Coolness and Cussing

I am sure that there have always been preachers and pastors who made a habit of using coarse or crude language. Maybe they even outright cussed. I suspect most, if not all of these preachers were somewhere out on the fringe. I remember Gene Scott used to sit in his recliner smoking cigars, drinking scotch, and cussing as he "taught" and "preached".

In 2003, Thomas Neslon published Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. About half way through the book, he introduces us to Mark. Mark pastors a church in Seattle and says a lot of cuss words. Mark is Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. In Driscoll's defense, he doesn't cuss anymore. He does a really good job, I think, of watching his language. He can be a little coarse or crude sometimes, but he doesn't really cuss.

Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, recently posted this video about preachers who cuss. I think it is a wise admonition to those who speak the truth of the Gospel. Warning: Young demonstrates some of the language he warns about.

What do you think about Young's take on this? How far should preachers go with their language in trying to relate to their audience?

The Next Billy Graham

One week from now, we will have a new President. I have some opinions about all of that, but I will keep them to myself. President-elect Obama has asked Pastor Rick Warren to pray at his innauguration. Of course, Warren accepted. There have been a number of reactions to this. It has proven to be a little sticky for both Warren and Obama. Because of Mr. Obama's positions on the issues of abortion and homosexual marriage, many conservative Christians have taken the opportunity to use this as ammo against Warren. Cultural liberals, especially the homosexual lobby, have accused Obama of teaming up with Hitler (or worse). Obviously, neither of this is true. Liberals lump Warren in with ultra-conservative, fundamentalist Christians, and they would never claim him as their own. The reverse is also true.

Because of the attention given to Warren, along with his hosting a couple of political forums, the media is making the case that Warren is the next Billy Graham. I have a great deal of respect for Billy Graham. His testimony has been above reproach in the areas of finances and marital fidelity. He typically did not get involved in partisan politics. This opened the door for him to preach in countries that have traditionally been closed to the Gospel. Between his large crusades and television specials, he has preached to more individuals than anyone in the history of the church. I respect that. I also know that he has primarily been an evangelist, partnering with local churches for follow-up. This gave him the luxury of not needing to (publicly) clearly define a number of doctrinal positions.

Rick Warren is a church planter and a local church pastor. He has been responsible not only for evangelism, but also for developing a plan for discipling converts and growing a church in the community.

I do not think Rick Warren is the next Billy Graham. I do not think there will be another Billy Graham. I think Rick Warren is the next Rick Warren. I think God works in seasons. Seasons come and go.

The Balanced Life

there are several adjectives you could use to describe my life. balanced is not one of them. i wear a lot of hats. i am a husband, father, college student, and assistant pastor. i am in a small group, a men's group, and i serve in my local church. can that even be balanced? the balanced life. what does that even mean? i was reading through the blogs i read daily, when craig groeschel over at swerve really caused me to think about this. when asked how he balances his life, his response is, "i don't live a balanced life." the more we try to balance our lives, the more we fail at it, and consequently, feel like a failure. i do not know anywhere in scripture we are called to live a balanced life. i think that concept, for all its good intentions, i severly misguided. we are called to live an obedient life. we are called to follow jesus. we are told to live a life worthy of our calling. craig went on to say, "while following jesus, our life will often be out-of-balance. he may lead us on long stretches of ministry followed by a substantial season of rest. ministry will rarely be predictable." he obviously wrote that in the context of leaders in ministry, but i think it applies to all believers. i plan to spend some time thinking about this idea of balance and unbalance. craig will be blogging about it this week. rather than striving for a life of balance, i want to strive for a life of honor to god. let me know what you think about this. i will try to comment further on this idea later this week.