim Smyrl - who was just recently promoted to "Teaching Pastor" at FBC Jax - has claimed that Catholics are "living and believing a lie" as Catholics, and FBC Jax members must try to befriend Catholics to convert them. Does Hogan agree with his Teaching Pastor?

- Hogan's Teaching Pastor Jim Smyrl wrote a series of articles making the case that Catholicism is a "cult". Smryl has referred to a Catholic priest as a "cult leader", and lumped Catholics in with other Christian cults such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and other non-Christian religions. Does Hogan view Catholics as cult members and priests as cult leaders?

- Hogan's Teaching Pastor Jim Smyrl expressed alarm over the Islamic Center simply painting their worship domes, declaring Muslims must be converted else "..your grandchildren are going to come under Muslim law if you keep silent." Does Hogan view Muslims in our community as a threat, and if not converted will put us under Muslim law?

- Just a few weeks after Obama was elected, in November 2008 Hogan's Teaching Pastor Jim Smyrl wrote an article on their church blog entitled "Voting Yourself Out of Fellowship" characterizing Obama voters as voting for the "continuous murder of the unborn", and need to repent of their sin for voting for Obama to be restored to full Christian fellowship. Does Hogan view voters in Jacksonville who cast a vote for Obama as having committed a sin, and Obama voters needing to repent of their sin to be restored to full Christian fellowship?

These are extreme views that certainly most Christians don't agree with - and views that would have non-Christians just as concerned about as voters were about the views of Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright during the 2008 presidential election.

To ask Hogan whether he agrees with these views of the top two men at FBC Jax - his Senior Pastor and Teaching Pastor - are reasonable questions, and questions he is likely to face if he gets into a run-off election, which is entirely possible.

I hope Hogan doesn't agree with any of the above teachings at his church. If he does, I wouldn't vote for him, as I don't think one can be a mayor of a large city and view Catholic priests as cult leaders, Democratic Obama voters as sinners not worthy of Christian fellowship, or that economic difficulty is a judgement of God for non-tithing Christians. There are other conservative candidates from which to choose.

Favorite Videos From FBC Jax

Below are some YouTube clips of music from FBC Jax. Most of these, if not all, are from the Pastor's Conference.

Chip Dorton - "Heaven" - 2003



Chip Dorton and Trio - "Farther Along - 2003"



Chip Dorton - "The Old Rugged Cross" - 2003



Babi Mason and Chip Dorton - "In All of His Glory" - 2003



Chip Dorton - "In Christ Alone" - 1999



Chip Dorton - "He Looked Beyond My Fault" - 2001

Jacksonville Pastor Stovall Weems Joins Ed Young and Produces His Own Rap Video

Jacksonville pastor Stovall Weems, pastor of Celebration Church (which is a member of ARC - Association of Related Churches) put up a rap video wishing a sister church in Arkansas and their pastor a happy 10th anniversary.

All in fun, I suppose, but a little creepy to watch a grown man, a pastor, immitate rappers in a video. But church members seem to love it! They are a growing church with multiple campuses, and if their website is correct, FBC Jax is no longer the biggest church in town. Celebration says they have 10 campuses and over 12,000 people in attendance.

So, who has more raw rapping talent, Ed Young or Stovall Weems? I am not sure, but I am waiting for a rap video from Steve Gaines, Mac Brunson, or perhaps even from Robert Jeffress.

Bob Allen at Associated Baptist Press Writes Article on Mohler's "Save Them From Their Ignorance" Sermon

I think Mohler's comments on pastors' God-appointed role in saving people from ignorance, and his statements that most people "don't know enough" to be faithful Christians and need pastors to continually inform them, are worthy of more analysis and reporting than on a baptist blog.

Glad to see that Bob Allen at the Associated Baptist Press agrees.

Bob Allen over at Associated Baptist Press has run an article today at their website highlighting Al Mohler's FBC Jax Pastor's Conference sermon declaring how pastors are God's appointed agents to save all of us from our ignorance.

"Mohler: Preacher's burden to save flock from ignorance"- Bob Allen, ABP, 2/15/11

Bob Allen over the years that I've read the ABP and the BP since I started blogging, is by far the most objective baptist religion writer there is. Over the last 3 1/2 years since this blog began, Allen has not been afraid to write accurately about this blog, the sheriff's office investigation, the lawsuits, etc. - and he has written on situations at FBC Jax that were first reported on this blog in the earlier days of the blog. Perhaps this blog's article on Mohler's sermon caught Allen's eye and prompted him to write about it, but I can only speculate. And last year Allen wrote some of the most complete articles concerning the Ergun Caner saga and was not afraid to accurately explain the role that bloggers played.

While Allen actually reports what is going on in Baptist circles - fair and objective reporting - all we seem to get from Baptist Press and state convention run papers are articles that might cast a positive light on Baptist leaders.

Take for example our own "Florida Baptist Witness" - they tout themselves as the "newspaper of the Florida State Baptist Convention". But they don't report on most controversial issues, and in my view they are more of a mouthpiece for the religious leaders of the state convention than they are a "newspaper". The business editor and managing editor are John and Joni Hannigan, both members of FBC Jacksonville. If you look at the FBW Board of Directors, lo and behold you see that Brunson's wife, Debbie Brunson, is on the board.

So it is no surprise in the FBW that you won't see any articles about Mohler's sermon and his ridiculous statements about pastors and their appointedness to save us all from our eternal ignorance. In fact you won't read anything even slightly negative about First Baptist Church Jacksonville. Do a search on Mac Brunson or FBC Jax at the FBW site - no articles on the blogger fiasco that was on the front page of our paper or the ensuing legal action. No articles about Caner last year despite him being a close friend of Brunson and a regular speaker at FBC Jax since 2001. The Caner debacle was not a newsworthy event to Florida baptists? Or would have accurately reporting on it cast a negative light on FBC Jax because of the editors' pastor's and their church's close association with Caner?

Joni Hannigan published an FBW article last week - "Brunson's Jacksonville Pastor's Conference Conference Continues to Grow in Diversity" (congratulations to Mac and Trey, it is now "Brunson's conference") - which is a very lengthy article about how much of a smash success this year's pastor's conference was. Hannigan gives a blow by blow account of many of the speakers' sermons. Hannigan even gave the five sermon bullet points of Jimmy Scroggins' sermon from Sunday afternoon - now THAT is news! But she completely left off any mention or analysis of Mohler's sermon which was delivered right after Scroggins' and arguably Mohler was one of the keynote speakers. She did mention that Ergun Caner along with his brother Emir hosted the "student conference" at the pastor's conference.

So Baptists, be wary of the information you get - and that you don't get - from the Baptist Press and from your state convention news outlet that is probably run by the pastors in your state. It may look like "news", but I would characterize it more as a PR department for the views of those in power in your state convention.

Your best bet for news and analysis are the many blogs and reputable Christian news organizations. Use "Google Reader" to subscribe to the news feeds from your favorite blogs and news outlets, and get the content delivered to your browser.