Soapbox

Allow me on the final day of 2006 to get on my soapbox just a bit. I was fired up a couple of days ago when I read an article in The Florida Baptist Witness concerning the merge of a Miami church with Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX. Fellowship's pastor is Ed Young, who is also "pastor" of the Fellowship in Miami, although only by HDTV. In an interview, the mega-church pastor was more than a little revealing about the way he does church and everybody else.

Just a few quotes:

"I don't think a congregational-led church works. I think that's a formula for failure. First of all, it's non-biblical. Secondly, it doesn't work." I'm not sure he's correct on either point. The Bible is not too clear on what is and what is not biblical church polity, and there have been many congregational-led churches that work. By the way when we speak of "congregational led" we mean traditional Baptist polity in which the church votes on various matters. I'm not sure Young has pastored one of these churches in his life to know whether it works or not. He started Fellowship from scratch several years ago.

"The methodology that Baptists have given us is wack . . . it will not work in the local church." Again it doesn't in some but it does in many others. To lump all churches in the same pile is "wack."

"The Baptist thing's not working; we are doing a horrible job . . . Let's face the music. WE have more money, more supplies and we've done a pitiful job in my opinion over the last 20 or 30 years."

He is also critical of the seminaries. "All the young guys, you know the new generation people, they've gone to Rick Warren, they've gone to Bill Hybels and that's where everybody has gotten their great stuff . . . Our seminaries are great for theology, but you know, in a lot of cases, I do the opposite of what I was told in seminary about how to run the church. The opposite." If by opposite he means he runs his church as he sees fit then most likely that is opposite of what he learned in seminary, but does that make what is taught there wrong? In the seminary in which I attended, there was an emphasis upon servant leadership not dictatorship. I prefer the former and to give a congregation ownership of what is going on. That too works. Trusting people is o.k. There are, of course, frustrations when things don't go as fast as you would like, but the congregation usually does what is right, and by the way, a congregation-led church will give a pastor as much authority as he needs to get his job done--especially when that pastor serves faithfully among the people.

When asked about cooperative missions Young said: "I don't think in terms of that right now . . . I've got more, we've got more than we can say grace over right now. We partner with Baptists, but it's mostly ourselves." Young is a denomination in his own right to be sure. He doesn't need cooperative missions, but I wonder how much more effect we could be if guys like him would be more involved in what we're doing around the world.

These are only representative of the comments Young made in the article. I'm just tired of writing.

Young is privileged to pastor a church that has benefited from the urban sprawl of DFW. I wonder if he would have a different outlook is he were elsewhere? Young has a right to his own way of doing church, but it is arrogant to believe his way is the only one that is effective.

By the way, I know the new Fellowship church has someone there who will minister to the people, but where will its "pastor" be? He will be in Grapevine a long way from where he can meet any needs the Miami congregation will have. Have we gotten so far removed from personal ministry that now our pastors are on the big-screen in HD?