Disunity and Growth

Discussions From the Pews and How to Avoid Them

A few years ago, I read the book "A Charitable Discourse:  Talking About The Things That Divide Us" by Dr. Dan Boone.  First, let me start off by saying that I have the utmost respect for this man.  He was the pastor of the college church when my oldest went to Olivet Nazarene University then the President of the school where my younger three daughters all graduated, Trevecca Nazarene University.  I have read a few of his books and always find his voice to be gracious yet direct.  He has addressed some difficult topics and groups and I hope that one day I can follow his examples in how to address people that are not in agreement with me.  That said, while I enjoyed the book, one chapter in the book bothered me then and still today.  Chapter 17 is entitled, the Emerging Church Coming to a Town Near You.  

This chapter deals with something that mostly seems on the wain within my view, the Emerging Church.  There is no way that I can present a good picture of what the Emerging Church is/was within the context of this post, However, I don't think that the matter of the context for the chapter is the most important point.  The chapter deals with a young pastor that had reached out to Dr. Boone, called Pastor Matthew in the chapter.  He related to Dr. Boone the story of his ministry in a moderately-sized congregation within the Nazarene denomination.  Sadly the church had suffered through some strife and had decreased from 115 to 75.  According to Pastor Matthew, there were attackers of the emerging church to thank for that.  

The young pastor begins with painting a picture of the attackers as "fundamentalists" and Pastor Matthew honestly didn't mind pastoring them.  They were "great tithers" and usually you could settle a discussion with them "because the bible says so", although we are assured that the pastor never probably uttered those words.  But, these folk have always been under the "umbrella of Wesleyan theology", however, Pastor Matthew assures us that once they can't poke anymore holes in the umbrella, they are sure to leave.

A number of months previously, Pastor Matthew had received a letter.  A simple one sentence question was all it contained, "Pastor, what do you think of the Emergent Church?"  Knowing this was a setup, Pastor Matthew provided a "balanced response".  Not good enough.  From there, things got ugly because Pastor Matthew refused to engage in the debate.  Queries were pushed aside with "That's something you should ask our denominational leaders," or "We don't do prayer labyrinths at our church, so that's not my fight."  

Eventually, the endgame for these folks was realized.  They pulled out the church and were currently meeting at a funeral home chapel.  Thankfully, the worst appeared to be behind the pastor and he was doing fine.  While he didn't mind serving the fundamentalists before they left, things were more, as he said it, "fun" now with them gone.  However, now that they were gone, the Lord was literally dumping new souls into the lap of the church.  "The anti-emergent church did in six months, what sixteen years of pastors before me could not."  He then enclosed a letter to the fundamentalists that he contemplated sending, however he had not reached a decision on whether that was the path to which he would set himself.  

The letter is heartfelt.  It talks about the shared pain that the past several months had inflicted upon both parties.  The pastor goes on to offer an apology for any lack of judgment, discernment, or pastoral care that may have been attributed to himself.  He assured them that if there was anything he could have done without compromising his identity as an ordained elder in the church, to prevent their leaving, he would have done so.  

He then moves into his direct response to those that caused disunity.  Portions of scripture are cited that condemn those who would cause disunity within the church.  Those leaving clearly were shortsighted and lacked kingdom perspective, uncaring for others and were driven by personal agendas.  "Friends, the church is a culture that is rapidly changing" he says.  People are attempting to make the church relevant in culture today.  He then moves into sections that attempt to reveal his agreement with his lost parishoners on some points, yet wants to be clear that these people have far to go before understanding Wesleyan theology.  Unity was the prime directive of Wesley in his theology.  

I could probably go on  cite more, but hopefully, the points are emerging.  I find it interesting that Pastor Matthew would emphasize unity while also being clear to indicate that these individuals don't have a place within Wesleyan theology.  Essentially, instead of realizing that their could be a shared tension within Wesleyan theology in incorporating a broad tent, he is clear to place them as squatters in a home not their own.  While he didn't mind being a pastor over them, it is clear that he didn't view loving and caring for them as his calling, but simply an exercise of pastoral duty.  With their being gone, he was having a lot more "fun."