The Wrong War

Out of Ur posted a gripping interview yesterday with Tullian Tchividjian, who succeeded the late James Kennedy as pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He tells about the internecine warfare he and his church faced over the last several years. There was even a petition drive to remove him as pastor (which he survived). The full interview appears at LeadershipJournal.net.

I've experienced some of the things he talks about, but it's still shocking. Far too often, church people fight the wrong war. We engage in gossip, innuendo, character assassination, and power struggles.

I have at times beaten up myself that churches I have pastored weren't bigger than that, that the people in one of my churches hadn't been discipled beyond such blindness, stupidity, and sin. But the people (and some leaders and former leaders) of Coral Ridge weren't any better, and they had the estimable James Kennedy as their pastor for many years. And, of course, some first-century churches that Paul planted were pretty messed up, too. So of course it can happen to any church.

I recommend this interview to you, along with the Biblical admonition, "May it not be so among you" (Matthew 20:26). May it never be so. It is a (literal) shame to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and a shocking transgression against the Holy Spirit.